Mother–infant interaction and child brain morphology : a multidimensional approach to maternal sensitivity

Emerging research suggests that normative variation in parenting quality relates to children's brain development. However, although the young brain is presumed to be especially sensitive to environmental influence, to our knowledge only two studies have examined parenting quality with infants as it relates to indicators of brain development, and both were cross‐sectional. This longitudinal study investigated whether different components of maternal sensitivity in infancy predicted the volume of two brain structures presumed to be particularly sensitive to early experience, namely the amygdala and the hippocampus. Three dimensions of sensitivity (Cooperation/Attunement, Positivity, Accessibility/Availability) were observed in 33 mother–infant dyads at 1 year of age and children underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging at age 10. Higher maternal Accessibility/Availability during mother–infant interactions was found to be predictive of smaller right amygdala volume, while greater maternal positivity was predictive of smaller bilateral hippocampal volumes. These longitudinal findings extend those of previous cross‐sectional studies and suggest that a multidimensional approach to maternal behavior could be a fruitful way to further advance research in this area, given that different facets of parenting might be differentially predictive of distinct aspects of neurodevelopment

Impact of individual and collective traumatic events on memory : a transdisciplinary appoach

L’objectif de cette thèse était d’étudier l’impact du traumatisme psychique sur la mémoire de façon transdisciplinaire pour mieux appréhender les liens qui associent mémoire, émotion et perception de soi. Premièrement, l’analyse textométrique des témoignages recueillis entre 1 semaine et 10 ans après les attentats du 11 septembre 2001 aux États-Unis, nous a permis de préciser les modifications du contenu des souvenirs émotionnels dans le temps. De plus, nos résultats suggèrent que le contenu des souvenirs et leur évolution temporelle sont modulés par l’intensité du ressenti émotionnel au moment de l’événement. Deuxièmement, nous avons développé et utilisé un nouvel outil de méta-analyse semi-automatique, LinkDisorder, associant analyse lexicale et neuroimagerie pour explorer les corrélats neuropsychologiques du trouble de stress post-traumatique (TSPT) chez l’adulte. Les résultats révèlent que, bien que les altérations du cortex préfrontal, de l’amygdale et de l’hippocampe, qui sous-tendent les déficits mnésiques et émotionnels soient au centre de la pathologie, les altérations du processus de récompense et du striatum pourraient expliquer l’anhédonie des patients. Troisièmement, l’approche en neuropsychologie et neuroimagerie de la perception de soi dans le TSPT pédiatrique nous a permis d’explorer les modifications cérébrales fonctionnelles associées à un stress traumatique survenant à une période essentielle au développement identitaire, l’adolescence. Notre étude suggère que le TSPT pédiatrique serait associé à des anomalies fonctionnelles précoces dans les régions impliquées dans la régulation émotionnelle et la mémoire lors du processus de référence à soi.The main aim of this thesis was to study the impact of trauma on memory in a transdisciplinary way to better understand the relationships between memory, emotion and Self. Firstly, we used textometry to explore memories from 1 week to 10 years after the 9/11 attacks, and showed the progressive changes of the content of emotional memories over time. In addition, our results revealed that the intensity of the emotional response at the time of the event could modulate the content of memories and their change over time. Secondly, we developed and used a new method of automated meta-analysis, LinkDisorder, which combines lexical analyses and neuroimaging to explore neurocognitive correlates of adult posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Our meta-analysis highlights that while PTSD is characterized by functional alterations in prefrontal, amygdala and hippocampal regions underlying memory and emotional deficits, dysfunction in reward processing and of the striatum may subtend anhedonia in patients. Thirdly, using neuropsychology and neuroimaging examinations of self-perception in pediatric PTSD, we explored brain changes occurring after a traumatic stress in adolescence, a core period of life for the development of identity. Our study suggests that pediatric PTSD is associated with early functional abnormalities in the regions involved in emotion regulation and memory during self-reference processing

