Age has a major effect on brain volume. However, the normative studies available are constrained by small sample sizes, restricted age coverage and significant methodological variability. These limitations introduce inconsistencies and may obscure or distort the lifespan trajectories of brain morphometry. In response, we capitalised on the resources of the Enhancing Neuroimaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA) Consortium to examine the age-related morphometric trajectories of the ventricles, the basal ganglia (caudate, putamen, pallidum, and nucleus accumbens), the thalamus, hippocampus and amygdala using magnetic resonance imaging data obtained from 18,605 individuals aged 3-90 years. All subcortical structure volumes were at their maximum early in life; the volume of the basal ganglia showed a gradual monotonic decline thereafter while the volumes of the thalamus, amygdala and the hippocampus remained largely stable (with some degree of decline in thalamus) until the sixth decade of life followed by a steep decline thereafter. The lateral ventricles showed a trajectory of continuous enlargement throughout the lifespan.Significant age-related increase in inter-individual variability was found for the hippocampus and amygdala and the lateral ventricles. These results were robust to potential confounders and could be used to derive risk predictions for the early identification of diverse clinical phenotypes.

Background: The error-related negativity (ERN) and the error positivity (Pe) are electrophysiological signals linked to error processing, a crucial aspect of self-monitoring and regulation. Previous research suggests different developmental trajectories for the ERN and Pe, with the ERN increasing in strength during the course of childhood and adolescence, while the Pe appears to reach a plateau by late childhood. There are, however, reports that are discrepant with this pattern, and effects of participant, task and methodological characteristics are poorly understood. The main objectives of this systematic review and meta-analysis are to evaluate the effect of age on ERN and Pe magnitude in children and adolescents, and to examine potential moderators of these effects, including age, sex, experimental task, task difficulty, and topography and quantification of the ERN and Pe. Methods/design: Studies that report group differences between age-groups or associations with age for the ERN and/or Pe magnitude in typically developing children and/or adolescents will be identified. The literature search will be conducted through PubMed and Scopus, all abstracts will be screened, and reference lists of relevant articles cross-checked for inclusion. The present protocol will also be disseminated on social media platforms to call for unpublished data. The data will be extracted from the eligible studies and will be included in random-effect meta-analyses in R. The results will include the estimation of age and age-group effect sizes, heterogeneity, risk of publication bias, and effects of moderating variables. Discussion: The study will include a systematic literature search and meta-analyses to better understand age-related differences in the ERN and Pe magnitudes. The results will provide estimates of effect sizes that are relevant for calculating statistical power and sample sizes for future studies. In addition, it will provide benchmark effect sizes for typical development of the ERN and the Pe that could be used for comparison purposes in developmental studies of clinical or at-risk groups.

The spatiotemporal group-level patterns of brain macrostructural development across adolescence have over the past decades been relatively well documented. Efforts are now being directed towards understanding individual variability in brain development, as well as its causes and consequences. While genetic factors and pre- and perinatal events have critical impact on brain structural development, calls are now made to also study the brain in dynamic transactional interplay with the different aspects of an individual’s physical and social environment across all stages of development. Such a focus is highly relevant for research on adolescence, a period of life involving a multitude of contextual changes paralleled by continued refinement of complex cognitive and affective neural systems. Insights into the relations between environmental factors and adolescent brain development and the consequences for mental health, have the potential to provide valuable directions for policy changes and targets for prevention. Here, we discuss associations between selected aspects of an individual’s physical and social environment and adolescent brain structural development, and possible links to mental health. We also touch on methodological considerations for future research.

Effectively motivating social distancing—keeping a physical distance from others —has become a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country preregistered experiment (n=25,718 in 89 countries) tested hypotheses derived from self-determination theory concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of different motivational messages encouraging social distancing. Participants were randomly assigned to three conditions: an autonomy-supportive message promoting reflective choices, a controlling message that was restrictive and shaming, or no message. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses: the controlling message increased defiance relative to the autonomy-supportive message and increased controlled motivation (which itself correlated with more defiance and less long-term behavioural intentions to engage in social distancing) relative to no message, but messages did not influence behavioural intentions. Despite small experimental effects on defiance and motivation (rs= .07 and .10), this work highlights the potential harm of controlling public health messages and potential benefits of autonomy-supportive ones.

The error-related negativity (ERN) and the error positivity (Pe) are electrophysiological components associated with error processing that are thought to exhibit distinctive developmental trajectories from childhood to adulthood. To investigate the age and age moderation effects on the ERN and the Pe strength during development, we conducted a preregistered three-level meta-analysis synthesizing 120 and 41 effect sizes across 18 group comparison studies and 19 correlational studies, respectively. The meta-analysis included studies with mean age range between 3.6 to 28.7 years for age-group comparisons and 6.1 to 18.7 years for age correlations. Results showed that age was associated with a more negative ERN (SMD = -.433, r = -.230). No statistically significant association between age and the Pe was found (SMD = .059, r = -.091), except for in a group comparison between younger and older adolescents. The age effects were not significantly moderated by whether a Flanker or a Go/No-Go task was used, whereas studies that used other tasks found larger age effects on the Pe. There was a moderating effect of electrode site, whereby the Fz and Cz electrode sites yielded stronger negative associations between age and the ERN and the Pe, respectively. The results confirm that the ERN and the Pe show differential development courses and suggest that sample and methodological characteristics influence the age effects, and lay the foundation for investigations of developmental patterns of error processing in relation to psychopathology and early genetic and environmental risk factors.