Keck School Faculty

Megan M. Herting

Megan M. Herting

Associate Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences
Medicine
2001 N Soto Off Campus Los Angeles

Associations among prenatal exposure to gestational diabetes mellitus, brain structure, and child adiposity markers Obesity (Silver Spring). 2023 Nov; 31(11):2699-2708. . View in PubMed

Air pollution and age-dependent changes in emotional behavior across early adolescence in the US. Environ Res. 2023 Oct 20; 117390. . View in PubMed

Adolescent brain cognitive development study: Longitudinal methods, developmental findings, and associations with environmental risk factors Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2023 Oct 04; 101311. . View in PubMed

Profiling intra- and inter-individual differences in brain development across early adolescence Neuroimage. 2023 Oct 01; 279:120287. . 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

Family- and neighborhood-level environmental associations with physical health conditions in 9- and 10-year-olds Health Psychol. 2023 Jan 12. . 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Inter-individual variability in structural brain development from late childhood to young adulthood Neuroimage. 2021 11 15; 242:118450. . 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

Rates of Incidental Findings in Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Children JAMA Neurol. 2021 05 01; 78(5):578-587. . 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

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

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

Brain morphometric differences in youth with and without perinatally-acquired HIV: A cross-sectional study Neuroimage Clin. 2020; 26:102246. . 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

Consensus Parameter: Research Methodologies to Evaluate Neurodevelopmental Effects of Pubertal Suppression in Transgender Youth Transgend Health. 2020; 5(4):246-257. . 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

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

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

White matter connectivity and aerobic fitness in male adolescents Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2014 Jan; 7:65-75. . 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 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

I am an Assistant 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.

At a national level, I am part of multiple NIH consortium projects that aim to further assess how hormones and the environment may affect brain maturation, cognition, and mental health, including the Linked External Data Environment and member of the Physical Health Working Groups for the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study (U01DA041048, 2P30ES007048-23S1) and the Neurodevelopment Working Group for the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program (4UH3OD023287). I am also a co-chair for the new ENIGMA Environment working group.
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