Improving outcome after paediatric concussion: challenges and possibilities

International audienceThe term concussion has permeated mainstream media and household vocabulary mainly due to awareness regardingthe risks of concussion in professional contact sports, yet it occurs across a variety of settings and ages. Concussion isprevalent in infants, preschoolers, children, and adolescents, and is a common presentation or reason for referral toprimary care providers, emergency departments, and specialised trauma clinics. Its broad range of symptoms andsequelae vary according to multiple individual, environmental, and clinical factors and can lead to health andeconomic burden. More than 20 years of research into risk factors and consequences of paediatric concussion hasrevealed as many questions as answers, and scientific work and clinical cases continue to expose its complexity andheterogeneity. In this Review, we present empirical evidence for improving outcome after paediatric concussion. Weconsider work pertaining to both sports and other injury mechanisms to provide a perspective that should be viewedas complementary to publications focused specifically on sports concussion. Contemporary challenges in prevention,diagnosis, prognosis, and intervention are discussed alongside pathways and future directions for improvingoutcome

Long-term changes in social adaptive abilities following early mild traumatic brain injury

International audienceIntroduction: Social problems may be among the most debilitating consequences of TBI (Yeates et al., 2007). We previously reported that early mild TBI (mTBI, sustained before the age of 6 years) disrupts the expected developmental progression of children's social adaptive abilities over 18 months post-injury (Dégeilh et al., 2018), suggesting that young children may experience a slowing in the acquisition of social adaptive abilities compared to their typically developing peers. The present study aimed to explore whether this slowing in the acquisition of social adaptive abilities persists in the longterm. Method: Parents of 81 children with mTBI (38 girls) and 60 with orthopedic injuries (OI; 34 girls) sustained between 1.5 and 5 years completed the social skills sub-scale of the Adaptive Behavior Assessment Scale-II at baseline (retrospective assessment of preinjury functioning) and at 6, 18, 30, and 60 months post-injury. Growth curve analysis (Mirman, 2014) was performed to explore group effects on the time course of social adaptive abilities captured with a third-order (cubic) natural polynomial. Results: There was no effect of group at pre-injury (estimates: OI=100.9, mTBI=101.4; p=.83), but there was a marginal or significant effect of group on all time terms (Estimates-OI: time=0.08, time 2 =-0.03, time 3 =0.003; Estimates-mTBI: time=-0.03 [p=.058], time 2 =0.01 [p=.048], time 3 =-0.0002 [p=.048]). For OI, social adaptive abilities increased by 0.40 point per month from 0 to 18 months post-injury and then progressively decreased by-0.08 point per month until 60 months post-injury. For mTBI, social adaptive abilities remained at the pre-injury level for the first 6 months, then slowly increased by 0.15 point per month until 30 months post-injury, and finally decreased by-0.14 point per month until 60 months post-injury. Conclusions: These findings suggest that early mTBI may disrupt the expected developmental progression of children's social adaptive behavior. The developmental profile of social abilities in children with mTBI appears to follow the same overall pattern as other children of the same age, but with a delayed onset after a 6-month period of stagnation and a slower improvement rate

Long-term changes in social adaptive abilities following early mild traumatic brain injury

