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Min J, Koenig J, Nashiro K, Yoo HJ, Cho C, Thayer JF, Mather M. Resting heart rate variability is associated with neural adaptation when repeatedly exposed to emotional stimuli. Neuropsychologia 2024; 196:108819. [PMID: 38360391 PMCID: PMC11293881 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2024.108819] [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: 04/06/2023] [Revised: 01/24/2024] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/17/2024]
Abstract
Higher heart rate variability (HRV) at rest is associated with better emotion regulation ability. While the neurovisceral integration model explains this by postulating that HRV can index how the brain adaptively modulates responses to emotional stimuli, neuroimaging studies directly supporting this idea are scarce. We examined the neural correlates of regulating negative and positive emotion in relation to resting HRV based on the neuroimaging and heart rate data of one hundred young adults. The results showed that those with higher HRV better recruit the medial prefrontal cortex while intensifying positive compared to negative emotion. We also examined how individual differences in resting HRV are associated with adjusting brain activity to repeated emotional stimuli. During repeated viewing of emotional images, subjects with higher resting HRV better reduced activity in the medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate gyrus, and angular gyrus, most of which overlapped with the default mode network. This HRV-DMN association was observed during passively viewing emotional images rather than during actively regulating emotion. While the regulating trials can better detect task-induced changes, the viewing trials might approximate resting state, better revealing individual differences. These findings suggest two possibilities: people with higher resting HRV might have a tendency to spontaneously engage with emotion regulation or possess a trait helping emotional arousal fade away.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jungwon Min
- University of Southern California, Irvine, CA, United States.
| | - Julian Koenig
- University of Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Germany
| | - Kaoru Nashiro
- University of Southern California, Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Hyun Joo Yoo
- University of Southern California, Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Christine Cho
- University of Southern California, Irvine, CA, United States
| | | | - Mara Mather
- University of Southern California, Irvine, CA, United States
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2
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Morina E, Harris DA, Hayes-Skelton SA, Ciaramitaro VM. Altered mechanisms of adaptation in social anxiety: differences in adapting to positive versus negative emotional faces. Cogn Emot 2024:1-21. [PMID: 38427396 DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2024.2314987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2022] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
Social anxiety is characterised by fear of negative evaluation and negative perceptual biases; however, the cognitive mechanisms underlying these negative biases are not well understood. We investigated a possible mechanism which could maintain negative biases: altered adaptation to emotional faces. Heightened sensitivity to negative emotions could result from weakened adaptation to negative emotions, strengthened adaptation to positive emotions, or both mechanisms. We measured adaptation from repeated exposure to either positive or negative emotional faces, in individuals high versus low in social anxiety. We quantified adaptation strength by calculating the point of subjective equality (PSE) before and after adaptation for each participant. We hypothesised: (1) weaker adaptation to angry vs happy faces in individuals high in social anxiety, (2) no difference in adaptation to angry vs happy faces in individuals low in social anxiety, and (3) no difference in adaptation to sad vs happy faces in individuals high in social anxiety. Our results revealed a weaker adaptation to angry compared to happy faces in individuals high in social anxiety (Experiment 1), with no such difference in individuals low in social anxiety (Experiment 1), and no difference in adaptation strength to sad vs happy faces in individuals high in social anxiety (Experiment 2).
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Affiliation(s)
- Erinda Morina
- Developmental and Brain Sciences, Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Daniel A Harris
- Developmental and Brain Sciences, Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA, USA
- Division of Epidemiology, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Sarah A Hayes-Skelton
- Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Vivian M Ciaramitaro
- Developmental and Brain Sciences, Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA, USA
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3
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Stamps JA, Biro PA. Time-specific convergence and divergence in individual differences in behavior: Theory, protocols and analyzes. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10615. [PMID: 38034332 PMCID: PMC10682899 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10615] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2023] [Revised: 09/23/2023] [Accepted: 09/29/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Over the years, theoreticians and empiricists working in a wide range of disciplines, including physiology, ethology, psychology, and behavioral ecology, have suggested a variety of reasons why individual differences in behavior might change over time, such that different individuals become more similar (convergence) or less similar (divergence) to one another. Virtually none of these investigators have suggested that convergence or divergence will continue forever, instead proposing that these patterns will be restricted to particular periods over the course of a longer study. However, to date, few empiricists have documented time-specific convergence or divergence, in part because the experimental designs and statistical methods suitable for describing these patterns are not widely known. Here, we begin by reviewing an array of influential hypotheses that predict convergence or divergence in individual differences over timescales ranging from minutes to years, and that suggest how and why such patterns are likely to change over time (e.g., divergence followed by maintenance). Then, we describe experimental designs and statistical methods that can be used to determine if (and when) individual differences converged, diverged, or were maintained at the same level at specific periods during a longitudinal study. Finally, we describe why the concepts described herein help explain the discrepancy between what theoreticians and empiricists mean when they describe the "emergence" of individual differences or personality, how they might be used to study situations in which convergence and divergence patterns alternate over time, and how they might be used to study time-specific changes in other attributes of behavior, including individual differences in intraindividual variability (predictability), or genotypic differences in behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judy A. Stamps
- Department of Evolution and EcologyUniversity of California, DavisDavisCaliforniaUSA
| | - Peter A. Biro
- School of Life and Environmental SciencesDeakin UniversityGeelongVictoriaAustralia
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Li Q, Zhang X, Yang X, Pan N, Li X, Kemp GJ, Wang S, Gong Q. Pre-COVID brain network topology prospectively predicts social anxiety alterations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Neurobiol Stress 2023; 27:100578. [PMID: 37842018 PMCID: PMC10570707 DOI: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2023.100578] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2023] [Revised: 09/12/2023] [Accepted: 09/30/2023] [Indexed: 10/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Social anxiety (SA) is a negative emotional response that can lead to mental health issues, which some have experienced during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Little attention has been given to the neurobiological mechanisms underlying inter-individual differences in SA alterations related to COVID-19. This study aims to identify neurofunctional markers of COVID-specific SA development. Methods 110 healthy participants underwent resting-state magnetic resonance imaging and behavioral tests before the pandemic (T1, October 2019 to January 2020) and completed follow-up behavioral measurements during the pandemic (T2, February to May 2020). We constructed individual functional networks and used graph theoretical analysis to estimate their global and nodal topological properties, then used Pearson correlation and partial least squares correlations examine their associations with COVID-specific SA alterations. Results In terms of global network parameters, SA alterations (T2-T1) were negatively related to pre-pandemic brain small-worldness and normalized clustering coefficient. In terms of nodal network parameters, SA alterations were positively linked to a pronounced degree centrality pattern, encompassing both the high-level cognitive networks (dorsal attention network, cingulo-opercular task control network, default mode network, memory retrieval network, fronto-parietal task control network, and subcortical network) and low-level perceptual networks (sensory/somatomotor network, auditory network, and visual network). These findings were robust after controlling for pre-pandemic general anxiety, other stressful life events, and family socioeconomic status, as well as by treating SA alterations as categorical variables. Conclusions The individual functional network associated with SA alterations showed a disrupted topological organization with a more random state, which may shed light on the neurobiological basis of COVID-related SA changes at the network level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qingyuan Li
- Department of Interventional Therapy, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100021, China
- Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China
- Functional & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China
| | - Xun Zhang
- Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China
- Functional & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China
| | - Xun Yang
- School of Public Affairs, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China
| | - Nanfang Pan
- Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China
- Functional & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China
| | - Xiao Li
- Department of Interventional Therapy, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100021, China
| | - Graham J. Kemp
- Liverpool Magnetic Resonance Imaging Centre (LiMRIC) and Institute of Life Course and Medical Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 3BX, UK
| | - Song Wang
- Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China
- Functional & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China
| | - Qiyong Gong
- Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China
- Department of Radiology, West China Xiamen Hospital of Sichuan University, Xiamen, 361000, China
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Berhe O, Höflich A, Moessnang C, Reichert M, Kremer T, Gan G, Ma R, Braun U, Reininghaus U, Ebner-Priemer U, Meyer-Lindenberg A, Tost H. Reduced Real-life Affective Well-being and Amygdala Habituation in Unmedicated Community Individuals at Risk for Depression and Anxiety. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY. COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2023; 8:111-120. [PMID: 35760353 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2022.06.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2022] [Revised: 05/27/2022] [Accepted: 06/15/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Early identification of risk for depression and anxiety disorders is important for prevention, but real-life affective well-being and its biological underpinnings in the population remain understudied. Here, we combined methods from epidemiology, psychology, ecological momentary assessment, and functional magnetic resonance imaging to study real-life and neural affective functions in individuals with subclinical anxiety and depression from a population-based cohort of young adults. METHODS We examined psychological measures, real-life affective valence, functional magnetic resonance imaging amygdala habituation to negative affective stimuli, and the relevance of neural readouts for daily-life affective function in 132 non-help-seeking community individuals. We compared psychological and ecological momentary assessment measures of 61 unmedicated individuals at clinical risk for depression and anxiety (operationalized as subthreshold depression and anxiety symptoms or a former mood or anxiety disorder) with those of 48 nonrisk individuals and 23 persons with a mood or anxiety disorder. We studied risk-associated functional magnetic resonance imaging signals in subsamples with balanced sociodemographic and image quality parameters (26 nonrisk, 26 at-risk persons). RESULTS Compared with nonrisk persons, at-risk individuals showed significantly decreased real-life affective valence (p = .038), reduced amygdala habituation (familywise error-corrected p = .024, region of interest corrected), and an intermediate psychological risk profile. Amygdala habituation predicted real-life affective valence in control subjects but not in participants at risk (familywise error-corrected p = .005, region of interest corrected). CONCLUSIONS Our data suggest real-life and neural markers for affective alterations in unmedicated community individuals at risk for depression and anxiety and highlight the significance of amygdala habituation measures for the momentary affective experience in real-world environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oksana Berhe
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Anna Höflich
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Carolin Moessnang
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Markus Reichert
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany; Mental mHealth Lab, Department of Sport and Sport Science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany; Department of eHealth and Sports Analytics, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Thomas Kremer
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Gabriela Gan
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Ren Ma
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Urs Braun
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Ulrich Reininghaus
- Department of Public Mental Health, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany; Centre for Epidemiology and Public Health, Health Service and Population Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, London, United Kingdom; ESRC Centre for Society and Mental Health, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Ulrich Ebner-Priemer
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany; Mental mHealth Lab, Department of Sport and Sport Science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Heike Tost
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany.
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Gerhardt S, Berhe O, Moessnang C, Horning M, Kiefer F, Tost H, Vollstädt-Klein S. Lack of amygdala habituation to negative emotional faces in alcohol use disorder and the relation to adverse childhood experiences. Addict Biol 2023; 28:e13251. [PMID: 36577733 DOI: 10.1111/adb.13251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2022] [Revised: 10/13/2022] [Accepted: 10/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Aberrant limbic circuit reactivity to negative stimuli might be related to alterations in emotion processing and regulation in alcohol use disorder (AUD). The current study tested for the first time in AUD the hypothesis of aberrant amygdala habituation to repeated aversive stimuli-a robust and reliable neuroimaging marker for emotion processing. We explored the link between deficits in habituation to adverse childhood experience (ACE), a common risk factor for impaired emotion regulation and AUD. AUD individuals (N = 36) and healthy controls (HC; N = 26) participated in an observational case-control functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study. An established habituation index was used to investigate processing of aversive emotional faces of the amygdala. AUD individuals showed an overall deficit in amygdala habituation (right: t = 4.26, pFWE = 0.004; left: t = 4.79, pFWE ≤ 0.001). Amygdala habituation was significantly related to increased exposure to ACE in HC (t = 3.88, pFWE = 0.012), whereas this association was not observed in AUD individuals (T = 1.80, pFWE = 0.662). Further, a significant association between higher alcohol consumption and reduced amygdala habituation (right: R2 = -0.356, F = 8.736, p = 0.004; left: R2 = -0.309, F = 6.332, p = 0.015) was observed. We found novel evidence for neural alterations in emotion processing in AUD individuals, indexed by deficient amygdala habituation to negative emotional content. We replicated a prior report on a link between ACE and amygdala habituation, a well-established environmental risk factor for mental disorders and emotion dysregulation, in our control sample. Additionally, deficient amygdala habituation related to the amount of alcohol consumption in the overall sample might indicate a short-term substance effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Gerhardt
- Department of Addictive Behaviour and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Oksana Berhe
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Carolin Moessnang
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.,SRH University Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Maibritt Horning
- Department of Addictive Behaviour and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Falk Kiefer
- Department of Addictive Behaviour and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.,Mannheim Center for Translational Neurosciences (MCTN), Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.,Feuerlein Center on Translational Addiction Medicine, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Heike Tost
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Sabine Vollstädt-Klein
- Department of Addictive Behaviour and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.,Mannheim Center for Translational Neurosciences (MCTN), Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
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Ghobadi-Azbari P, Mahdavifar Khayati R, Ekhtiari H. Habituation or sensitization of brain response to food cues: Temporal dynamic analysis in an functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Front Hum Neurosci 2023; 17:1076711. [PMID: 36875231 PMCID: PMC9983367 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2023.1076711] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2022] [Accepted: 01/30/2023] [Indexed: 02/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction In the modern obesogenic environment, heightened reactivity to food-associated cues plays a major role in overconsumption by evoking appetitive responses. Accordingly, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have implicated regions of the salience and rewards processing in this dysfunctional food cue-reactivity, but the temporal dynamics of brain activation (sensitization or habituation over time) remain poorly understood. Methods Forty-nine obese or overweight adults were scanned in a single fMRI session to examine brain activation during the performance of a food cue-reactivity task. A general linear model (GLM) was used to validate the activation pattern of food cue reactivity in food > neutral contrast. The linear mixed effect models were used to examine the effect of time on the neuronal response during the paradigm of food cue reactivity. Neuro-behavioral relationships were investigated with Pearson's correlation tests and group factor analysis (GFA). Results A linear mixed-effect model revealed a trend for the time-by-condition interactions in the left medial amygdala [t(289) = 2.21, β = 0.1, P = 0.028], right lateral amygdala [t(289) = 2.01, β = 0.26, P = 0.045], right nucleus accumbens (NAc) [t(289) = 2.81, β = 0.13, P = 0.005] and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) [t(289) = 2.58, β = 0.14, P = 0.01], as well as in the left superior temporal cortex [42 Area: t(289) = 2.53, β = 0.15, P = 0.012; TE1.0_TE1.2 Area: t(289) = 3.13, β = 0.27, P = 0.002]. Habituation of blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) signal during exposure to food vs. neutral stimuli was evident in these regions. We have not found any area in the brain with significant increased response to food-related cues over time (sensitization). Our results elucidate the temporal dynamics of cue-reactivity in overweight and obese individuals with food-induced craving. Both subcortical areas involved in reward processing and cortical areas involved in inhibitory processing are getting habituated over time in response to food vs. neutral cues. There were significant bivariate correlations between self-report behavioral/psychological measures with individual habituation slopes for the regions with dynamic activity, but no robust cross-unit latent factors were identified between the behavioral, demographic, and self-report psychological groups. Discussion This work provides novel insights into dynamic neural circuit mechanisms supporting food cue reactivity, thereby suggesting pathways in biomarker development and cue-desensitization interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Hamed Ekhtiari
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, Minnesota, MN, United States
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8
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Regier PS, Gawrysiak MJ, Jagannathan K, Childress AR, Franklin TR, Wetherill RR. Trauma exposure among cannabis use disorder individuals was associated with a craving-correlated non-habituating amygdala response to aversive cues. DRUG AND ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE REPORTS 2022; 5:100098. [PMID: 36844163 PMCID: PMC9948813 DOI: 10.1016/j.dadr.2022.100098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2022] [Revised: 09/09/2022] [Accepted: 09/19/2022] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
Abstract
The relationship of cannabis-use disorder and trauma exposure at the level of the brain is not well-understood. Cue-reactivity paradigms have largely focused on characterizing aberrant subcortical function by averaging across the entire task. However, changes across the task, including a non-habituating amygdala response (NHAR), may be a useful biomarker for relapse vulnerability and other pathology. This secondary analysis utilized existing fMRI data from a CUD population with (TR-Y, n = 18) or without trauma (TR-N, n = 15). Amygdala reactivity to novel and repeated aversive cues was examined between TR-Y vs. TR-N groups, using a repeated measures ANOVA. Analysis revealed a significant interaction between TR-Y vs. TR-N and amygdala response to novel vs. repeated cues in the amygdala (right: F (1,31) = 5.31, p = 0.028; left: F (1,31) = 7.42, p = 0.011). In the TR-Y group, a NHAR was evident, while the TR-N group exhibited amygdala habituation, resulting in a significant difference between groups of amygdala reactivity to repeated cues (right: p = 0.002; left: p < 0.001). The NHAR in the TR-Y (but not TR-N) group was significantly correlated with higher cannabis craving scores, yielding a significant group difference (z = 2.1, p = 0.018). Results suggest trauma interacts with the brain's sensitivity to aversive cues, offering a neural explanation for the relationship between trauma and CUD vulnerability. These findings suggest the importance of considering the temporal dynamics of cue reactivity and trauma history in future studies and treatment planning, as this distinction may help decrease relapse vulnerability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul S. Regier
- University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, 3535 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, United States,Corresponding author.
| | - Michael J. Gawrysiak
- University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, 3535 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, United States,West Chester University of Pennsylvania, 125 West Rosedale Avenue, 19383, United States
| | - Kanchana Jagannathan
- University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, 3535 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, United States
| | - Anna Rose Childress
- University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, 3535 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, United States
| | - Teresa R. Franklin
- University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, 3535 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, United States
| | - Reagan R. Wetherill
- University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, 3535 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, United States
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9
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Regier PS, Jagannathan K, Franklin TR, Wetherill RR, Langleben DD, Gawyrsiak M, Kampman KM, Childress AR. Sustained brain response to repeated drug cues is associated with poor drug-use outcomes. Addict Biol 2021; 26:e13028. [PMID: 33634928 PMCID: PMC9906797 DOI: 10.1111/adb.13028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2020] [Revised: 02/08/2021] [Accepted: 02/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
A threefold increase in fatal cocaine overdoses during the past decade highlights the critical lack of medications for cocaine use disorders. The brain response to drug cues can predict future drug use; however, results have been mixed. We present preliminary evidence that a sustained response to repeated cocaine cues within a single task is a significant predictor of drug-use outcomes. Seventy-three cocaine inpatients were administered a passive-viewing fMRI task, featuring 500 ms novel evocative (cocaine, sexual, aversive) and neutral comparator cues in the first half (Half1), which were then repeated in the second half (Half2). After the baseline scan, patients received eight outpatient treatment weeks with twice-weekly drug screens. Drug-use outcome groups were empirically defined based on cocaine-positive or missing urines averaged across the outpatient phase: GOOD (<40%), POOR (>85%), and Intermediate (INT, between 40% and 85%) outcomes. Differences of response to initial (Half1) and repeated (Half2) cues in a priori (cue-reactive) regions were tested between outcome groups (3 [Group] × 2 [Halves] ANOVA). An interaction was found in the brain response to drug (but not sex or aversive) cues, with a significant difference between the GOOD and POOR outcome groups in Half2, driven by a significant decrease in brain response by the GOOD outcome group and a sustained brain response by the POOR outcome group, to repeated cocaine cues. The brain response to repeated drug cues may be a useful predictor of future drug use, encouraging future intervention studies to restore a "healthy" (decreasing) response to the repeated presentation of drug cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul S. Regier
- Perelman School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA
| | - Kanchana Jagannathan
- Perelman School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA
| | - Teresa R. Franklin
- Perelman School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA
| | - Reagan R. Wetherill
- Perelman School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA
| | - Daniel D. Langleben
- Perelman School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA
| | - Michael Gawyrsiak
- Perelman School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA
| | - Kyle M. Kampman
- Perelman School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA
| | - Anna Rose Childress
- Perelman School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA
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10
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Kleberg JL, Löwenberg EB, Lau JYF, Serlachius E, Högström J. Restricted Visual Scanpaths During Emotion Recognition in Childhood Social Anxiety Disorder. Front Psychiatry 2021; 12:658171. [PMID: 34079483 PMCID: PMC8165204 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.658171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2021] [Accepted: 04/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) has its typical onset in childhood and adolescence. Maladaptive processing of social information may contribute to the etiology and maintenance of SAD. During face perception, individuals execute a succession of visual fixations known as a scanpath which facilitates information processing. Atypically long scanpaths have been reported in adults with SAD, but no data exists from pediatric samples. SAD has also been linked to atypical arousal during face perception. Both metrics were examined in one of the largest eye-tracking studies of pediatric SAD to date. Methods: Participants were children and adolescents with SAD (n = 61) and healthy controls (n = 39) with a mean age of 14 years (range 10-17) who completed an emotion recognition task. The visual scanpath and pupil dilation (an indirect index of arousal) were examined using eye tracking. Results: Scanpaths of youth with SAD were shorter, less distributed, and consisted of a smaller number of fixations than those of healthy controls. These findings were supported by both frequentist and Bayesian statistics. Higher pupil dilation was also observed in the SAD group, but despite a statistically significant group difference, this result was not supported by the Bayesian analysis. Conclusions: The results were contrary to findings from adult studies, but similar to what has been reported in neurodevelopmental conditions associated with social interaction impairments. Restricted scanpaths may disrupt holistic representation of faces known to favor adaptive social understanding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johan Lundin Kleberg
- Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, & Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Emilie Bäcklin Löwenberg
- Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, & Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Jennifer Y. F. Lau
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Eva Serlachius
- Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, & Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Jens Högström
- Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, & Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
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11
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Holz NE, Häge A, Plichta MM, Boecker-Schlier R, Jennen-Steinmetz C, Baumeister S, Meyer-Lindenberg A, Laucht M, Banaschewski T, Brandeis D. Early Maternal Care and Amygdala Habituation to Emotional Stimuli in Adulthood. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2021; 16:1100-1110. [PMID: 33963390 PMCID: PMC8483279 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsab059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2020] [Revised: 03/25/2021] [Accepted: 05/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Evidence suggests that maternal care constitutes a protective factor for psychopathology which may be conditional on the level of family adversity. Given that psychopathology is frequently linked with social deficits, and the amygdala with social functioning, we investigated the impact of early maternal care on amygdala function under high versus low familial risk for psychopathology. Amygdala activity and habituation during an emotional face-matching paradigm was analyzed in participants of an epidemiological cohort study followed since birth (N=172, 25 years). Early mother-infant interaction was assessed during a standardized nursing and play setting at the age of 3 months. Information on familial risk during the offspring's childhood and on the participants' lifetime psychopathology was obtained with diagnostic interviews. An interaction between maternal stimulation and familial risk was found on amygdala habituation but not on activation, with higher maternal stimulation predicting stronger amygdala habituation in the familial risk group only. Furthermore, amygdala habituation correlated inversely with ADHD diagnoses. The findings underline the long-term importance of early maternal care on the offspring´s socioemotional neurodevelopment and of interventions targeting maternal sensitivity early in life, particularly by increasing maternal interactive behavior in those with familial risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathalie E Holz
