1
|
Sawyers C, Straub LK, Gauntlett J, Bjork JM. Developmental differences in striatal recruitment by reward prospects as a function of attentional demand. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2024; 68:101412. [PMID: 38936253 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2024.101412] [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: 01/02/2024] [Revised: 05/25/2024] [Accepted: 06/18/2024] [Indexed: 06/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Adolescent risk-taking has been attributed to earlier-developing motivational neurocircuitry that is poorly controlled by immature executive-control neurocircuitry. Functional magnetic resonance imaging findings of increased ventral striatum (VS) recruitment by reward prospects in adolescents compared to adults support this theory. Other studies found blunted VS recruitment by reward-predictive cues in adolescents compared to adults. Task features may explain this discrepancy but have never been systematically explored. Adolescents and adults performed a novel reward task that holds constant the expected value of all rewards but varies whether rewards are dependent on vigilance-intensive responding versus making a lucky choice during a relaxed response window. We examined group by sub-task contrast differences in activation of VS and more motoric regions of striatum in response to anticipatory cues. Reward anticipation in both task conditions activated portions of striatum in both groups. In voxel-wise comparison, adults showed greater anticipatory recruitment of VS in trials involving choice during a relaxed time window, not in the more vigilance-demanding trials as hypothesized. In accord with our hypotheses, however, adults showed greater activation in dorsal striatum and putamen volumes of interest during reward anticipation under vigilance-demanding conditions. Following trial outcome notifications, adolescents showed greater activation of the VS during reward notification but lower activation during loss notification. These data extend findings of cross-sectional age-group differences in incentive-anticipatory recruitment of striatum, by demonstrating in adults relatively greater recruitment of motor effector regions of striatum by attentional and motor demands.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chelsea Sawyers
- Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23219, USA.
| | - Lisa K Straub
- Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23219, USA
| | - Joseph Gauntlett
- Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23219, USA
| | - James M Bjork
- Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23219, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Liu H, Hao Z, Qiu S, Wang Q, Zhan L, Huang L, Shao Y, Wang Q, Su C, Cao Y, Sun J, Wang C, Lv Y, Li M, Shen W, Li H, Jia X. Grey matter structural alterations in anxiety disorders: a voxel-based meta-analysis. Brain Imaging Behav 2024; 18:456-474. [PMID: 38150133 DOI: 10.1007/s11682-023-00842-x] [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] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/28/2023]
Abstract
Anxiety disorders (ADs) are a group of prevalent and destructive mental illnesses, but the current understanding of their underlying neuropathology is still unclear. Employing voxel-based morphometry (VBM), previous studies have demonstrated several common brain regions showing grey matter volume (GMV) abnormalities. However, contradictory results have been reported among these studies. Considering that different subtypes of ADs exhibit common core symptoms despite different diagnostic criteria, and previous meta-analyses have found common core GMV-altered brain regions in ADs, the present research aimed to combine the results of individual studies to identify common GMV abnormalities in ADs. Therefore, we first performed a systematic search in PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science on studies investigating GMV differences between patients with ADs and healthy controls (HCs). Then, the anisotropic effect-size signed differential mapping (AES-SDM) was applied in this meta-analysis. A total of 24 studies (including 25 data sets) were included in the current study, and 906 patients with ADs and 1003 HCs were included. Compared with the HCs, the patients with ADs showed increased GMV in the left superior parietal gyrus, right angular gyrus, left precentral gyrus, and right lingual gyrus, and decreased GMV in the bilateral insula, bilateral thalamus, left caudate, and right putamen. In conclusion, the current study has identified some abnormal GMV brain regions that are related to the pathological mechanisms of anxiety disorders. These findings could contribute to a better understanding of the underlying neuropathology of ADs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Han Liu
- School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
- Intelligent Laboratory of Zhejiang Province in Mental Health and Crisis Intervention for Children and Adolescents, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| | - Zeqi Hao
- School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
- Intelligent Laboratory of Zhejiang Province in Mental Health and Crisis Intervention for Children and Adolescents, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| | - Shasha Qiu
- School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
- Intelligent Laboratory of Zhejiang Province in Mental Health and Crisis Intervention for Children and Adolescents, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| | - Qianqian Wang
- School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
- Intelligent Laboratory of Zhejiang Province in Mental Health and Crisis Intervention for Children and Adolescents, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| | - Linlin Zhan
- School of Western Languages, Heilongjiang University, Heilongjiang, China
| | - Lina Huang
- Department of Radiology, Changshu No.2 People's Hospital, The Affiliated Changshu Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Changshu, Jiangsu, China
| | - Youbin Shao
- School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
- Intelligent Laboratory of Zhejiang Province in Mental Health and Crisis Intervention for Children and Adolescents, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| | - Qing Wang
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China
| | - Chang Su
- School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
- Intelligent Laboratory of Zhejiang Province in Mental Health and Crisis Intervention for Children and Adolescents, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| | - Yikang Cao
- School of Information and Electronics Technology, Jiamusi University, Jiamusi, China
| | - Jiawei Sun
- School of Information and Electronics Technology, Jiamusi University, Jiamusi, China
| | - Chunjie Wang
- Institute of Brain Science, Department of Psychology, School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
- Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, the Affiliated Hospital, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yating Lv
- Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, the Affiliated Hospital, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Mengting Li
- School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
- Intelligent Laboratory of Zhejiang Province in Mental Health and Crisis Intervention for Children and Adolescents, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| | - Wenbin Shen
- Department of Radiology, Changshu No.2 People's Hospital, The Affiliated Changshu Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Changshu, Jiangsu, China
| | - Huayun Li
- School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China.
- Intelligent Laboratory of Zhejiang Province in Mental Health and Crisis Intervention for Children and Adolescents, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China.
| | - Xize Jia
- School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China.
