Contextualizing adolescent structural brain development

The spatiotemporal group-level patterns of brain macrostructural development across adolescence have over the past decades been relatively well documented. Efforts are now being directed towards understanding individual variability in brain development, as well as its causes and consequences. While genetic factors and pre- and perinatal events have critical impact on brain structural development, calls are now made to also study the brain in dynamic transactional interplay with the different aspects of an individual’s physical and social environment across all stages of development. Such a focus is highly relevant for research on adolescence, a period of life involving a multitude of contextual changes paralleled by continued refinement of complex cognitive and affective neural systems. Insights into the relations between environmental factors and adolescent brain development and the consequences for mental health, have the potential to provide valuable directions for policy changes and targets for prevention. Here, we discuss associations between selected aspects of an individual’s physical and social environment and adolescent brain structural development, and possible links to mental health. We also touch on methodological considerations for future research.