LNCD

🎯 Function matters: shorter neural timescales predicted better working memory accuracy in adolescence and more stable responding in adulthood. Together, these results position intrinsic neural timescales as a conserved, biologically grounded marker of brain maturation across species.

⚡ What drives faster neural timescales? Shorter timescales were linked to increased excitation–inhibition balance, reduced aggregate spiking, and deep-layer intracortical myelination, tying population-level dynamics to circuit physiology and structure.

🧠 Adolescence is a period of temporal reorganization in the brain. Across longitudinal EEG, human sEEG, and macaque LFPs, we show that intrinsic neural timescales shorten through adolescence, especially in frontal & parietal cortex—supporting executive system maturation.

Cross-species evidence for the refinement of intrinsic neural timescales supporting executive system maturation through adolescence Brain functional, structural, and neurochemical maturation has been found to support the specialization of executive systems through adolescence that will lead to adult level processing. Importantly, ...

NEW PREPRINT ALERT !! Check out the latest work from postdoc @shanemckeon.bsky.social
entitled "Cross-species evidence for the refinement of intrinsic neural timescales supporting executive system maturation through adolescence" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

New preprint !! Check out the latest work from postdoc @shanemckeon.bsky.social on intrinsic neural timescales across adolescence using EEG, sEEG, an LFPs from non human primates!

New preprint !! Check out the latest work from postdoc @shanemckeon.bsky.social on intrinsic neural timescales across adolescence using EEG, sEEG, an LFPs from non human primates!

Cross-species evidence for the refinement of intrinsic neural timescales supporting executive system maturation through adolescence https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.12.694027v1

Highlights:
- Ultra-high-field 7 T fMRI was used to segment amygdala nuclei
- Fronto-amygdala functional connections develop along distinct trajectories
- Age-related connections relate to affective and cognitive control
- Amygdala nuclei exhibit developmental and functional specialization

NEW PAPER ALERT! Check out the recent work of @amarojha.bsky.social "Human amygdala nuclei show distinct developmental trajectories from adolescence to adulthood in functional integration with prefrontal circuitry" now out in Cell Reports! www-sciencedirect-com.pitt.idm.oclc.org/science/arti...

Find us now on insta ! @lncd_pitt

Day 3 of #flux2025 !

The posters are underway! Go check them out #flux2025

Flux day 2! Starting it off with a flash talk by @shanemckeon.bsky.social and then 4 posters! #Flux2025

Find us now on insta ! @lncd_pitt

Go Victoria Go! First day of flux is wrapping up with an awesome poster session! #Flux2025

Happy Flux day 1! Check out Victoria Dionisos’ poster (number T12) today on Developmental Interactions Between Local and Long-Range Connectivity, Gray Matter Microstructure, and Inhibitory Control From Adolescence to Young Adulthood #Flux2025

Come check out the LNCD lab at #flux2025 !! Cant wait to see you all in Dublin !

How does the human brain coordinate hierarchical cortical development? Our work in Nature Neuroscience identifies a role for thalamocortical structural connectivity in the expression of hierarchical periods of cortical plasticity & environmental receptivity in youth 🧵 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Poster session 2 is underway at Pitt psychiatry day! Go check out @shanemckeon.bsky.social @amarojha.bsky.social Dan Ashley Destiny and Piya!

Happy Psychiatry Day! Check out our labs work at soldiers and sailors at Pitt ! First up this morning we have Abby ! A first year BioE PhD student @abbybeatty.bsky.social

@nicolenelson.bsky.social would love to be added to your starter pack!

@finncalabro.bsky.social

After searching through bluesky, I realized there wasnt a starter pack for Adolescent Neurocognitive Development (at least I couldnt find one), so decided to start one! Please help me in adding members of the awesome community

go.bsky.app/R8mzr8W

This is the bluesky account for the Laboratory of Neurocognitive Development under Dr. Breatiz Luna. We would love to be added !

@nataliebrito.bsky.social Hi Dr. Brito! This is the bluesky account for the Laboratory of Neurocognitive Development under Dr. Breatiz Luna. We would love to be added to the developmental psych starter pack!

Our findings highlight adolescence as a critical period for functional specialization in the brain. As local connectivity decreases, circuits become more independent, higher-dimensional, & optimized for cognition. #Neuroimaging

Understanding these developmental shifts is key for studying mental health disorders that emerge in adolescence (e.g., schizophrenia, mood disorders). Future work should explore:
🔹 Synaptic pruning mechanisms
🔹 Neural signal dimensionality
🔹 Longitudinal effects on cognition

These changes may:
✅ Increase information complexity in neural coding
✅ Support better cognitive flexibility & memory
✅ Reduce variability in motor & executive tasks
Adolescence is when the brain optimizes for efficiency over redundancy!