International audienceIntroduction: Social problems may be among the most debilitating consequences of TBI (Yeates et al., 2007). We previously reported that early mild TBI (mTBI, sustained before the age of 6 years) disrupts the expected developmental progression of children's social adaptive abilities over 18 months post-injury (Dégeilh et al., 2018), suggesting that young children may experience a slowing in the acquisition of social adaptive abilities compared to their typically developing peers. The present study aimed to explore whether this slowing in the acquisition of social adaptive abilities persists in the longterm. Method: Parents of 81 children with mTBI (38 girls) and 60 with orthopedic injuries (OI; 34 girls) sustained between 1.5 and 5 years completed the social skills sub-scale of the Adaptive Behavior Assessment Scale-II at baseline (retrospective assessment of preinjury functioning) and at 6, 18, 30, and 60 months post-injury. Growth curve analysis (Mirman, 2014) was performed to explore group effects on the time course of social adaptive abilities captured with a third-order (cubic) natural polynomial. Results: There was no effect of group at pre-injury (estimates: OI=100.9, mTBI=101.4; p=.83), but there was a marginal or significant effect of group on all time terms (Estimates-OI: time=0.08, time 2 =-0.03, time 3 =0.003; Estimates-mTBI: time=-0.03 [p=.058], time 2 =0.01 [p=.048], time 3 =-0.0002 [p=.048]). For OI, social adaptive abilities increased by 0.40 point per month from 0 to 18 months post-injury and then progressively decreased by-0.08 point per month until 60 months post-injury. For mTBI, social adaptive abilities remained at the pre-injury level for the first 6 months, then slowly increased by 0.15 point per month until 30 months post-injury, and finally decreased by-0.14 point per month until 60 months post-injury. Conclusions: These findings suggest that early mTBI may disrupt the expected developmental progression of children's social adaptive behavior. The developmental profile of social abilities in children with mTBI appears to follow the same overall pattern as other children of the same age, but with a delayed onset after a 6-month period of stagnation and a slower improvement rate

Long-term changes in social adaptive abilities following early mild traumatic brain injury

Introduction: Social problems may be among the most debilitating consequences of TBI (Yeates et al., 2007). We previously reported that early mild TBI (mTBI, sustained before the age of 6 years) disrupts the expected developmental progression of children's social adaptive abilities over 18 months post-injury (Dégeilh et al., 2018), suggesting that young children may experience a slowing in the acquisition of social adaptive abilities compared to their typically developing peers. The present study aimed to explore whether this slowing in the acquisition of social adaptive abilities persists in the longterm. Method: Parents of 81 children with mTBI (38 girls) and 60 with orthopedic injuries (OI; 34 girls) sustained between 1.5 and 5 years completed the social skills sub-scale of the Adaptive Behavior Assessment Scale-II at baseline (retrospective assessment of preinjury functioning) and at 6, 18, 30, and 60 months post-injury. Growth curve analysis (Mirman, 2014) was performed to explore group effects on the time course of social adaptive abilities captured with a third-order (cubic) natural polynomial. Results: There was no effect of group at pre-injury (estimates: OI=100.9, mTBI=101.4; p=.83), but there was a marginal or significant effect of group on all time terms (Estimates-OI: time=0.08, time 2 =-0.03, time 3 =0.003; Estimates-mTBI: time=-0.03 [p=.058], time 2 =0.01 [p=.048], time 3 =-0.0002 [p=.048]). For OI, social adaptive abilities increased by 0.40 point per month from 0 to 18 months post-injury and then progressively decreased by-0.08 point per month until 60 months post-injury. For mTBI, social adaptive abilities remained at the pre-injury level for the first 6 months, then slowly increased by 0.15 point per month until 30 months post-injury, and finally decreased by-0.14 point per month until 60 months post-injury. Conclusions: These findings suggest that early mTBI may disrupt the expected developmental progression of children's social adaptive behavior. The developmental profile of social abilities in children with mTBI appears to follow the same overall pattern as other children of the same age, but with a delayed onset after a 6-month period of stagnation and a slower improvement rate

Le développement cognitif et cérébral de la mémoire : de l’enfance à l’âge adulte

