Abstract
Background
Growing work points to the negative impact of early adverse experiences on the developing
brain. An outstanding question concerns the extent to which early intervention can
normalize trajectories of brain development in at-risk children. We tested this within
the context of a randomized clinical trial of an early parenting program, the Attachment
and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC), delivered to parents and infants monitored for maltreatment
by Child Protective Services.
Methods
Families participated in the randomized clinical trial when children were 2.5 years
of age or younger. Parenting and home adversity was measured at baseline. Children
were followed longitudinally, and resting brain activity was measured electrophysiologically
(n = 106) when children reached 8 years of age. Spectral power was quantified and compared
across children assigned to the experimental intervention (ABC), a control intervention,
and a low-risk comparison group (n = 76) recruited at the follow-up assessment.
Results
Higher early home adversity was associated with electrophysiological profiles indicative
of cortical delays/immaturity in middle childhood, based on relatively greater power
in lower frequency bands (theta, 4–6 Hz, and low alpha, 6–9 Hz) and lower power in
a higher frequency band (high alpha, 9–12 Hz). Children assigned to ABC showed relatively
greater high-frequency power (beta, 12–20 Hz) than children assigned to the control
intervention. Beta power in the ABC did not differ from that of the low-risk comparison
group.
Conclusions
Maltreatment risk and home adversity can affect indicators of middle childhood brain
maturation. Early parenting programs can support more normative patterns of neural
function during middle childhood.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
PDF Download and 24 Hours Online AccessSubscribe:
Subscribe to Biological PsychiatryAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Trajectories of brain development: Point of vulnerability or window of opportunity?.Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2003; 27: 3-18
- Widespread reductions in cortical thickness following severe early-life deprivation: A neurodevelopmental pathway to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.Biol Psychiatry. 2014; 76: 629-638
- Local brain functional activity following early deprivation: A study of postinstitutionalized Romanian orphans.NeuroImage. 2001; 14: 1290-1301
- A preliminary study of medial temporal lobe function in youths with a history of caregiver deprivation and emotional neglect.Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2010; 10: 34-49
- Variation in neural development as a result of exposure to institutionalization early in childhood.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012; 109: 12927-12932
- Elevated amygdala response to faces following early deprivation.Dev Sci. 2011; 14: 190-204
- Prolonged institutional rearing is associated with atypically large amygdala volume and difficulties in emotion regulation.Dev Sci. 2010; 13: 46-61
- Early developmental emergence of human amygdala-prefrontal connectivity after maternal deprivation.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013; 110: 15638-15643
- Effect of early institutionalization and foster care on long-term white matter development: A randomized clinical trial.JAMA Pediatr. 2015; 169: 211-219
- Altered water diffusivity in cortical association tracts in children with early deprivation identified with tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS).Cereb Cortex. 2010; 20: 561-569
- Abnormal brain connectivity in children after early severe socioemotional deprivation: A diffusion tensor imaging study.Pediatrics. 2006; 117: 2093-2100
- Neuroimaging of child abuse: A critical review.Front Hum Neurosci. 2012; 6: 52
- The impact of childhood maltreatment: A review of neurobiological and genetic factors.Front Psychiatry. 2011; 2: 48
- Designing research to study the effects of institutionalization on brain and behavioral development: The Bucharest Early Intervention Project.Dev Psychopathol. 2003; 15: 885-907
- Romania’s Abandoned Children: Deprivation, Brain Development and the Struggle for Recovery.Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA2014
- Normalization of EEG activity among previously institutionalized children placed into foster care: A 12-year follow-up of the Bucharest Early Intervention Project.Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2016; 17: 68-75
- Timing of intervention affects brain electrical activity in children exposed to severe psychosocial neglect.PLoS One. 2010; 5: e11415
- Early psychosocial neglect adversely impacts developmental trajectories of brain oscillations and their interactions.J Cogn Neurosci. 2015; 27: 2512-2528
- Using behavioral and electrophysiological measures to assess the effects of a preventive intervention: A preliminary study with preschool-aged foster children.Prev Sci. 2009; 10: 129-140
- Child Maltreatment, 2015.U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC2017
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (2010): CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-320), § 5101, Note (§ 3).