- Intelligent Laboratory of Zhejiang Province in Mental Health and Crisis Intervention for Children and Adolescents, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Schacter HL, Ehrhardt AD, Hoffman AJ. Daily Fluctuations in Adolescents' Perceived Friend Dominance and Friendship Clout: Associations with Mood and the Moderating Role of Anxiety. J Youth Adolesc 2024; 53:537-549. [PMID: 38055132 DOI: 10.1007/s10964-023-01906-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/13/2023] [Indexed: 12/07/2023]
Abstract
Emerging evidence suggests that whereas occupying high peer status promotes adolescents' well-being, feeling dominated by friends confers psychological costs. However, little is known about day-to-day power dynamics of adolescents' friendships or their acute affective consequences. This 14-day intensive longitudinal study introduced novel daily assessments of friend dominance and friendship clout, examined their associations with mood, and tested anxiety as a moderator. Participants were 195 11th-graders (Mage = 16.48, SDage = 0.35; 66% female). Multilevel models revealed that adolescents experienced worse mood on days they felt dominated by friends and better mood on days they felt powerful and influential among friends. Associations with negative mood were strongest for adolescents higher in anxiety. The findings underscore the dynamic nature of power in adolescents' friendships.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Adam J Hoffman
- Department of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Meyer HC, Fields A, Vannucci A, Gerhard DM, Bloom PA, Heleniak C, Opendak M, Sullivan R, Tottenham N, Callaghan BL, Lee FS. The Added Value of Crosstalk Between Developmental Circuit Neuroscience and Clinical Practice to Inform the Treatment of Adolescent Anxiety. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY GLOBAL OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 3:169-178. [PMID: 37124361 PMCID: PMC10140450 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2022.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2021] [Revised: 02/01/2022] [Accepted: 02/07/2022] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Significant advances have been made in recent years regarding the developmental trajectories of brain circuits and networks, revealing links between brain structure and function. Emerging evidence highlights the importance of developmental trajectories in determining early psychiatric outcomes. However, efforts to encourage crosstalk between basic developmental neuroscience and clinical practice are limited. Here, we focus on the potential advantage of considering features of neural circuit development when optimizing treatments for adolescent patient populations. Drawing on characteristics of adolescent neurodevelopment, we highlight two examples, safety cues and incentives, that leverage insights from neural circuit development and may have great promise for augmenting existing behavioral treatments for anxiety disorders during adolescence. This commentary seeks to serve as a framework to maximize the translational potential of basic research in developmental populations for strengthening psychiatric treatments. In turn, input from clinical practice including the identification of age-specific clinically relevant phenotypes will continue to guide future basic research in the same neural circuits to better reflect clinical practices. Encouraging reciprocal communication to bridge the gap between basic developmental neuroscience research and clinical implementation is an important step toward advancing both research and practice in this domain.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Heidi C. Meyer
- Department of Psychiatry, Joan & Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, New York
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Andrea Fields
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, New York
| | - Anna Vannucci
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, New York
| | - Danielle M. Gerhard
- Department of Psychiatry, Joan & Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, New York
| | - Paul A. Bloom
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, New York
| | | | - Maya Opendak
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, New York
- Department of Neuroscience, Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Regina Sullivan
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, New York
| | - Nim Tottenham
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, New York
| | - Bridget L. Callaghan
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
| | - Francis S. Lee
- Department of Psychiatry, Joan & Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, New York
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Sollenberger NA, Sequeira S, Forbes EE, Siegle GJ, Silk JS, Ladouceur CD, Ryan ND, Dahl RE, Mattfeld AT, McMakin DL. More time awake after sleep onset is linked to reduced ventral striatum response to rewards in youth with anxiety. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2023; 64:83-90. [PMID: 35817759 PMCID: PMC9771920 DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.13669] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/16/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Poor sleep and anxiety disorders are highly comorbid in youth, and each predicts altered ventral striatum (VS) response to rewards, which may impact mental health risk. Contrasting evidence suggests previously reported negative associations between sleep health and VS response may be stronger or weaker in youth with anxiety, indicating sensitivity to win/loss information or blunted reward processing, respectively. We cross-sectionally examined the role of sleep in VS response to rewards among youth with anxiety versus a no-psychiatric-diagnosis comparison (ND) group. We expected a group*sleep interaction on VS response to rewards but did not hypothesize directionality. METHODS As part of the pretreatment battery for a randomized clinical trial, 74 youth with anxiety and 31 ND youth (ages 9-14 years; n = 55 female) completed a monetary reward task during fMRI. During the same pretreatment window, actigraphy and diary-estimated sleep were collected over 5 days, and participants and their parents each reported participants' total sleep problems. We examined group*sleep interactions on VS response to monetary rewards versus losses via three mixed linear models corresponding to actigraphy, diary, and questionnaires, respectively. RESULTS Each model indicated group*sleep interactions on VS response to rewards. Actigraphy and diary-estimated time awake after sleep onset predicted reduced VS response in youth with anxiety but not ND youth. Parent-reported sleep problems similarly interacted with group, but simple slopes were nonsignificant. CONCLUSIONS Wake after sleep onset was associated with blunted reward response in youth with anxiety. These data suggest a potential pathway through which sleep could contribute to perturbed reward function and reward-related psychopathology (e.g., depression) in youth with anxiety.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nathan A. Sollenberger
- Psychology Department, Florida International University, Miami, Florida
- Center for Children and Families, Florida International University, Miami, Florida
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Neal D. Ryan
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Ronald E. Dahl
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA
| | - Aaron T. Mattfeld
- Psychology Department, Florida International University, Miami, Florida
- Center for Children and Families, Florida International University, Miami, Florida
| | - Dana L. McMakin
- Psychology Department, Florida International University, Miami, Florida
- Center for Children and Families, Florida International University, Miami, Florida
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Gonçalves SF, Mauro KL, Kinsey-Kerr MG, Fuentes AG, Thompson JC, Chaplin TM. Behavioral inhibition and approach tendencies are associated with striatal activation to loss: Implications for adolescent substance use. Neuropsychologia 2022; 176:108371. [PMID: 36210572 PMCID: PMC11008605 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108371] [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: 06/15/2022] [Revised: 09/14/2022] [Accepted: 09/15/2022] [Indexed: 10/31/2022]
Abstract
Behavioral inhibition/avoidance and approach systems (BIS/BAS), which facilitate avoidance of aversive stimuli and approach of enticing stimuli, are thought to underlie engagement in substance use (SU). However, little is known about the neural correlates of these systems, particularly in adolescence. The current study examined associations between BIS/BAS tendencies and neural response to reward and loss and then examined whether there was an indirect effect of BIS/BAS on later SU initiation through these neural responses. 79 12-14 year olds underwent fMRI at baseline during a card guessing task. Adolescents reported on their BIS/BAS at baseline and on their SU at baseline and through a 3-year follow-up period. Results showed that higher BIS was associated with lower striatal activation and higher BAS with higher striatal activation to monetary loss. BIS and BAS were not associated with neural activation to monetary reward. There was no support that BIS or BAS predicted SU initiation through striatal activation to monetary loss. Overall, these results may suggest that adolescents with the tendency to avoid aversive stimuli assign less salience and adolescents with the tendency to approach enticing stimuli assign more salience to monetary loss.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Stefanie F Gonçalves
- Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, 22030, United States.
| | - Kelsey L Mauro
- Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, 22030, United States
| | - Max G Kinsey-Kerr
- Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, 22030, United States
| | | | - James C Thompson
- Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, 22030, United States
| | - Tara M Chaplin
- Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, 22030, United States
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Park SH, Baker AK, Krishna V, Mackey SC, Martucci KT. Altered resting-state functional connectivity within corticostriatal and subcortical-striatal circuits in chronic pain. Sci Rep 2022; 12:12683. [PMID: 35879602 PMCID: PMC9314446 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-16835-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2021] [Accepted: 07/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Brain corticostriatal circuits are important for understanding chronic pain and highly relevant to motivation and cognitive processes. It has been demonstrated that in patients with chronic back pain, altered nucleus accumbens (NAcc)-medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) circuit fMRI-based activity is predictive of patient outcome. We evaluated the NAcc-MPFC circuit in patients with another chronic pain condition, fibromyalgia, to extend these important findings. First, we compared fMRI-based NAcc-MPFC resting-state functional connectivity in patients with fibromyalgia (N = 32) vs. healthy controls (N = 37). Compared to controls, the NAcc-MPFC circuit's connectivity was significantly reduced in fibromyalgia. In addition, within the fibromyalgia group, NAcc-MPFC connectivity was significantly correlated with trait anxiety. Our expanded connectivity analysis of the NAcc to subcortical brain regions showed reduced connectivity of the right NAcc with mesolimbic circuit regions (putamen, thalamus, and ventral pallidum) in fibromyalgia. Lastly, in an exploratory analysis comparing our fibromyalgia and healthy control cohorts to a separate publicly available dataset from patients with chronic back pain, we identified reduced NAcc-MPFC connectivity across both the patient groups with unique alterations in NAcc-mesolimbic connectivity. Together, expanding upon prior observed alterations in brain corticostriatal circuits, our results provide novel evidence of altered corticostriatal and mesolimbic circuits in chronic pain.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Su Hyoun Park
- Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, USA
- Duke Center for Translational Pain Medicine, Durham, USA
- Human Affect and Pain Neuroscience Lab, Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University Medical Center, Box DUMC 3094, Durham, NC, 27710, USA
| | - Anne K Baker
- Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, USA
- Duke Center for Translational Pain Medicine, Durham, USA
- Human Affect and Pain Neuroscience Lab, Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University Medical Center, Box DUMC 3094, Durham, NC, 27710, USA
| | - Vinit Krishna
- Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, USA
- Duke Center for Translational Pain Medicine, Durham, USA
- Human Affect and Pain Neuroscience Lab, Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University Medical Center, Box DUMC 3094, Durham, NC, 27710, USA
| | - Sean C Mackey
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, USA
| | - Katherine T Martucci
- Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, USA.
