Eira Ranheim Aksnes

• MacSweeney, Niamh; Dumoulin, Taleah Nanon; Aksnes, Eira Ranheim; Barth, Claudia; Crestol, Arielle & Heller, Carina [Show all 12 contributors for this article] (2026). Adolescent Hormonal Contraceptive Use in the Context of Brain Development and Depression Risk: A Review and Considerations for Future Research. Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science. 6(5), p. 100758–100758. doi: 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2026.100758. Full text in Research Archive
• Beck, Dani; Carrick, Chloe; Aksnes, Eira Ranheim; MacSweeney, Niamh Anne; Westlye, Lars Tjelta & Fuhrmann, Delia [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2026). Synchrony between brain age and internalising and externalising symptoms across adolescence. Communications Biology. doi: 10.1038/s42003-026-10722-x. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Abstract Adolescence is a period of rapid neurobiological and behavioural change, yet how brain maturation deviations relate to psychopathology remains unclear. Here, we show, using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, that deviations in brain age are coupled with internalising and externalising symptom development across adolescence. Combining multimodal brain age prediction across four waves (ages ~8.3–17.5) with bivariate latent growth curve models of ten symptom waves, we found coordinated nonlinear development between brain maturation and symptoms: adolescents whose brains increasingly diverged from age-expected maturation showed increasing symptoms. Effects were most consistent for internalising symptoms in females ( r  = 0.15–0.23) and broader for externalising symptoms in both sexes ( r  = 0.15–0.32); intercept-level associations were weaker ( r  = 0.08–0.09). Sex differences were not robust after correction. Vulnerability to adolescent psychopathology appears more closely linked to changes in brain maturational tempo than to fixed differences in brain age.

• Karl, Valerie; Bjørndal, Ludvig Daae; Aksnes, Eira Ranheim; Teulings, Irene Johanna Elisabeth; MacSweeney, Niamh Anne & Beck, Dani [Show all 9 contributors for this article] (2026). Symptom-specific links between internalizing problems and functional connectivity in adolescents: a network analysis. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. ISSN 1018-8827. doi: 10.1007/s00787-026-02989-6. Full text in Research Archive
• Tamnes, Christian K.; Bekkhus, Mona; Eilertsen, Maja; Nes, Ragnhild Bang; Prydz, Monica Beer & Ystrom, Eivind [Show all 63 contributors for this article] (2025). The nature of the relation between mental well-being and ill-being. Nature Human Behaviour. 9(12), p. 2431–2440. doi: 10.1038/s41562-025-02319-x. Full text in Research Archive
• Aksnes, Eira R.; Birkeland, Marianne Skogbrott; Ebrahimi, Omid V.; Bekkhus, Mona; Ferschmann, Lia & Beck, Dani [Show all 12 contributors for this article] (2025). Developmental dynamics of symptoms of emotional problems in childhood and adolescence: A longitudinal network analysis. JCPP Advances. doi: 10.1002/jcv2.70079. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Abstract Background Epidemiological studies document increasing incident rates of mental disorders across childhood and adolescence, with mood and anxiety disorders particularly increasing among adolescent females. Research also indicates that these emotional problems have become more prevalent in recent decades. Yet, there is still a lack of understanding of the interrelated development of distinct emotional symptoms from childhood to adolescence. Methods Here, we investigate and compare symptom dynamics in males and females. To accomplish this, we leveraged longitudinal data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children study ( N  = 11,120, 50.1% males at baseline). We used five items ( worries , unhappy , nervous , fearful , somatic complaints ) derived from the parent‐reported Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire emotional problems scale, measured at up to seven timepoints (mean age = 9.52, range = 4.0–18.3 years old). We estimated a panel Graphical Vector Autoregressive network model (GVAR) and statistically compared the networks of males and females. Results The temporal network revealed largely reciprocal associations among symptoms, with the strongest edges between fearful–nervous and unhappy–worries ( β  = 0.04–0.06). The contemporaneous and between‐person networks showed similar structures, although the between‐person network exhibited fewer but stronger associations, reflecting more stable individual differences. Somatic complaints were weakly connected in the temporal network but more strongly associated in contemporaneous and between‐person networks. Network invariance testing indicated no significant sex differences in average network structure. Conclusion The study delineates the developmental dynamics of emotional symptoms across childhood and adolescence, highlighting bidirectional influences between core symptoms of depression and anxiety, but did not find support for sex differences in their developmental interrelatedness.

