Salience network expansion as a transdiagnostic neural marker for psychopathology risk in adolescence

Larger salience network (SAL) cortical surface area in ABCD adolescents shows a modest link to depressive symptoms at baseline, but year 2 replication fails.

• Why it matters: It remains unclear whether SAL expansion is specific to depression or instead reflects a broader neural correlate of psychopathology risk across conditions.
• What they did: Using ABCD baseline (N = 7942; ages 9–10) and Year 2 (N = 5901; ages 11–12) data, the study quantified SAL size and tested associations with Child Behavior Checklist dimensional symptoms.
• The result: SAL expansion into DMN, AMN, and FP networks is linked more consistently to total problems, with stronger associations replicated across both timepoints, supporting a transdiagnostic dimensional marker.

AI summary of the abstract · may contain errors · not medical advice · read the paper.