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Machlin L, Sheridan MA, Lurie LA, Kasparek SW, Kim SG, Peverill M, France JM, Robertson MM, Jovanovic T, Lengua LJ, McLaughlin KA. Alterations in fear learning as a mechanism linking childhood exposure to violence with PTSD symptoms: a longitudinal study. Psychol Med 2024:1-9. [PMID: 39245946 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291724001569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/10/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Fear learning is a core component of conceptual models of how adverse experiences may influence psychopathology. Specifically, existing theories posit that childhood experiences involving childhood trauma are associated with altered fear learning processes, while experiences involving deprivation are not. Several studies have found altered fear acquisition in youth exposed to trauma, but not deprivation, although the specific patterns have varied across studies. The present study utilizes a longitudinal sample of children with variability in adversity experiences to examine associations among childhood trauma, fear learning, and psychopathology in youth. METHODS The sample includes 170 youths aged 10-13 years (M = 11.56, s.d. = 0.47, 48.24% female). Children completed a fear conditioning task while skin conductance responses (SCR) were obtained, which included both acquisition and extinction. Childhood trauma and deprivation severity were measured using both parent and youth report. Symptoms of anxiety, externalizing problems, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were assessed at baseline and again two-years later. RESULTS Greater trauma-related experiences were associated with greater SCR to the threat cue (CS+) relative to the safety cue (CS-) in early fear acquisition, controlling for deprivation, age, and sex. Deprivation was unrelated to fear learning. Greater SCR to the threat cue during early acquisition was associated with increased PTSD symptoms over time controlling for baseline symptoms and mediated the relationship between trauma and prospective changes in PTSD symptoms. CONCLUSIONS Childhood trauma is associated with altered fear learning in youth, which may be one mechanism linking exposure to violence with the emergence of PTSD symptoms in adolescence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Machlin
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Margaret A Sheridan
- Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Lucy A Lurie
- Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | | | - Stephanie Gyuri Kim
- Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
| | - Matthew Peverill
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - John McClellan France
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
| | - Madeline M Robertson
- Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Tanja Jovanovic
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
| | - Liliana J Lengua
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
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2
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Sun X, Liu F, Liu H, Guo L, Ma H, Zhu J, Qian Y. Molecular mechanisms and behavioral relevance underlying neural correlates of childhood neglect. J Affect Disord 2024; 367:795-805. [PMID: 39255872 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.09.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2024] [Revised: 08/29/2024] [Accepted: 09/06/2024] [Indexed: 09/12/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Childhood neglect is associated with brain changes, yet the molecular mechanisms and behavioral relevance underlying such associations remain elusive. METHODS We calculated fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF) using resting-state functional MRI and tested their correlation with childhood neglect across a large sample of 510 healthy young adults. Then, we investigated the spatial relationships of the identified neural correlates of childhood neglect with gene expression, neurotransmitter, and behavioral domain atlases. RESULTS We found that more severe childhood neglect was correlated with higher fALFF in the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex. Remarkably, the identified neural correlates of childhood neglect were spatially correlated with expression of gene categories primarily involving neuron, synapse, ion channel, cognitive and perceptual processes, and physiological response and regulation. Concurrently, there were significant associations between the neural correlates and specific neurotransmitter systems including serotonin and GABA. Finally, neural correlates of childhood neglect were associated with diverse behavioral domains implicating mental disorders, emotion, cognition, and sensory perception. LIMITATIONS The cross-sectional study design cannot unequivocally establish causality. CONCLUSIONS Our findings may not only add to the current knowledge regarding the relationship between childhood neglect and mental health, but also have clinical implications for developing preventive strategies for individuals exposed to childhood neglect who are at risk for mental disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuetian Sun
- Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, China; Research Center of Clinical Medical Imaging, Anhui Province, Hefei 230032, China; Anhui Provincial Institute of Translational Medicine, Hefei 230032, China; Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory for Brain Bank Construction and Resource Utilization, Hefei 230032, China
| | - Fujun Liu
- Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, China; Research Center of Clinical Medical Imaging, Anhui Province, Hefei 230032, China; Anhui Provincial Institute of Translational Medicine, Hefei 230032, China; Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory for Brain Bank Construction and Resource Utilization, Hefei 230032, China
