Developmental refinement of cortical systems for speech and voice processing

Development typically leads to optimized and adaptive neural mechanisms for the processing of voice and speech. In this fMRI study we investigated how this adaptive processing reaches its mature efficiency by examining the effects of task, age and phonological skills on cortical responses to voice and speech in children (8-9years), adolescents (14-15years) and adults. Participants listened to vowels (/a/, /i/, /u/) spoken by different speakers (boy, girl, man) and performed delayed-match-to-sample tasks on vowel and speaker identity. Across age groups, similar behavioral accuracy and comparable sound evoked auditory cortical fMRI responses were observed. Analysis of task-related modulations indicated a developmental enhancement of responses in the (right) superior temporal cortex during the processing of speaker information. This effect was most evident through an analysis based on individually determined voice sensitive regions. Analysis of age effects indicated that the recruitment of regions in the temporal-parietal cortex and posterior cingulate/cingulate gyrus decreased with development. Beyond age-related changes, the strength of speech-evoked activity in left posterior and right middle superior temporal regions significantly scaled with individual differences in phonological skills. Together, these findings suggest a prolonged development of the cortical functional network for speech and voice processing. This development includes a progressive refinement of the neural mechanisms for the selection and analysis of auditory information relevant to the ongoing behavioral task

Multimodal hyperscanning reveals that synchrony of body and mind are distinct in mother-child dyads

Hyperscanning studies have begun to unravel the brain mechanisms underlying social interaction, indicating a functional role for interpersonal neural synchronization (INS), yet the mechanisms that drive INS are poorly understood. The current study, thus, addresses whether INS is functionally-distinct from synchrony in other systems – specifically the autonomic nervous system and motor behavior. To test this, we used concurrent functional near-infrared spectroscopy - electrocardiography recordings, while N = 34 mother-child and stranger-child dyads engaged in cooperative and competitive tasks. Only in the neural domain was a higher synchrony for mother-child compared to stranger-child dyads observed. Further, autonomic nervous system and neural synchrony were positively related during competition but not during cooperation. These results suggest that synchrony in different behavioral and biological systems may reflect distinct processes. Furthermore, they show that increased mother-child INS is unlikely to be explained solely by shared arousal and behavioral similarities, supporting recent theories that postulate that INS is higher in close relationships

Development of behavior problems in children with and without specific learning disorders in reading and spelling from kindergarten to fifth grade

Previous studies have established the relationship between behavioral problems and specific learning disorders (SLD); however, the exact mechanism by which behavioral disorders impact SLD remains unclear. This longitudinal study used the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) to investigate how parents’ judgment of children’s behavioral problems changed from kindergarten to fifth grade in children diagnosed with or without specific learning disorders in reading and spelling (SLDrs) (N = 196). Growth component model analyses showed differential development of behavior problems between children with and without SLDrs. The groups did not differ before school entrance in externalizing behavior, internalizing behavior or any sub-scale of the CBCL. Parents reported their children with SLDrs as having higher overall levels of behavioral problems after school entrance, especially in first and fourth grade. Comorbid ADHD appears to be the explanatory factor of differential problem behavior ratings between children with and without SLDrs

Task-dependent decoding of speaker and vowel identity from auditory cortical response patterns

Selective attention to relevant sound properties is essential for everyday listening situations. It enables the formation of different perceptual representations of the same acoustic input and is at the basis of flexible and goal-dependent behavior. Here, we investigated the role of the human auditory cortex in forming behavior-dependent representations of sounds. We used single-trial fMRI and analyzed cortical responses collected while subjects listened to the same speech sounds (vowels /a/, /i/, and /u/) spoken by different speakers (boy, girl, male) and performed a delayed-match-to-sample task on either speech sound or speaker identity. Univariate analyses showed a task-specific activation increase in the right superior temporal gyrus/sulcus (STG/STS) during speaker categorization and in the right posterior temporal cortex during vowel categorization. Beyond regional differences in activation levels, multivariate classification of single trial responses demonstrated that the success with which single speakers and vowels can be decoded from auditory cortical activation patterns depends on task demands and subject's behavioral performance. Speaker/vowel classification relied on distinct but overlapping regions across the (right) mid-anterior STG/STS (speakers) and bilateral mid-posterior STG/STS (vowels), as well as the superior temporal plane including Heschl's gyrus/sulcus. The task dependency of speaker/vowel classification demonstrates that the informative fMRI response patterns reflect the top-down enhancement of behaviorally relevant sound representations. Furthermore, our findings suggest that successful selection, processing, and retention of task-relevant sound properties relies on the joint encoding of information across early and higher-order regions of the auditory cortex

