Megan M. Herting

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences and the Director of the Herting NeuroImaging Laboratory at the University of Southern California. Broadly, my research has focused on brain and cognitive development in healthy and at-risk populations including several ongoing NIH funded studies in children, adolescents, and young adults. Using cognitive-behavioral assessments, neuropsychological testing, semi-structured mental health interviews, and a multi-modal Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) approach, I aim to determine which lifestyle and environmental factors, including exposure to air pollutants, influence neurodevelopment, cognition, and mental health outcomes in children and adolescents.

I lead multiple multi-disciplinary research projects from NIH and the Health Effects Institute to determine how air pollution influences neurodevelopment, cognition, and risk for psychopathology in children and adolescents [R01 ES032295, R01 ES031074, HEI RFA 18-2]. At a national level, I have been actively involved since 2016 in collaborations that aim to further assess how the environment may affect brain maturation, including co-chair of the Link External Data – Environment Working Group for the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study [U01 DA041048] and Neurodevelopment Working Group for the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program [4UH3 OD023287]. Moreover, I have co-founded the ENIGMA Environment Working Group to elucidate how environmental exposures impact brain structures and networks, neural function and behavior across the lifespan and risk for neurological conditions [R01 ES033961].

• Sex, gender diversity, and brain structure in early adolescence Hum Brain Mapp. 2024 Apr; 45(5):e26671. . View in PubMed
• High Resolution Multi-delay Arterial Spin Labeling with Transformer based Denoising for Pediatric Perfusion MRI medRxiv. 2024 Mar 06. . View in PubMed
• Neural Correlates of Obesity and Inflammation in Children and Adolescents with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia Horm Res Paediatr. 2024 Feb 19. . View in PubMed
• Adolescent to young adult longitudinal development of subcortical volumes in two European sites with four waves Hum Brain Mapp. 2024 Feb 15; 45(3):e26574. . View in PubMed
• “Urban-Satellite” estimates in the ABCD Study: Linking Neuroimaging and Mental Health to Satellite Imagery Measurements of Macro Environmental Factors medRxiv. 2024 Feb 01. . View in PubMed
• Building towards an adolescent neural urbanome: Expanding environmental measures using linked external data (LED) in the ABCD study Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2024 Feb; 65:101338. . View in PubMed
• Age-Related Decline in BBB Function is More Pronounced in Males than Females bioRxiv. 2024 Jan 15. . View in PubMed
• Air pollution and age-dependent changes in emotional behavior across early adolescence in the US. Environ Res. 2024 Jan 01; 240(Pt 1):117390. . View in PubMed
• Adolescent brain cognitive development study: Longitudinal methods, developmental findings, and associations with environmental risk factors Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2023 Dec; 64:101311. . View in PubMed
• Family- and neighborhood-level environmental associations with physical health conditions in 9- and 10-year-olds Health Psychol. 2023 Dec; 42(12):878-888. . View in PubMed
• Sex-specific effects in how childhood exposures to multiple ambient air pollutants affect white matter microstructure development across early adolescence Res Sq. 2023 Aug 17. . View in PubMed
• Sex, gender diversity, and brain structure in children ages 9 to 11 years old bioRxiv. 2023 Jul 29. . View in PubMed
• Joint polygenic and environmental risks for childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and ADHD symptom dimensions JCPP Adv. 2023 Jun; 3(2):e12152. . View in PubMed
• Air pollution and emotional behavior in adolescents across the US. medRxiv. 2023 Apr 25. . View in PubMed
• Ambient fine particulate exposure and subcortical gray matter microarchitecture in 9- and 10-year-old children across the United States iScience. 2023 Mar 17; 26(3):106087. . View in PubMed
• Associations among prenatal exposure to gestational diabetes mellitus, brain structure, and child adiposity markers Obesity (Silver Spring). 2023 11; 31(11):2699-2708. . View in PubMed
