Biology subjects

Antonacci, C.

Publications and source records attributed to Antonacci, C..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Prenatal exposure to PFAS and multimodal structural brain development across childhood

BackgroundPer- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are ubiquitous environmental pollutants that are posited to be neurotoxic to the developing brain; however, the impact of prenatal exposure to PFAS -- particularly to newer, short-chain PFAS -- on brain development across childhood is unclear. MethodsConcentrations of 9 PFAS were quantified in cord blood plasma of 459 infants who later participated in structural and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at ages 4.5, 6, 7.5, and 10.5 years, providing estimates of regional cortical thickness and surface area, subcortical volumes, and fractional anisotropy (FA) of key white matter tracts. Longitudinal mixed effect models estimated associations of PFAS with age 4.5 brain metrics and their developmental trajectories across childhood. ResultsHigher concentrations of long-chain PFAS (PFNA, PFHxS, PFDA) in cord blood were associated with lower surface area of the right paracentral lobule at age 4.5. PFHpA was associated with faster surface area growth in the left rostral anterior cingulate and slower growth in the right caudal middle frontal gyrus from 4.5 to 10.5 years. The short-chain compound PFBS was linked with greater FA in 17 of 27 white matter tracts at 4.5 years; those associations attenuated with age. Finally, PFOA was associated with lower FA in 6 tracts at 4.5 years. ConclusionsPrenatal exposure to PFAS was associated with altered development of frontal and paracentral regions and of white matter microstructure. These findings highlight the need for further research examining the long-term effects of prenatal exposure to PFAS on childrens neurodevelopment.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2026

Area-level context and functional brain organization across the lifespan

The neighborhoods children grow up in are associated with cognitive and mental health outcomes across the lifespan. Yet how neighborhood-level factors are quantified, and how they relate to large-scale functional brain connectivity, remains an emerging area of investigation. This scoping review synthesizes empirical evidence on associations between area-level factors and resting-state functional brain connectivity and network organization. We included studies assessing resting-state fMRI functional connectivity or rs-fMRI-derived intrinsic activity in relation to validated area-level deprivation indices guided by Trinidad et al.s (2022) inventory, the Opportunity Atlas, or geocoded crime exposure from the Uniform Crime Reporting program. Of the 28 studies meeting inclusion criteria, the evidence base was unevenly distributed across the lifespan; 25 of 28 (89.3%) examined perinatal, childhood, or adolescent samples, while only one examined adults exclusively. The literature was also methodologically non-independent, over half drew on the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, and the Area Deprivation Index was the most commonly used measure (k = 16, 57.1%). Therefore, apparent convergence partly reflects shared data and instruments rather than independent replication. Where directions could be compared, higher area-level disadvantage was associated predominantly with lower within-network connectivity in association and control systems and higher connectivity in somatomotor systems, with several findings attenuating once area-level exposure was isolated from household socioeconomic status. Geographic resolution varied but was rarely justified. Progress will require greater theoretical intentionality in selecting area-level measures, transparent justification of geographic resolution, treatment of dataset and measure non-independence, and investment in understudied developmental periods and non-US contexts.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2026

Early Adversity Selectively Reshapes the Somato-Cognitive Action Network in the Developing Brain

Early adversity is among the most potent environmental influences on the developing brain; yet whether it remodels the areal layout of cortical networks, and along which dimensions, is unknown. In a longitudinal sample of 4,525 youth aged 9-18, we derived individualized cortical parcellations and related the topography of 15 networks to 10 data-driven dimensions of adversity. Greater exposure to threat, but not deprivation or unpredictability, predicted dose-dependent expansion of the somato-cognitive action network (SCAN), an effect nearly seven times larger than for any other network. The SCAN expanded toward the sensorimotor pole, encroached on neighbors, and shifted functional connectivity toward sensorimotor and away from control systems. Expansion mediated the association between threat and poorer cognition, replicating across waves, within children, and out-of-sample. Rather than diffusing across many systems, the imprint of adversity on the developing cortex converges on the territory of a single integrative network that couples brain to body.

neuroscience↗