Understanding the development of neural abnormalities in adolescents with mental health problems: a longitudinal study

Many mental health problems are neurodevelopmental in nature and have an onset during childhood. Mental health disorders are associated with neural abnormalities, but it is unclear when those emerge and how this relates to the development of different mental health problems. We used data from the largest longitudinal neurodevelopmental study to identify the structural and functional brain changes that co-occur with the onset of six mental health problems. The results showed premorbid brain-wide abnormalities that were comparable between internalizing and different from externalizing problems, and differential neurodevelopmental trajectories for specific brain regions in 11- to 12-year-old adolescents who developed ADHD, conduct, depressive and oppositional defiant problems. These results reveal that the onset of different mental health problems co-occur with common as well as problem-specific brain abnormalities.