Neurobiological Correlates of Resilience During Childhood and Adolescence: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Research examining the neurobiological mechanisms of resilience has grown rapidly over the past decade. However, there is vast heterogeneity in research study design, methods, and in how resilience is operationalized, making it difficult to gauge what we currently know about resilience biomarkers. This preregistered systematic review aimed to review and synthesize the extant literature to identify neurobiological mechanisms of resilience to adversity during childhood and adolescence. Literature searches on MEDLINE and PsycINFO yielded 3,834 studies and a total of 49 studies were included in the final review. Findings were synthesized based on how resilience was conceptualized (e.g., absence of psychopathology, trait resilience), and where relevant, the type of outcome examined (e.g., internalizing symptoms, post-traumatic stress disorder). Our synthesis showed that findings were generally mixed. Nevertheless, some consistent findings suggest that resilience neural mechanisms may involve prefrontal and subcortical regions structure/activity, as well as connectivity between these regions. Given substantial heterogeneity in the definition and operationalization of resilience, more methodological consistency across studies is required for advancing knowledge in this field.

Resilient functioning is associated with altered structural brain network topology in adolescents exposed to childhood adversity

“…Reviews on the neurobiology of resilience show an overall lack of consistent findings which could be the result of different conceptualizations of resilience (Eaton et al, 2022; Zhang et al, 2023; Leal & Silvers, 2021). In general, reviews point to neural circuits involved in emotion regulation and reward (Eaton et al, 2022; Leal & Silvers, 2021), fronto-subcortical networks (Zhang et al, 2023) and the emotional brain (Moreno-López et al, 2020). To date, only a few studies have investigated the relationship between resilience in individuals exposed to CA and structural brain networks (reviewed in Moreno-López et al, 2020).…”

Resilient functioning is associated with altered structural brain network topology in adolescents exposed to childhood adversity

“…Reviews on the neurobiology of resilience show an overall lack of consistent findings which could be the result of different conceptualizations of resilience (Eaton et al, 2022;Zhang et al, 2023;Leal & Silvers, 2021). In general, reviews point to neural circuits involved in emotion regulation and reward (Eaton et al, 2022;Leal & Silvers, 2021), fronto-subcortical networks (Zhang et al, 2023) and the emotional brain (Moreno-López et al, 2020). To date, only a few studies have investigated the relationship between resilience in individuals exposed to CA and structural brain networks (reviewed in Moreno-López et al, 2020).…”