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Chen Q, Bonduelle SLB, Wu GR, Vanderhasselt MA, De Raedt R, Baeken C. Unraveling how the adolescent brain deals with criticism using dynamic causal modeling. Neuroimage 2024; 286:120510. [PMID: 38184159 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2023] [Revised: 12/20/2023] [Accepted: 01/03/2024] [Indexed: 01/08/2024] Open
Abstract
Sensitivity to criticism, which can be defined as a negative evaluation that a person receives from someone else, is considered a risk factor for the development of psychiatric disorders in adolescents. They may be more vulnerable to social evaluation than adults and exhibit more inadequate emotion regulation strategies such as rumination. The neural network involved in dealing with criticism in adolescents may serve as a biomarker for vulnerability to depression. However, the directions of the functional interactions between the brain regions within this neural network in adolescents are still unclear. In this study, 64 healthy adolescents (aged 14 to 17 years) were asked to listen to a series of self-referential auditory segments, which included negative (critical), positive (praising), and neutral conditions, during fMRI scanning. Dynamic Causal Modeling (DCM) with Parametric Empirical Bayesian (PEB) analysis was performed to map the interactions within the neural network that was engaged during the processing of these segments. Three regions were identified to form the interaction network: the left pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pgACC), the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and the right precuneus (preCUN). We quantified the modulatory effects of exposure to criticism and praise on the effective connectivity between these brain regions. Being criticized was found to significantly inhibit the effective connectivity from the preCUN to the DLPFC. Adolescents who scored high on the Perceived Criticism Measure (PCM) showed less inhibition of the preCUN-to-DLPFC connectivity when being criticized, which may indicate that they required more engagement of the Central Executive Network (which includes the DLPFC) to sufficiently disengage from negative self-referential processing. Furthermore, the inhibitory connectivity from the DLPFC to the pgACC was strengthened by exposure to praise as well as criticism, suggesting a recruitment of cognitive control over emotional responses when dealing with positive and negative evaluative feedback. Our novel findings contribute to a more profound understanding of how criticism affects the adolescent brain and can help to identify potential biomarkers for vulnerability to develop mood disorders before or during adulthood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qinyuan Chen
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Head and Skin, Ghent Experimental Psychiatry (GHEP) Lab, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
| | - Sam Luc Bart Bonduelle
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Head and Skin, Ghent Experimental Psychiatry (GHEP) Lab, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels University Hospital (UZ Brussel), Brussels, Belgium
| | - Guo-Rong Wu
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Head and Skin, Ghent Experimental Psychiatry (GHEP) Lab, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Marie-Anne Vanderhasselt
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Head and Skin, Ghent Experimental Psychiatry (GHEP) Lab, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Rudi De Raedt
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Chris Baeken
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Head and Skin, Ghent Experimental Psychiatry (GHEP) Lab, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; Department of Psychiatry, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels University Hospital (UZ Brussel), Brussels, Belgium; Department of Electrical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, the Netherlands
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Phillips ML. Building a neurobiological framework to elucidate neural mechanisms, aid early risk detection, and develop new treatments for Bipolar Disorder. Psychiatry Res 2023; 329:115521. [PMID: 37797440 PMCID: PMC10841719 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2023.115521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2023] [Revised: 09/25/2023] [Accepted: 09/29/2023] [Indexed: 10/07/2023]
Abstract
This article describes the progress that my colleagues and I have made over the last two decades in building a clinical neuroscience research program in Bipolar Disorder (BD). Here, we have focused on key research themes to ultimately help with early risk detection and the development of better treatments for individuals with BD. We have described the main areas that we are pursuing, namely, understanding the underlying neural mechanisms of BD and BD risk, differentiating BD and BD risk from depressive disorder risk, and the development of new treatments for individuals with BD. We conclude with a summary of future directions in our research that include examination of the molecular and metabolic abnormalities associated with neural network abnormalities underlying mania/hypomania risk, testing neural risk markers in independent samples stratified according to familial risk for BD, and the study of early infant and child neurodevelopmental processes that confer risk for affective disorders, including BD, in order to elucidate early neural risk markers.
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Affiliation(s)
- M L Phillips
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, USA.
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