Neurobiological Markers of Resilience to Early-Life Adversity During Adolescence

Abstract

Early life adversity (ELA) exposure (including trauma, abuse, neglect or institutional care) is a precursor to poor physical and mental health outcomes, and is implicated in 30% of adult mental illness. In recent decades, ELA research has increasingly focused on characterizing factors that confer resilience to ELA, and on identifying opportunities for intervention. In this review, we describe recent behavioral and neurobiological resilience work that suggests adolescence (a period marked by heightened plasticity, development of key neurobiological circuitry, and sensitivity to the social environment) may be a particularly opportune moment for ELA intervention. We review intrapersonal factors associated with resilience that become increasingly important during adolescence (specifically, reward processing, affective learning, and self-regulation), and describe the contextual factors (family, peers, and broader social environment) that modulate them. Additionally, we describe how the onset of puberty interacts with each of these factors, and explore recent findings that point to possible "pubertal recalibration" of ELA exposure as an opportunity for intervention. Lastly, we conclude by describing considerations and future directions for resilience research in adolescents, with a focus on understanding developmental trajectories using dimensional, holistic models of resilience.

Intrinsic Activity Develops Along a Sensorimotor-Association Cortical Axis in Youth

“…Our data also reveal that a functional signature observed during early periods of plasticity increases in transmodal association cortices until the middle of adolescence, indicating there may be a heightened period of developmental plasticity in these cortices during late development. This finding reinforces theories that adolescence is a sensitive or critical period for the development of association cortex during which the environment, experience, and interventions could have a large impact on malleable higher-order cortices 1,14,66 .…”

Emotion Regulation as a Pathway Connecting Early Life Adversity and Inflammation in Adulthood: a Conceptual Framework

“…1 continue to improve our understanding of moderators that can lead to vulnerable or resilient outcomes following ELA. For example, novel studies suggest that the pubertal period can recalibrate differences in stress physiology in individuals with a history of ELA (e.g., King et al, 2017 ; Méndez Leal & Silvers, 2020 ). Future research should integrate such findings to examine the extent to which emotion regulation tendencies can confer vulnerability or resilience to proinflammatory activity in adults with a history of ELA.…”

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

“…Although past research efforts have mainly focused on the consequences of neurobiological plasticity in terms of increased vulnerability to the negative impacts of trauma and stress, such as poor long-term psychological outcomes and risk for psychopathology (e.g., Whittle et al, 2013), plasticity may also represent an optimal window for the neurobiological development of resilience (Iadipaolo et al, 2018). Thus, it is important to review the evidence for neurobiological correlates of resilience to adversity during the childhood and adolescent periods to enhance our understanding of the mechanisms of resilience during development, and to assist with identification of factors that promote positive outcomes in at-risk youth (Méndez Leal & Silvers, 2021).…”