Chronic Early Stress Impairs Default Mode Network Connectivity in Preadolescents and Their Mothers.
Maor Zeev-Wolf, Jonathan Levy, Abraham Goldstein, Orna Zagoory-Sharon, Ruth Feldman
Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging January 2019 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2018.09.009 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort (longitudinal follow-up with magnetoencephalography) Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 161 |
| Population | War-exposed preadolescent children aged 11-13 and their mothers, followed from early childhood (children: 39 exposed/36 control; mothers: 44 exposed/42 control) |
| Duration | Followed from early childhood to preadolescence (ages 11-13) |
| Measures | Magnetoencephalography (MEG) resting-state default mode network connectivity and power |
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Keywords | Cortisol Early life stress Meg Magnetoencephalography Mother-child interactions Neural oscillations |
| Key findings | Early life stress was associated with reduced default mode network connectivity in both mothers (alpha band) and children (theta band). Maternal early-childhood anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic symptoms predicted lower maternal connectivity, while intrusive, anxious, and uncontained parenting and greater late-childhood cortisol predicted reduced child connectivity, with greater impairment in children with PTSD. The authors argue that impaired DMN coherence is one pathway for the lifelong effects of early stress. |
Abstract
Early life stress (ELS) bears long-term negative consequences throughout life. Yet ELS effect is mostly unknown, and no study has followed children to test its impact on the default mode network (DMN) in relation to maternal behavior across childhood. Focusing on brain oscillations, we utilized a unique cohort of war-exposed preadolescent children (11-13 years of age) and their mothers followed from early childhood to examine the effects of ELS combined with observed parenting on DMN connectivity and power in mother and child. Participants included 161 mothers and children (children: 39 exposed/36 control subjects; mothers: 44 exposed/42 control subjects) who underwent magnetoencephalography scanning during rest. Stress exposure reduced DMN connectivity in mother and child; however, in mothers, the impaired connectivity occurred in the alpha band, whereas among children it occurred in the theta band, a biomarker of the developing brain. Maternal anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic symptoms in early childhood predicted lower maternal DMN connectivity. Among children, the experience of intrusive, anxious, and uncontained parenting across the first decade and greater cortisol production in late childhood predicted reduced DMN connectivity in preadolescence. Impairments to theta DMN connectivity increased in children with posttraumatic stress disorder. Findings indicate that ELS disrupts the synchronous coordination of distinct brain areas into coherent functioning of the DMN network, a core network implicated in self-relevant processes. Results suggest that one pathway for the lifelong effects of ELS on psychopathology and physical illness relate to impaired coherence of the DMN and its role in maintaining quiescence, alternating internal and external attention, and supporting the sense of self.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on default mode network, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| A default mode of brain function Normal adult human brain | 2001 | Observational study | |
| Resting-State Functional Connectivity Reflects Structural Connectivity in the Default Mode Network Healthy subjects | 2008 | Observational cohort | |
| Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Participants with extensive Insight meditation experience and matched controls | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 20 |
| Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Experienced meditators and matched meditation-naive controls | 2011 | Observational cohort | |
| The precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex plays a pivotal role in the default mode network: Evidence from a partial correlation network analysis Healthy subjects | 2008 | Observational study |
Citations in the library
Cited by 5
- Neuroinflammation and neuroprogression in depression: Effects of alternative drug treatments Brain, Behavior, & Immunity - Health November 7, 2022
- Posterior cingulate cortex downregulation training using fMRI neurofeedback in adolescents with early life adversity exposure: a randomized, single-blind trial. Translational Psychiatry July 13, 2025
- Mediodorsal thalamus and ventral pallidum contribute to subcortical regulation of the default mode network Communications Biology July 23, 2024
- Altered longitudinal trajectory of default mode network connectivity in healthy youth with subclinical depressive and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience February 17, 2023
- Mediating role of the default mode network on parental acceptance/warmth and psychopathology in youth Brain Imaging and Behavior October 1, 2022
Cites 6
- The Brain's Default Mode Network Annual Review of Neuroscience May 4, 2015
- Default Mode Network Activity and Connectivity in Psychopathology Annual Review of Clinical Psychology March 29, 2012
- The default mode network and social understanding of others: what do brain connectivity studies tell us Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2014
- Income change alters default mode network connectivity for adolescents in poverty Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience January 31, 2018
- ALTERED DEFAULT MODE NETWORK (DMN) RESTING STATE FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY FOLLOWING A MINDFULNESS-BASED EXPOSURE THERAPY FOR POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD) IN COMBAT VETERANS OF AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ. Depression and Anxiety April 1, 2016
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