- Duke Center for Translational Pain Medicine, Durham, USA.
- Human Affect and Pain Neuroscience Lab, Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University Medical Center, Box DUMC 3094, Durham, NC, 27710, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Kryza-Lacombe M, Palumbo D, Wakschlag LS, Dougherty LR, Wiggins JL. Executive functioning moderates neural mechanisms of irritability during reward processing in youth. Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging 2022; 323:111483. [PMID: 35561577 PMCID: PMC9829104 DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2022.111483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2021] [Revised: 03/13/2022] [Accepted: 04/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Pediatric irritability is the most robust indicator of transdiagnostic psychopathology risk. It is associated with altered neural reward processing, including neural networks related to cognitive control, and better cognitive control has been hypothesized to mitigate irritability. We evaluated the relationship of executive functioning (EF) with irritability-related neural correlates of reward processing in youths with varying levels of irritability. Participants (N = 51, mean age=13.80 years, SD=1.94) completed a monetary incentive delay task during multiband fMRI acquisition. Irritability and EF were measured via the Affective Reactivity Index and the NIH Toolbox cognition battery, respectively. Whole-brain analyses, controlling for age, examined the moderating role of EF on irritability-related brain activation and connectivity (seeds: striatum, amygdala) during reward anticipation and performance feedback. Irritability-related neural patterns during reward processing depended on EF, in occipital areas during reward anticipation and limbic, frontal, and temporal networks during performance feedback. Higher irritability combined with higher EF was associated with neural patterns opposite to those observed for higher irritability with lower co-occurring EF. Although preliminary, findings suggest that EF may buffer irritability-related reward processing deficits. Additionally, individual differences in EF and their relation to irritability may be related to varied etiologic mechanisms of irritability with important implications for personalized prevention and intervention.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maria Kryza-Lacombe
- San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, United States.
| | - Danielle Palumbo
- Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, United States
| | - Lauren S Wakschlag
- Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, & Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Northwestern University, United States
| | - Lea R Dougherty
- University of Maryland, Department of Psychology, United States
| | - Jillian Lee Wiggins
- San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, United States; Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, United States
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Positive valence systems in youth anxiety development: A scoping review. J Anxiety Disord 2022; 89:102588. [PMID: 35691120 DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2022.102588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2021] [Revised: 05/23/2022] [Accepted: 05/27/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Research on pathophysiological mechanisms supporting anxiety development in youth has traditionally focused on the role of threat systems. However, emerging research suggests that the positive valence system (PVS) may also play a strong and unique role in the development and maintenance of anxiety during childhood and adolescence. To better understand the connection between the PVS and anxiety, this scoping review describes current research spanning multiple units of analysis (i.e., self-report, behavior, neural circuits) linking child and adolescent anxiety and risk for anxiety to various PVS constructs (i.e., positive affect, reward responsiveness, reward learning and decision-making). After screening, 78 peer-reviewed articles and dissertations published between 1998 and May 2021 were included in a qualitative review. Though some consistencies in the literature were found, such as high neural reactivity to incentive anticipation in youth at temperamental risk for social anxiety and blunted positive affect in youth with social anxiety disorder, the literature is largely inconsistent. Inconsistencies could be related to the small number of similar studies, small and homogenous study samples, and variability in methodologies employed in this research. It cannot be confirmed whether findings linking PVS constructs to anxiety are unique to anxiety symptoms or better accounted for by co-occurring depressive symptoms. This review concludes with recommendations for robust future research in this area.
Collapse
|
10
|
Millman ZB, Schiffman J, Gold JM, Akouri-Shan L, Demro C, Fitzgerald J, Rakhshan Rouhakhtar PJ, Klaunig M, Rowland LM, Waltz JA. Linking Salience Signaling With Early Adversity and Affective Distress in Individuals at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis: Results From an Event-Related fMRI Study. SCHIZOPHRENIA BULLETIN OPEN 2022; 3:sgac039. [PMID: 35799887 PMCID: PMC9250803 DOI: 10.1093/schizbullopen/sgac039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Evidence suggests dysregulation of the salience network in individuals with psychosis, but few studies have examined the intersection of stress exposure and affective distress with prediction error (PE) signals among youth at clinical high-risk (CHR). Here, 26 individuals at CHR and 19 healthy volunteers (HVs) completed a monetary incentive delay task in conjunction with fMRI. We compared these groups on the amplitudes of neural responses to surprising outcomes—PEs without respect to their valence—across the whole brain and in two regions of interest, the anterior insula and amygdala. We then examined relations of these signals to the severity of depression, anxiety, and trauma histories in the CHR group. Relative to HV, youth at CHR presented with aberrant PE-evoked activation of the temporoparietal junction and weaker deactivation of the precentral gyrus, posterior insula, and associative striatum. No between-group differences were observed in the amygdala or anterior insula. Among youth at CHR, greater trauma histories were correlated with stronger PE-evoked amygdala activation. No associations were found between affective symptoms and the neural responses to PE. Our results suggest that unvalenced PE signals may provide unique information about the neurobiology of CHR syndromes and that early adversity exposure may contribute to neurobiological heterogeneity in this group. Longitudinal studies of young people with a range of risk syndromes are needed to further disentangle the contributions of distinct aspects of salience signaling to the development of psychopathology.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zachary B Millman
- Psychotic Disorders Division, McLean Hospital , 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02478 , USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School , 25 Shattuck Street, Boston, MA 02114 , USA
| | - Jason Schiffman
- Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine , 4201 Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway, Irvine, CA 92697-7085 , USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland , Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 , USA
| | - James M Gold
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine , 55 Wade Avenue, Catonsville, MD 21228 , USA
| | - LeeAnn Akouri-Shan
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland , Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 , USA
| | - Caroline Demro
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, 75 East River Parkway , Minneapolis, MN 55455 , USA
| | - John Fitzgerald
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland , Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 , USA
| | - Pamela J Rakhshan Rouhakhtar
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland , Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 , USA
| | - Mallory Klaunig
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland , Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 , USA
| | - Laura M Rowland
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine , 55 Wade Avenue, Catonsville, MD 21228 , USA
| | - James A Waltz
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine , 55 Wade Avenue, Catonsville, MD 21228 , USA
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Blair KS, Aloi J, Bashford-Largo J, Zhang R, Elowsky J, Lukoff J, Vogel S, Carollo E, Schwartz A, Pope K, Bajaj S, Tottenham N, Dobbertin M, Blair RJ. Different forms of childhood maltreatment have different impacts on the neural systems involved in the representation of reinforcement value. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2021; 53:101051. [PMID: 34953316 PMCID: PMC8714998 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2021.101051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2020] [Revised: 06/16/2021] [Accepted: 12/13/2021] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Background The current study aimed to address two gaps in the literature on child maltreatment, reinforcement processing and psychopathology. First, the extent to which compromised reinforcement processing might be particularly associated with either neglect or abuse. Second, the extent to which maltreatment-related compromised reinforcement processing might be associated with particular symptom sets (depression, conduct problems, anxiety) or symptomatology more generally. Methods A sample of adolescents (N = 142) aged between 14 and 18 years with varying levels of prior maltreatment participated in this fMRI study. They were scanned while performing a passive avoidance learning task, where the participant learns to respond to stimuli that engender reward and avoid responding to stimuli that engender punishment. Maltreatment (abuse and neglect) levels were assessed with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Results We found that: (i) level of neglect, but not abuse, was negatively associated with differential BOLD responses to reward-punishment within the striatum and medial frontal cortex; and (ii) differential reward-punishment responses within these neglect-associated regions were particularly negatively associated with level of conduct problems. Conclusion Our findings demonstrate the adverse neurodevelopmental impact of childhood maltreatment, particularly neglect, on reinforcement processing. Moreover, they suggest a neurodevelopmental route by which neglect might increase the risk for conduct problems.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Karina S Blair
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA.
| | - Joseph Aloi
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA
| | - Johannah Bashford-Largo
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
| | - Ru Zhang
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
| | - Jaimie Elowsky
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
| | - Jennie Lukoff
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
| | - Steven Vogel
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
| | - Erin Carollo
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
| | - Amanda Schwartz
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
| | - Kayla Pope
- Department of Psychiatry, Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, NE, USA
| | - Sahil Bajaj
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
| | - Nim Tottenham
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Matthew Dobbertin
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
| | - R James Blair
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Bashford-Largo J, Aloi J, Zhang R, Bajaj S, Carollo E, Elowsky J, Schwartz A, Dobbertin M, Blair RJR, Blair KS. Reduced neural differentiation of rewards and punishment during passive avoidance learning in adolescents with generalized anxiety disorder. Depress Anxiety 2021; 38:794-803. [PMID: 33739566 PMCID: PMC8328882 DOI: 10.1002/da.23150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2020] [Revised: 01/21/2021] [Accepted: 03/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND It has been proposed that individuals with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) show dysfunctional computations related to approach-avoidance decision-making. However, few studies have examined the neural basis of this impairment, particularly in adolescents with GAD. The goal of the current study was to address this gap in the literature. METHOD The study involved 51 adolescents with GAD and 51 typically developing (TD) comparison individuals matched on age (16.10 and 15.75 respective means), gender (30 F/21 M and 24 F/27 M), and IQ (103.20 and 103.18 respective means). Participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging during a passive avoidance task. RESULTS We found a significant Group-by-Reinforcement interaction within reward-related brain regions including the caudate, putamen, mid cingulate/paracentral lobule, and superior and middle frontal gyrus. TD adolescents showed a greater differential response to reward versus punishment feedback within these regions relative to adolescents with GAD. In particular, this reflected reduced responses to rewards in the adolescents with GAD. There were no group differences in neural responses when making approach/avoidance responses. CONCLUSION The results of this study suggest reduced differential responsiveness to reinforcement as a component of the pathophysiology seen in adolescents with GAD. This dysfunction likely underpins decision-making impairments that may exacerbate the participants' worry.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Johannah Bashford-Largo
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, Nebraska, USA
| | - Joseph Aloi
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, Nebraska, USA,Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
| | - Ru Zhang
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, Nebraska, USA
| | - Sahil Bajaj
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, Nebraska, USA
| | - Erin Carollo
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, Nebraska, USA
| | - Jaimie Elowsky
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, Nebraska, USA
| | - Amanda Schwartz
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, Nebraska, USA
| | - Matthew Dobbertin
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, Nebraska, USA
| | - R. James R. Blair
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, Nebraska, USA
| | - Karina S. Blair
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, Nebraska, USA
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Brain and Behavior Correlates of Risk Taking in Pediatric Anxiety Disorders. Biol Psychiatry 2021; 89:707-715. [PMID: 33451676 PMCID: PMC9037066 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2020] [Revised: 10/28/2020] [Accepted: 11/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Avoidant behavior is a defining feature of pediatric anxiety disorders. Although prior research has examined it from the perspective of early information processing events, there has been relatively less consideration of the processes by which anxious youth make avoidant decisions and how these choices are reinforced over time. Studies of risk taking are valuable in this regard because they consider how individuals identify the pros and cons of their choices, how they weigh potential gains and losses and estimate their respective probabilities, and how they tolerate the uncertainty intrinsic to any decision. In this review, we place risk taking within existing models of information processing in pediatric anxiety disorders and highlight the particular value of this construct for informing models of developmental psychopathology and individual differences in outcome over time. We review existing behavioral and neurobiological studies of risk taking in anxious youth and conclude by identifying directions for future research.
Collapse
|
14
|
Xu X, Dai J, Chen Y, Liu C, Xin F, Zhou X, Zhou F, Stamatakis EA, Yao S, Luo L, Huang Y, Wang J, Zou Z, Vatansever D, Kendrick KM, Zhou B, Becker B. Intrinsic connectivity of the prefrontal cortex and striato-limbic system respectively differentiate major depressive from generalized anxiety disorder. Neuropsychopharmacology 2021; 46:791-798. [PMID: 32961541 PMCID: PMC8027677 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-020-00868-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2020] [Revised: 09/03/2020] [Accepted: 09/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) are highly prevalent and debilitating disorders. The high overlap on the symptomatic and neurobiological level led to ongoing debates about their diagnostic and neurobiological uniqueness. The present study aims to identify common and disorder-specific neuropathological mechanisms and treatment targets in MDD and GAD. To this end we combined categorical and dimensional disorder models with a fully data-driven intrinsic network-level analysis (intrinsic connectivity contrast, ICC) to resting-state fMRI data acquired in 108 individuals (n = 35 and n = 38 unmedicated patients with first-episode GAD, MDD, respectively, and n = 35 healthy controls). Convergent evidence from categorical and dimensional analyses revealed MDD-specific decreased whole-brain connectivity profiles of the medial prefrontal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex while GAD was specifically characterized by decreased whole-brain connectivity profiles of the putamen and decreased communication of this region with the amygdala. Together, findings from the present data-driven analysis suggest that intrinsic communication of frontal regions engaged in executive functions and emotion regulation represent depression-specific neurofunctional markers and treatment targets whereas dysregulated intrinsic communication of the striato-amygdala system engaged in reinforcement-based and emotional learning processes represent GAD-specific markers.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xiaolei Xu
- grid.54549.390000 0004 0369 4060The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054 Sichuan China
| | - Jing Dai
- grid.54549.390000 0004 0369 4060The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054 Sichuan China ,Chengdu Mental Health Center, Chengdu, 610036 Sichuan China
| | - Yuanshu Chen
- grid.54549.390000 0004 0369 4060The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054 Sichuan China
| | - Congcong Liu
- grid.54549.390000 0004 0369 4060The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054 Sichuan China
| | - Fei Xin
- grid.54549.390000 0004 0369 4060The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054 Sichuan China
| | - Xinqi Zhou
- grid.54549.390000 0004 0369 4060The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054 Sichuan China
| | - Feng Zhou
- grid.54549.390000 0004 0369 4060The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054 Sichuan China
| | - Emmanuel A. Stamatakis
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Division of Anaesthesia, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd, Cambridge, CB2 0SP UK ,grid.5335.00000000121885934Department of Clinical Neurosciences, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd, Cambridge, CB2 0SP UK
| | - Shuxia Yao
- grid.54549.390000 0004 0369 4060The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054 Sichuan China
| | - Lizhu Luo
- grid.54549.390000 0004 0369 4060The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054 Sichuan China ,Chengdu Mental Health Center, Chengdu, 610036 Sichuan China
| | - Yulan Huang
- grid.410646.10000 0004 1808 0950Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences & Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital, Chengdu, 610072 Sichuan China
| | - Jinyu Wang
- grid.410646.10000 0004 1808 0950Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences & Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital, Chengdu, 610072 Sichuan China
| | - Zhili Zou
- grid.410646.10000 0004 1808 0950Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences & Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital, Chengdu, 610072 Sichuan China
| | - Deniz Vatansever
- grid.8547.e0000 0001 0125 2443Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, 200433 Shanghai, China
| | - Keith M. Kendrick
- grid.54549.390000 0004 0369 4060The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054 Sichuan China
| | - Bo Zhou
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences & Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, 610072, Sichuan, China.
| | - Benjamin Becker
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054, Sichuan, China.
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Kryza-Lacombe M, Hernandez B, Owen C, Reynolds RC, Wakschlag LS, Dougherty LR, Wiggins JL. Neural mechanisms of reward processing in adolescent irritability. Dev Psychobiol 2021; 63:1241-1254. [PMID: 33462834 PMCID: PMC10171261 DOI: 10.1002/dev.22090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2020] [Revised: 12/16/2020] [Accepted: 12/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Irritability is impairing and prevalent across pediatric psychiatric disorders and typical development, yet its neural mechanisms are largely unknown. This study evaluated the relation between adolescent irritability and reward-related brain function as a candidate neural mechanism. Adolescents from intervention-seeking families in the community (N = 52; mean age = 13.80, SD = 1.94) completed a monetary incentive delay task to assess reward anticipation and feedback (reward receipt and omission) during fMRI acquisition. Whole-brain analyses, controlling for age, examined brain activation and striatal and amygdala connectivity in relation to irritability. Irritability was measured using the parent- and youth-reported Affective Reactivity Index. Irritability was associated with altered reward processing-related activation and connectivity in multiple networks during reward anticipation and feedback, including increased striatal activation and altered ventral striatum connectivity with prefrontal areas. Our findings suggest that irritability is associated with altered neural patterns during reward processing and that aberrant prefrontal cortex-mediated top-down control may be related to irritability. These findings inform our understanding of the etiology of youth irritability and the development of mechanism-based interventions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maria Kryza-Lacombe
- San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Brianna Hernandez
- Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Cassidy Owen
- Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Richard C Reynolds
- Scientific and Statistical Computing Core, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Lauren S Wakschlag
- Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine & Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Lea R Dougherty
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Jillian L Wiggins
- San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, CA, USA.,Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Executive functioning moderates neural reward processing in youth. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2020; 21:105-118. [PMID: 33263153 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-020-00851-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/09/2020] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Although executive functioning has traditionally been studied in "cool" settings removed from emotional contexts, it is highly relevant in "hot" emotionally salient settings such as reward processing. Furthermore, brain structures related to "cool" executive functioning and "hot" reward-related processes develop simultaneously, yet little is known about how executive functioning modulates neural processes related to reward processing during adolescence, a period of time when these systems are still developing. The present study examined how performance on "cool" behavioral executive functioning measures moderates neural reward processing. Youths (N = 43, Mage = 13.74 years, SD = 1.81 years) completed a child-friendly monetary incentive delay task during fMRI acquisition that captures neural responses to reward anticipation and to reward receipt and omission. Performance on inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility measures, captured outside the scanner, was used to predict brain activation and seed-based connectivity (ventral striatum and amygdala). Across analyses, we found that executive functioning moderated youths' neural responses during both reward anticipation and performance feedback, predominantly with respect to amygdala connectivity with prefrontal/frontal and temporal structures, supporting previous theoretical models of brain development during adolescence. Overall, youths with worse executive functioning had more pronounced differences in neural activation and connectivity between task conditions compared with youths with better executive functioning. This study contributes to elucidating the relationship between "cool" and "hot" processes and our findings demonstrate that simple executive functioning skills moderate more complex processes that involve incorporation of numerous skills in an emotionally salient context, such as reward processing.
Collapse
|
17
|
Millman ZB, Gallagher K, Demro C, Schiffman J, Reeves GM, Gold JM, Rakhshan PJ, Fitzgerald J, Andorko N, Redman S, Buchanan R, Rowland L, Waltz JA. Evidence of reward system dysfunction in youth at clinical high-risk for psychosis from two event-related fMRI paradigms. Schizophr Res 2020; 226:111-119. [PMID: 30995969 PMCID: PMC6801019 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2019.03.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2018] [Revised: 03/20/2019] [Accepted: 03/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Abnormal reward processing is thought to play an important role in the development of psychosis, but relatively few studies have examined reward prediction errors, reinforcement learning (RL), and the reward circuitry that subserves these interconnected processes among individuals at clinical high-risk (CHR) for the disorder. Here, we present behavioral and functional neuroimaging results of two experimental tasks designed to measure overlapping aspects of reward processing among individuals at CHR (n = 22) and healthy controls (n = 19). We found no group differences in response times to positive, negative, or neutral outcome-signaling cues, and no significant differences in brain activation during reward anticipation or receipt. Youth at CHR, however, displayed clear RL impairments, as well as attenuated responses to rewards and blunted prediction error signals in the ventral striatum, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). Greater contrasts for cue valence (gain-loss) and outcome magnitude (large-small) in the vmPFC were associated with more severe negative symptoms, and deficits in dACC signaling during RL were associated with more depressive symptoms. Our results provide evidence for RL deficits and abnormal prediction error signaling in the brain's reward circuitry among individuals at CHR, while also suggesting that reward motivation may be relatively preserved at this stage in development. Longitudinal studies, medication-free participants, and comparison of neurobehavioral measures against both healthy and clinical controls are needed to better understand the role of reward system abnormalities in the development of psychosis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zachary B. Millman
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA
| | - Keith Gallagher
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland, Baltimore, 701 W. Pratt Street, Baltimore MD 21201 USA
| | - Caroline Demro
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota Medical School, 2312 S. 6th St., Floor 2, Suite F-275, Minneapolis, MD, 55454
| | - Jason Schiffman
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA.
| | - Gloria M. Reeves
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland, Baltimore, 701 W. Pratt Street, Baltimore MD 21201 USA
| | - James M. Gold
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 55 Wade Ave, Catonsville, MD, 21228
| | - Pamela J. Rakhshan
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA
| | - John Fitzgerald
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA
| | - Nicole Andorko
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA
| | - Samantha Redman
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA
| | - Robert Buchanan
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 55 Wade Ave, Catonsville, MD, 21228
| | - Laura Rowland
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 55 Wade Ave, Catonsville, MD, 21228
| | - James A. Waltz
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 55 Wade Ave, Catonsville, MD, 21228
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Funkhouser CJ, Auerbach RP, Kujawa A, Morelli SA, Phan KL, Shankman SA. Social Feedback Valence Differentially Modulates the Reward Positivity, P300, and Late Positive Potential. J PSYCHOPHYSIOL 2020; 34:255-267. [PMID: 33814668 PMCID: PMC8011565 DOI: 10.1027/0269-8803/a000253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Abnormal social or reward processing is associated with several mental disorders. Although most studies examining reward processing have focused on monetary rewards, recent research also has tested neural reactivity to social rewards (e.g., positive social feedback). However, the majority of these studies only include two feedback valences (e.g., acceptance, rejection). Yet, social evaluation is rarely binary (positive vs. negative) and people often give 'on the fence' or neutral evaluations of others. Processing of this type of social feedback may be ambiguous and impacted by factors such as psychopathology, self-esteem, and prior experiences of rejection. Thus, the present study probed the reward positivity (RewP), P300, and late positive potential (LPP) following acceptance, rejection, and "one the fence" [between acceptance and rejection] feedback in undergraduate students (n = 45). Results indicated that the RewP showed more positive amplitudes following acceptance compared to both rejection and "on the fence" feedback, and the RewP was larger (i.e., more positive) following rejection relative to "on the fence" feedback. In contrast, the P300 did not differ between rejection and "on the fence" feedback, and both were reduced compared to acceptance. The LPP was blunted in response to rejection relative to acceptance and "on the fence" feedback (which did not differ from each other). Exploratory analyses demonstrated that greater self-reported rejection sensitivity was associated with a reduced LPP to acceptance. Taken together, these findings suggest that the neural systems underlying the RewP, P300, and LPP may evaluate "on the fence" social feedback differently, and that individuals high on rejection sensitivity may exhibit reduced attention toward and elaborative processing of social acceptance.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Randy P. Auerbach
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University
- Division of Clinical Developmental Neuroscience, Sackler Institute
| | - Autumn Kujawa
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University
| | | | - K. Luan Phan
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago
| | - Stewart A. Shankman
- Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Baker AE, Galván A. Threat or thrill? the neural mechanisms underlying the development of anxiety and risk taking in adolescence. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2020; 45:100841. [PMID: 32829216 PMCID: PMC7451699 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2020.100841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2020] [Revised: 08/12/2020] [Accepted: 08/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Anxiety is common in adolescence and has been linked to a plethora of negative outcomes across development. While previous studies of anxiety have focused on threat sensitivity, less work has considered the concurrent development of threat- and reward-related neural circuitry and how these circuits interact and compete during puberty to influence typical adolescent behaviors such as increased risk taking and exploration. The current review integrates relevant findings from clinical and developmental neuroimaging studies to paint a multidimensional picture of adolescent-onset anxiety against the backdrop of typical adolescent development. Ultimately, this paper argues that longitudinal neuroimaging studies tracking approach and avoidance motivations across development are needed to fully understand the mechanisms underlying the development of anxiety in adolescence and to identify and provide effective interventions for at-risk youth.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Amanda E Baker
- Department of Psychology, University of California, 502 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
| | - Adriana Galván
- Department of Psychology, University of California, 502 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States; Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, 757 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States.
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
Spechler PA, Stewart JL, Kuplicki R, Paulus MP. Attenuated reward activations associated with cannabis use in anxious/depressed individuals. Transl Psychiatry 2020; 10:189. [PMID: 32541777 PMCID: PMC7295993 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-020-0807-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2020] [Revised: 02/26/2020] [Accepted: 04/01/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Individuals with mood/anxiety disorders may use cannabis for "self-medication," i.e., to induce positive mood or attenuate aversive mood states. However, little neurobiological evidence supports such use. The goal of this investigation was to test the hypothesis that cannabis use attenuates striatal response to reward in those with mood/anxiety disorders. Reward-related processing was measured using a monetary incentive delay task under functional MRI. Individuals with any lifetime mood/anxiety disorder diagnoses and problematic cannabis use ("Mood/Anxiety+CB"; n = 41) were compared with a propensity score-matched group of similar subjects without cannabis use ("Mood/Anxiety-CB"; n = 41), and a cannabis-naïve healthy control group (n = 35). Activations during win- and loss-anticipations were extracted from bilateral nucleus accumbens, dorsal caudate, and dorsolateral putamen. Mixed models were estimated for each region separately for win- and loss-anticipations, with a test for the main effect of group, condition (e.g., high-win, low-win, neutral), and their interaction. A significant main effect of group for win- and loss-anticipation was observed for each striatal region. Specifically, the Mood/Anxiety+CB group exhibited the lowest striatal activations across condition levels relative to both the Mood/Anxiety-CB and healthy group. A significant group-by-condition interaction was only observed for the dorsolateral putamen and indicated divergent activation modulation as a function of win and loss-magnitude for Mood/Anxiety+CB subjects. Finally, individuals with heavier recent cannabis use showed greater attenuation of gain-related activation in all three striatal regions. There was no such relationship for other illicit drugs. These data support the hypothesis that cannabis use in individuals with mood/anxiety disorders is associated with attenuated brain processing of reward magnitude, which may contribute to persistent affective symptoms.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Philip A. Spechler
- grid.417423.70000 0004 0512 8863Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655S. Yale Ave, Tulsa, OK 74136 USA
| | | | - Rayus Kuplicki
- grid.417423.70000 0004 0512 8863Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655S. Yale Ave, Tulsa, OK 74136 USA
| | | | - Martin P. Paulus
- grid.417423.70000 0004 0512 8863Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655S. Yale Ave, Tulsa, OK 74136 USA ,grid.267360.60000 0001 2160 264XUniversity of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK USA
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Hubbard NA, Siless V, Frosch IR, Goncalves M, Lo N, Wang J, Bauer CCC, Conroy K, Cosby E, Hay A, Jones R, Pinaire M, Vaz De Souza F, Vergara G, Ghosh S, Henin A, Hirshfeld-Becker DR, Hofmann SG, Rosso IM, Auerbach RP, Pizzagalli DA, Yendiki A, Gabrieli JDE, Whitfield-Gabrieli S. Brain function and clinical characterization in the Boston adolescent neuroimaging of depression and anxiety study. Neuroimage Clin 2020; 27:102240. [PMID: 32361633 PMCID: PMC7199015 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2020.102240] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2019] [Revised: 03/09/2020] [Accepted: 03/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
We present a Human Connectome Project study tailored toward adolescent anxiety and depression. This study is one of the first studies of the Connectomes Related to Human Diseases initiative and is collecting structural, functional, and diffusion-weighted brain imaging data from up to 225 adolescents (ages 14-17 years), 150 of whom are expected to have a current diagnosis of an anxiety and/or depressive disorder. Comprehensive clinical and neuropsychological evaluations and longitudinal clinical data are also being collected. This article provides an overview of task functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) protocols and preliminary findings (N = 140), as well as clinical and neuropsychological characterization of adolescents. Data collection is ongoing for an additional 85 adolescents, most of whom are expected to have a diagnosis of an anxiety and/or depressive disorder. Data from the first 140 adolescents are projected for public release through the National Institutes of Health Data Archive (NDA) with the timing of this manuscript. All other data will be made publicly-available through the NDA at regularly scheduled intervals. This article is intended to serve as an introduction to this project as well as a reference for those seeking to clinical, neurocognitive, and task fMRI data from this public resource.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- N A Hubbard
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States; University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States
| | - V Siless
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - I R Frosch
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - M Goncalves
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - N Lo
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - J Wang
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - C C C Bauer
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - K Conroy
- Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - E Cosby
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States
| | - A Hay
- Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - R Jones
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - M Pinaire
- Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - F Vaz De Souza
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
| | - G Vergara
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States
| | - S Ghosh
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - A Henin
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
| | - D R Hirshfeld-Becker
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
| | - S G Hofmann
- Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - I M Rosso
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States
| | - R P Auerbach
- Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
| | - D A Pizzagalli
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States
| | - A Yendiki
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - J D E Gabrieli
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - S Whitfield-Gabrieli
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States; Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States.
