# The Development of Individual Differences in Adolescent Brain Structure and Risk

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 2024 · $730,004

## Abstract

Abstract
 Individual differences in brain structure, including cortical morphology and the white matter
connectome are associated with risk for psychiatric disorders. The first year of life is a period of
rapid and dynamic structural and functional brain development and new data from our cohort
suggests that a large portion of individual differences in brain structure in 10 and 12 year olds is
already present in the first year or two of life. Early adolescence and puberty is the second major
period of postnatal brain development, characterized by dynamic structural and functional brain
maturation and reorganization, and emerging risk for psychiatric disorders, though it is not known
how this period of development contributes to individual differences in brain structure and risk.
The UNC Early Brain Development Study is a unique and innovative longitudinal study that has
followed children, enrolled prenatally, with imaging and cognitive/behavioral assessments at birth,
1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 years. 482 children from this cohort are now reaching adolescence, and we
propose to follow these children at 12, 14 and 16 years of age. MRIs, including structural, diffusion
tensor, and resting state functional imaging, will be performed. Cognitive and behavioral
development will be assessed, with a focus on the phenotypes of executive function, attention,
and anxiety, consistent with RDoC constructs important for psychiatric disorder risk. We will
determine how adolescent brain development contributes to individual differences in relation to
early childhood development and whether the white matter connectome is a useful early imaging
biomarker. Knowledge gained in this study will improve our basic understanding of human brain
development, and ultimately inform early intervention strategies that prevent or mitigate risk and
illness severity.
Relevance
New knowledge gained in this study will provide a dramatically improved framework for
understanding childhood brain development and its relationship to cognitive and behavioral
outcomes in adolescence, and to risk for subsequent psychiatric disorders.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10815817
- **Project number:** 5R01MH123747-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **Principal Investigator:** JOHN Horace GILMORE
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $730,004
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-04-01 → 2026-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10815817

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10815817, The Development of Individual Differences in Adolescent Brain Structure and Risk (5R01MH123747-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10815817. Licensed CC0.

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