Teen depression and anxiety predicted by childhood brain development Analysis of nearly 30,000 brain scans yields detailed timeline of how the brain matures — and hints at the consequences of disrupting it. By Max Kozlov

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-03357-9?utm_source=Live+Audience&utm_campaign=99d3550b4b-nature-briefing-daily-20261022&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-33f35e09ea-50432164 Brain progress could affect mental health The emergence of mental-health conditions in teenagers could be forecast by the speed at which certain regions of their brain develop. A study of nearly 12,000 young people in the United States suggests that vulnerability to conditions such as depression in adolescents could involve disruption of the brain’s developmental timeline and could be set in motion by genes that are active before birth. The findings reveal small population-level patterns, says systems neuroscientist Avram Holmes, but can’t be used to track the trajectory of an individual child.