International audienceCognitive and brain development are closely linked from infancy to adulthood. The purpose of this article is to review the current state of knowledge on behavioral and brain substrates of memory development. First, we will review cognitive development of different memory systems, from procedural to autobiographical memory. We will discuss how the development of other cognitive functions (language, attention, executive functions and metamemory) participates in memory development. Second, we will describe how structural and functional changes in two core brain regions of memory, i.e. the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex, impact the protracted development of memory throughout childhood.Le développement cognitif repose en grande partie sur des phénomènes de maturation cérébrale. Cet article propose une revue des connaissances actuelles sur le neurodéveloppement de la mémoire. Nous décrirons tout d’abord le développement de la mémoire selon une approche multisystémique, de la mémoire procédurale à la mémoire autobiographique. Nous discuterons notamment comment la mise en place progressive d’autres fonctions cognitives, comme le langage, l’attention, les fonctions exécutives (inhibition, mise à jour et flexibilité), ou encore la métamémoire, participe au développement mnésique. Dans une seconde partie, nous présenterons comment les modifications structurales et fonctionnelles de deux régions cérébrales essentielles à la mémoire, l’hippocampe et le cortex préfrontal, sous-tendent le développement progressif de la mémoire tout au long de l’enfance et l’adolescence

Developmental trajectories of adaptive functioning following early mild traumatic brain injury

International audienceAdaptive behavior impairments have been reported in children with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) but are not typically found following mild TBI. It is possible that mild TBI induces subtle changes in adaptive functioning that are not captured in conventional group comparisons. This study aimed to explore time course changes in adaptive functioning following early mild TBI. Parents of 63 children with mild TBI and 53 children with orthopedic injuries aged between 1.5 and 5 years at the time of injury completed the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System-II at three time points: retrospectively to assess pre-injury functioning, then at 6 and 18 months post-injury. Developmental trajectories of adaptive functioning domains (practical, conceptual, and social) reported by parents were modeled using linear mixed-model analyses. Findings suggest that mild TBI may disrupt the expected developmental progression of children's social adaptive behavior, but does not appear to alter practical and conceptual domains

Attachment Security in Infancy: A Preliminary Study of Prospective Links to Brain Morphometry in Late Childhood

A large body of longitudinal research provides compelling evidence for the critical role of early attachment relationships in children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development. It is expected that parent–child attachment relationships may also impact children’s brain development, however, studies linking normative caregiving experiences and brain structure are scarce. To our knowledge, no study has yet examined the associations between the quality of parent–infant attachment relationships and brain morphology during childhood. The aim of this preliminary study was to investigate the prospective links between mother–infant attachment security and whole-brain gray matter (GM) volume and thickness in late childhood. Attachment security toward the mother was assessed in 33 children when they were 15 months old. These children were then invited to undergo structural magnetic resonance imaging at 10–11 years of age. Results indicated that children more securely attached to their mother in infancy had larger GM volumes in the superior temporal sulcus and gyrus, temporo-parietal junction, and precentral gyrus in late childhood. No associations between attachment security and cortical thickness were found. If replicated, these results would suggest that a secure attachment relationship and its main features (e.g., adequate dyadic emotion regulation, competent exploration) may influence GM volume in brain regions involved in social, cognitive, and emotional functioning through experience-dependent processes

Persistent Changes in Child Behavior After Early Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

International audienceAbstract Objective To document longitudinal changes in internalizing and externalizing behavioral symptoms after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) sustained in early childhood (i.e., between 18 and 60 months of age). Methods Participants (N = 226) were recruited to one of three groups: children with mTBI, typically developing children and orthopedic injured children. The Child Behavior Checklist was used to document the presence of internalizing and externalizing behaviors at 6, 18, and 30 months postinjury. Linear mixed-model analyses were used to examine group effects on the trajectory of internalizing and externalizing behavioral manifestations over 30 months postinjury. Results Children who sustain mTBI during the preschool period have higher rates of internalizing and externalizing behavioral symptoms at the initial assessment time point and these symptoms persist up to 30 months postinjury. Moreover, results indicate that for up to 18 months postinjury, significantly more children with mTBI present behavioral difficulties that may require some form of clinical attention (i.e., scores in the borderline or clinical range), than do their orthopedically injured and noninjured peers. Conclusions Sustaining mTBI early in life may lead to long-lasting behavioral changes in young children (i.e., at least 30 months). These changes are likely the product of a complex interplay between neurological and non-neurological factors, both contributing to generating and maintaining behavioral difficulties