Trial reportBiological psychiatry2010
Delayed maturation in brain electrical activity partially explains the association between early environmental deprivation and symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Trial report in Biological psychiatry, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 83 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
83 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 147 citations in OpenAlex.
- Electroencephalogram activity related to psychopathological and neuropsychological symptoms in institutionalised minors: a systematic review.Acta neuropsychiatrica · 2025Pooled it
- Physical and neurophysiological maturation associated with ADHD among previously institutionalized children: a randomized controlled trial.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2025Trial
- A randomized controlled trial testing the efficacy of a Nurse Home Visiting Program for Pregnant Adolescents.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Psychiatric outcomes following severe deprivation in early childhood: Follow-up of a randomized controlled trial at age 16.Journal of consulting and clinical psychology · 2020Trial
- Adolescent cognitive control and mediofrontal theta oscillations are disrupted by neglect: Associations with transdiagnostic risk for psychopathology in a randomized controlled trial.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2020Trial
- The Consequences of Foster Care Versus Institutional Care in Early Childhood on Adolescent Cardiometabolic and Immune Markers: Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial.Psychosomatic medicine · 2019Trial
- Early Parenting Intervention and Adverse Family Environments Affect Neural Function in Middle Childhood.Biological psychiatry · 2019Trial
- Long-term effects of institutional rearing, foster care, and brain activity on memory and executive functioning.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2019Trial
- Early Psychosocial Neglect Adversely Impacts Developmental Trajectories of Brain Oscillations and Their Interactions.Journal of cognitive neuroscience · 2015Trial
- Effects of early intervention and the moderating effects of brain activity on institutionalized children's social skills at age 8.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2012Trial
- Alterations in neural processing and psychopathology in children raised in institutions.Archives of general psychiatry · 2012Trial
- Electrophysiological evidence of altered memory processing in children experiencing early deprivation.Developmental science · 2012Trial
- Early adversity and neural correlates of executive function: implications for academic adjustment.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2012Trial
- Experience-dependent development of vagal circuitry in rodents and humans.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2026Review
- Cognitive and affective neurodevelopment in youth exposed to deprivation and threat.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Power struggles: Absolute vs. relative EEG power in developmental neuroscience.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2026Article
- Poverty and caregiver mental health are related to infant and toddler resting-state brain networks: insights from fNIRS.Neurophotonics · 2026Article
- Age-related patterns of resting EEG power in infancy: Associations with prenatal socioeconomic disadvantage.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2025Article
- Exploring background aperiodic electroencephalography (EEG) activity in the Bucharest Early Intervention Project.Developmental psychology · 2025Article
- Does the timing matter? The association between childhood adversity and internalizing and externalizing problems from childhood to adolescence and its sex differences.Child abuse & neglect · 2025Article
23 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundChildren raised in institutional settings are exposed to social and environmental circumstances that may deprive them of expected environmental inputs during sensitive periods of brain development that are necessary to foster healthy development. This deprivation is thought to underlie the abnormalities in neurodevelopment that have been found in previously institutionalized children. It is unknown whether deviations in neurodevelopment explain the high rates of developmental problems evident in previously institutionalized children, including psychiatric disorders.
methodsWe present data from a sample of children raised in institutions in Bucharest, Romania (n = 117) and an age- and sex-matched sample of community control subjects (n = 49). Electroencephalogram data were acquired following entry into the study at age 6 to 30 months, and a structured diagnostic interview of psychiatric disorders was completed at age 54 months.
resultsChildren reared in institutions evidenced greater symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, depression, and disruptive behavior disorders than community controls. Electroencephalogram revealed significant reductions in alpha relative power and increases in theta relative power among children reared in institutions in frontal, temporal, and occipital regions, suggesting a delay in cortical maturation. This pattern of brain activity predicted symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity at age 54 months, and significantly mediated the association between institutionalization and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms. Electroencephalogram power was unrelated to depression, anxiety, or disruptive behaviors.
conclusionsThese findings document a potential neurodevelopmental mechanism underlying the association between institutionalization and psychiatric morbidity. Deprivation in social and environmental conditions may perturb early patterns of neurodevelopment and manifest as psychiatric problems later in life.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.