- The effectiveness of an attachment-based intervention in promoting foster mothers’ sensitivity toward foster infants.Infant Ment Health J. 2013; 34: 95-103
- Effects of the ABC intervention on foster children’s receptive vocabulary: Follow-up results from a randomized clinical trial.Child Maltreat. 2017; 22: 174-179
- Enhancing attachment organization among maltreated children: Results of a randomized clinical trial.Child Dev. 2012; 83: 623-636
- Intervening to enhance cortisol regulation among children at risk for neglect: Results of a randomized clinical trial.Dev Psychopathol. 2015; 27: 829-841
- Toward a quantitative description of large-scale neocortical dynamic function and EEG.Behav Brain Sci. 2000; 23: 371-398
- Growth spurts in brain maturation during middle childhood as indexed by EEG power spectra.Biol Psychol. 1997; 44: 187-209
- Development of the EEG from 5 months to 4 years of age.Clin Neurophysiol. 2002; 113: 1199-1208
- Changes in brain functioning from infancy to early childhood: Evidence from EEG power and coherence during working memory tasks.Dev Neuropsychol. 2007; 31: 21-38
- Development of the EEG of school-age children and adolescents: I. Analysis of band power.Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1988; 69: 91-99
- EEG development of healthy boys and girls: Results of a longitudinal study.Clin Neurophysiol. 1984; 57: 1-12
- The developmental EEG: Premature, neonatal, infant, and children.in: St. Louis E. Frey L.C. Electroencephalography (EEG): An Introductory Text and Atlas of Normal and Abnormal Findings in Adults, Children and Infants. American Epilepsy Society, Chicago2016 (Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK390356/)
- Atlas of Pediatric Encephalography.Raven, New York1982
- The development of the electroencephalogram in normal children from the age of 1 through 15 years.Neuropädiatrie. 1971; 2: 247-304
- Delayed maturation in brain electrical activity partially explains the association between early environmental deprivation and symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.Biol Psychiatry. 2010; 68: 329-336
- EEG alpha power and intelligence.Intelligence. 2002; 30: 289-302
- EEG analysis in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A comparative study of two subtypes.Psychiatry Res. 1998; 81: 19-29
- The role of quantitative electroencephalography in child and adolescent psychiatric disorders.Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2005; 14: 21-53
- A review of electrophysiology in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: I. Qualitative and quantitative electroencephalography.Clin Neurophysiol. 2003; 114: 171-183
- EEG coherence and symptom profiles of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.Clin Neurophysiol. 2011; 122: 1327-1332
- Developmental equations for the electroencephalogram.Science. 1980; 210: 1255-1258
- Intervention effects on negative affect of CPS-referred children: Results of a randomized clinical trial.Child Abuse Negl. 2014; 38: 1459-1467
- Home environment and cognitive development in the first 3 years of life: A collaborative study involving six sites and three ethnic groups in North America.Dev Psychol. 1989; 25: 217-235
- Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment.University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock1984
- The Abecedarian approach to social competence: Cognitive and linguistic intervention for disadvantaged preschoolers.in: Borman K. The Social Life of Children in a Changing Society. Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ1982: 145-174
- The plasticity of intellectual development: Insights from preventive intervention.Child Dev. 1984; 55: 1913-1925
- EEG Technology.Butterworths, London1969
- Guidelines for the recording and quantitative analysis of electroencephalographic activity in research contexts.Psychophysiology. 1993; 30: 547-558
- BEAPP: The Batch Electroencephalography Automated Processing Platform.Front Neurosci. 2018; 12: 513
- The Harvard Automated Processing Pipeline for Electroencephalography (HAPPE): Standardized processing software for developmental and high-artifact data.Front Neurosci. 2018; 12: 97
- Frontal brain asymmetry, childhood maltreatment, and low-grade inflammation at midlife.Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2017; 75: 152-163
- Age and sex effects in the EEG: Development of the normal child.Clin Neurophysiol. 2001; 112: 806-814
- Poverty, cultural disadvantage and brain development: A study of pre-school children in Mexico.Clin Neurophysiol. 1997; 102: 512-516
- EEG development in children with sociocultural disadvantages: A follow-up study.Clin Neurophysiol. 2003; 114: 1918-1925
- Cortical thickness, surface area, and gyrification abnormalities in children exposed to maltreatment: Neural markers of vulnerability?.Biol Psychiatry. 2013; 74: 845-852
- Physical neglect during childhood alters white matter connectivity in healthy young males.Hum Brain Mapp. 2018; 39: 1283-1290
- Experience and brain development.Child Dev. 1987; 58: 539-559
- Beta-band oscillations—Signalling the status quo?.Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2010; 20: 156-165
- Specific EEG frequencies at specific brain areas and performance.NeuroReport. 2000; 11: 2663-2668
- Task-related EEG asymmetries: A comparison of alpha blocking and beta enhancement.Int J Neurosci. 1986; 30: 81-85
- A review of brain oscillations in perception of faces and emotional pictures.Neuropsychologia. 2014; 58: 33-51
- EEG alpha activity reflects attentional demands, and beta activity reflects emotional and cognitive processes.Science. 1985; 228: 750-752
- Post-movement beta synchronization: A correlate of an idling motor area?.Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1996; 98: 281-293
- Measuring home environments across cultures: Invariance of the HOME scale across eight international sites from the MAL-ED study.J School Psychol. 2017; 64: 109-127
Article Info
Publication History
Published online: October 04, 2018
Accepted:
September 18,
2018
Received in revised form:
September 17,
2018
Received:
February 13,
2018
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 Society of Biological Psychiatry.