• Naseri, Nasimeh; Beck, Dani; Ferschmann, Lia; Aksnes, Eira Ranheim; Havdahl, Alexandra & Jalbrzikowski, Maria [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2025). MRI-based cortical gray/white matter contrast in young adults who endorse psychotic experiences or are at genetic risk for psychosis. Psychiatry Research : Neuroimaging. ISSN 0925-4927. 349. doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2025.111981. Full text in Research Archive
• Karl, Valerie Christine; Beck, Dani; Eilertsen, Espen Moen; Morawetz, Carmen; Wiker, Thea & Aksnes, Eira Ranheim [Show all 15 contributors for this article] (2024). Associations between parental psychopathology and youth functional emotion regulation brain networks. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. ISSN 1878-9293. 70. doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2024.101476. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Parental mental health is associated with children’s emotion regulation (ER) and risk for psychopathology. The relationship between parental psychopathology and children’s functional ER networks and whether connectivity patterns mediate the relationship between parent and youth psychopathology remains unexplored. Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (N = 4202, mean age = 10.0) and a multilevel approach, we analyzed the relationship between self-reported parental psychopathology and their offsprings’ connectivity of four ER networks, as well as associations with self-reported youth psychopathology at a 3-year follow-up. Parental internalizing and total problems were associated with 1) higher connectivity between a subcortical-cortical integrative and ventrolateral prefrontal cortical (PFC) network, 2) lower connectivity between dorsolateral and ventrolateral PFC networks involved in cognitive aspects of ER, and 3) lower connectivity within a subcortical ER network (β = −0.05–0.04). Parental externalizing and total problems were associated with lower connectivity within the integrative network (βext = −0.05; βtot = −0.04). Mediation analyses yielded direct effects of parental to youth psychopathology, but no mediation effect of ER network connectivity. Overall, our results show that ER network connectivity in youth is related to parental psychopathology, yet do not explain intergenerational transmission of psychopathology.

• Ferschmann, Lia; Grydeland, Håkon; MacSweeney, Niamh; Beck, Dani; Bos, Marieke G.N. & Norbom, Linn Bonaventure [Show all 12 contributors for this article] (2024). The importance of timing of socioeconomic disadvantage throughout development for depressive symptoms and brain structure. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. ISSN 1878-9293. 69. doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2024.101449. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Prior studies have reported associations between socioeconomic disadvantage, brain structure and mental health outcomes, but the timing of these relations is not well understood. Using prospective longitudinal data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), this preregistered study examined whether socioeconomic disadvantage related differentially to depressive symptoms (n=3012–3530) and cortical and subcortical structures (n=460–733) in emerging adults, depending on the timing of exposure to socioeconomic disadvantage. Family income in early childhood and own income measured concurrently were both significantly related to depressive symptoms in emerging adulthood. Similar results were observed for perceived financial strain. In contrast, only family income in early childhood was associated with brain structure in emerging adulthood, with positive associations with intracranial volume and total and regional cortical surface area. The findings suggest that both objective and subjective aspects of one’s financial standing throughout development relate to depressive symptoms in adulthood, but that specifically early life family income is related to brain structural features in emerging adulthood. This suggests that associations between socioeconomic disadvantage and brain structure originate early in neurodevelopment, highlighting the role of timing of socioeconomic disadvantage.

