Biology subjects

Serio, B.

Publications and source records attributed to Serio, B..

7 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Distinct spatial associations of adversity with hippocampal macro- and microstructure in early adolescence

Youth adversity has been associated with alterations in hippocampal structure; however, it remains unclear whether different forms of adversity relate distinctly to its organization across the anterior-posterior and proximal-distal axes. Here, we investigated the associations of different types of adversity with multiple structural properties of the hippocampus in 5,263 early adolescents from the ABCD Study. Hippocampal macrostructure was characterized using volume, thickness, and gyrification, whereas T1w/T2w ratio served as an in vivo proxy for microstructure. Adversity was assessed at the family level using questionnaires on family environment and parenting, and at the socioeconomic level using income-to-needs ratio and neighborhood disadvantage measured by the Area Deprivation Index. Associations were examined for each adversity type separately in multi-variate analyses and for cumulative adversity exposure in univariate models. Hippocampal features were obtained using HippUnfold, an advanced automatic segmentation approach that accounts for interindividual folding variability, and were analyzed globally as well as across the hippocampal anterior-posterior and proximal-distal axes. Socioeconomic measures showed widespread associations with hippocampal macrostructure across the whole hippocampus and both anatomical axes, whereas associations with T1w/T2w ratio were limited and observed only for neighborhood disadvantage along the anterior-posterior axis. Cumulative adversity exposure was consistently associated with alterations in CA1 and subiculum across volume, thickness, and gyrification, but not T1w/T2w ratio. Together, these findings suggest that different types of adversity exhibit distinct spatial associations across complementary hippocampal macro- and microstructural features, highlighting regional variation in the susceptibility of the developing hippocampus to environmental adversity.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2026

Sex-related structural alterations across common epilepsies: a worldwide ENIGMA study

Epilepsy is characterized by widespread structural brain alterations extending beyond the epileptic zone, involving both cortical and subcortical regions. Importantly, the clinical manifestation of epilepsy, including seizure types, psychiatric comorbidities, and treatment responses, has been shown to differ between sexes. However, sex differences in structural alterations in epilepsy have been seldomly reported in neuroimaging studies, partly due to limited sample sizes and single-center designs. Here, we systematically investigated sex differences in common epilepsies and their related clinical variables using structural neuroimaging biomarkers in an international multi-center cohort of 1,253 epilepsy patients and 1,077 healthy controls. We studied cortical thickness and subcortical volume in two types of epilepsy: temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and genetic generalized epilepsy (GGE). Both male and female patients with TLE showed widespread cortical and subcortical thinning compared with controls. In GGE, when compared separately to controls, male patients showed only subtle structural alterations, whereas female patients exhibited more widespread structural alterations. Sex-stratified analyses revealed some variation in the extent and distribution of cortical thickness and subcortical volume alterations between male and female patients in both epilepsy cohorts. Yet, we did not find significant sex-by-diagnosis interaction effects in TLE and GGE. Similarly, no significant interaction effects were observed between sex and age of onset or disease duration in either patient group. Overall, although we observed some differences in regional cortical thickness and subcortical volume between male and female patients with epilepsy, we did not find significant sex-by-diagnosis interactions. Our findings indicate that sex differences in behavioral and clinical outcomes of epilepsy may involve biological or functional processes that require further investigation.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2026

Individual differences reveal distinct age and pubertal contributions to the refinement of the functional cortical hierarchy during adolescence

The development of the functional cortical hierarchy, spanning sensorimotor to association systems, is exclusively studied as a function of age. During adolescence, this overlooks puberty as a major neurodevelopmental driver and source of variability. We studied sensorimotor-association axis refinement longitudinally (6323 observations across 4919 subjects), leveraging individual differences to disentangle chronological age from pubertal effects. We derived low dimensional features of sensorimotor-association axis development from resting-state functional connectomes, revealing substantial inter-individual heterogeneity in maturational trajectories that challenge group-level developmental trends and milestones. Then, we demonstrate independent effects of age and pubertal stage on sensorimotor-association axis refinement through the polarization of the cortical hierarchy. We further show that coordinated system-level shifts in network topology reflect an ongoing specialization of functional connectivity profiles across all major functional networks. Our findings frame adolescent hierarchical functional cortical maturation as an individualized, multifactorial phenomenon shaped by distinct chronological age and pubertal processes.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

Exploring sex-specific neuroendocrine influences on the sensorimotor-association axis in single individuals

Human neuroimaging studies consistently show multimodal patterns of variability along a key principle of macroscale cortical organization - the sensorimotor-association (S-A) axis. However, little is known about day-to-day fluctuations in functional activity along this axis within an individual, including sex-specific neuroendocrine factors contributing to such transient changes. We leveraged data from two densely sampled healthy young adults, one female and one male, to investigate intra-individual daily variability along the S-A axis, which we computed as our measure of functional cortical organization by reducing the dimensionality of functional connectivity matrices. Daily variability was greatest in temporal limbic and ventral prefrontal regions in both participants, and was more strongly pronounced in the male subject. Next, we probed local and system-level effects of steroid hormones and self-reported perceived stress on functional organization. Our findings revealed modest effects that differed between participants, hinting at subtle -potentially sex-specific- associations between neuroendocrine fluctuations and intra-individual variability along the S-A axis. In sum, our study points to neuroendocrine factors as possible modulators of intra-individual variability in functional brain organization, highlighting the need for further research in larger samples.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2023

Sex differences in intrinsic functional cortical organization reflect differences in network topology rather than cortical morphometry

Brain size robustly differs between sexes. However, the consequences of this anatomical dimorphism on sex differences in intrinsic brain function remain unclear. We investigated the extent to which sex differences in intrinsic cortical functional organization may be explained by differences in cortical morphometry, namely brain size, microstructure, and the geodesic distances of connectivity profiles. For this, we computed a low dimensional representation of functional cortical organization, the sensory-association axis, and identified widespread sex differences. Contrary to our expectations, observed sex differences in functional organization were not fundamentally associated with differences in brain size, microstructural organization, or geodesic distances, despite these morphometric properties being per se associated with functional organization and differing between sexes. Instead, functional sex differences in the sensory-association axis were associated with differences in functional connectivity profiles and network topology. Collectively, our findings suggest that sex differences in functional cortical organization extend beyond sex differences in cortical morphometry. TeaserInvestigating sex differences in functional cortical organization and their association to differences in cortical morphometry.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

A Multidimensional Approach to Understanding the Emergence of Sex Differences in Internalizing Symptoms in Adolescence

Women are more vulnerable to internalizing disorders (e.g., depression and anxiety). This study took an integrative, developmental approach to investigate multidimensional factors associated with the emergence of sex differences in internalizing symptoms, using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. Indices of sex hormone levels (dehydroepiandrosterone, testosterone, and estradiol), physical pubertal development, task-based functional brain activity, family conflict, and internalizing symptoms were drawn from the ABCD studys baseline sample (9-to 10-year-old; N = 11,844). Principal component analysis served as a data-driven dimensionality reduction technique on the internalizing subscales to yield a single robust measure of internalizing symptoms. Moderated mediation analyses assessed whether associations between known risk factors and internalizing symptoms vary by sex. Results revealed direct and indirect effects of physical pubertal development on internalizing symptoms through family conflict across sexes. No effects were found of sex hormone levels or amygdala response to fearful faces on internalizing symptoms. Females did not report overall greater internalizing symptoms relative to males, suggesting that internalizing symptoms have not yet begun to increase in females at this age. Findings provide an essential baseline for future longitudinal research on the endocrine, neurocognitive, and psychosocial factors associated with sex differences in internalizing symptoms.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Longitudinal 7T MRI reveals volumetric changes in subregions of human medial temporal lobe to sex hormone fluctuations

The hippocampus and surrounding medial temporal lobe (MTL) are critical for memory processes, with local atrophy linked to memory deficits. Animal work shows that MTL subregions densely express sex hormone receptors and exhibit rapid structural changes synchronized with hormone fluctuations. Such transient effects in humans have thus far not been shown. By combining a dense-sampling protocol, ultra-high field neuroimaging and individually-derived segmentation analysis, we demonstrate how estradiol and progesterone fluctuations affect MTL subregion volumes across the human menstrual cycle. Twenty-seven healthy women (19-34 years) underwent 7T MRI at six timepoints to acquire T1-weighted and T2-weighted images. Linear mixed-effects modeling showed positive associations between estradiol and parahippocampal cortex volume, progesterone and subiculum and perirhinal Area 35 volumes, and an estradiol*progesterone interaction with CA1 volume. We confirmed volumetric changes were not driven by hormone-related water (cerebral spinal fluid) or blood-flow (pulsed arterial spin labeling) changes. These findings suggest that sex hormones alter structural brain plasticity in subregions that are differentially sensitive to hormones. Mapping how endogenous endocrine factors shape adult brain structure has critical implications for womens health during the reproductive years as well as later in life, such as increased dementia risk following perimenopause, a period of pronounced sex hormone fluctuations.

neuroscience↗