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
| | - Alexander Häge
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
| | - Michael M Plichta
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Hoffmann-Str. 10, Frankfurt am Main 60528, Germany
| | - Regina Boecker-Schlier
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
| | - Christine Jennen-Steinmetz
- Department of Biostatistics, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, J5, Mannheim 68159, Germany
| | - Sarah Baumeister
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
| | - Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
| | - Manfred Laucht
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.,Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Neumünsterallee 9, Zurich 8032, Switzerland
| | - Tobias Banaschewski
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
| | - Daniel Brandeis
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.,Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Neumünsterallee 9, Zurich 8032, Switzerland.,Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, Zurich 8057, Switzerland.,Center for Integrative Human Physiology, Winterthurerstrasse 190, Zurich 8057, Switzerland
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12
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Villard J, Bennett JL, Bliss-Moreau E, Capitanio JP, Fox NA, Amaral DG, Lavenex P. Structural differences in the hippocampus and amygdala of behaviorally inhibited macaque monkeys. Hippocampus 2021; 31:858-868. [PMID: 33844366 DOI: 10.1002/hipo.23329] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2020] [Revised: 03/22/2021] [Accepted: 03/29/2021] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Behavioral inhibition is a temperamental disposition to react warily when confronted by unfamiliar people, objects, or events. Behaviorally inhibited children are at greater risk of developing anxiety disorders later in life. Previous studies reported that individuals with a history of childhood behavioral inhibition exhibit abnormal activity in the hippocampus and amygdala. However, few studies have investigated the structural differences that may underlie these functional abnormalities. In this exploratory study, we evaluated rhesus monkeys exhibiting a phenotype consistent with human behavioral inhibition. We performed quantitative neuroanatomical analyses that cannot be performed in humans including estimates of the volume and neuron number of distinct hippocampal regions and amygdala nuclei in behaviorally inhibited and control rhesus monkeys. Behaviorally inhibited monkeys had larger volumes of the rostral third of the hippocampal field CA3, smaller volumes of the rostral third of CA2, and smaller volumes of the accessory basal nucleus of the amygdala. Furthermore, behaviorally inhibited monkeys had fewer neurons in the rostral third of CA2. These structural differences may contribute to the functional abnormalities in the hippocampus and amygdala of behaviorally inhibited individuals. These structural findings in monkeys are consistent with a reduced modulation of amygdala activity via prefrontal cortex projections to the accessory basal nucleus. Given the putative roles of the amygdala in affective processing, CA3 in associative learning and CA2 in social memory, increased amygdala and CA3 activity, and diminished CA2 structure and function, may be associated with increased social anxiety and the heritability of behavioral inhibition. The findings from this exploratory study compel follow-up investigations with larger sample sizes and additional analyses to provide greater insight and more definitive answers regarding the neurobiological bases of behavioral inhibition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justine Villard
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Development, Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Jeffrey L Bennett
- MIND Institute and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California at Davis, Davis, California, USA.,Department of Psychology, University of California at Davis, Davis, California, USA
| | - Eliza Bliss-Moreau
- Department of Psychology, University of California at Davis, Davis, California, USA.,California National Primate Research Center, University of California at Davis, Davis, California, USA
| | - John P Capitanio
- Department of Psychology, University of California at Davis, Davis, California, USA.,California National Primate Research Center, University of California at Davis, Davis, California, USA
| | - Nathan A Fox
- Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - David G Amaral
- MIND Institute and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California at Davis, Davis, California, USA.,California National Primate Research Center, University of California at Davis, Davis, California, USA
| | - Pierre Lavenex
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Development, Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
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13
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Avery SN, McHugo M, Armstrong K, Blackford JU, Woodward ND, Heckers S. Stable habituation deficits in the early stage of psychosis: a 2-year follow-up study. Transl Psychiatry 2021; 11:20. [PMID: 33414431 PMCID: PMC7791099 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-020-01167-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2020] [Revised: 12/01/2020] [Accepted: 12/09/2020] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Neural habituation, the decrease in brain response to repeated stimuli, is a fundamental, highly conserved mechanism that acts as an essential filter for our complex sensory environment. Convergent evidence indicates neural habituation is disrupted in both early and chronic stages of schizophrenia, with deficits co-occurring in brain regions that show inhibitory dysfunction. As inhibitory deficits have been proposed to contribute to the onset and progression of illness, habituation may be an important treatment target. However, a crucial first step is clarifying whether habituation deficits progress with illness. In the present study, we measured neural habituation in 138 participants (70 early psychosis patients (<2 years of illness), 68 healthy controls), with 108 participants assessed longitudinally at both baseline and 2-year follow-up. At follow-up, all early psychosis patients met criteria for a schizophrenia spectrum disorder (i.e., schizophreniform disorder, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder). Habituation slopes (i.e., rate of fMRI signal change) to repeated images were computed for the anterior hippocampus, occipital cortex, and the fusiform face area. Habituation slopes were entered into a linear mixed model to test for effects of group and time by region. We found that early psychosis patients showed habituation deficits relative to healthy control participants across brain regions, and that these deficits were maintained, but did not worsen, over two years. These results suggest a stable period of habituation deficits in the early stage of schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suzanne N. Avery
- grid.412807.80000 0004 1936 9916Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN USA
| | - Maureen McHugo
- grid.412807.80000 0004 1936 9916Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN USA
| | - Kristan Armstrong
- grid.412807.80000 0004 1936 9916Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN USA
| | - Jennifer Urbano Blackford
- grid.412807.80000 0004 1936 9916Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN USA ,grid.413806.8Research Health Scientist, Research and Development, Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Nashville, TN USA
| | - Neil D. Woodward
- grid.412807.80000 0004 1936 9916Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN USA
| | - Stephan Heckers
- grid.412807.80000 0004 1936 9916Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN USA
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14
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Rubin M, Minns S, Muller K, Tong MH, Hayhoe MM, Telch MJ. Avoidance of social threat: Evidence from eye movements during a public speaking challenge using 360°- video. Behav Res Ther 2020; 134:103706. [PMID: 32920165 PMCID: PMC7530106 DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2020.103706] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2020] [Revised: 06/02/2020] [Accepted: 07/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Social anxiety (SA) is thought to be maintained in part by avoidance of social threat, which exacerbates fear of negative evaluation. Yet, relatively little research has been conducted to evaluate the connection between social anxiety and attentional processes in realistic contexts. The current pilot study examined patterns of attention (eye movements) in a commonly feared social context - public speaking. Participants (N = 84) with a range of social anxiety symptoms gave an impromptu five-minute speech in an immersive 360°-video environment, while wearing a virtual reality headset equipped with eye-tracking hardware. We found evidence for the expected interaction between fear of public speaking and social threat (uninterested vs. interested audience members). Consistent with prediction, participants with greater fear of public speaking looked fewer times at uninterested members of the audience (high social threat) compared to interested members of the audience (low social threat) b = 0.418, p = 0.046, 95% CI [0.008, 0.829]. Analyses of attentional indices over the course of the speech revealed that the interaction between fear of public speaking and gaze on audience members was only significant in the first three-minutes. Our results provide support for theoretical models implicating avoidance of social threat as a maintaining factor in social anxiety. Future research is needed to test whether guided attentional training targeting in vivo attentional avoidance may improve clinical outcomes for those presenting with social anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mikael Rubin
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA
| | - Sean Minns
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA
| | - Karl Muller
- Center for Perceptual Systems, The University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA
| | - Matthew H Tong
- Center for Perceptual Systems, The University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA
| | - Mary M Hayhoe
- Center for Perceptual Systems, The University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA
| | - Michael J Telch
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA.
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15
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Hühne A, Volkmann P, Stephan M, Rossner M, Landgraf D. An in-depth neurobehavioral characterization shows anxiety-like traits, impaired habituation behavior, and restlessness in male Cryptochrome-deficient mice. GENES, BRAIN, AND BEHAVIOR 2020; 19:e12661. [PMID: 32348614 DOI: 10.1111/gbb.12661] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2020] [Revised: 04/23/2020] [Accepted: 04/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Many psychiatric disorders, for example, anxiety, are accompanied by disturbances of circadian rhythms, including disturbed sleep/wake cycles, changes in locomotor activity, and abnormal endocrine function. Conversely, alternations of circadian rhythms are a risk factor for the development of psychiatric disorders. This assumption is supported by animals with clock gene mutations which often display behaviors that resemble human psychiatric disorders. In this study, we performed an in-depth behavioral analysis with male mice lacking the central clock genes Cryptochrome 1 and 2 (Cry1/2-/- ), which are thus unable to express endogenous circadian rhythms. With wild-type and Cry1/2-/- mice, we performed an extensive behavioral analysis to study their cognitive abilities, social behavior, and their expression of depression-like and anxiety-like behavior. While Cry1/2-/- mice showed only mild abnormalities at cognitive and social behavioral levels, they were consistently more anxious than wildtype mice. Anxiety-like behavior was particularly evident in reduced mobility in new environments, altered ability to habituate, compensatory behavior, and consistent restless behavior across many behavioral tests. In line with their anxiety-like behavioral phenotype, Cry1/2-/- mice have higher c-Fos activity in the amygdala after exposure to an anxiogenic stressor than wild-type mice. In our study, we identified Cry1/2-/- mice as animals that qualify as a translational mouse model for anxiety disorder in humans because of its consistent behavior of restlessness, increased immobility, and dysfunctional habituation in new environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anisja Hühne
- Circadian Biology Group, Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Clinic of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
- Munich Medical Research School, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
| | - Paul Volkmann
- Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Clinic of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
| | - Marius Stephan
- Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Clinic of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
- International Max Planck Research School for Translational Psychiatry (IMPRS-TP), Munich, Germany
| | - Moritz Rossner
- Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Clinic of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
| | - Dominic Landgraf
- Circadian Biology Group, Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Clinic of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
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16
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Avery SN, McHugo M, Armstrong K, Blackford JU, Vandekar S, Woodward ND, Heckers S. Habituation during encoding: A new approach to the evaluation of memory deficits in schizophrenia. Schizophr Res 2020; 223:179-185. [PMID: 32736836 PMCID: PMC7704891 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2020.07.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2019] [Revised: 04/30/2020] [Accepted: 07/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Memory is significantly impaired in schizophrenia. However, memory measures are often complex and confounded by additional impairments such as motivation and task comprehension, which can affect behavioral performance and obscure neural function during memory tasks. Neural signatures of memory encoding that are robust to potential confounds may shed additional light on neural deficits contributing to memory impairment in schizophrenia. METHODS Here, we investigate a potential neural signature of memory-habituation-and its relationship with healthy and impaired memory function. To limit potential confounds, we used a passive depth of encoding memory task designed to elicit neural responses associated with memory encoding while limiting other cognitive demands. To determine whether habituation during encoding was predictive of intact memory processing, we first compared neural habituation over repeated encoding exposures with subsequent explicit memory in healthy individuals. We then tested whether a similar relationship existed in patients with schizophrenia. RESULTS Explicit memory performance was impaired in patients with schizophrenia relative to healthy control subjects. In healthy participants, more habituation over repeated exposures during encoding was associated with greater repetition-related increases in accuracy during testing. However, in patients with schizophrenia, better performance was associated with less habituation, or a more sustained neural response during encoding. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that sustained neural activity is required for normal repetition-related improvements in memory performance in schizophrenia, in line with a neural inefficiency model. Habituation may serve as a valuable index of neural processes that underlie behavioral memory performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suzanne N. Avery
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
| | - Maureen McHugo
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
| | - Kristan Armstrong
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
| | - Jennifer U. Blackford
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
| | - Simon Vandekar
- Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
| | - Neil D. Woodward
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
| | - Stephan Heckers
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
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17
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Evidence for inhibited temperament as a transdiagnostic factor across mood and psychotic disorders. J Affect Disord 2020; 274:995-1003. [PMID: 32664044 PMCID: PMC7540608 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2020.05.119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2020] [Revised: 04/20/2020] [Accepted: 05/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The conceptualization of risk for psychiatric illness is moving from risk factors for specific psychiatric disorders to factors that confer risk for multiple disorders. One potential transdiagnostic risk factor is inhibited temperament, a trait characterized by a fearful or avoidant response to novelty. Inhibited temperament is an established risk factor for anxiety disorders, and evidence suggests inhibited temperament is elevated in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder. METHODS In the current study, we tested the hypothesis that inhibited temperament is a transdiagnostic factor in 490 participants including individuals with schizophrenia (n=184), psychotic bipolar disorder (n=61), major depression disorder (n=53), or no disorders (n=192). Participants completed assessments of temperament, personality, clinical symptoms, cognition, and functioning. An ANOVA was used to test for group differences in inhibited temperament scores. Regressions were used to test whether inhibited temperament scores were associated with the current measures and whether the associations were similar across disorders. RESULTS Inhibited temperament was similarly elevated in all patient groups compared to controls. Inhibited temperament was similarly associated with anxiety, depression, negative affect, and quality of life across patient groups. Inhibited temperament was not associated with cognition or functional impairment. LIMITATION Although the inhibited temperament measure is commonly used, it is a retrospective self-report which may be susceptible to biases. CONCLUSIONS The current study provides evidence that inhibited temperament is a transdiagnostic factor impacting affective systems across mood and psychotic disorders. Inhibited patients may especially benefit from treatments that specifically target anxiety and depression.
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18
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Avery SN, Armstrong K, McHugo M, Vandekar S, Blackford JU, Woodward ND, Heckers S. Relational Memory in the Early Stage of Psychosis: A 2-Year Follow-up Study. Schizophr Bull 2020; 47:75-86. [PMID: 32657351 PMCID: PMC7825006 DOI: 10.1093/schbul/sbaa081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Relational memory, the ability to bind information into complex memories, is moderately impaired in early psychosis and severely impaired in chronic schizophrenia, suggesting relational memory may worsen throughout the course of illness. METHODS We examined relational memory in 66 early psychosis patients and 64 healthy control subjects, with 59 patients and 52 control subjects assessed longitudinally at baseline and 2-year follow-up. Relational memory was assessed with 2 complementary tasks, to test how individuals learn relationships between items (face-scene binding task) and make inferences about trained relationships (associative inference task). RESULTS The early psychosis group showed impaired relational memory in both tasks relative to the healthy control group. The ability to learn relationships between items remained impaired in early psychosis patients, while the ability to make inferences about trained relationships improved, although never reaching the level of healthy control performance. Early psychosis patients who did not progress to schizophrenia at follow-up had better relational memory than patients who did. CONCLUSIONS Relational memory impairments, some of which improve and are less severe in patients who do not progress to schizophrenia, are a target for intervention in early psychosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suzanne N Avery
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
| | - Kristan Armstrong
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
| | - Maureen McHugo
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
| | - Simon Vandekar
- Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
| | - Jennifer Urbano Blackford
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN,Department of Research and Development, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Nashville, TN
| | - Neil D Woodward
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
| | - Stephan Heckers
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN,To whom correspondence should be addressed; Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital, 1601 23rd Avenue South, Room 3060, Nashville, TN 37212; tel: (615)-322-2665, fax: (615)-343-8400, e-mail:
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Estradiol Modulates Neural and Behavioral Arousal in Women With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder During a Fear Learning and Extinction Task. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY: COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2020; 5:1114-1122. [PMID: 32563699 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2020.04.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2020] [Revised: 03/18/2020] [Accepted: 04/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Fear responding in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is sexually heterogeneous and varies with hormonal fluctuations throughout the menstrual cycle. While research suggests that estrogen levels affect PTSD symptoms among women, there is a dearth of research on modulatory effects of estrogen on fear responding among women with PTSD, and neural outcome measures are lacking. METHODS A sample of 42 women with PTSD underwent 2 consecutive alternating blocks of fear conditioning and extinction training, during which a CS+ conditioned stimulus, but not a CS-, predicted the occurrence of an electric shock in an acquisition context but not in an extinction context. Assayed saliva determined estradiol levels. Skin conductance response and whole-brain voxelwise activity during functional magnetic resonance imaging were outcome variables in linear mixed-effects models, with estradiol level, PTSD severity, and task contrasts as predictors. RESULTS Skin conductance response exhibited a significant estradiol × PTSD severity × habituation interaction (t = 3.180, p = .002), such that PTSD severity was correlated with increased arousal responding between training blocks among women with lower estradiol (t = -3.985, p < .001) but not higher estradiol (t = 0.550, p = .583). Voxelwise activity also demonstrated an identical three-way interaction within dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and anterior insula clusters. The skin conductance response and imaging interactions between PTSD severity and estradiol were not specific to conditioned stimulus type or context. CONCLUSIONS Estradiol moderated the relationship between PTSD severity and arousal response habituation between fear conditioning and extinction training sessions, such that high estradiol protected against the negative impact of severe PTSD symptoms on fear habituation. These findings suggest that estrogen enhances habituation among women with severe PTSD, potentially influencing the efficacy of extinction-based therapies.
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20
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Bas-Hoogendam JM, Westenberg PM. Imaging the socially-anxious brain: recent advances and future prospects. F1000Res 2020; 9:F1000 Faculty Rev-230. [PMID: 32269760 PMCID: PMC7122428 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.21214.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is serious psychiatric condition with a genetic background. Insight into the neurobiological alterations underlying the disorder is essential to develop effective interventions that could relieve SAD-related suffering. In this expert review, we consider recent neuroimaging work on SAD. First, we focus on new results from magnetic resonance imaging studies dedicated to outlining biomarkers of SAD, including encouraging findings with respect to structural and functional brain alterations associated with the disorder. Furthermore, we highlight innovative studies in the field of neuroprediction and studies that established the effects of treatment on brain characteristics. Next, we describe novel work aimed to delineate endophenotypes of SAD, providing insight into the genetic susceptibility to develop the disorder. Finally, we outline outstanding questions and point out directions for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janna Marie Bas-Hoogendam
- Developmental and Educational Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK Leiden, The Netherlands
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, c/o LUMC, postzone C2-S, P.O.Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands
- Department of Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - P. Michiel Westenberg
- Developmental and Educational Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK Leiden, The Netherlands
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, c/o LUMC, postzone C2-S, P.O.Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands
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Bas‐Hoogendam JM, van Steenbergen H, Blackford JU, Tissier RLM, van der Wee NJA, Westenberg PM. Impaired neural habituation to neutral faces in families genetically enriched for social anxiety disorder. Depress Anxiety 2019; 36:1143-1153. [PMID: 31600020 PMCID: PMC6916167 DOI: 10.1002/da.22962] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2019] [Revised: 08/22/2019] [Accepted: 08/24/2019] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is an incapacitating disorder running in families. Previous work associated social fearfulness with a failure to habituate, but the habituation response to neutral faces has, as of yet, not been investigated in patients with SAD and their family members concurrently. Here, we examined whether impaired habituation to neutral faces is a putative neurobiological endophenotype of SAD by using data from the multiplex and multigenerational Leiden Family Lab study on SAD. METHODS Participants (n = 110; age, 9.2 - 61.5 years) performed a habituation paradigm involving neutral faces, as these are strong social stimuli with an ambiguous meaning. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging data to investigate whether brain activation related to habituation was associated with the level of social anxiety within the families. Furthermore, the heritability of the neural habituation response was estimated. RESULTS Our data revealed a relationship between impaired habituation to neutral faces and social anxiety in the right hippocampus and right amygdala. In addition, our data indicated that this habituation response displayed moderate - to-moderately high heritability in the right hippocampus. CONCLUSION The present results provide support for altered habituation as a candidate SAD endophenotype; impaired neural habitation cosegregrated with the disorder within families and was heritable. These findings shed light on the genetic susceptibility to SAD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janna M. Bas‐Hoogendam
- Developmental and Educational Psychology, Institute of PsychologyLeiden UniversityLeidenThe Netherlands,Department of PsychiatryLeiden University Medical CenterLeidenThe Netherlands,Leiden Institute for Brain and CognitionLeidenThe Netherlands
| | - Henk van Steenbergen
- Leiden Institute for Brain and CognitionLeidenThe Netherlands,Cognitive Psychology Unit, Institute of PsychologyUniversity of LeidenLeidenThe Netherlands
| | - Jennifer Urbano Blackford
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral SciencesVanderbilt University Medical CenterNashvilleTennessee,Department of Veterans Affairs Medical CenterResearch Service, Research and DevelopmentNashvilleTennessee
| | - Renaud L. M. Tissier
- Developmental and Educational Psychology, Institute of PsychologyLeiden UniversityLeidenThe Netherlands
| | - Nic J. A. van der Wee
- Department of PsychiatryLeiden University Medical CenterLeidenThe Netherlands,Leiden Institute for Brain and CognitionLeidenThe Netherlands
| | - P. Michiel Westenberg
- Developmental and Educational Psychology, Institute of PsychologyLeiden UniversityLeidenThe Netherlands,Leiden Institute for Brain and CognitionLeidenThe Netherlands
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22
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Kovner R, Oler JA, Kalin NH. Cortico-Limbic Interactions Mediate Adaptive and Maladaptive Responses Relevant to Psychopathology. Am J Psychiatry 2019; 176:987-999. [PMID: 31787014 PMCID: PMC7014786 DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2019.19101064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Cortico-limbic circuits provide a substrate for adaptive behavioral and emotional responses. However, dysfunction of these circuits can result in maladaptive responses that are associated with psychopathology. The prefrontal-limbic pathways are of particular interest because they facilitate interactions among emotion, cognition, and decision-making functions, all of which are affected in psychiatric disorders. Regulatory aspects of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) are especially relevant to human psychopathology, as the PFC, in addition to its functions, is more recent from an evolutionary perspective and is considerably more complex in human and nonhuman primates compared with other species. This review provides a neuroanatomical and functional perspective of selected regions of the limbic system, the medial temporal lobe structures-the hippocampus and amygdala as well as regions of the PFC. Beyond the specific brain regions, emphasis is placed on the structure and function of critical PFC-limbic circuits, linking alterations in the processing of information across these pathways to the pathophysiology and psychopathology of various psychiatric illnesses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rothem Kovner
- Department of Neuroscience and Kavli Institute of Neuroscience,
Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn
| | - Jonathan A. Oler
- Department of Psychiatry and HealthEmotions Research Institute,
University of Wisconsin, Madison
| | - Ned H. Kalin
- Department of Psychiatry and HealthEmotions Research Institute,
University of Wisconsin, Madison
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23
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Rogers P, Hattersley M, French CC. Gender role orientation, thinking style preference and facets of adult paranormality: A mediation analysis. Conscious Cogn 2019; 76:102821. [PMID: 31590056 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2019.102821] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2018] [Revised: 09/11/2019] [Accepted: 09/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
This study examines the extent to which masculine and feminine gender role orientations predict self-reported anomalous experiences, belief, ability and fear once relevant correlates including biological sex are controlled for. The extent to which rational versus intuitive thinking style preference mediates these relationships is also examined. Path analysis (n = 332) found heightened femininity directly predicts stronger intuitive preference plus more anomalous experiences, belief and fear with, additionally, intuitive preference mediating several gender role-paranormality relationships. By comparison, heightened masculinity directly predicts both thinking styles plus lower anomalous fear. The latter relationship is also shaped by the nature of mediators with (a) more anomalous experiences and belief associated with more anomalous fear and (b) either heightened rationality else more anomalous ability linked to, conversely, less anomalous fear. The extent to which findings support a gender (or social) role account of adult paranormality, together with methodological limitations and ideas for future research, is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul Rogers
- Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, New Cross, London SE14 6NW, UK.
| | - Michael Hattersley
- Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, New Cross, London SE14 6NW, UK
| | - Christopher C French
- Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, New Cross, London SE14 6NW, UK
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24
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Avery SN, McHugo M, Armstrong K, Blackford JU, Woodward ND, Heckers S. Disrupted Habituation in the Early Stage of Psychosis. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY: COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2019; 4:1004-1012. [PMID: 31445881 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2019.06.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2019] [Revised: 06/08/2019] [Accepted: 06/10/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Learning and memory are impaired in schizophrenia. Some theories have proposed that one form of memory, habituation, is particularly impaired. Preliminary evidence suggests that memory impairment is associated with failed hippocampal habituation in patients with chronic schizophrenia. We studied how abnormal habituation of the hippocampus is related to relational memory deficits in the early stage of psychosis. METHODS We measured hippocampal activity in 62 patients with early psychosis and 70 healthy individuals using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Habituation was defined as the slope of functional magnetic resonance imaging signal change to repeated presentations of faces and objects. Relational memory ability was measured as the slope of preferential viewing during a face-scene pair eye movement task outside the scanner. RESULTS Patients with early psychosis showed impaired relational memory (p < .001) and less hippocampal habituation to objects (p = .01) than healthy control subjects. In the healthy control group, better relational memory was associated with faster anterior hippocampal habituation (faces, r = -.28, p = .03). In contrast, patients with early psychosis showed no brain-behavior relationship (r = .12, p = .40). CONCLUSIONS We found evidence for disrupted hippocampal habituation in the early stage of psychosis along with an altered association between hippocampal habituation and relational memory ability. These results suggest that neural habituation may provide a novel target for early cognitive interventions in psychosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suzanne N Avery
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee.
| | - Maureen McHugo
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee
| | - Kristan Armstrong
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee
| | - Jennifer U Blackford
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee
| | - Neil D Woodward
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee
| | - Stephan Heckers
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee
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25
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Frontal delta-beta cross-frequency coupling in high and low social anxiety: An index of stress regulation? COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2019; 18:764-777. [PMID: 29777479 PMCID: PMC6096649 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-018-0603-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Cross-frequency coupling (CFC) between frontal delta (1–4 Hz) and beta (14–30 Hz) oscillations has been suggested as a candidate neural correlate of social anxiety disorder, a disorder characterized by fear and avoidance of social and performance situations. Prior studies have used amplitude-amplitude correlation (AAC) as a CFC measure and hypothesized it as a candidate neural mechanism of affective control. However, using this metric has yielded inconsistent results regarding the direction of CFC, and the functional significance of coupling strength is uncertain. To offer a better understanding of CFC in social anxiety, we compared frontal delta-beta AAC with phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) – a mechanism for information transfer through neural circuits. Twenty high socially anxious (HSA) and 32 low socially anxious (LSA) female undergraduates participated in a social performance task (SPT). Delta-beta PAC and AAC were estimated during the resting state, as well as the anticipation and recovery conditions. Results showed significantly more AAC in LSA than HSA participants during early anticipation, as well as significant values during all conditions in LSA participants only. PAC did not distinguish between LSA and HSA participants, and instead was found to correlate with state nervousness during early anticipation, but in LSA participants only. Together, these findings are interpreted to suggest that delta-beta AAC is a plausible neurobiological index of adaptive stress regulation and can distinguish between trait high and low social anxiety during stress, while delta-beta PAC might be sensitive enough to reflect mild state anxiety in LSA participants.
