Gareth Barker

Jan 9, 2025 | nature.com | Xinyang Yu |Zuo Zhang |Moritz Herle |Tobias Banaschewski |Gareth Barker |Herta Flor | +16 more

AbstractUnhealthy eating, a risk factor for eating disorders (EDs) and obesity, often coexists with emotional and behavioral problems; however, the underlying neurobiological mechanisms are poorly understood. Analyzing data from the longitudinal IMAGEN adolescent cohort, we investigated associations between eating behaviors, genetic predispositions for high body mass index (BMI) using polygenic scores (PGSs), and trajectories (ages 14–23 years) of ED-related psychopathology and brain maturation.

Jul 14, 2024 | nature.com | Runye Shi |Shitong Xiang |Tianye Jia |Trevor Robbins |Jujiao Kang |Tobias Banaschewski | +21 more

AbstractAdolescents exhibit remarkable heterogeneity in the structural architecture of brain development. However, due to limited large-scale longitudinal neuroimaging studies, existing research has largely focused on population averages, and the neurobiological basis underlying individual heterogeneity remains poorly understood.

Oct 19, 2023 | nature.com | Tobias Banaschewski |Gareth Barker |Sylvane Desrivières |Herta Flor |Penny Gowland |Andreas Heinz | +17 more

AbstractThe cerebral ventricles are recognized as windows into brain development and disease, yet their genetic architectures, underlying neural mechanisms and utility in maintaining brain health remain elusive. Here we aggregated genetic and neuroimaging data from 61,974 participants (age range, 9 to 98 years) in five cohorts to elucidate the genetic basis of ventricular morphology and examined their overlap with neuropsychiatric traits.

Sep 22, 2023 | nature.com | Feng Chen |Meiyun Wang |Xiaochu Zhang |Wen Qin |Feng Liu |Qiang Xu | +24 more

AbstractExposure to preadult environmental exposures may have long-lasting effects on mental health by affecting the maturation of the brain and personality, two traits that interact throughout the developmental process. However, environment-brain-personality covariation patterns and their mediation relationships remain unclear.

Aug 15, 2023 | nature.com | Shitong Xiang |Tianye Jia |Tobias Banaschewski |Gareth Barker |Christian Büchel |Sylvane Desrivières | +15 more

AbstractSmoking of cigarettes among young adolescents is a pressing public health issue. However, the neural mechanisms underlying smoking initiation and sustenance during adolescence, especially the potential causal interactions between altered brain development and smoking behaviour, remain elusive.