Atypical interpersonal brain synchronization in children and adolescents with autism in parent-child dyads: a hyperscanning study using fNIRS

Background: Interpersonal brain synchronization has repeatedly been demonstrated during joint social tasks for healthy adults and recently also for parent-child dyads. Pioneering stu-dies have demonstrated diminished brain-to-brain synchrony in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) during such tasks. To date, no study has investigated this in children with ASD and has examined whether the familiarity of the interaction partner modulates interpersonal brain synchronization.Methods: Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning, we assessed brain-to-brain synchrony during a cooperative and a competitive computer task in 43 typical-ly developing (TD) children and 15 children with ASD (8-18 years) while playing with one of their parents. Adult strangers performed the identical tasks with each child. Participants were instructed to either respond jointly via button press in response to a target (cooperation) or to respond faster than the other player (competition). Within each dyad, wavelet coherence was calculated for corresponding channels as a measure of brain-to-brain synchrony.Results: Preliminary behavioral results showed that the dyad’s cooperative performance was neither influenced by interaction partner nor by group. During competition, the child won more often against the parent than the stranger, and children with ASD won more often against parent/stranger than TD children. On the neural level, preliminary results revealed a significant interaction of partner and group for coherence in two channels located in Brodmann areas 8 and 9: coherence in the ASD group was significantly smaller when playing with the parent compared to a stranger. No significant effect of partner was observed in the TD group.Conclusions: Data collection in both samples is ongoing. Preliminary results suggest differen-tial coherence in ASD with respect to the interaction partner’s familiarity. In a larger sample it remains to be seen, whether fNIRS hyperscanning represents a valuable tool for investigating brain-to-brain synchrony during social tasks as a proxy for typical and atypical social inter-action.gyrus, and (2) the right lateral orbitofrontal cortex and insula. Across all individuals with ASD symptomatology, we observed a significant positive correlation between lGI of cluster 1 and symptom severity in the ADI-R subscale of restricted and repetitive behaviour (r = 0.4, p < 0.05).Conclusions: Our findings imply that even though sharing similar ASD-symptomatology, the patterns of cortical folding differ between individuals with the microdeletion and those without

Supplementary Material for: Effects of Early-Life Adversity on Hippocampal Structures and Associated HPA Axis Functions

<p>Early-life adversity (ELA) is one of the major risk factors for serious mental and physical health risks later in life. ELA has been associated with dysfunctional neurodevelopment, especially in brain structures such as the hippocampus, and with dysfunction of the stress system, including the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Children who have experienced ELA are also more likely to suffer from mental health disorders such as depression later in life. The exact interplay of aberrant neurodevelopment and HPA axis dysfunction as risks for psychopathology is not yet clear. We investigated volume differences in the bilateral hippocampus and in stress-sensitive hippocampal subfields, behavior problems, and diurnal cortisol activity in 24 children who had experienced documented ELA (including out-of-home placement) in a circumscribed duration of adversity only in their first 3 years of life in comparison to data on 25 control children raised by their biological parents. Hippocampal volumes and stress-sensitive hippocampal subfields (Cornu ammonis [CA]1, CA3, and the granule-cell layer of the dentate gyrus [GCL-DG]) were significantly smaller in children who had experienced ELA, taking psychiatric diagnoses and dimensional psychopathological symptoms into account. ELA moderated the relationship between left hippocampal volume and cortisol: in the control group, hippocampal volumes were not related to diurnal cortisol, while in ELA children, a positive linear relationship between left hippocampal volume and diurnal cortisol was present. Our findings show that ELA is associated with altered development of the hippocampus, and an altered relationship between hippocampal volume and HPA axis activity in youth in care, even after they have lived in stable and caring foster family environments for years. Altered hippocampal development after ELA could thus be associated with a risk phenotype for the development of psychiatric disorders later in life.</p

