Growth in early infancy drives optimal brain functional connectivity which predicts cognitive flexibility in later childhood.

ABSTRACT: Functional brain network organization, measured by functional connectivity (FC), reflects key neurodevelopmental processes for healthy development. Early exposure to adversity, e.g. undernutrition, affects neurodevelopment, observable via disrupted FC, and leads to poorer outcomes from preschool age onward. We assessed longitudinally the impact of early growth trajectories on developmental FC in a rural Gambian population from age 5 to 24 months. To investigate how these early trajectories relate to later childhood outcomes, we assessed cognitive flexibility at 3-5 years. We observed that early physical growth before the fifth month of life drove optimal developmental trajectories of FC that in turn predicted cognitive flexibility at pre-school age. In contrast to previously studied develo

SUBMITTER: Bulgarelli C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10802370 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature