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Borchers LR, Gifuni AJ, Ho TC, Kirshenbaum JS, Gotlib IH. Threat- and reward-related brain circuitry, perceived stress, and anxiety in adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal investigation. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2024; 19:nsae040. [PMID: 38874967 PMCID: PMC11219304 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsae040] [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: 09/18/2023] [Revised: 04/29/2024] [Accepted: 06/13/2024] [Indexed: 06/15/2024] Open
Abstract
The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic led to heightened anxiety in adolescents. The basolateral amygdala (BLA) and the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) are implicated in response to stress and may contribute to anxiety. The role of threat- and reward-related circuitry in adolescent anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic, however, is not clear. Ninety-nine adolescents underwent resting-state fMRI ∼1 year before the pandemic. Following shelter-in-place orders, adolescents reported their perceived stress and, 1 month later, their anxiety. Generalized multivariate analyses identified BLA and NAcc seed-based whole-brain functional connectivity maps with perceived stress. In the resulting significant clusters, we examined the association between seed-based connectivityand subsequent anxiety. Perceived stress was associated with bilateral BLA and NAcc connectivity across distributed clusters that included prefrontal, limbic, temporal, and cerebellar regions. Several NAcc connectivity clusters located in ventromedial prefrontal, parahippocampal, and temporal cortices were positively associated with anxiety; NAcc connectivity with the inferior frontal gyrus was negatively associated. BLA connectivity was not associated with anxiety. These results underscore the integrative role of the NAcc in responding to acute stressors and its relation to anxiety in adolescents. Elucidating the involvement of subcortical-cortical circuitry in adolescents' capacity to respond adaptively to environmental challenges can inform treatment for anxiety-related disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren R Borchers
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, United States
| | - Anthony J Gifuni
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, United States
- Psychiatry Department and Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montréal, Québec H4H 1R3, Canada
| | - Tiffany C Ho
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States
| | - Jaclyn S Kirshenbaum
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, United States
| | - Ian H Gotlib
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, United States
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2
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Luo Y, Xiao M, Chen X, Zeng W, Chen H. Harsh, unpredictable childhood environments are associated with inferior frontal gyrus connectivity and binge eating tendencies in late adolescents. Appetite 2024; 195:107210. [PMID: 38266713 DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2024.107210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2023] [Revised: 12/03/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 01/26/2024]
Abstract
Harsh, unpredictable childhood environments (HUCE) are associated with obesity older in life, but knowledge of how HUCE affect binge eating tendencies is lacking. Five hundred and one late adolescents aged 16-22 were recruited to finish resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan, behavioral measures including retrospective recall of childhood environmental harshness and unpredictability, binge eating tendencies and demographics. Three hundred and seventy-six of participants further completed the computerized visual probe task designed to evaluate attentional engagement towards high and low calorie food. As right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) was the key nodes that related to both early life adversity and binge eating tendencies, it was treated as the interest region in the dynamic functional connectivity analyses. Results found that HUCE are associated with significant but modest decreases in connectivity of right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG)- bilateral medial frontal gyrus, right IFG - bilateral inferior parietal lobule (IPL), and right IFG - left superior frontal gyrus connectivity, as well as attentional engagement to high-calorie food and binge eating tendencies. A machine-learning method named linear support vector regression (SVR) and leave one out cross-validation (LOOCV) procedure used to examine the robustness of the brain-behavior relationship further confirm the findings. Mediation analyses suggested that right IFG - left IPL connectivity mediates the association of HUCE and binge eating tendencies. Findings suggest right IFG - left IPL connectivity may serve as a crucial neurobiological underpinning of HUCE to regulate binge eating behaviors. As such, these results contribute to a novel perspective and hypotheses in elucidating developmental neuro-mechanisms related to binge eating.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yijun Luo
- School of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China; Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Ministry of Education), Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Minyue Xiao
- School of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China; Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Ministry of Education), Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Ximei Chen
- School of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China; Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Ministry of Education), Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Weiyu Zeng
- School of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China; Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Ministry of Education), Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Hong Chen
- School of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China; Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Ministry of Education), Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China.
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3
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Gotlib IH, Buthmann JL, Uy JP. The growing interdisciplinarity of developmental psychopathology: Implications for science and training. Dev Psychopathol 2024:1-11. [PMID: 38516854 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579424000580] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/23/2024]
Abstract
The field of developmental psychopathology has grown exponentially over the past decades, and has become increasingly multifaceted. The initial focus on understanding abnormal child psychology has broadened to the study of the origins of psychopathology, with the goals of preventing and alleviating disorder and promoting healthy development. In this paper, we discuss how technological advances and global events have expanded the questions that researchers in developmental psychopathology can address. We do so by describing a longitudinal study that we have been conducting for the past dozen years. We originally planned to examine the effects of early adversity on trajectories of brain development, endocrine function, and depressive symptoms across puberty; it has since become an interdisciplinary study encompassing diverse domains like inflammation, sleep, biological aging, the environment, and child functioning post-pandemic, that we believe will advance our understanding of neurobehavioral development. This increase in the breadth in our study emerged from an expansion of the field; we encourage researchers to embrace these dynamic changes. In this context, we discuss challenges, opportunities, and institutional changes related to the growing interdisciplinarity of the field with respect to training the next generation of investigators to mitigate the burden of mental illness in youth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ian H Gotlib
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | | | - Jessica P Uy
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
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4
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König M, Berhe O, Ioannidis K, Orellana S, Davidson E, Kaser M, Moreno-López L, van Harmelen AL. The stress-buffering role of friendships in young people with childhood threat experiences: a preliminary report. Eur J Psychotraumatol 2023; 14:2281971. [PMID: 38154076 PMCID: PMC10990450 DOI: 10.1080/20008066.2023.2281971] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2023] [Accepted: 10/12/2023] [Indexed: 12/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: High-quality friendships have a positive impact on the mental health of young people with childhood adversity (CA). Social stress buffering, the phenomenon of a social partner attenuating acute stress responses, is a potential yet unexplored mechanism that may underlie this relationship.Objective: This study examined whether perceived friendship quality was related to better mental health and lower neural stress response in young people with CA.Method: A total of N = 102 young people (aged 16-26) with low to moderate CA were included in the study. We first investigated associations between friendship quality, mental health, and CA. In a representative subset (n = 62), we assessed neural stress responses using the Montreal Imaging Stress Task. In our sample, CA was best described along two dimensions resembling threat or deprivation like experiences. Hence, we investigated both cumulative and dimensional effects of CA.Results: We found no support for social thinning after CA, meaning that the severity of CA (cumulative or dimensional) did not differentially impact friendship quality. High-quality friendships, on the other hand, were strongly associated with better mental health. Furthermore, acute stress increased state anxiety and enhanced neural activity in five frontolimbic brain regions, including the left hippocampus. We found weak support that threat experiences interacted with friendship quality to predict left hippocampal reactivity to stress. However, this effect did not survive multiple comparison correction.Conclusion: The absence of social thinning in our sample may suggest that the risk of developing impoverished social networks is low for rather well-functioning young people with low to moderate CA. Regardless, our findings align with prior research, consistently showing a strong association between high-quality friendships and better mental health in young people with CA. Future research is needed to examine whether friendships aid neural stress responses in young people with childhood threat experiences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maximilian König
- Institute of Education and Child Studies, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Oksana Berhe
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Central Institute of Mental Health, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Konstantinos Ioannidis
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, UK
| | - Sofia Orellana
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, UK
| | - Eugenia Davidson
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, UK
| | - Muzaffer Kaser
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, UK
| | - RAISE Consortium
- Institute of Education and Child Studies, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Central Institute of Mental Health, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, UK
| | - Laura Moreno-López
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, UK
| | - Anne-Laura van Harmelen
- Institute of Education and Child Studies, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, UK
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Dutcher EG, Lopez-Cruz L, Pama EAC, Lynall ME, Bevers ICR, Jones JA, Khan S, Sawiak SJ, Milton AL, Clatworthy MR, Robbins TW, Bullmore ET, Dalley JW. Early-life stress biases responding to negative feedback and increases amygdala volume and vulnerability to later-life stress. Transl Psychiatry 2023; 13:81. [PMID: 36882404 PMCID: PMC9992709 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-023-02385-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2022] [Revised: 02/20/2023] [Accepted: 02/27/2023] [Indexed: 03/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Early-life stress (ELS) or adversity, particularly in the form of childhood neglect and abuse, is associated with poor mental and physical health outcomes in adulthood. However, whether these relationships are mediated by the consequences of ELS itself or by other exposures that frequently co-occur with ELS is unclear. To address this question, we carried out a longitudinal study in rats to isolate the effects of ELS on regional brain volumes and behavioral phenotypes relevant to anxiety and depression. We used the repeated maternal separation (RMS) model of chronic ELS, and conducted behavioral measurements throughout adulthood, including of probabilistic reversal learning (PRL), responding on a progressive ratio task, sucrose preference, novelty preference, novelty reactivity, and putative anxiety-like behavior on the elevated plus maze. Our behavioral assessment was combined with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for quantitation of regional brain volumes at three time points: immediately following RMS, young adulthood without further stress, and late adulthood with further stress. We found that RMS caused long-lasting, sexually dimorphic biased responding to negative feedback on the PRL task. RMS also slowed response time on the PRL task, but without this directly impacting task performance. RMS animals were also uniquely sensitive to a second stressor, which disproportionately impaired their performance and slowed their responding on the PRL task. MRI at the time of the adult stress revealed a larger amygdala volume in RMS animals compared with controls. These behavioral and neurobiological effects persisted well into adulthood despite a lack of effects on conventional tests of 'depression-like' and 'anxiety-like' behavior, and a lack of any evidence of anhedonia. Our findings indicate that ELS has long-lasting cognitive and neurobehavioral effects that interact with stress in adulthood and may have relevance for understanding the etiology of anxiety and depression in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ethan G Dutcher
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Laura Lopez-Cruz
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK
| | - E A Claudia Pama
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Mary-Ellen Lynall
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0SZ, UK
- Molecular Immunity Unit, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, CB2 OQH, UK
| | - Iris C R Bevers
- Faculty of Medical Sciences, Radboud University, Nijmegen, 6525 XZ, The Netherlands
| | - Jolyon A Jones
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Shahid Khan
- GlaxoSmithKline Research & Development, Stevenage, SG1 2NY, UK
| | - Stephen J Sawiak
- Department of Physiology, Development, and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EL, UK
- Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Amy L Milton
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Menna R Clatworthy
- Molecular Immunity Unit, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, CB2 OQH, UK
| | - Trevor W Robbins
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Edward T Bullmore
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0SZ, UK
| | - Jeffrey W Dalley
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK.
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0SZ, UK.
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Scheuplein M, Harmelen ALV. The importance of friendships in reducing brain responses to stress in adolescents exposed to childhood adversity: a pre-registered systematic review. Curr Opin Psychol 2022; 45:101310. [DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2021] [Revised: 01/14/2022] [Accepted: 02/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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7
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Fang Y, Raat H, Windhorst DA, Fierloos IN, Jonkman H, Hosman CMH, Crone MR, Jansen W, van Grieken A. The Association between Stressful Life Events and Emotional and Behavioral Problems in Children 0-7 Years Old: The CIKEO Study. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:ijerph19031650. [PMID: 35162672 PMCID: PMC8835208 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19031650] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2021] [Revised: 01/26/2022] [Accepted: 01/26/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Background: Stressful life events (SLEs) are recognized risk factors for emotional and behavioral problems, but the association is understudied among young children. Our aim was to examine the association between exposure to SLEs and emotional and behavioral problems in young children up to 7 years old. Methods: We analyzed baseline data from 959 children (mean age = 3.3 years; SD = 1.9; 47.5% girls) in the CIKEO study, a community-based longitudinal study in the Netherlands. Linear regression was used to assess the associations between the total as well as the individual exposure to SLEs experienced in the past 12 months, and emotional and behavioral problems assessed by CBCL 1.5-5. Interactions of SLEs and child age, sex, ethnic background, and socioeconomic status were explored. Results: Higher total exposure to SLEs, as indicated by the number of SLEs, was significantly associated with higher CBCL total, internalizing and externalizing problem scores (p for trend < 0.05). The results did not differ by child age, sex, ethnic background, or family SES. Six out of the 12 SLEs explored were independently associated with greater CBCL total/externalizing/internalizing scores (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Exposure to SLEs is associated with higher levels of emotional and behavioral problems in young children, and the impact of SLEs may vary depending on the types of events. Stressful life events might be a useful target for interventions to improve emotional and behavioral well-being among young children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuan Fang
- Department of Public Health, Erasmus University Medical Centre, 3000 CA Rotterdam, The Netherlands; (Y.F.); (D.A.W.); (I.N.F.); (W.J.); (A.v.G.)
| | - Hein Raat
- Department of Public Health, Erasmus University Medical Centre, 3000 CA Rotterdam, The Netherlands; (Y.F.); (D.A.W.); (I.N.F.); (W.J.); (A.v.G.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Dafna A. Windhorst
- Department of Public Health, Erasmus University Medical Centre, 3000 CA Rotterdam, The Netherlands; (Y.F.); (D.A.W.); (I.N.F.); (W.J.); (A.v.G.)
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Medical Center, 6525 GD Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- TNO Child Health, 2316 ZL Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Irene N. Fierloos
- Department of Public Health, Erasmus University Medical Centre, 3000 CA Rotterdam, The Netherlands; (Y.F.); (D.A.W.); (I.N.F.); (W.J.); (A.v.G.)
| | - Harrie Jonkman
- Verwey-Jonker Institute, 3512 HG Utrecht, The Netherlands;
| | - Clemens M. H. Hosman
- Department of Health Promotion, Maastricht University, 6229 HA Maastricht, The Netherlands;
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Radboud University, 6525 XZ Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Hosman Prevention and Innovation Consultancy, 6562 DW Berg en Dal, The Netherlands
| | - Matty R. Crone
- Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 ZA Leiden, The Netherlands;
| | - Wilma Jansen
- Department of Public Health, Erasmus University Medical Centre, 3000 CA Rotterdam, The Netherlands; (Y.F.); (D.A.W.); (I.N.F.); (W.J.); (A.v.G.)
- Department of Social Development, Municipality of Rotterdam, 3000 LP Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Amy van Grieken
- Department of Public Health, Erasmus University Medical Centre, 3000 CA Rotterdam, The Netherlands; (Y.F.); (D.A.W.); (I.N.F.); (W.J.); (A.v.G.)
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8
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Baccolo E, Quadrelli E, Macchi Cassia V. Neural sensitivity to trustworthiness cues from realistic face images is associated with temperament: An electrophysiological study with 6-month-old infants. Soc Neurosci 2021; 16:668-683. [PMID: 34469270 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2021.1976271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Discriminating facial cues to trustworthiness is a fundamental social skill whose developmental origins are still debated. Prior investigations used computer-generated faces, which might fail to reflect infants' face processing expertise. Here, Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) were recorded in Caucasian adults (N = 20, 7 males, M age = 25.25 years) and 6-month-old infants (N = 21, 10 males) in response to variations in trustworthiness intensity expressed by morphed images of realistic female faces associated with explicit trustworthiness judgments (Study 1). Preferential looking behavior in response to the same faces was also investigated in infants (N = 27, 11 males) (Study 2). ERP results showed that both age groups distinguished subtle stimulus differences, and that interindividual variability in neural sensitivity to these differences were associated with infants' temperament. No signs of stimulus differentiation emerged from infants' looking behavior. These findings contribute to the understanding of the developmental origins of human sensitivity to social cues from faces by extending prior evidence to more ecological stimuli and by unraveling the mediating role of temperament.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Baccolo
- Department of Psychology, Università Degli Studi Di Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy
| | - Ermanno Quadrelli
- Department of Psychology, Università Degli Studi Di Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy.,Nero Mi, Milan Center for Neuroscience, Milano, Italy
| | - Viola Macchi Cassia
- Department of Psychology, Università Degli Studi Di Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy.,Nero Mi, Milan Center for Neuroscience, Milano, Italy
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9
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Imagery of negative interpersonal experiences influence the neural mechanisms of social interaction. Neuropsychologia 2021; 160:107923. [PMID: 34175371 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.107923] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2021] [Revised: 05/31/2021] [Accepted: 06/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Negative interpersonal experiences are a key contributor to psychiatric disorders. While previous research has shown that negative interpersonal experiences influence social cognition, less is known about the effects on participation in social interactions and the underlying neurobiology. To address this, we developed a new naturalistic version of a gaze-contingent paradigm using real video sequences of gaze behaviour that respond to the participants' gaze in real-time in order to create a believable and continuous interactive social situation. Additionally, participants listened to two autobiographical audio-scripts that guided them to imagine a recent stressful and a relaxing situation and performed the gaze-based social interaction task before and after the presentation of either the stressful or the relaxing audio-script. Our results demonstrate that the social interaction task robustly recruits brain areas with known involvement in social cognition, namely the medial prefrontal cortex, bilateral temporoparietal junction, superior temporal sulcus as well as the precuneus. Imagery of negative interpersonal experiences compared to relaxing imagery led to a prolonged change in affective state and to increased brain responses during the subsequent social interaction paradigm in the temporoparietal junction, medial prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, precuneus and inferior frontal gyrus. Taken together this study presents a new naturalistic social interaction paradigm suitable to study the neural mechanisms of social interaction and the results demonstrate that the imagery of negative interpersonal experiences affects social interaction on neural levels.
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Mirman A, Bick AS, Kalla C, Canetti L, Segman R, Dan R, Ben Yehuda A, Levin N, Bonne O. The imprint of childhood adversity on emotional processing in high functioning young adults. Hum Brain Mapp 2021; 42:615-625. [PMID: 33125770 PMCID: PMC7814751 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2020] [Revised: 10/05/2020] [Accepted: 10/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been acknowledged as risk factors for increased mental health complications in adulthood, specifically increasing susceptibility to developing psychopathology upon exposure to trauma. Yet, little is known regarding the impact of mild ACEs on highly functioning population. In this study forty participants were selected from a group of 366 highly selected military parachute trainees using the self-report "childhood trauma questionnaire," and classified into two groups of 20 each, with and without ACEs. Behavioral measurements were obtained before and at the peak of an intensive combat training period, including anxiety, depression and executive function assessment. Functional MRI including a negative emotional face perception task was conducted at the first time point. Psychometric and cognitive measurements revealed higher levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms, and more difficulties in executive functioning in the ACE group at baseline. Slower reaction time to emotional faces presentation was found in the ACE group. Lower activation in response to negative emotional faces stimuli was found in this group in bilateral secondary visual areas, left anterior insula, left parietal cortex and left primary motor and sensory regions. In contrast, higher activation in the ACE group was found in the right ventral lateral prefrontal cortex (Vlpfc). No significant differences between groups were detected in the amygdala. To conclude, mild adverse childhood experiences produce long-term sequela on psychological wellbeing and neurocircuitry even in high functioning population. Brain regions modulated by childhood trauma may instigate avoidance mechanisms dampening the emotional and cognitive effects of intensive stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aron Mirman
- Functional Imaging Unit, Department of NeurologyHadassah‐Hebrew University Medical CenterJerusalemIsrael
- Department of PsychiatryHadassah‐Hebrew University Medical CenterJerusalemIsrael
| | - Atira S. Bick
- Functional Imaging Unit, Department of NeurologyHadassah‐Hebrew University Medical CenterJerusalemIsrael
| | - Carmel Kalla
- Department of Mental HealthIsrael Defense ForcesRamat‐GanIsrael
| | - Laura Canetti
- Department of PsychologyHebrew University of JerusalemJerusalemIsrael
| | - Ronen Segman
- Molecular Psychiatry LaboratoryHadassah‐Hebrew University Medical CenterJerusalemIsrael
| | - Rotem Dan
- Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences (ELSC)Hebrew University of JerusalemJerusalemIsrael
- Department of NeurologyHadassah Hebrew University Medical CenterJerusalemIsrael
| | | | - Netta Levin
- Functional Imaging Unit, Department of NeurologyHadassah‐Hebrew University Medical CenterJerusalemIsrael
| | - Omer Bonne
- Department of PsychiatryHadassah‐Hebrew University Medical CenterJerusalemIsrael
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11
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Serravalle L, Tsekova V, Ellenbogen MA. Predicting Interpersonal Outcomes From Information Processing Tasks Using Personally Relevant and Generic Stimuli: A Methodology Study. Front Psychol 2020; 11:543596. [PMID: 33071861 PMCID: PMC7541900 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.543596] [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: 03/17/2020] [Accepted: 08/31/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite evidence of differential processing of personally relevant stimuli (PR), most studies investigating attentional biases in processing emotional content use generic stimuli. We sought to examine differences in the processing of PR, relative to generic, stimuli across information processing tasks and to validate their use in predicting concurrent interpersonal functioning. Fifty participants (25 female) viewed generic and PR (i.e., their intimate partner’s face) emotional stimuli during tasks assessing selective attention (using a modified version of the Spatial Cueing Task) and inhibition (using the Negative Affective Priming task) of emotional content. Ratings of relationship quality were also collected. Evidence of increased selective attention during controlled and greater avoidance during automatic stages of processing emerged when viewing PR, relative to generic, emotional faces. We also found greater inhibition of PR sad faces. Finally, male, but not female, participants who displayed greater difficulty disengaging from the sad face of their partner reported more conflict in their relationships. Taken together, findings from information processing studies using generic emotional stimuli may not be representative of how we process PR stimuli in naturalistic settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Serravalle
- Centre for Research in Human Development, Concordia University, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Virginia Tsekova
- Centre for Research in Human Development, Concordia University, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Mark A Ellenbogen
- Centre for Research in Human Development, Concordia University, Montréal, QC, Canada
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12
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Chahal R, Kirshenbaum JS, Miller JG, Ho TC, Gotlib IH. Higher Executive Control Network Coherence Buffers Against Puberty-Related Increases in Internalizing Symptoms During the COVID-19 Pandemic. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY: COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2020; 6:79-88. [PMID: 33097469 PMCID: PMC7455201 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2020.08.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2020] [Revised: 08/03/2020] [Accepted: 08/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Early pubertal maturation has been posited to be a biopsychosocial risk factor for the onset of internalizing psychopathology in adolescence; further, early-maturing youths exhibit heightened reactivity to stressful events. School closures and enforced social distancing, as well as health and financial uncertainties, during the COVID-19 pandemic are expected to adversely affect mental health in youths, particularly adolescents who are already at risk for experiencing emotional difficulties. The executive control network (ECN) supports cognitive processes required to successfully navigate novel challenges and regulate emotions in stressful contexts. METHODS We examined whether functional coherence of the ECN, measured using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging 5 years before the pandemic (T1), is a neurobiological marker of resilience to increases in the severity of internalizing symptoms during COVID-19 in adolescents who were in more advanced stages of puberty at T1 relative to their same-age peers (N = 85, 49 female). RESULTS On average, participants reported an increase in symptoms from the 3 months before pandemic to the 2 most recent weeks during the pandemic. We found that early-maturing youths exhibited greater increases in internalizing symptoms during the pandemic if their ECN coherence was low; in contrast, relative pubertal stage was not associated with changes in internalizing symptoms in adolescents with higher ECN coherence at T1. CONCLUSIONS These findings highlight the role of the functional architecture of the brain that supports executive functioning in protecting against risk factors that may exacerbate symptoms of internalizing psychopathology during periods of stress and uncertainty.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rajpreet Chahal
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, California.
| | | | - Jonas G Miller
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California
| | - Tiffany C Ho
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Ian H Gotlib
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, California.
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Davies PT, Thompson MJ, Hentges RF, Coe JL, Sturge-Apple ML. Children's attentional biases to emotions as sources of variability in their vulnerability to interparental conflict. Dev Psychol 2020; 56:1343-1359. [PMID: 32478529 DOI: 10.1037/dev0000994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Little is known about the role children's processing of emotions plays in altering children's vulnerability to interparental conflict. To address this gap, the present study examined whether the mediational cascade involving children's exposure to interparental conflict, their insecure responses to interparental conflict, and their psychological problems varied as a function of children's preexisting biases to attend to angry, fearful, sad, and happy expressions. Participants included 243 children (M age = 4.60 years) and their parents assessed at 3 annual measurement occasions. Moderated-mediation analyses within a cross-lagged autoregressive design indicated that the indirect paths among interparental conflict, emotional insecurity, and psychological problems were significant for children who exhibited greater attentional biases toward angry and fearful emotions. Greater attention to anger and fear specifically moderated the first link in the mediational path. Interparental conflict was a significantly stronger predictor of emotional insecurity for children who attended to angry and fearful cues longer. Consistent with environmental sensitivity theories, children with attentional biases to angry and fearful emotions exhibited disproportionately higher levels of emotional insecurity following exposure to heightened interparental conflict but also lower levels of emotional insecurity after experiencing minimal interparental conflict. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
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King LS, Dennis EL, Humphreys KL, Thompson PM, Gotlib IH. Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of family income-to-needs ratio with cortical and subcortical brain volume in adolescent boys and girls. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2020; 44:100796. [PMID: 32479375 PMCID: PMC7525143 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2020.100796] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2019] [Revised: 05/01/2020] [Accepted: 05/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Sex-specific associations of SES with neurodevelopment may emerge in adolescence. We used a whole-brain approach to examine gray and white matter volume. Sex interacted with SES to explain variation in volume across adolescence. Sex is an important variable to consider in analyses of SES and brain volume.
Deviations in neurodevelopment may underlie the association between lower childhood socioeconomic status and difficulties in cognitive and socioemotional domains. Most previous investigations of the association between childhood socioeconomic status and brain morphology have used cross-sectional designs with samples that span wide age ranges, occluding effects specific to adolescence. Sex differences in the association between socioeconomic status and neurodevelopment may emerge or intensify during adolescence. In a sample representative of the San Francisco Bay Area, we used whole-brain tensor-based morphometry to examine sex differences in the cross-sectional association between variation in family income-to-needs ratio (INR) and cortical and subcortical gray and white matter volume during early adolescence (ages 9–13 years; N = 147), as well as in the longitudinal association between INR and change in volume from early to later adolescence (ages 11–16 years, N = 109). Biological sex interacted with INR to explain variation in volume in several areas cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Effects were primarily in cortical gray matter areas, including regions of the association cortex and sensorimotor processing areas. Effect sizes tended to be larger in boys than in girls. Biological sex may be an important variable to consider in analyses of the effects of family income on structural neurodevelopment during adolescence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucy S King
- Stanford University, Department of Psychology, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
| | - Emily L Dennis
- University of Southern California, Imaging Genetics Center, Mary and Mark Stevens Institute for Neuroimaging and Informatics, Keck School of Medicine, Marina del Rey, CA 90292, USA
| | - Kathryn L Humphreys
- Vanderbilt University, Department of Psychology and Human Development, Nashville, TN 37235, USA
| | - Paul M Thompson
- University of Southern California, Imaging Genetics Center, Mary and Mark Stevens Institute for Neuroimaging and Informatics, Keck School of Medicine, Marina del Rey, CA 90292, USA
| | - Ian H Gotlib
- Stanford University, Department of Psychology, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
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15
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Development of Social Attention and Oxytocin Levels in Maltreated Children. Sci Rep 2020; 10:7407. [PMID: 32366913 PMCID: PMC7198561 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-64297-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2019] [Accepted: 04/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Child maltreatment (CM) is a major risk factor for various psychopathologies but also adversely affects social development. Research on oxytocin (OT) is currently drawing attention as an endocrine basis for social development. In this study, we investigated the relationship between visual attention to social cues and salivary OT levels in children exposed to CM. The results revealed that the CM group had a significantly lower percentage of gaze fixation for the human face eye area and lower salivary OT levels compared to the typical development group. Moreover, a path analysis suggested that gaze fixation for the eye area was a mediator of the relationship between salivary OT levels and social-emotional problems in the CM group. These results suggest that lower endogenous OT levels in maltreated children may lead to atypical development of their visual attention to eyes as a social cue, resulting in social-emotional problems.
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16
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King LS, Graber MG, Colich NL, Gotlib IH. Associations of waking cortisol with DHEA and testosterone across the pubertal transition: Effects of threat-related early life stress. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2020; 115:104651. [PMID: 32199287 PMCID: PMC7183417 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2020.104651] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2019] [Revised: 03/02/2020] [Accepted: 03/04/2020] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Atypical regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is a putative mechanism underlying the association between exposure to early life stress (ELS) and the subsequent development of mental and physical health difficulties. Recent research indicates that puberty is a period of HPA-axis plasticity during which the effects of exposure to ELS on cortisol regulation may change. In particular, increases in the sex hormones that drive pubertal maturation, including dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and testosterone, may be implicated in pubertal recalibration of cortisol regulation. In the current study, we examined the associations among levels of objectively-rated threat-related ELS and salivary waking cortisol, DHEA, and testosterone in a sample of 178 adolescents (55 % female) who were in early puberty at baseline (Tanner stages 1-3; mean Tanner stage[SD] = 1.93[0.64]; mean age[SD] = 11.42[1.04]) and were followed up approximately two years later (mean Tanner stage[SD] = 3.46[0.86]; mean age[SD] = 13.38[1.06]). Using multi-level modeling, we disaggregated the effects of between-individual levels and within-individual increases in pubertal stage and sex hormones on change in cortisol. Controlling for between-individual differences in average pubertal stage, the association between levels of cortisol and DHEA was more strongly positive among adolescents who evidenced greater within-individual increases in pubertal stage across time. Both higher average levels and greater within-individual increases in DHEA and testosterone were associated with increases in cortisol across time, indicating positive coupling of developmental changes in these hormones; however, coupling was attenuated in adolescents who were exposed to more severe threat-related ELS prior to puberty. These findings advance our understanding of the development of the HPA-axis and its association with childhood environmental risk during puberty.
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17
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Siless V, Hubbard NA, Jones R, Wang J, Lo N, Bauer CCC, Goncalves M, Frosch I, Norton D, Vergara G, Conroy K, De Souza FV, Rosso IM, Wickham AH, Cosby EA, Pinaire M, Hirshfeld-Becker D, Pizzagalli DA, Henin A, Hofmann SG, Auerbach RP, Ghosh S, Gabrieli J, Whitfield-Gabrieli S, Yendiki A. Image acquisition and quality assurance in the Boston Adolescent Neuroimaging of Depression and Anxiety study. Neuroimage Clin 2020; 26:102242. [PMID: 32339824 PMCID: PMC7184183 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2020.102242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2019] [Revised: 02/19/2020] [Accepted: 03/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
The Connectomes Related to Human Diseases (CRHD) initiative was developed with the Human Connectome Project (HCP) to provide high-resolution, open-access, multi-modal MRI data to better understand the neural correlates of human disease. Here, we present an introduction to a CRHD project, the Boston Adolescent Neuroimaging of Depression and Anxiety (BANDA) study, which is collecting multimodal neuroimaging, clinical, and neuropsychological data from 225 adolescents (ages 14-17), 150 of whom are expected to have a diagnosis of depression and/or anxiety. Our transdiagnostic recruitment approach samples the full spectrum of depressed/anxious symptoms and their comorbidity, consistent with NIMH Research Domain Criteria (RDoC). We focused on an age range that is critical for brain development and for the onset of mental illness. This project sought to harmonize imaging sequences, hardware, and functional tasks with other HCP studies, although some changes were made to canonical HCP methods to accommodate our study population and questions. We present a thorough overview of our imaging sequences, hardware, and scanning protocol. We detail similarities and differences between this study and other HCP studies. We evaluate structural-, diffusion-, and functional-image-quality measures that may be influenced by clinical factors (e.g., disorder, symptomatology). Signal-to-noise and motion estimates from the first 140 adolescents suggest minimal influence of clinical factors on image quality. We anticipate enrollment of an additional 85 participants, most of whom are expected to have a diagnosis of anxiety and/or depression. Clinical and neuropsychological data from the first 140 participants are currently freely available through the National Institute of Mental Health Data Archive (NDA).
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Affiliation(s)
- Viviana Siless
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Nicholas A Hubbard
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States; University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States
| | - Robert Jones
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Jonathan Wang
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Nicole Lo
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Clemens C C Bauer
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States; Northeastern University, Department of Psychology, Boston, MA, United States
| | | | - Isabelle Frosch
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Daniel Norton
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | | | | | | | - Isabelle M Rosso
- McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Aude Henin
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
| | | | | | - Satrajit Ghosh
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - John Gabrieli
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States; Northeastern University, Department of Psychology, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Anastasia Yendiki
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.
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18
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Wong SF, Trespalacios F, Ellenbogen MA. Poor inhibition of personally-relevant facial expressions of sadness and anger predicts an elevated cortisol response following awakening six months later. Int J Psychophysiol 2020; 150:73-82. [PMID: 32057777 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2020.02.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2019] [Revised: 02/07/2020] [Accepted: 02/08/2020] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Failure to inhibit interference from distracting emotional stimuli may obstruct an individual's ability to regulate their behavioural and emotional responses to environmental stressors. Few studies have examined the longitudinal association between cognitive inhibition and regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) in the natural environment. Seventy-nine healthy adults underwent two assessments 6 months apart. Participants' ability to suppress interference from distracting emotional stimuli was assessed using a negative affective priming task that included both generic and personally-relevant (i.e., participants' intimate partners) facial expressions of emotion. Poorer inhibition of personally-relevant sad and angry faces, but not generic stimuli, significantly predicted an increased cortisol awakening response (CAR) six months later. Moreover, poor inhibition of personally-relevant sad faces mediated the relation between chronic stress and an elevated CAR. Difficulties inhibiting personally-relevant emotional information may represent a key mechanism in understanding how environmental stress influences HPA functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiu F Wong
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
| | | | - Mark A Ellenbogen
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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19
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Cohodes EM, Gee DG, Lieberman AF. Associations between prenatal substance exposure, prenatal violence victimization, unintended pregnancy, and trauma exposure in childhood in a clinical setting. Infant Ment Health J 2019; 40:786-798. [DOI: 10.1002/imhj.21815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Alicia F. Lieberman
- Child Trauma Research ProgramDepartment of PsychiatryUniversity of California San Francisco California
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20
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Dennis EL, Humphreys KL, King LS, Thompson PM, Gotlib IH. Irritability and brain volume in adolescents: cross-sectional and longitudinal associations. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2019; 14:687-698. [PMID: 31309969 PMCID: PMC6778832 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsz053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2018] [Revised: 05/15/2019] [Accepted: 06/26/2019] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Irritability is garnering increasing attention in psychiatric research as a transdiagnostic marker of both internalizing and externalizing disorders. These disorders often emerge during adolescence, highlighting the need to examine changes in the brain and in psychological functioning during this developmental period. Adolescents were recruited for a longitudinal study examining the effects of early life stress on the development of psychopathology. The 151 adolescents (73 M/78 F, average age = 11.5 years, standard deviation = 1.1) were scanned with a T1-weighted MRI sequence and parents completed reports of adolescent irritability using the Affective Reactivity Index. Of these 151 adolescents, 94 (46 M/48 F) returned for a second session (average interval = 1.9 years, SD = 0.4). We used tensor-based morphometry to examine cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between irritability and regional brain volume. Irritability was associated with brain volume across a number of regions. More irritable individuals had larger hippocampi, insula, medial orbitofrontal cortex and cingulum/cingulate cortex and smaller putamen and internal capsule. Across the brain, more irritable individuals also had larger volume and less volume contraction in a number of areas that typically decrease in volume over the developmental period studied here, suggesting delayed maturation. These structural changes may increase adolescents' vulnerability for internalizing and externalizing disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily L Dennis
- Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Stanford Neurodevelopment, Affect, and Psychopathology Laboratory, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
- Imaging Genetics Center, Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California (USC), Marina del Rey, CA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Kathryn L Humphreys
- Stanford Neurodevelopment, Affect, and Psychopathology Laboratory, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Lucy S King
- Stanford Neurodevelopment, Affect, and Psychopathology Laboratory, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Paul M Thompson
- Imaging Genetics Center, Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California (USC), Marina del Rey, CA, USA
| | - Ian H Gotlib
- Stanford Neurodevelopment, Affect, and Psychopathology Laboratory, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
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21
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King LS, Humphreys KL, Camacho MC, Gotlib IH. A person-centered approach to the assessment of early life stress: Associations with the volume of stress-sensitive brain regions in early adolescence. Dev Psychopathol 2019; 31:643-655. [PMID: 29716668 PMCID: PMC6214790 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579418000184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Researchers are becoming increasingly interested in linking specific forms of early life stress (ELS) to specific neurobiological markers, including alterations in the morphology of stress-sensitive brain regions. We used a person-centered, multi-informant approach to investigate the associations of specific constellations of ELS with hippocampal and amygdala volume in a community sample of 211 9- to 13-year-old early adolescents. Further, we compared this approach to a cumulative risk model of ELS, in which ELS was quantified by the total number of stressors reported. Using latent class analysis, we identified three classes of ELS (labeled typical/low, family instability, and direct victimization) that were distinguished by experiences of family instability and victimization. Adolescents in the direct victimization class had significantly smaller hippocampal volume than did adolescents in the typical/low class; ELS classes were not significantly associated with amygdala volume. The cumulative risk model of ELS had a poorer fit than did the person-centered model; moreover, cumulative ELS was not significantly associated with hippocampal or amygdala volume. Our results underscore the utility of taking a person-centered approach to identify alterations in stress-sensitive brain regions based on constellations of ELS, and suggest victimization is specifically associated with hippocampal hypotrophy observed in early adolescence.
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22
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Humphreys KL, King LS, Sacchet MD, Camacho MC, Colich NL, Ordaz SJ, Ho TC, Gotlib IH. Evidence for a sensitive period in the effects of early life stress on hippocampal volume. Dev Sci 2019; 22:e12775. [PMID: 30471167 PMCID: PMC6469988 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12775] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2017] [Revised: 10/28/2018] [Accepted: 11/14/2018] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Exposure to stress has been causally linked to changes in hippocampal volume (HV). Given that the hippocampus undergoes rapid changes in the first years of life, stressful experiences during this period may be particularly important in understanding individual differences in the development of the hippocampus. One hundred seventy-eight early adolescents (ages 9-13 years; 43% male) were interviewed regarding exposure to and age of onset of experiences of stress; the severity of each stressful event was rated by an objective panel. All participants underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging, from which HVs were automatically segmented. Without considering the age of onset for stressful experiences, there was a small but statistically significant negative association of stress severity with bilateral HV. When considering the age of onset, there was a moderate and significant negative association between stress severity during early childhood (through 5 years of age) and HV; there was no association between stress severity during later childhood (age 6 years and older) and HV. We provide evidence of a sensitive period through 5 years of age for the effects of life stress on HV in adolescence. It will be important in future research to elucidate how reduced HV stemming from early life stress may contribute to stress-related health outcomes.
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Mastorakos T, Scott KL. Attention biases and social-emotional development in preschool-aged children who have been exposed to domestic violence. CHILD ABUSE & NEGLECT 2019; 89:78-86. [PMID: 30639972 DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.01.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2018] [Revised: 12/29/2018] [Accepted: 01/02/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND School-aged children and adolescents exposed to domestic violence (DV) disproportionality attend to threatening and sad cues in their environment. This bias in attention has been found to predict elevations in symptoms of psychopathology. Studies have yet to explore attention biases using eyetracking technology in preschool-aged children with DV exposure. OBJECTIVE This study investigated whether preschool-aged children exposed to DV show vigilance to angry and sad faces versus happy faces and a target non-face stimulus relative to non-exposed children, and whether such vigilance relates to child social-emotional development. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING Preschool-aged children were recruited from a large, diverse, urban community. DV-exposed children were recruited from a dyadic, mother-child treatment group specifically designed for, and restricted to, mothers who have experienced domestic violence (DV-exposed group, n = 23). Children with no prior exposure to DV and their mothers were recruited within the same community (non-exposed group, n = 32). METHODS Children completed an eye-tracking task to assess their attention to face stimuli and mothers rated their children's social-emotional development. Total duration of fixations were analyzed. RESULTS Results showed that DV-exposed children have a significantly stronger attention bias away from sad faces (p = 0.03; d = 0.62) and neutral faces (p = 0.02; d = 0.70) relative to non-exposed children, and this attention bias away from sad and neutral faces is associated with child social-emotional problems. Contrary to our hypothesis, no bias towards anger was found for DV-exposed versus non-exposed children. CONCLUSIONS This study contributes to growing evidence that young children's negative attention biases influence functioning and have important implications for children's well-being and development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tessie Mastorakos
- Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, 252 Bloor St. West, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1V6, Canada
| | - Katreena L Scott
- Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, 252 Bloor St. West, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1V6, Canada.
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Neurobiology of Infant Sensitive Period for Attachment and Its Reinstatement Through Maternal Social Buffering. MINNESOTA SYMPOSIA ON CHILD PSYCHOLOGY 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/9781119461746.ch2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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25
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Ho TC, King LS, Leong JK, Colich NL, Humphreys KL, Ordaz SJ, Gotlib IH. Effects of sensitivity to life stress on uncinate fasciculus segments in early adolescence. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2018; 12:1460-1469. [PMID: 28460088 PMCID: PMC5629927 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsx065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2016] [Accepted: 04/23/2017] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous research suggests that exposure to early life stress (ELS) affects the structural integrity of the uncinate fasciculus (UF), a frontolimbic white matter tract that undergoes protracted development throughout adolescence. Adolescence is an important transitional period characterized by the emergence of internalizing psychopathology such as anxiety, particularly in individuals with high levels of stress sensitivity. We examined the relations among sensitivity to ELS, structural integrity of the UF, and anxiety symptoms in 104 early adolescents. We conducted structured interviews to assess exposure to ELS and obtained subjective and objective ratings of stress severity, from which we derived an index of ELS sensitivity. We also acquired diffusion MRI and conducted deterministic tractography to visualize UF trajectories and to compute measures of structural integrity from three distinct segments of the UF: frontal, insular, temporal. We found that higher sensitivity to ELS predicted both reduced fractional anisotropy in right frontal UF and higher levels of anxiety symptoms. These findings suggest that fibers in frontal UF, which are still developing throughout adolescence, are most vulnerable to the effects of heightened sensitivity to ELS, and that reduced structural integrity of frontal UF may underlie the relation between early stress and subsequent internalizing psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Sarah J Ordaz
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
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Childhood maltreatment is associated with increased neural response to ambiguous threatening facial expressions in adulthood: Evidence from the late positive potential. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2018; 18:143-154. [DOI: 10.3758/s13415-017-0559-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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27
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Brooks SJ, Lochner C, Shoptaw S, Stein DJ. Using the research domain criteria (RDoC) to conceptualize impulsivity and compulsivity in relation to addiction. PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 2017; 235:177-218. [PMID: 29054288 DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2017.08.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Nomenclature for mental disorder was updated in 2013 with the publication of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5). In DSM-5, substance use disorders are framed as more dimensional. First, the distinction between abuse and dependence is replaced by substance use. Second, the addictions section now covers both substances and behavioral addictions. This contemporary move toward dimensionality and transdiagnosis in the addictions and other disorders embrace accumulating cognitive-affective neurobiological evidence that is reflected in the United States' National Institutes of Health Research Domain Criteria (NIH RDoC). The RDoC calls for the further development of transdiagnostic approaches to psychopathy and includes five domains to improve research. Additionally, the RDoC suggests that these domains can be measured in terms of specific units of analysis. In line with these suggestions, recent publications have stimulated updated neurobiological conceptualizations of two transdiagnostic concepts, namely impulsivity and compulsivity and their interactions that are applicable to addictive disorders. However, there has not yet been a review to examine the constructs of impulsivity and compulsivity in relation to addiction in light of the research-oriented RDoC. By doing so it may become clearer as to whether impulsivity and compulsivity function antagonistically, complementarily or in some other way at the behavioral, cognitive, and neural level and how this relationship underpins addiction. Thus, here we consider research into impulsivity and compulsivity in light of the transdiagnostic RDoC to help better understand these concepts and their application to evidence-based clinical intervention for addiction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha J Brooks
- University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Christine Lochner
- US/UCT MRC Unit on Anxiety & Stress Disorders, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa
| | - Steve Shoptaw
- David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Dan J Stein
- US/UCT MRC Unit on Anxiety & Stress Disorders, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
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VanTieghem MR, Gabard-Durnam L, Goff B, Flannery J, Humphreys KL, Telzer EH, Caldera C, Louie JY, Shapiro M, Bolger N, Tottenham N. Positive valence bias and parent-child relationship security moderate the association between early institutional caregiving and internalizing symptoms. Dev Psychopathol 2017; 29:519-533. [PMID: 28401841 PMCID: PMC5937229 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579417000153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Institutional caregiving is associated with significant deviations from species-expected caregiving, altering the normative sequence of attachment formation and placing children at risk for long-term emotional difficulties. However, little is known about factors that can promote resilience following early institutional caregiving. In the current study, we investigated how adaptations in affective processing (i.e., positive valence bias) and family-level protective factors (i.e., secure parent-child relationships) moderate risk for internalizing symptoms in previously institutionalized (PI) youth. Children and adolescents with and without a history of institutional care performed a laboratory-based affective processing task and self-reported measures of parent-child relationship security. PI youth were more likely than comparison youth to show positive valence biases when interpreting ambiguous facial expressions. Both positive valence bias and parent-child relationship security moderated the association between institutional care and parent-reported internalizing symptoms, such that greater positive valence bias and more secure parent-child relationships predicted fewer symptoms in PI youth. However, when both factors were tested concurrently, parent-child relationship security more strongly moderated the link between PI status and internalizing symptoms. These findings suggest that both individual-level adaptations in affective processing and family-level factors of secure parent-child relationships may ameliorate risk for internalizing psychopathology following early institutional caregiving.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Bonnie Goff
- University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
| | | | | | - Eva H. Telzer
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL
| | | | | | - Mor Shapiro
- University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
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Opendak M, Gould E, Sullivan R. Early life adversity during the infant sensitive period for attachment: Programming of behavioral neurobiology of threat processing and social behavior. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2017; 25:145-159. [PMID: 28254197 PMCID: PMC5478471 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2017.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2016] [Revised: 01/03/2017] [Accepted: 02/04/2017] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Animals, including humans, require a highly coordinated and flexible system of social behavior and threat evaluation. However, trauma can disrupt this system, with the amygdala implicated as a mediator of these impairments in behavior. Recent evidence has further highlighted the context of infant trauma as a critical variable in determining its immediate and enduring consequences, with trauma experienced from an attachment figure, such as occurs in cases of caregiver-child maltreatment, as particularly detrimental. This review focuses on the unique role of caregiver presence during early-life trauma in programming deficits in social behavior and threat processing. Using data primarily from rodent models, we describe the interaction between trauma and attachment during a sensitive period in early life, which highlights the role of the caregiver's presence in engagement of attachment brain circuitry and suppressing threat processing by the amygdala. These data suggest that trauma experienced directly from an abusive caregiver and trauma experienced in the presence of caregiver cues produce similar neurobehavioral deficits, which are unique from those resulting from trauma alone. We go on to integrate this information into social experience throughout the lifespan, including consequences for complex scenarios, such as dominance hierarchy formation and maintenance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maya Opendak
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA; Child Study Center, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, USA.
| | - Elizabeth Gould
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Regina Sullivan
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA; Child Study Center, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, USA
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30
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Abstract
The expression of emotion in faces serves numerous meaningful functions, such as conveying messages of danger or approach, facilitating communication, and promoting the formation of social bonds and relationships. The study of facial expressions of emotion has become integral to research in social psychology and social neuroscience, particularly with respect to the neuropeptide oxytocin. This chapter examines how oxytocin influences the processing of emotion in faces by reviewing intranasal administration studies of automatic processing, selective attention, and emotion recognition. Two important trends in the literature have been identified: exogenous oxytocin attenuates early attentional biases towards negative stimuli and increases selective attention and recognition of emotional cues in faces, particularly around the eyes. Both of these effects can be traced to well-delineated neural circuits involving amygdala, early visual processing areas, and reward circuits, and both purportedly facilitate approach-related behavior when affiliative opportunities are available. These data are integrated into a conceptual model incorporating contextual factors and moderating influences, as oxytocinergic effects on cognition and social behavior appear to vary in persons along indices of social competence, interpersonal sensitivity, and early adversity. Limitations of this literature and future directions for research are briefly discussed.
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