Sex differences in psychiatric comorbidity and clinical presentation in youths with conduct disorder

Background: Conduct disorder (CD) rarely occurs alone but is typically accompanied by comorbid psychiatric disorders, which complicates the clinical presentation and treatment of affected youths. The aim of this study was to investigate sex differences in comorbidity pattern in CD and to systematically explore the ‘gender paradox’ and ‘delayed-onset pathway’ hypotheses of female CD. Methods: As part of the FemNAT-CD multisite study, semistructured clinical interviews and rating scales were used to perform a comprehensive phenotypic characterization of 454 girls and 295 boys with CD (9–18 years), compared to 864 sex- and age-matched typically developing controls. Results: Girls with CD exhibited higher rates of current major depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder, whereas boys with CD had higher rates of current attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. In line with the ‘gender paradox’ hypothesis, relative to boys, girls with CD showed significantly more lifetime psychiatric comorbidities (incl. Alcohol Use Disorder), which were accompanied by more severe CD symptoms. Female and male youths with CD also differed significantly in their CD symptom profiles and distribution of age-of-onset subtypes of CD (i.e. fewer girls with childhood-onset CD). In line with the ‘delayed-onset pathway’ hypothesis, girls with adolescent-onset CD showed similar levels of dimensional psychopathology like boys with childhood-onset CD, while boys with adolescent-onset CD had the lowest levels of internalizing psychopathology. Conclusions: Within the largest study of CD in girls performed to date, we found compelling evidence for sex differences in comorbidity patterns and clinical presentation of CD. Our findings further support aspects of the ‘gender paradox’ and ‘delayed-onset pathway’ hypotheses by showing that girls with CD had higher rates of comorbid lifetime mental disorders and functional impairments, and they usually developed CD during adolescence. These novel data on sex-specific clinical profiles of CD will be critical in informing intervention and prevention programmes. © 2021 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry published by John Wiley &amp; Sons Ltd on behalf of Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Healt

Investigating Sex Differences in Emotion Recognition, Learning, and Regulation Among Youths With Conduct Disorder

Objective: Conduct disorder (CD) is a serious neurodevelopmental disorder marked by notably higher prevalence rates for boys than girls. Converging evidence suggests that CD is associated with impairments in emotion recognition, learning, and regulation. However, it is not known whether there are sex differences in the relationship between CD and emotion dysfunction. Prior studies on emotion functioning in CD have so far been underpowered for investigating sex differences. Therefore, our primary aim was to characterize emotion processing skills in a large sample of girls and boys with CD compared to typically developing controls (TDCs) using a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery. Method: We included 542 youths with CD (317 girls) and 710 TDCs (479 girls), 9 to 18 years of age, from a European multisite study (FemNAT-CD). Participants completed three experimental tasks assessing emotion recognition, learning, and regulation, respectively. Data were analyzed to test for effects of group and sex, and group-by-sex interactions, while controlling for potentially confounding factors. Results: Relative to TDCs, youths with CD showed impaired emotion recognition (that was related to more physical and proactive aggression, and higher CU traits), emotional learning (specifically from punishment), and emotion regulation. Boys and girls with CD, however, displayed similar impairments in emotion processing. Conclusion: This study provides compelling evidence for a relationship between CD and deficient neurocognitive functioning across three emotional domains that have previously been linked to CD etiology. However, there was no support for sex-specific profiles of emotion dysfunction, suggesting that current neurocognitive models of CD apply equally to both sexes. © 2019 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatr