Altered Functional Connectivity Patterns Associated with Perceived Discrimination in Adolescents

Perceived discrimination is a pervasive social stressor with significant implications for adolescent mental health and neurodevelopment. Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, we investigated the relationship between perceived discrimination and functional connectivity patterns in the adolescent brain. We applied a Network-Based Statistic (NBS) analysis to 268x268 connectome data from 5,084 participants who provided data on perceived discrimination. Perceived discrimination was coded as a binary variable (Yes/No) based on participants' responses to a validated discrimination scale. Our analysis identified two primary subnetworks associated with perceived discrimination: a positive subnetwork, characterized by increased connectivity between the right prefrontal cortex, left insula, and subcortical regions, and a negative subnetwork, marked by disrupted connectivity between the right prefrontal cortex and left temporal regions. The positive subnetwork suggests enhanced cross-hemispheric communication in adolescents reporting discrimination, while the negative subnetwork indicates reduced cross-hemispheric integration in those reporting no discrimination. Additionally, significant alterations in connectivity across large-scale brain networks were observed. Specifically, adolescents reporting discrimination exhibited increased connectivity between visual processing networks and regions involved in attentional control, while showing decreased connectivity in other network interactions. These findings offer novel insights into the neural mechanisms underlying the effects of perceived discrimination on adolescent brain function, particularly in regions related to emotion regulation, social cognition, and stress responses. Our results underscore the importance of considering discriminatory experiences in the context of adolescent neurodevelopment and mental health.