Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38260280›Full record

ArticlebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology2025

Growth in early infancy drives optimal brain functional connectivity which predicts cognitive flexibility in later childhood.

Chiara Bulgarelli, Anna Blasi, Samantha McCann, Bosiljka Milosavljevic, Giulia Ghillia, Ebrima Mbye, Ebou Touray, Tijan Fadera, Lena Acolatse, Sophie E Moore and 4 more

Open access · greenAbstract readPreprint
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors at 7 institutions in 4 countries.

Chiara BulgarelliCentre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-6153-137X
Anna BlasiDepartment of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, UK.
Samantha McCannDepartment of Women and Children's Health, King's College London, UK.
Bosiljka MilosavljevicDepartment of Psychology, University of Cambridge, UK.
Giulia GhilliaDepartment of Women and Children's Health, King's College London, UK.
Ebrima MbyeMedical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, The Gambia.
Ebou TourayMedical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, The Gambia.
Tijan FaderaMedical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, The Gambia.
Lena AcolatseMedical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, The Gambia.
Sophie E MooreDepartment of Women and Children's Health, King's College London, UK.
Sarah Lloyd-FoxDepartment of Psychology, University of Cambridge, UK.
Clare E ElwellDepartment of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, UK.
Adam T EggebrechtMallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, USA.
BRIGHT Study Team
King's College London · GBMRC Unit the Gambia · GMUniversity College London · GBMallinckrodt (United States) · USQueen Mary University of London · GBUniversity of Cambridge · GBUniversity of Ulster · GB

Funding

WUIDDRC Supplement-Supporting the health and well-being of children with intellectual and developmental disability during COVID-19 pandemicP50HD103525 · NICHD · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI JEFFREY D MILBRANDT · 2020 to 2026
$15.5M
Illuminating development of infant and toddler brainfunction with DOTR01MH122751 · NIMH · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI EGGEBRECHT, ADAM THOMAS · 2020 to 2024
$2.7M
Medical Research Council MC_U123292701Medical Research Council MC_UP_1005/1Medical Research Council MR/P012019/1NICHD NIH HHS P50 HD103525NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH122751Wellcome Trust
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Functional brain network organization, measured by functional connectivity (FC), reflects key neurodevelopmental processes for healthy development. Early exposure to adversity, e.g. undernutrition, affects neurodevelopment, observable via disrupted FC, and leads to poorer outcomes from preschool age onward. We assessed longitudinally the impact of early growth trajectories on developmental FC in a rural Gambian population from age 5 to 24 months. To investigate how these early trajectories relate to later childhood outcomes, we assessed cognitive flexibility at 3-5 years. We observed that early physical growth before the fifth month of life drove optimal developmental trajectories of FC that in turn predicted cognitive flexibility at pre-school age. In contrast to previously studied developmental populations, this Gambian sample exhibited long-range interhemispheric FC that decreased with age. Our results highlight the measurable effects that poor growth in early infancy has on brain development and the subsequent impact on pre-school age cognitive development, underscoring the need for early life interventions throughout global settings of adversity.

Identifiers

PMID38260280
PMCPMC10802370
OpenAlexW4390656860

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.