| | - Hu Liu
- Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, China; Research Center of Clinical Medical Imaging, Anhui Province, Hefei 230032, China; Anhui Provincial Institute of Translational Medicine, Hefei 230032, China; Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory for Brain Bank Construction and Resource Utilization, Hefei 230032, China
| | - Lixin Guo
- Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, China; Research Center of Clinical Medical Imaging, Anhui Province, Hefei 230032, China; Anhui Provincial Institute of Translational Medicine, Hefei 230032, China; Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory for Brain Bank Construction and Resource Utilization, Hefei 230032, China
| | - Haining Ma
- Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, China; Research Center of Clinical Medical Imaging, Anhui Province, Hefei 230032, China; Anhui Provincial Institute of Translational Medicine, Hefei 230032, China; Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory for Brain Bank Construction and Resource Utilization, Hefei 230032, China
| | - Jiajia Zhu
- Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, China; Research Center of Clinical Medical Imaging, Anhui Province, Hefei 230032, China; Anhui Provincial Institute of Translational Medicine, Hefei 230032, China; Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory for Brain Bank Construction and Resource Utilization, Hefei 230032, China.
| | - Yinfeng Qian
- Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, China; Research Center of Clinical Medical Imaging, Anhui Province, Hefei 230032, China; Anhui Provincial Institute of Translational Medicine, Hefei 230032, China; Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory for Brain Bank Construction and Resource Utilization, Hefei 230032, China.
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3
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Ruge J, Ehlers MR, Kastrinogiannis A, Klingelhöfer-Jens M, Koppold A, Abend R, Lonsdorf TB. How adverse childhood experiences get under the skin: A systematic review, integration and methodological discussion on threat and reward learning mechanisms. eLife 2024; 13:e92700. [PMID: 39012794 PMCID: PMC11251725 DOI: 10.7554/elife.92700] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2023] [Accepted: 06/26/2024] [Indexed: 07/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are a major risk factor for the development of multiple psychopathological conditions, but the mechanisms underlying this link are poorly understood. Associative learning encompasses key mechanisms through which individuals learn to link important environmental inputs to emotional and behavioral responses. ACEs may impact the normative maturation of associative learning processes, resulting in their enduring maladaptive expression manifesting in psychopathology. In this review, we lay out a systematic and methodological overview and integration of the available evidence of the proposed association between ACEs and threat and reward learning processes. We summarize results from a systematic literature search (following PRISMA guidelines) which yielded a total of 81 articles (threat: n=38, reward: n=43). Across the threat and reward learning fields, behaviorally, we observed a converging pattern of aberrant learning in individuals with a history of ACEs, independent of other sample characteristics, specific ACE types, and outcome measures. Specifically, blunted threat learning was reflected in reduced discrimination between threat and safety cues, primarily driven by diminished responding to conditioned threat cues. Furthermore, attenuated reward learning manifested in reduced accuracy and learning rate in tasks involving acquisition of reward contingencies. Importantly, this pattern emerged despite substantial heterogeneity in ACE assessment and operationalization across both fields. We conclude that blunted threat and reward learning may represent a mechanistic route by which ACEs may become physiologically and neurobiologically embedded and ultimately confer greater risk for psychopathology. In closing, we discuss potentially fruitful future directions for the research field, including methodological and ACE assessment considerations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Ruge
- University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Institute for Systems NeuroscienceHamburgGermany
| | | | - Alexandros Kastrinogiannis
- University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Institute for Systems NeuroscienceHamburgGermany
- Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain SciencesLeipzigGermany
| | - Maren Klingelhöfer-Jens
- University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Institute for Systems NeuroscienceHamburgGermany
- University of BielefeldBielefeldGermany
| | - Alina Koppold
- University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Institute for Systems NeuroscienceHamburgGermany
| | | | - Tina B Lonsdorf
- University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Institute for Systems NeuroscienceHamburgGermany
- University of BielefeldBielefeldGermany
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4
