In 54 participants (41% women) from the Czech arm of the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood, a national birth cohort with prospectively collected data from their birth until young adulthood, we aimed to study the association between early-life socioeconomic deprivation (ELSD), cognitive ability in adolescence, trait anxiety and resting state functional connectivity of the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) in young adulthood. We found that ELSD was associated with lower cognitive ability in adolescence (at age 13) as well as higher trait anxiety in young adulthood (at age 23/24). Higher cognitive ability in adolescence predicted lower trait anxiety in young adulthood. Resting state functional connectivity between the right LPFC and a cluster of voxels including left precentral gyrus, left postcentral gyrus and superior frontal gyrus mediated the relationship between lower cognitive ability in adolescence and higher trait anxiety in young adulthood. These findings indicate that lower cognitive ability and higher trait anxiety may be both consequences of socioeconomic deprivation in early life. The recruitment of the right LPFC may be the underlying mechanism, through which higher cognitive ability may ameliorate trait anxiety.

2nd Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prague Prague 5 150 06 Czech Republic

3rd Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prague Prague 10 100 00 Czech Republic

Brain and Mind Research Central European Institute of Technology Masaryk University Brno 625 00 Czech Republic

Centre of Clinical Neuroscience Department of Neurology 1st Faculty of Medicine General University Hospital Charles University Prague Prague 2 128 21 Czech Republic

National Institute of Mental Health Klecany 250 67 Czech Republlic

RECETOX Faculty of Science Masaryk University Brno 625 00 Czech Republic

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