Researchers report that brain development patterns seen in childhood were linked to depression and anxiety symptoms in adolescence, years before those symptoms may appear.
The analysis used nearly 30,000 brain scans collected over six years. The children were scanned about every two years, starting at age nine. Sensory brain areas appeared to mature earlier, around age 13.
Frontal areas involved in attention, planning and managing emotions matured later, around age 16. Children with a thicker outer layer in sensory brain areas at age nine were more likely to report anxiety or depression by age 13. The team also found that brain areas linked to later symptoms overlapped with areas associated with gene activity during prenatal development.
This finding points to a possible early biological contribution, but it does not prove that those brain patterns caused later symptoms. Researchers stressed that these associations were found across groups of people, not as a way to diagnose or predict an individual child’s future mental health. The findings may help scientists study when risk develops.
More research is needed before these patterns can guide clinical care.