{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,21]],"date-time":"2026-04-21T15:27:23Z","timestamp":1776785243310,"version":"3.51.2"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,2]]},"group-title":"Neuroscience","reference-count":62,"publisher":"openRxiv","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,2]],"date-time":"2026-02-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1769990400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,2]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Enriched environments support neurodevelopment. The pathways linking enrichment to cognitive processes such as episodic memory among youth remain unclear. This study examined whether brain function and structure in episodic memory-implicated neurocircuitry mediate the relationship between neighborhood enrichment and episodic memory performance.<\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    We analyzed data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (n = 9,028) at two timepoints (baseline: 9-11-years-old and two-year follow-up: 11-13-years-old). Neighborhood enrichment was estimated at the child\u2019s primary residential address proxied by the Child Opportunity Index 2.0 (COI). Episodic memory was assessed using the Picture Sequence Memory Test (PSMT). A multimodal neuroimaging approach examined task-based working memory-related functional activity, brain volume, and resting-state intrinsic activity in 26 bilateral brain regions, segmented using the Desikan-Killiany atlas, implicated in episodic memory. Following\n                    <jats:italic>FDR-<\/jats:italic>\n                    corrected linear mixed effects models, controlling for sociodemographic, neuroimaging factors, and site-related variability, two sets of mediation analyses were conducted per time point.\n                  <\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Greater neighborhood enrichment (i.e., higher COI scores) was directly associated with better episodic memory, prefrontal cortex (PFC) task-based functional activity, and larger PFC and medial temporal lobe volume across timepoints. PFC task-based functional activity, but not brain volume or intrinsic activity, partially mediated these relationships. Specifically, PFC task-activity in the left and right caudal and rostral middle frontal gyri, and left pars opercularis, accounted for \u223c2-7% of the mediated effect.<\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Our findings contribute to a rapidly growing body of literature linking environmental influences on neurocognitive outcomes during development. Given childhood and adolescence represent sensitive periods for neurodevelopment, interventions aimed at increasing neighborhood access to enriching experiences such as educational opportunities, cognitively stimulating activities, and social support may have lasting benefits for neurocognitive development.<\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.64898\/2026.01.30.702968","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,2]],"date-time":"2026-02-02T21:15:14Z","timestamp":1770066914000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Prefrontal working memory activity partially mediates link between enriched neighborhood environments and episodic memory among 9-13-year-olds"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8549-1694","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Michael A.","family":"Rosario","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Carlos","family":"Cardenas-Iniguez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jennifer V.","family":"Chavez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7796-8795","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Katherine","family":"Bottenhorn","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA"},{"name":"Center for Children and Families, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hedyeh","family":"Ahmadi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Megan M.","family":"Herting","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA"},{"name":"Children\u2019s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Wesley K.","family":"Thompson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Population Neuroscience and Genetics, Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"54368","reference":[{"key":"2026020511555028000_2026.01.30.702968v1.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pbb.2020.172993"},{"issue":"3","key":"2026020511555028000_2026.01.30.702968v1.2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"225","DOI":"10.1016\/S2352-4642(17)30024-X","article-title":"Effects of poverty on interacting biological systems underlying child development","volume":"1","year":"2017","journal-title":"Lancet Child Adolesc Health"},{"key":"2026020511555028000_2026.01.30.702968v1.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41583-021-00457-5"},{"key":"2026020511555028000_2026.01.30.702968v1.4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ray B , Jensen D , Suresh P , Thapaliya B , Sapkota R , Farahdel B , et al. 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