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26
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Modulation of feedback processing by social context in social anxiety disorder (SAD)-an event-related potentials (ERPs) study. Sci Rep 2019; 9:4795. [PMID: 30886233 PMCID: PMC6423138 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-41268-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2018] [Accepted: 02/27/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The ability to learn from feedback, especially under social scrutiny, is an essential prerequisite for successful interaction with the environment. Patients suffering from social anxiety disorder (SAD) have been proposed to show altered processing of and learning from feedback, especially depending on social context. However, the neural basis and behavioral consequences of altered reinforcement learning in SAD are not clear yet. In the present event-related potentials (ERPs) study, 34 SAD patients and 30 healthy control subjects (HC) performed an adapted version of a probabilistic feedback learning task in two distinct social conditions. In the observation condition, participants were observed by a confederate; in the control condition, they performed the task without being observed. Patients as compared to healthy controls experienced more subjective discomfort under social observation. Moreover, they showed better learning from negative feedback in the control condition, but reduced learning from negative feedback in the observation condition. This effect correlated with reduced differentiation of positive and negative feedback in the time range of the feedback-related negativity (FRN) under high action-feedback contingency. In addition, SAD patients demonstrated increased FRN amplitudes in the first half of the observation condition, in particular to positive feedback. The present results demonstrate that processing of and learning from feedback are altered in SAD, especially under social scrutiny. In particular, it appears that SAD patients do not process positive information adequately on the neural level, which may impair their ability to differentiate between negative and positive outcomes.
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27
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Poole KL, Schmidt LA. Trajectory of heart period to socioaffective threat in shy children. Dev Psychobiol 2018; 60:999-1008. [PMID: 30125935 DOI: 10.1002/dev.21774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2018] [Revised: 07/20/2018] [Accepted: 07/23/2018] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Although shyness is characterized by distinct psychophysiological correlates, we know very little about the development of these correlates. In this longitudinal study, we examined how children's shyness was associated with trajectories of heart period (HP) to socioaffective threat across four assessments spanning approximately 2 years. Children (Mage = 6.39 years) viewed age-appropriate, socioaffective videos at each visit while having their HP measured concurrently. A growth curve analysis revealed that low shy children had a relatively lower HP at enrollment, but experienced increases in HP across visits, while high shy children exhibited relatively stable low HP across visits while viewing threat-related socioaffective video stimuli. These patterns did not exist for HP during resting baseline or HP to nonthreatening video stimuli. These findings suggest that longitudinal patterns of HP among shy children may reflect a stable, characteristic way of responding to socioaffective threat, and possibly a physiological mechanism underlying shyness in some children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristie L Poole
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Louis A Schmidt
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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28
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Avery SN, Rogers BP, Heckers S. Hippocampal Network Modularity Is Associated With Relational Memory Dysfunction in Schizophrenia. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY. COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2018; 3:423-432. [PMID: 29653904 PMCID: PMC5940573 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2018.02.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2017] [Revised: 01/12/2018] [Accepted: 02/13/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Functional dysconnectivity has been proposed as a major pathophysiological mechanism for cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia. The hippocampus is a focal point of dysconnectivity in schizophrenia, with decreased hippocampal functional connectivity contributing to the marked memory deficits observed in patients. Normal memory function relies on the interaction of complex corticohippocampal networks. However, only recent technological advances have enabled the large-scale exploration of functional networks with accuracy and precision. METHODS We investigated the modularity of hippocampal resting-state functional networks in a sample of 45 patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and 38 healthy control subjects. Modularity was calculated for two distinct functional networks: a core hippocampal-medial temporal lobe cortex network and an extended hippocampal-cortical network. As hippocampal function differs along its longitudinal axis, follow-up analyses examined anterior and posterior networks separately. To explore effects of resting network function on behavior, we tested associations between modularity and relational memory ability. Age, sex, handedness, and parental education were similar between groups. RESULTS Network modularity was lower in schizophrenia patients, especially in the posterior hippocampal network. Schizophrenia patients also showed markedly lower relational memory ability compared with control subjects. We found a distinct brain-behavior relationship in schizophrenia that differed from control subjects by network and anterior/posterior division-while relational memory in control subjects was associated with anterior hippocampal-cortical modularity, schizophrenia patients showed an association with posterior hippocampal-medial temporal lobe cortex network modularity. CONCLUSIONS Our findings support a model of abnormal resting-state corticohippocampal network coherence in schizophrenia, which may contribute to relational memory deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suzanne N Avery
- Department of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee.
| | - Baxter P Rogers
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee
| | - Stephan Heckers
- Department of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee; Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee
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29
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Villalta-Gil V, Hinton KE, Landman BA, Yvernault BC, Perkins SF, Katsantonis AS, Sellani CL, Lahey BB, Zald DH. Convergent individual differences in visual cortices, but not the amygdala across standard amygdalar fMRI probe tasks. Neuroimage 2016; 146:312-319. [PMID: 27894890 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.11.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2016] [Revised: 10/14/2016] [Accepted: 11/14/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The amygdala (AMG) has been repeatedly implicated in the processing of threatening and negatively valenced stimuli and multiple fMRI paradigms have reported personality, genetic, and psychopathological associations with individual differences in AMG activation in these paradigms. Yet the interchangeability of activations in these probes has not been established, thus it remains unclear if we can interpret AMG responses on specific tasks as general markers of its reactivity. In this study we aimed to assess if different tasks that have been widely used within the Affective Neuroscience literature consistently recruit the AMG. METHOD Thirty-two young healthy subjects completed four fMRI tasks that have all been previously shown to probe the AMG during processing of threatening stimuli: the Threat Face Matching (TFM), the Cued Aversive Picture (CAP), the Aversive and Erotica Pictures (AEP) and the Screaming Lady paradigm (SLp) tasks. Contrasts testing response to aversive stimuli relative to baseline or neutral stimuli were generated and correlations between activations in the AMG were calculated across tasks were performed for ROIs of the AMG. RESULTS The TFM, CAP and AEP, but not the SLp, successfully recruit the AMG, among other brain regions, especially when contrasts were against baseline or nonsocial stimuli. Conjunction analysis across contrasts showed that visual cortices (VisCtx) were also consistently recruited. Correlation analysis between the extracted data for right and left AMG did not yield significant associations across tasks. By contrast, the extracted signal in VisCtx showed significant associations across tasks (range r=0.511-r=0.630). CONCLUSIONS Three of the four paradigms revealed significant AMG reactivity, but individual differences in the magnitudes of AMG reactivity were not correlated across paradigms. By contrast, VisCtx activation appears to be a better candidate than the AMG as a measure of individual differences with convergent validity across negative emotion processing paradigms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria Villalta-Gil
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37240, USA.
| | - Kendra E Hinton
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37240, USA
| | - Bennett A Landman
- School of Engineering, Vanderbilt University. Nashville, TN 37240, USA
| | | | - Scott F Perkins
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37240, USA
| | - Allison S Katsantonis
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37240, USA
| | - Courtney L Sellani
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37240, USA
| | - Benjamin B Lahey
- Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - David H Zald
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37240, USA
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