The influence of stressful life events on trajectories of brain development and psychopathological symptoms in adolescence

青春期，从青春期到青春期，标志着对压力巨大的生活事件的极易受到伤害的阶段。如今，青少年面临着更高的压力水平，因为教育环境中的工作量更大，青春期的延长与更多样化和不确定的人生道路有关。紧张的生活事件可能会导致身体上的变化，以及社会和学术发展任务。青春期是大脑发育的关键阶段：虽然自下而上的皮质下情绪区域相对成熟，但自上而下的控制区仍在继续发展。正如之前的研究所表明的那样，成年人的这些区域最容易受到压力。因此，他们在青春期的敏感发育可能会受到压力的干扰。到目前为止，关于压力生活事件对青春期大脑发育的影响还知之甚少。研究这种影响很重要，因为压力的潜在后果是焦虑症和抑郁症，它们在青春期达到顶峰。该项目的第一个目标是阐明应激生活事件对青春期大脑发育的影响，并确定与精神病理风险相关的发育轨迹。第二个目标是探索特定的大脑发育轨迹是否可能与表现出抑郁和焦虑症状的可能性更大相关。计划中的纵向项目的一个主要优势是，磁共振成像数据已经在3个时间点(14、16、18岁)进行了评估，应激性生活事件在5个时间点(14、15、16、17和18岁)进行了评估。初步结果显示，从14岁到16岁，前额叶皮质的激活程度有所增加。我们的相关出版物表明，有抑郁症家族史的14岁青少年的脆弱性反映在杏仁核的激活程度较高。对大样本(n=250)的纵向评估将是方法上的创新，即在19.5岁和21岁时用磁共振成像(MRI)重复测量参与者的大脑活动、结构和连接性。丰富的数据集将首次能够分析与应激生活事件相关的大脑功能、结构和连接性的发展轨迹。为此，将采用复杂结构方程模型。这个项目的结果将有助于了解应激性生活事件对青春期大脑发育和精神病理症状的影响。该项目将为认识和及早诊断青春期脆弱阶段的风险因素奠定基础，以支持预防和干预。

Adolescence, reaching from puberty until young adulthood, marks a phase of substantial vulnerability to stressful life events. Nowadays adolescents face higher stress levels due to higher workload in educational environments, and a prolonged phase of adolescence related with more diverse and uncertain life paths. Stressful life events can entail physical changes, as well as social and academic developmental tasks. Adolescence is a critical phase of brain development: while bottom-up subcortical emotion regions are relatively mature, top-down control regions continue to develop. As has been shown in previous studies these regions are most vulnerable to stress in adults. Therefore, their sensitive development in adolescence can be disturbed by stress. Little is known about the impact of stressful life events on brain development during adolescence yet. Investigating this impact is important since potential consequences of stress are anxiety disorders and depression which peak in adolescence. The first aim of the project is to elucidate effects of stressful life events on brain development across adolescence and identify developmental trajectories associated with the risk of psychopathology. The second aim is to explore whether specific developmental brain trajectories might be associated with greater likelihood of exhibiting symptoms of depression and anxiety. A major advantage for the planned longitudinal project is that magnetic resonance imaging data was already assessed at 3 time points (14, 16, 18 years), and stressful life events were assessed at 5 time points (14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 years). Preliminary results show an increase in activation of the prefrontal cortex from age 14 to 16. Our related publication indicates vulnerability for 14-year-old adolescents with a positive family history of depression reflected in higher amygdala activation.The longitudinal assessment of a large sample (n=250) will be methodologically innovative, i.e. repeated measurements of participants' brain activity, structure and connectivity with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at ages 19.5, and 21. The rich data set will enable for the first time analysis of developmental trajectories of brain function, structure, and connectivity in relation to stressful life events. For this purpose complex structural equation models will be employed. The results of this project will contribute to the knowledge about the impact of stressful life events on brain development and psychopathological symptoms in adolescence. The project will lay the groundwork for awareness and early diagnosis of risk-factors in the vulnerable phase of adolescence to support prevention and intervention.