• Karl, Valerie Christine; Engen, Haakon Gabrielsen; Beck, Dani; Norbom, Linn Bonaventure; Ferschmann, Lia & Aksnes, Eira Ranheim [Show all 13 contributors for this article] (2024). The role of functional emotion circuits in distinct dimensions of psychopathology in youth. Translational Psychiatry. 14(1). doi: 10.1038/s41398-024-03036-1. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Several mental disorders emerge during childhood or adolescence and are often characterized by socioemotional difficulties, including alterations in emotion perception. Emotional facial expressions are processed in discrete functional brain modules whose connectivity patterns encode emotion categories, but the involvement of these neural circuits in psychopathology in youth is poorly understood. This study examined the associations between activation and functional connectivity patterns in emotion circuits and psychopathology during development. We used task-based fMRI data from the Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort (PNC, N = 1221, 8–23 years) and conducted generalized psycho-physiological interaction (gPPI) analyses. Measures of psychopathology were derived from an independent component analysis of questionnaire data. The results showed positive associations between identifying fearful, sad, and angry faces and depressive symptoms, and a negative relationship between sadness recognition and positive psychosis symptoms. We found a positive main effect of depressive symptoms on BOLD activation in regions overlapping with the default mode network, while individuals reporting higher levels of norm-violating behavior exhibited emotion-specific lower functional connectivity within regions of the salience network and between modules that overlapped with the salience and default mode network. Our findings illustrate the relevance of functional connectivity patterns underlying emotion processing for behavioral problems in children and adolescents.

• Wierenga, Lara M.; Ruigrok, Amber; Aksnes, Eira Ranheim; Barth, Claudia; Beck, Dani & Burke, Sarah M. [Show all 21 contributors for this article] (2023). Recommendations for a Better Understanding of Sex and Gender in the Neuroscience of Mental Health. Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science. 4(2). doi: 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2023.100283. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  There are prominent sex/gender differences in the prevalence, expression, and life span course of mental health and neurodiverse conditions. However, the underlying sex- and gender-related mechanisms and their interactions are still not fully understood. This lack of knowledge has harmful consequences for those with mental health problems. Therefore, we set up a cocreation session in a 1-week workshop with a multidisciplinary team of 25 researchers, clinicians, and policy makers to identify the main barriers in sex and gender research in the neuroscience of mental health. Based on this work, here we provide recommendations for methodologies, translational research, and stakeholder involvement. These include guidelines for recording, reporting, analysis beyond binary groups, and open science. Improved understanding of sex- and gender-related mechanisms in neuroscience may benefit public health because this is an important step toward precision medicine and may function as an archetype for studying diversity.

• Beck, Dani; Ferschmann, Lia; MacSweeney, Niamh; Norbom, Linn Christin Bonaventure; Wiker, Thea & Aksnes, Eira Ranheim [Show all 15 contributors for this article] (2023). Puberty differentially predicts brain maturation in male and female youth: A longitudinal ABCD Study. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. ISSN 1878-9293. 61. doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101261. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Research has demonstrated associations between pubertal development and brain maturation. However, existing studies have been limited by small samples, cross-sectional designs, and inconclusive findings regarding directionality of effects and sex differences. We examined the longitudinal temporal coupling of puberty status assessed using the Pubertal Development Scale (PDS) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based grey and white matter brain structure. Our sample consisted of 8896 children and adolescents at baseline (mean age = 9.9) and 6099 at follow-up (mean age = 11.9) from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study cohort. Applying multigroup Bivariate Latent Change Score (BLCS) models, we found that baseline PDS predicted the rate of change in cortical thickness among females and rate of change in cortical surface area for both males and females. We also found a correlation between baseline PDS and surface area and co-occurring changes over time in males. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) analyses revealed correlated change between PDS and fractional anisotropy (FA) for both males and females, but no significant associations for mean diffusivity (MD). Our results suggest that pubertal status predicts cortical maturation, and that the strength of the associations differ between sex. Further research spanning the entire duration of puberty is needed to understand the extent and contribution of pubertal development on the youth brain.

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• Beck, Dani; Ferschmann, Lia; MacSweeney, Niamh; Fridman, Linn Bonaventure; Wiker, Thea & Aksnes, Eira Ranheim [Show all 15 contributors for this article] (2023). Puberty differentially predicts brain maturation in males and females: A longitudinal ABCD Study. Full text in Research Archive

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