• Effects of ambient fine particulates, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone on maturation of functional brain networks across early adolescence Environ Int. 2023 07; 177:108001. . View in PubMed
• Longitudinal assessment of brain structure and behaviour in youth with rapid weight gain: Potential contributing causes and consequences Pediatr Obes. 2023 02; 18(2):e12985. . View in PubMed
• Profiling intra- and inter-individual differences in brain development across early adolescence Neuroimage. 2023 10 01; 279:120287. . View in PubMed
• Altered Emotion Perception Linked to Structural Brain Differences in Youth With Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2023 09 18; 108(10):e1134-e1146. . View in PubMed
• Neurotoxicants, the Developing Brain, and Mental Health Biol Psychiatry Glob Open Sci. 2022 Jul; 2(3):223-232. . View in PubMed
• Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia and Brain Health: A Systematic Review of Structural, Functional, and Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Investigations J Child Neurol. 2022 08; 37(8-9):758-783. . View in PubMed
• Best Practices in Structural Neuroimaging of Neurodevelopmental Disorders Neuropsychol Rev. 2022 06; 32(2):400-418. . View in PubMed
• Contextualizing adolescent structural brain development: Environmental determinants and mental health outcomes Curr Opin Psychol. 2022 04; 44:170-176. . View in PubMed
• Associations between testosterone, estradiol, and androgen receptor genotype with amygdala subregions in adolescents Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2022 03; 137:105604. . View in PubMed
• Analysis of Early-Life Growth and Age at Pubertal Onset in US Children JAMA Netw Open. 2022 02 01; 5(2):e2146873. . View in PubMed
• Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study Linked External Data (LED): Protocol and practices for geocoding and assignment of environmental data Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2021 12; 52:101030. . View in PubMed
• Microstructural properties within the amygdala and affiliated white matter tracts across adolescence Neuroimage. 2021 11; 243:118489. . View in PubMed
• Baseline brain function in the preadolescents of the ABCD Study Nat Neurosci. 2021 08; 24(8):1176-1186. . View in PubMed
• Child physical activity as a modifier of the relationship between prenatal exposure to maternal overweight/obesity and neurocognitive outcomes in offspring Int J Obes (Lond). 2021 06; 45(6):1310-1320. . View in PubMed
• Prenatal air pollution exposure and neurodevelopment: A review and blueprint for a harmonized approach within ECHO Environ Res. 2021 05; 196:110320. . View in PubMed
• Restructuring of amygdala subregion apportion across adolescence Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2021 04; 48:100883. . View in PubMed
• The Roles of Physical Activity, Exercise, and Fitness in Promoting Resilience During Adolescence: Effects on Mental Well-Being and Brain Development Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging. 2021 02; 6(2):225-237. . View in PubMed
• Inter-individual variability in structural brain development from late childhood to young adulthood Neuroimage. 2021 11 15; 242:118450. . View in PubMed
• Association of Local Variation in Neighborhood Disadvantage in Metropolitan Areas With Youth Neurocognition and Brain Structure JAMA Pediatr. 2021 08 01; 175(8):e210426. . View in PubMed
• A Researcher’s Guide to the Measurement and Modeling of Puberty in the ABCD Study® at Baseline Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2021; 12:608575. . View in PubMed
• Association of Outdoor Ambient Fine Particulate Matter With Intracellular White Matter Microstructural Properties Among Children JAMA Netw Open. 2021 12 01; 4(12):e2138300. . View in PubMed
• Understanding the role of aerobic fitness, spatial learning, and hippocampal subfields in adolescent males Sci Rep. 2021 04 29; 11(1):9311. . View in PubMed
• Risk of lead exposure, subcortical brain structure, and cognition in a large cohort of 9- to 10-year-old children PLoS One. 2021; 16(10):e0258469. . View in PubMed
• White Matter Microstructural Differences in Youth With Classical Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2021 10 21; 106(11):3196-3212. . View in PubMed
• A Comprehensive Overview of the Physical Health of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study Cohort at Baseline Front Pediatr. 2021; 9:734184. . View in PubMed
• Rates of Incidental Findings in Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Children JAMA Neurol. 2021 05 01; 78(5):578-587. . View in PubMed
• Ambient air pollutants are associated with morning serum cortisol in overweight and obese Latino youth in Los Angeles Environ Health. 2021 04 08; 20(1):39. . View in PubMed
• Developmental Changes in Food Perception and Preference Front Psychol. 2021; 12:654200. . View in PubMed
• Editorial: Understanding the Link Between the Developing Brain and Behavior in Adolescents Front Hum Neurosci. 2021; 15:663454. . View in PubMed
• Substance use patterns in 9-10 year olds: Baseline findings from the adolescent brain cognitive development (ABCD) study Drug Alcohol Depend. 2021 10 01; 227:108946. . View in PubMed
• Fine particulate matter exposure during childhood relates to hemispheric-specific differences in brain structure Environ Int. 2020 10; 143:105933. . View in PubMed
• Sex differences in the association between prenatal exposure to maternal obesity and hippocampal volume in children Brain Behav. 2020 02; 10(2):e01522. . View in PubMed
• Imputation Strategy for Reliable Regional MRI Morphological Measurements Neuroinformatics. 2020 01; 18(1):59-70. . View in PubMed
• Consensus Parameter: Research Methodologies to Evaluate Neurodevelopmental Effects of Pubertal Suppression in Transgender Youth Transgend Health. 2020; 5(4):246-257. . View in PubMed
• Brain morphometric differences in youth with and without perinatally-acquired HIV: A cross-sectional study Neuroimage Clin. 2020; 26:102246. . View in PubMed
• Correspondence Between Perceived Pubertal Development and Hormone Levels in 9-10 Year-Olds From the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2020; 11:549928. . View in PubMed
• Prefrontal Cortex and Amygdala Subregion Morphology Are Associated With Obesity and Dietary Self-control in Children and Adolescents Front Hum Neurosci. 2020; 14:563415. . View in PubMed
• Brain Differences in the Prefrontal Cortex, Amygdala, and Hippocampus in Youth with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2020 04 01; 105(4). . View in PubMed
• Outdoor Air Pollution and Brain Structure and Function From Across Childhood to Young Adulthood: A Methodological Review of Brain MRI Studies Front Public Health. 2019; 7:332. . View in PubMed
• Image processing and analysis methods for the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study Neuroimage. 2019 11 15; 202:116091. . View in PubMed
• Regional and traffic-related air pollutants are associated with higher consumption of fast food and trans fat among adolescents Am J Clin Nutr. 2019 01 01; 109(1):99-108. . View in PubMed
• Test-retest reliability of longitudinal task-based fMRI: Implications for developmental studies Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2018 10; 33:17-26. . View in PubMed
• Current, future and potential use of mobile and wearable technologies and social media data in the ABCD study to increase understanding of contributors to child health Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2018 08; 32:121-129. . View in PubMed
• Neuroanatomical morphometric characterization of sex differences in youth using statistical learning Neuroimage. 2018 05 15; 172:217-227. . View in PubMed
• Development of subcortical volumes across adolescence in males and females: A multisample study of longitudinal changes Neuroimage. 2018 05 15; 172:194-205. . View in PubMed
• Exercise, cognition, and the adolescent brain Birth Defects Res. 2017 Dec 01; 109(20):1672-1679. . View in PubMed
• Low-Cost Air Quality Monitoring Tools: From Research to Practice (A Workshop Summary) Sensors (Basel). 2017 Oct 28; 17(11). . View in PubMed
• Sex differences in associations between white matter microstructure and gonadal hormones in children and adolescents with prenatal alcohol exposure Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2017 Sep; 83:111-121. . View in PubMed
• Longitudinal changes in pubertal maturation and white matter microstructure Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2017 Jul; 81:70-79. . View in PubMed
• Lower total and regional grey matter brain volumes in youth with perinatally-acquired HIV infection: Associations with HIV disease severity, substance use, and cognition Brain Behav Immun. 2017 May; 62:100-109. . View in PubMed
• Puberty and structural brain development in humans Front Neuroendocrinol. 2017 01; 44:122-137. . View in PubMed
• Development of the Cerebral Cortex across Adolescence: A Multisample Study of Inter-Related Longitudinal Changes in Cortical Volume, Surface Area, and Thickness J Neurosci. 2017 03 22; 37(12):3402-3412. . View in PubMed
• Structural brain development between childhood and adulthood: Convergence across four longitudinal samples Neuroimage. 2016 Nov 01; 141:273-281. . View in PubMed
• Aerobic Fitness Linked to Cortical Brain Development in Adolescent Males: Preliminary Findings Suggest a Possible Role of BDNF Genotype Front Hum Neurosci. 2016; 10:327. . View in PubMed
• Quality Control of Structural MRI Images Applied Using FreeSurfer-A Hands-On Workflow to Rate Motion Artifacts Front Neurosci. 2016; 10:558. . View in PubMed
• Default Mode Connectivity in Youth With Perinatally Acquired HIV Medicine (Baltimore). 2015 Sep; 94(37):e1417. . View in PubMed
• White matter microstructure among youth with perinatally acquired HIV is associated with disease severity AIDS. 2015 Jun 01; 29(9):1035-44. . View in PubMed
• Atypical parietal lobe activity to subliminal faces in youth with a family history of alcoholism Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. 2015 Mar; 41(2):139-45. . View in PubMed
• A longitudinal study: changes in cortical thickness and surface area during pubertal maturation PLoS One. 2015; 10(3):e0119774. . View in PubMed
• The role of testosterone and estradiol in brain volume changes across adolescence: a longitudinal structural MRI study Hum Brain Mapp. 2014 Nov; 35(11):5633-45. . View in PubMed
• The neurobiology of childhood structural brain development: conception through adulthood Curr Top Behav Neurosci. 2014; 16:3-17. . View in PubMed
• White matter connectivity and aerobic fitness in male adolescents Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2014 Jan; 7:65-75. . View in PubMed
• White matter microstructure correlates of inhibition and task-switching in adolescents Brain Res. 2013 Aug 21; 1527:15-28. . View in PubMed
• Hemispheric lateralization of verbal and spatial working memory during adolescence Brain Cogn. 2013 Jun; 82(1):58-68. . View in PubMed
• Differences in brain activity during a verbal associative memory encoding task in high- and low-fit adolescents J Cogn Neurosci. 2013 Apr; 25(4):595-612. . View in PubMed
• Atypical spatial working memory and task-general brain activity in adolescents with a family history of alcoholism Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2013 Mar; 37(3):390-8. . View in PubMed
• High and low sensation seeking adolescents show distinct patterns of brain activity during reward processing Neuroimage. 2013 Feb 01; 66:184-93. . View in PubMed
• The impact of sex, puberty, and hormones on white matter microstructure in adolescents Cereb Cortex. 2012 Sep; 22(9):1979-92. . View in PubMed
• Aerobic fitness relates to learning on a virtual Morris Water Task and hippocampal volume in adolescents Behav Brain Res. 2012 Aug 01; 233(2):517-25. . View in PubMed
• Atypical frontal lobe activity during verbal working memory in youth with a family history of alcoholism Drug Alcohol Depend. 2012 Jun 01; 123(1-3):98-104. . View in PubMed
• Altered white matter microstructure in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2011 Mar; 50(3):283-92. . View in PubMed
• Altered fronto-cerebellar connectivity in alcohol-naïve youth with a family history of alcoholism Neuroimage. 2011 Feb 14; 54(4):2582-9. . View in PubMed
• Delay discounting behavior and white matter microstructure abnormalities in youth with a family history of alcoholism Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2010 Sep 01; 34(9):1590-602. . View in PubMed
• Myelination of the corpus callosum in male and female rats following complex environment housing during adulthood Brain Res. 2009 Sep 08; 1288:9-17. . View in PubMed

• Thompson, Paul
• Toga, Arthur
• Peterson, Bradley
• Sowell-Crowell, Elizabeth
• Kim, Mimi
• Goran, Michael
• Jahanshad, Neda
• Gilliland, Frank
• Stanczyk, Frank
• Chen, Jiu-Chiuan