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
Jenks SK, Zhang S, Li CSR, Hu S. Threat bias and resting state functional connectivity of the amygdala and bed nucleus stria terminalis. J Psychiatr Res 2020; 122:54-63. [PMID: 31927266 PMCID: PMC7010552 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2019.12.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2019] [Revised: 12/23/2019] [Accepted: 12/30/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Previous research has distinguished the activations of the amygdala and bed nucleus of stria terminalis (BNST) during threat-related contingencies. However, how intrinsic connectivities of the amygdala and BNST relate to threat bias remains unclear. Here, we investigated how resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) of the amygdala and BNST in healthy controls (HC) and patients with anxiety-related disorders (PAD) associate with threat bias in a dot-probe task. METHODS Imaging and behavioral data of 30 PAD and 83 HC were obtained from the Nathan Kline Institute - Rockland sample and processed according to published routines. All imaging results were evaluated at voxel p < 0.001 and cluster p < 0.05, FWE corrected in SPM. RESULTS PAD and HC did not show differences in whole brain rsFC with either the amygdala or BNST. In linear regressions threat bias was positively correlated with amygdala-thalamus/anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) rsFC in HC but not PAD, and with BNST-caudate rsFC in PAD but not HC. Slope tests confirmed group differences in the correlations between threat bias and amygdala-thalamus/ACC as well as BNST-caudate rsFC. LIMITATIONS As only half of the patients included were diagnosed with comorbid anxiety, the current findings need to be considered with the clinical heterogeneity and require replication in populations specifically with anxiety disorders. CONCLUSIONS Together, these results suggest amygdala and BNST connectivities as new neural markers of anxiety disorders. Whereas amygdala-thalamus/ACC rsFC support adaptive regulation of threat response in the HC, BNST-caudate rsFC may reflect maladaptive neural processes that are dominated by anticipatory anxiety.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Samantha K. Jenks
- Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Oswego, Oswego, NY 13126
| | - Sheng Zhang
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06519
| | - Chiang-shan R. Li
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06519,Department of Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520,Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520
| | - Sien Hu
- Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Oswego, Oswego, NY, 13126, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
23
|
Kolesar TA, Bilevicius E, Wilson AD, Kornelsen J. Systematic review and meta-analyses of neural structural and functional differences in generalized anxiety disorder and healthy controls using magnetic resonance imaging. NEUROIMAGE-CLINICAL 2019; 24:102016. [PMID: 31835287 PMCID: PMC6879983 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2019.102016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2019] [Revised: 08/22/2019] [Accepted: 09/27/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
PFC-amygdala FC is altered in GAD, indicating top-down processing deficits. GAD had reduced activity for emotion regulation and working memory in the culmen. Salience, default, and central executive nodes have altered structure and function.
Objective To compare structure, functional connectivity (FC) and task-based neural differences in subjects with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) compared to healthy controls (HC). Methods The Embase, Ovid Medline, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science databases were searched from inception until March 12, 2018. Two reviewers independently screened titles, abstracts, and full-text articles. Data were extracted from records directly contrasting GAD and HC that included structure (connectivity and local indices such as volume, etc.), FC, or task-based magnetic resonance imaging data. Meta-analyses were conducted, as applicable, using AES-SDM software. Results The literature search produced 4,645 total records, of which 85 met the inclusion criteria for the systematic review. Records included structural (n = 35), FC (n = 33), and task-based (n = 42) findings. Meta-analyses were conducted on voxel-based morphometry and task-based results. Discussion The systematic review confirms and extends findings from previous reviews. Although few whole-brain resting state studies were conducted, key nodes of resting state networks have altered physiology: the hippocampus (default network), ACC and amygdala (salience network), have reduced volume, and the dlPFC (central executive network) and ACC have reduced FC with the amygdala in GAD. Nodes in the sensorimotor network are also altered with greater pre- and postcentral volume, reduced supplementary motor area volume, and reduced FC in anterior and increased FC in posterior cerebellum. Conclusions Despite limitations due to sample size, the meta-analyses highly agree with the systematic review and provide evidence of widely distributed neural differences in subjects with GAD, compared to HC. Further research optimized for meta-analyses would greatly improve large-scale comparisons.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tiffany A Kolesar
- Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
| | - Elena Bilevicius
- Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
| | - Alyssia D Wilson
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
| | - Jennifer Kornelsen
- Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada; Department of Internal Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada; Department of Radiology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
Sequeira SL, Butterfield RD, Silk JS, Forbes EE, Ladouceur CD. Neural Activation to Parental Praise Interacts With Social Context to Predict Adolescent Depressive Symptoms. Front Behav Neurosci 2019; 13:222. [PMID: 31607874 PMCID: PMC6773803 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2019] [Accepted: 09/09/2019] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Negative relationships with parents and peers are considered risk factors for depression in adolescence, yet not all adolescents perceiving negative social relationships develop depression. In line with neurobiological susceptibility to social context models, we examined how individual differences in neural processing of parental praise, a unique form of social reward, might explain variability in susceptibility to perceived maternal acceptance and peer victimization. During neuroimaging, 38 11- to 17-year-olds with a history of anxiety listened to audio clips of a parent (predominately mothers) providing personalized praise and neutral statements. Average activation during parental praise clips relative to neutral clips was extracted from several anatomically-defined reward-related regions-of-interest (ROIs): the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, caudate nucleus, amygdala, nucleus accumbens, and insula. Moderation models included direct effects and interactions between neural activation to social reward, peer victimization, and maternal acceptance at the time of scanning on depressive symptoms 1 year later. Results showed a significant three-way interaction for the bilateral caudate such that peer victimization was associated with depressive symptoms only for individuals with higher caudate response to praise who perceived maternal acceptance as low. Consistent with neurobiological susceptibility to social context models, caudate activation to social reward could represent a neural marker that helps explain variability in adolescent sensitivity to social contexts. High caudate activation to praise could reflect a history of negative experiences with parents and/or peers that places youth at greater risk for depressive symptoms. Findings suggest that interactions between neural response to reward and salient social contexts may help us understand changes in depressive symptoms during a period of development marked by significant biopsychosocial change.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Stefanie L Sequeira
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | | | - Jennifer S Silk
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Erika E Forbes
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Cecile D Ladouceur
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