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Sacu S, Dubois M, Hezemans FH, Aggensteiner PM, Monninger M, Brandeis D, Banaschewski T, Hauser TU, Holz NE. Early-Life Adversities Are Associated With Lower Expected Value Signaling in the Adult Brain. Biol Psychiatry 2024:S0006-3223(24)01249-6. [PMID: 38636886 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2024.04.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2023] [Revised: 04/05/2024] [Accepted: 04/06/2024] [Indexed: 04/20/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Early adverse experiences are assumed to affect fundamental processes of reward learning and decision making. However, computational neuroimaging studies investigating these circuits in the context of adversity are sparse and limited to studies conducted in adolescent samples, leaving the long-term effects unexplored. METHODS Using data from a longitudinal birth cohort study (n = 156; 87 female), we investigated associations between adversities and computational markers of reward learning (i.e., expected value, prediction errors). At age 33 years, all participants completed a functional magnetic resonance imaging-based passive avoidance task. Psychopathology measures were collected at the time of functional magnetic resonance imaging investigation and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We applied a principal component analysis to capture common variations across 7 adversity measures. The resulting adversity factors (factor 1: postnatal psychosocial adversities and prenatal maternal smoking; factor 2: prenatal maternal stress and obstetric adversity; factor 3: lower maternal stimulation) were linked with psychopathology and neural responses in the core reward network using multiple regression analysis. RESULTS We found that the adversity dimension primarily informed by lower maternal stimulation was linked to lower expected value representation in the right putamen, right nucleus accumbens, and anterior cingulate cortex. Expected value encoding in the right nucleus accumbens further mediated the relationship between this adversity dimension and psychopathology and predicted higher withdrawn symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggested that early adverse experiences in caregiver context might have a long-term disruptive effect on reward learning in reward-related brain regions, which can be associated with suboptimal decision making and thereby may increase the vulnerability of developing psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seda Sacu
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany; German Center for Mental Health, Mannheim, Heidelberg, and Ulm, Germany
| | - Magda Dubois
- Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Frank H Hezemans
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical School and University Hospital, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; Department of Computational Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany; German Center for Mental Health, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Pascal-M Aggensteiner
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany; German Center for Mental Health, Mannheim, Heidelberg, and Ulm, Germany
| | - Maximilian Monninger
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Daniel Brandeis
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Tobias Banaschewski
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany; German Center for Mental Health, Mannheim, Heidelberg, and Ulm, Germany
| | - Tobias U Hauser
- Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, University College London, London, United Kingdom; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical School and University Hospital, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; German Center for Mental Health, Tübingen, Germany; Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Nathalie E Holz
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany; German Center for Mental Health, Mannheim, Heidelberg, and Ulm, Germany; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Department for Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
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5
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Lee AH, Kitagawa Y, Mirhashem R, Rodriguez M, Hilerio R, Bernard K. Do dimensions of childhood adversity differ in their direct associations with youth psychopathology? A meta-analysis. Dev Psychopathol 2024:1-31. [PMID: 38584264 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579424000737] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/09/2024]
Abstract
Growing evidence supports the unique pathways by which threat and deprivation, two core dimensions of adversity, confer risk for youth psychopathology. However, the extent to which these dimensions differ in their direct associations with youth psychopathology remains unclear. The primary aim of this preregistered meta-analysis was to synthesize the associations between threat, deprivation, internalizing, externalizing, and trauma-specific psychopathology. Because threat is proposed to be directly linked with socioemotional development, we hypothesized that the magnitude of associations between threat and psychopathology would be larger than those with deprivation. We conducted a search for peer-reviewed articles in English using PubMed and PsycINFO databases through August 2022. Studies that assessed both threat and deprivation and used previously validated measures of youth psychopathology were included. One hundred and twenty-seven articles were included in the synthesis (N = 163,767). Results of our three-level meta-analyses indicated that adversity dimension significantly moderated the associations between adversity and psychopathology, such that the magnitude of effects for threat (r's = .21-26) were consistently larger than those for deprivation (r's = .16-.19). These differences were more pronounced when accounting for the threat-deprivation correlation. Additional significant moderators included emotional abuse and youth self-report of adversity. Findings are consistent with the Dimensional Model of Adversity and Psychopathology, with clinical, research, and policy implications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy Hyoeun Lee
- Department of Psychology, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY, USA
| | | | - Rebecca Mirhashem
- Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
| | - Micaela Rodriguez
- Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Romola Hilerio
- Department of Psychology, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY, USA
| | - Kristin Bernard
- Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
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6
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Liu S, Fan D, He C, Liu X, Zhang H, Zhang H, Zhang Z, Xie C. Resting-state cerebral blood flow and functional connectivity abnormalities in depressed patients with childhood maltreatment: Potential biomarkers of vulnerability? Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2024; 78:41-50. [PMID: 37781929 DOI: 10.1111/pcn.13603] [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: 05/14/2023] [Revised: 09/25/2023] [Accepted: 09/27/2023] [Indexed: 10/03/2023]
Abstract
AIM Childhood maltreatment (CM) is an important risk factor for major depressive disorder (MDD). This study aimed to explore the specific effect of CM on cerebral blood flow (CBF) and brain functional connectivity (FC) in MDD patients. METHODS A total of 150 subjects were collected including 55 MDD patients with CM, 34 MDD patients without CM, 19 healthy controls (HC) with CM, and 42 HC without CM. All subjects completed MRI scans and neuropsychological tests. Two-way analysis of covariance was used to detect the main and interactive effects of disease and CM on CBF and FC across subjects. Then, partial correlation analyses were conducted to explore the behavioral significance of altered CBF and FC in MDD patients. Finally, a support vector classifier model was applied to differentiate MDD patients. RESULTS MDD patients represented increased CBF in bilateral temporal lobe and decreased CBF in right visual cortex. Importantly, significant depression-by-CM interactive effects on CBF were primarily located in the frontoparietal regions, including orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC), and parietal cortex. Moreover, significant FC abnormalities were seen in OFC-PFC and frontoparietal-visual cortex. Notably, the abnormal CBF and FC were significantly associated with behavioral performance. Finally, a combination of altered CBF and FC behaved with a satisfactory classification ability to differentiate MDD patients. CONCLUSIONS These results highlight the importance of frontoparietal and visual cortices for MDD with CM experience, proposing a potential neuroimaging biomarker for MDD identification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sangni Liu
- Department of Neurology, Affiliated ZhongDa Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Dandan Fan
- Department of Neurology, Affiliated ZhongDa Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Cancan He
- Department of Neurology, Affiliated ZhongDa Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Xinyi Liu
- Department of Neurology, Affiliated ZhongDa Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Haisan Zhang
- Psychology School of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, China
- Department of Psychiatry, Henan Provincial Mental Hospital, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, China
- Xinxiang Key Laboratory of Multimodal Brain Imaging, Henan Provincial Mental Hospital, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, China
| | - Hongxing Zhang
- Psychology School of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, China
- Department of Psychiatry, Henan Provincial Mental Hospital, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, China
- Xinxiang Key Laboratory of Multimodal Brain Imaging, Henan Provincial Mental Hospital, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, China
| | - Zhijun Zhang
- Department of Neurology, Affiliated ZhongDa Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
- Neuropsychiatric Institute, Affiliated ZhongDa Hospital, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
- The Key Laboratory of Developmental Genes and Human Disease, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Chunming Xie
- Department of Neurology, Affiliated ZhongDa Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
- Neuropsychiatric Institute, Affiliated ZhongDa Hospital, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
- The Key Laboratory of Developmental Genes and Human Disease, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
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7
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Diaconu B, Kohls G, Rogers JC, Pauli R, Cornwell H, Bernhard A, Martinelli A, Ackermann K, Fann N, Fernandez-Rivas A, Gonzalez-Torres MA, Gonzalez de Artaza-Lavesa M, Hervas A, Stadler C, Konrad K, Freitag CM, Fairchild G, Rotshtein P, De Brito SA. Emotion processing in maltreated boys and girls: Evidence for latent vulnerability. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2023; 32:2523-2536. [PMID: 36738328 PMCID: PMC10682268 DOI: 10.1007/s00787-022-02132-1] [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: 06/01/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Evidence of alterations in emotion processing in maltreated youth has been hypothesized to reflect latent vulnerability for psychopathology. However, previous studies have not systematically examined the influence of psychopathology on the results. Here, we examined emotion recognition and learning in youth who differed in terms of presence vs. absence of maltreatment and psychopathology and tested for potential sex effects. Maltreatment and psychopathology were assessed in 828 youth (514 females) aged 9-18 years using diagnostic interviews and self- and parent-report questionnaires. Emotion recognition was assessed via identification of morphed facial expressions of six universal emotions. For emotion learning, reward and punishment values were assigned to novel stimuli and participants had to learn to correctly respond/withhold response to stimuli to maximize points. A three-way interaction of maltreatment by psychopathology by emotion indicated that when psychopathology was low, maltreated youth were less accurate than non-maltreated youth for happy, fear and disgust. A three-way interaction of sex, maltreatment and emotion indicated that maltreated girls and boys were impaired for fear, but girls showed an impairment for happy, while boys for disgust. There were no effects of maltreatment, psychopathology, or sex on reward learning. However, a two-way interaction between sex and maltreatment showed that maltreated girls were worse at learning from punishment relative to non-maltreated girls, while maltreated boys were better than non-maltreated boys. The study provides the first clear evidence of latent-vulnerability in emotion recognition in maltreated youth and suggests that girls and boys might be characterized by distinct profiles of emotion recognition and learning following maltreatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bianca Diaconu
- Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
| | - Gregor Kohls
- Child Neuropsychology Section, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Jack C Rogers
- Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
- Institute for Mental Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Ruth Pauli
- Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
| | | | - Anka Bernhard
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Anne Martinelli
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- School of Psychology, Fresenius University of Applied Sciences, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Katharina Ackermann
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Nikola Fann
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | | | | | | | - Amaia Hervas
- University Hospital Mutua Terrassa, Barcelona, Spain
- Global Institute of Neurodevelopment Integrated Care (IGAIN), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Christina Stadler
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychiatric University Hospital, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Kerstin Konrad
- Child Neuropsychology Section, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany
- JARA-Brain Institute II, Molecular Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, RWTH Aachen & Research Centre Juelich, Juelich, Germany
| | - Christine M Freitag
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | | | - Pia Rotshtein
- Neuroimaging Research Unit, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Stephane A De Brito
- Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
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8
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Chen S, Yin Y, Zhang Y, Yue Y, Jiang W, Hou Z, Yuan Y. Abnormal spontaneous activity of regions related to mood regulation mediates the effect of childhood emotional neglect on major depressive disorder. Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging 2023; 336:111729. [PMID: 37890409 DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2023.111729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2023] [Revised: 08/29/2023] [Accepted: 10/15/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023]
Abstract
This study investigated the mediating factors between childhood emotional neglect (EN) and major depressive disorder (MDD) and whether combining multi-indicator could help diagnose MDD. Regional homogeneity (ReHo) and clinical features were compared between 33 MDD patients and 36 healthy controls (HC). Mediation analysis was employed to explore whether social support or ReHo mediates the association between EN and MDD. The linear discriminant analysis model was constructed with EN, social support, and ReHo, and applied to distinguish MDD from HC in both primary and replication cohorts. We found that MDD patients experienced severer EN and poorer social support, and exhibited lower ReHo in the left middle occipital gyrus and bilateral postcentral gyrus, and higher ReHo in the right cerebellum crus1. EN could affect MDD directly and indirectly through ReHo in these discrepant brain regions and social support. Combining ReHo values of these four distinct brain regions, EN, and objective support could classify MDD patients from HC, and the 10-fold cross-validation accuracy within-study replication and in the independent cohort was 83.78 % ± 1.49 % and 82.72 % ± 2.22 %, respectively. These findings suggested that childhood EN, social support, and emotional-related regions' ReHo were associated with risks of MDD, providing new insights into the pathological mechanisms underlying MDD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suzhen Chen
- Department of Psychosomatics and Psychiatry, ZhongDa Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China; Institute of Psychosomatics, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Yingying Yin
- Department of Psychosomatics and Psychiatry, ZhongDa Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China; Institute of Psychosomatics, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Yuqun Zhang
- School of Nursing, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China
| | - Yingying Yue
- Department of Psychosomatics and Psychiatry, ZhongDa Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China; Institute of Psychosomatics, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Wenhao Jiang
- Department of Psychosomatics and Psychiatry, ZhongDa Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China; Institute of Psychosomatics, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Zhenghua Hou
- Department of Psychosomatics and Psychiatry, ZhongDa Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China; Institute of Psychosomatics, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Yonggui Yuan
- Department of Psychosomatics and Psychiatry, ZhongDa Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China; Institute of Psychosomatics, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China; Key Laboratory of Developmental Genes and Human Disease, Southeast University, Nanjing, China.
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9
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Crum KI, Aloi J, Blair KS, Bashford-Largo J, Bajaj S, Zhang R, Hwang S, Schwartz A, Elowsky J, Filbey FM, Dobbertin M, Blair RJ. Latent profiles of substance use, early life stress, and attention/externalizing problems and their association with neural correlates of reinforcement learning in adolescents. Psychol Med 2023; 53:7358-7367. [PMID: 37144406 PMCID: PMC10625649 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291723000971] [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] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Adolescent substance use, externalizing and attention problems, and early life stress (ELS) commonly co-occur. These psychopathologies show overlapping neural dysfunction in the form of reduced recruitment of reward processing neuro-circuitries. However, it is unclear to what extent these psychopathologies show common v. different neural dysfunctions as a function of symptom profiles, as no studies have directly compared neural dysfunctions associated with each of these psychopathologies to each other. METHODS In study 1, a latent profile analysis (LPA) was conducted in a sample of 266 adolescents (aged 13-18, 41.7% female, 58.3% male) from a residential youth care facility and the surrounding community to investigate substance use, externalizing and attention problems, and ELS psychopathologies and their co-presentation. In study 2, we examined a subsample of 174 participants who completed the Passive Avoidance learning task during functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine differential and/or common reward processing neuro-circuitry dysfunctions associated with symptom profiles based on these co-presentations. RESULTS In study 1, LPA identified profiles of substance use plus rule-breaking behaviors, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and ELS. In study 2, the substance use/rule-breaking profile was associated with reduced recruitment of reward processing and attentional neuro-circuitries during the Passive Avoidance task (p < 0.05, corrected for multiple comparisons). CONCLUSIONS Findings indicate that there is reduced responsivity of striato-cortical regions when receiving outcomes on an instrumental learning task within a profile of adolescents with substance use and rule-breaking behaviors. Mitigating reward processing dysfunction specifically may represent a potential intervention target for substance-use psychopathologies accompanied by rule-breaking behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathleen I Crum
- Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
- Division of Neuroimaging, Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
| | - Joseph Aloi
- Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
| | - Karina S Blair
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
| | - Johannah Bashford-Largo
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
| | - Sahil Bajaj
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
| | - Ru Zhang
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
| | - Soonjo Hwang
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA
| | - Amanda Schwartz
- Department of Psychology, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND, USA
| | - Jaimie Elowsky
- Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA
| | - Francesca M Filbey
- Center for BrainHealth, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Matthew Dobbertin
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
| | - R James Blair
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
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10
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Cisler JM, Tamman AJF, Fonzo GA. Diminished prospective mental representations of reward mediate reward learning strategies among youth with internalizing symptoms. Psychol Med 2023; 53:1-11. [PMID: 36878892 PMCID: PMC10600826 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291723000478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2022] [Revised: 01/09/2023] [Accepted: 02/08/2023] [Indexed: 03/08/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Adolescent internalizing symptoms and trauma exposure have been linked with altered reward learning processes and decreased ventral striatal responses to rewarding cues. Recent computational work on decision-making highlights an important role for prospective representations of the imagined outcomes of different choices. This study tested whether internalizing symptoms and trauma exposure among youth impact the generation of prospective reward representations during decision-making and potentially mediate altered behavioral strategies during reward learning. METHODS Sixty-one adolescent females with varying exposure to interpersonal violence exposure (n = 31 with histories of physical or sexual assault) and severity of internalizing symptoms completed a social reward learning task during fMRI. Multivariate pattern analyses (MVPA) were used to decode neural reward representations at the time of choice. RESULTS MVPA demonstrated that rewarding outcomes could accurately be decoded within several large-scale distributed networks (e.g. frontoparietal and striatum networks), that these reward representations were reactivated prospectively at the time of choice in proportion to the expected probability of receiving reward, and that youth with behavioral strategies that favored exploiting high reward options demonstrated greater prospective generation of reward representations. Youth internalizing symptoms, but not trauma exposure characteristics, were negatively associated with both the behavioral strategy of exploiting high reward options as well as the prospective generation of reward representations in the striatum. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest diminished prospective mental simulation of reward as a mechanism of altered reward learning strategies among youth with internalizing symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josh M. Cisler
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Dell Medical School, University of Texas at Austin, USA
- Institute for Early Life Adversity Research, Dell Medical School, University of Texas at Austin, USA
| | - Amanda J. F. Tamman
- Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Greg A. Fonzo
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Dell Medical School, University of Texas at Austin, USA
- Institute for Early Life Adversity Research, Dell Medical School, University of Texas at Austin, USA
- Center for Psychedelic Research and Therapy, Dell Medical School, University of Texas at Austin, USA
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11
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Burk DC, Averbeck BB. Environmental uncertainty and the advantage of impulsive choice strategies. PLoS Comput Biol 2023; 19:e1010873. [PMID: 36716320 PMCID: PMC9910799 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010873] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2022] [Revised: 02/09/2023] [Accepted: 01/15/2023] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Choice impulsivity is characterized by the choice of immediate, smaller reward options over future, larger reward options, and is often thought to be associated with negative life outcomes. However, some environments make future rewards more uncertain, and in these environments impulsive choices can be beneficial. Here we examined the conditions under which impulsive vs. non-impulsive decision strategies would be advantageous. We used Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) to model three common decision-making tasks: Temporal Discounting, Information Sampling, and an Explore-Exploit task. We manipulated environmental variables to create circumstances where future outcomes were relatively uncertain. We then manipulated the discount factor of an MDP agent, which affects the value of immediate versus future rewards, to model impulsive and non-impulsive behavior. This allowed us to examine the performance of impulsive and non-impulsive agents in more or less predictable environments. In Temporal Discounting, we manipulated the transition probability to delayed rewards and found that the agent with the lower discount factor (i.e. the impulsive agent) collected more average reward than the agent with a higher discount factor (the non-impulsive agent) by selecting immediate reward options when the probability of receiving the future reward was low. In the Information Sampling task, we manipulated the amount of information obtained with each sample. When sampling led to small information gains, the impulsive MDP agent collected more average reward than the non-impulsive agent. Third, in the Explore-Exploit task, we manipulated the substitution rate for novel options. When the substitution rate was high, the impulsive agent again performed better than the non-impulsive agent, as it explored the novel options less and instead exploited options with known reward values. The results of these analyses show that impulsivity can be advantageous in environments that are unexpectedly uncertain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diana C. Burk
- Laboratory of Neuropsychology, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Bruno B. Averbeck
- Laboratory of Neuropsychology, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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12
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Sheridan MA, McLaughlin KA. Introduction to the special issue on childhood adversity and neurodevelopment. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2022; 54:101082. [PMID: 35153166 PMCID: PMC9019832 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2022.101082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Margaret A Sheridan
- University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, United States
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