Abstract
Population neuroscience is an emerging field of research defined by the intersection of neuroscience with epidemiology. In this chapter, we review large-scale developmental studies conducted in clinical, longitudinal high risk, and typically developing cohorts with neuroimaging. We point out the advantages offered by developmental and neuroimaging research when conducted in epidemiological settings such as better control for confounding and the possibility to enhance generalizability. We discuss the advances in the field that we attribute to population neuroscience approach, for example, the evidence for the maturational delay in ADHD and for the early onset of autistic brain changes preceding symptoms. Current population neuroimaging studies begin to explain the role of a more complex environment such as poverty and abuse, child behavior itself, genes, and their interplay in shaping the structure and function of the human brain. We conclude that the question of how different environmental and genetic factors shape the brain and how the brain predicts child psychiatric behavior can only be addressed in large population-based studies with repeated imaging and behavior assessments using a population neuroscience approach.
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References
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Tiemeier, H., Muetzel, R. (2020). Population Neuroscience. In: Taylor, E., Verhulst, F., Wong, J., Yoshida, K., Nikapota, A. (eds) Mental Health and Illness of Children and Adolescents. Mental Health and Illness Worldwide. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0753-8_12-1
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