Adolescent White Matter Maturation Mediates Epigenetic Associations With Cognitive Development.

ABSTRACT: One hallmark of brain maturation in adolescence is increased myelination (fractional anisotropy [FA]) of the axons, although the epigenetic drivers of this stage of neurodevelopment are as yet poorly understood. Our previous study of a longitudinal cohort of normally developing adolescents, aged nine to fourteen, established the connections between changes in DNA methylation (DNAm) at seven cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) sites in genes highly expressed in the brain to grey matter maturation as well as cognitive improvement. Continuing that work, we investigate the relationships between the changes in DNAm of these genes (GRIN2D, GABRB3, KCNC1, SLC12A9, CHD5, STXBP5, and NFASC), four networks of FA change, and scores from seven cognitive tests. The demethylation of the CpGs over time was

SUBMITTER: Jensen D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12639353 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature