Hypothalamus volumes and mental health in children and adolescents

Decreased ability to adapt to one's environment may be a predictor of mental illness. In this exploratory study, we observed significantly decreasing hypothalamus volume across this age range. There was a trend-level association between hypothalamic volume and adaptability, suggesting that structural variation in this region may be relevant to stress-related functioning in youth. However, this finding should be interpreted cautiously and requires replication in larger, longitudinal samples.