Default Mode Network Maturation and Environmental Adversities DuringChildhood

摘要

Default mode network (DMN) plays a central role in cognition and brain disorders.It has been shown that adverse environmental conditions impact neurodevelopment,but how these conditions impact in DMN maturation is still poorly understood.This article reviews representative neuroimaging functional studies addressingthe interactions between DMN development and environmental factors, focusing onearly life adversities, a critical period for brain changes. Studies focused onthis period of life offer a special challenge: to disentangle theneurodevelopmental connectivity changes from those related to environmentalconditions. We first summarized the literature on DMN maturation, providing anoverview of both typical and atypical development patterns in childhood andearly adolescence. Afterward, we focused on DMN changes associated with chronicexposure to environmental adversities during childhood. This summary suggeststhat changes in DMN development could be a potential allostatic neural featureassociated with an embodiment of environmental circumstances. Finally, wediscuss about some key methodological issues that should be considered inparadigms addressing environmental adversities and open questions for futureinvestigations.