A developmental reduction of the excitation:inhibition ratio in association cortex during adolescence

• Published in: Science advances 2022-02, Vol.8 (5), p.eabj8750-eabj8750
• Main Authors: Larsen, Bart, Cui, Zaixu, Adebimpe, Azeez, Pines, Adam, Alexander-Bloch, Aaron, Bertolero, Max, Calkins, Monica E, Gur, Raquel E, Gur, Ruben C, Mahadevan, Arun S, Moore, Tyler M, Roalf, David R, Seidlitz, Jakob, Sydnor, Valerie J, Wolf, Daniel H, Satterthwaite, Theodore D
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Cerebral Cortex; Child; Developmental Neuroscience; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Neuroimaging; Neuroscience; SciAdv r-articles; Young Adult
• ISSN: 2375-2548; 2375-2548
• DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abj8750

Adolescence is hypothesized to be a critical period for the development of association cortex. A reduction of the excitation:inhibition (E:I) ratio is a hallmark of critical period development; however, it has been unclear how to assess the development of the E:I ratio using noninvasive neuroimaging techniques. Here, we used pharmacological fMRI with a GABAergic benzodiazepine challenge to empirically generate a model of E:I ratio based on multivariate patterns of functional connectivity. In an independent sample of 879 youth (ages 8 to 22 years), this model predicted reductions in the E:I ratio during adolescence, which were specific to association cortex and related to psychopathology. These findings support hypothesized shifts in E:I balance of association cortices during a neurodevelopmental critical period in adolescence.