Schwartz KTG, Kryza-Lacombe M, Liuzzi MT, Weersing VR, Wiggins JL. Social and Non-social Reward: A Preliminary Examination of Clinical Improvement and Neural Reactivity in Adolescents Treated With Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety and Depression. Front Behav Neurosci 2019; 13:177. [PMID: 31551724 PMCID: PMC6736628 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00177] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2019] [Accepted: 07/16/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Pediatric anxiety and depression are highly prevalent and debilitating disorders that often co-occur. Neural circuitry of reward processing has been shown to be implicated in both, and there is an emerging evidence base linking treatment response to brain patterns of reward processing. The current study aimed to add to this literature by investigating the association between clinical improvement and social and non-social reward in youth previously treated for anxiety and depression. Methods The current study leveraged clinical improvement data from a successful randomized controlled trial testing the efficacy of a transdiagnostic, brief behavioral treatment for youth diagnosed with anxiety or depression. Participants (N = 15) interested in engaging in a neuroimaging follow-up underwent an fMRI scan, during which they completed social (i.e., Face Task) and non-social (i.e., Piñata Task, a youth-friendly monetary incentive delay task) reward tasks. Whole-brain activation and functional connectivity analyses identified neural responses to the tasks separately; a third set of analyses directly compared clinical improvement-related findings to understand the impact of task context on neural reactivity to reward. Results Activation-based findings were sparse; however, connectivity as a function of degree of treatment response was apparent and robust. Within the context of social reward, significant clusters within frontal and temporal regions driven by happy face contrasts, the social reward stimulus, were observed. This supports connectivity between these regions and both amygdala and ventral striatum seeds as a function of degree of clinical improvement. Connectivity within the context of non-social reward also yielded significant clusters in temporal and parietal regions. Here too, the magnitude and direction of region coupling depended on the degree of clinical improvement and the task conditions. No differences in connectivity by task type as a function of clinical improvement were found. Conclusion Findings serve as preliminary evidence that neural regions found to be related to clinical improvement within the context of social and non-social reward are similar to regions that have been shown to support reward processing in normative samples. Implications for treatment and future work are discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Karen T G Schwartz
- San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, CA, United States
| | - Maria Kryza-Lacombe
- San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, CA, United States
| | - Michael T Liuzzi
- Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, United States
| | - V Robin Weersing
- San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, CA, United States.,Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, United States
| | - Jillian Lee Wiggins
- San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, CA, United States.,Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, United States
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
Ethridge P, Weinberg A. Psychometric properties of neural responses to monetary and social rewards across development. Int J Psychophysiol 2018; 132:311-322. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2018.01.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2017] [Revised: 12/29/2017] [Accepted: 01/24/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
|
27
|
Ethridge P, Kujawa A, Dirks MA, Arfer KB, Kessel EM, Klein DN, Weinberg A. Neural responses to social and monetary reward in early adolescence and emerging adulthood. Psychophysiology 2017; 54:1786-1799. [PMID: 28700084 PMCID: PMC5757310 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.12957] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2016] [Revised: 06/12/2017] [Accepted: 06/12/2017] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Reward processing is often considered to be a monolithic construct, with different incentive types eliciting equivalent neural and behavioral responses. The majority of the literature on reward processing has used monetary incentives to elicit reward-related activity, yet social incentives may be particularly important due to their powerful ability to shape behavior. Findings from studies comparing social and monetary rewards have identified both overlapping and distinct responses. In order to explore whether reward processing is domain general or category specific (i.e., the same or different across reward types), the present study recorded ERPs from early adolescents (ages 12-13) and emerging adults (ages 18-25) while they completed social and monetary reward tasks. Temporospatial principal components analysis revealed morphologically similar reward positivities (RewPs) in the social and monetary reward tasks in each age group. In early adolescents, no significant difference was found between the magnitude of the RewP to social and monetary rewards. In emerging adults, however, the RewP to monetary rewards was significantly larger than the RewP to social rewards. Additionally, responses to feedback between the two tasks were not significantly correlated in either age group. These results suggest that both domain-general and category-specific processes underlie neural responses to rewards and that the relative incentive value of different types of rewards may change across development. Findings from this study have important implications for understanding the role that neural response to rewards plays in the development of psychopathology during adolescence.
Collapse
|
28
|
A neurocomputational investigation of reinforcement-based decision making as a candidate latent vulnerability mechanism in maltreated children. Dev Psychopathol 2017; 29:1689-1705. [DOI: 10.1017/s095457941700133x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
AbstractAlterations in reinforcement-based decision making may be associated with increased psychiatric vulnerability in children who have experienced maltreatment. A probabilistic passive avoidance task and a model-based functional magnetic resonance imaging analytic approach were implemented to assess the neurocomputational components underlying decision making: (a) reinforcement expectancies (the representation of the outcomes associated with a stimulus) and (b) prediction error signaling (the ability to detect the differences between expected and actual outcomes). There were three main findings. First, the maltreated group (n = 18; mean age = 13), relative to nonmaltreated peers (n = 19; mean age = 13), showed decreased activity during expected value processing in a widespread network commonly associated with reinforcement expectancies representation, including the striatum (especially the caudate), the orbitofrontal cortex, and medial temporal structures including the hippocampus and insula. Second, consistent with previously reported hyperresponsiveness to negative cues in the context of childhood abuse, the maltreated group showed increased prediction error signaling in the middle cingulate gyrus, somatosensory cortex, superior temporal gyrus, and thalamus. Third, the maltreated group showed increased activity in frontodorsal regions and in the putamen during expected value representation. These findings suggest that early adverse environments disrupt the development of decision-making processes, which in turn may compromise psychosocial functioning in ways that increase latent vulnerability to psychiatric disorder.
Collapse
|
29
|
Lau JYF, Waters AM. Annual Research Review: An expanded account of information-processing mechanisms in risk for child and adolescent anxiety and depression. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2017; 58:387-407. [PMID: 27966780 DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.12653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/05/2016] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Anxiety and depression occurring during childhood and adolescence are common and costly. While early-emerging anxiety and depression can arise through a complex interplay of 'distal' factors such as genetic and environmental influences, temperamental characteristics and brain circuitry, the more proximal mechanisms that transfer risks on symptoms are poorly delineated. Information-processing biases, which differentiate youth with and without anxiety and/or depression, could act as proximal mechanisms that mediate more distal risks on symptoms. This article reviews the literature on information-processing biases, their associations with anxiety and depression symptoms in youth and with other distal risk factors, to provide direction for further research. METHODS Based on strategic searches of the literature, we consider how youth with and without anxiety and/or depression vary in how they deploy attention to social-affective stimuli, discriminate between threat and safety cues, retain memories of negative events and appraise ambiguous information. We discuss how these information-processing biases are similarly or differentially expressed on anxiety and depression and whether these biases are linked to genetic and environmental factors, temperamental characteristics and patterns of brain circuitry functioning implicated in anxiety and depression. FINDINGS Biases in attention and appraisal characterise both youth anxiety and depression but with some differences in how these are expressed for each symptom type. Difficulties in threat-safety cue discrimination characterise anxiety and are understudied in depression, while biases in the retrieval of negative and overgeneral memories have been observed in depression but are understudied in anxiety. Information-processing biases have been studied in relation to some distal factors but not systematically, so relationships remain inconclusive. CONCLUSIONS Biases in attention, threat-safety cue discrimination, memory and appraisal may characterise anxiety and/or depression risk. We discuss future research directions that can more systematically test whether these biases act as proximal mechanisms that mediate other distal risk factors.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Y F Lau
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Allison M Waters
- School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Qld, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
White SF, Geraci M, Lewis E, Leshin J, Teng C, Averbeck B, Meffert H, Ernst M, Blair JR, Grillon C, Blair KS. Prediction Error Representation in Individuals With Generalized Anxiety Disorder During Passive Avoidance. Am J Psychiatry 2017; 174:110-117. [PMID: 27631963 PMCID: PMC5572647 DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2016.15111410] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Deficits in reinforcement-based decision making have been reported in generalized anxiety disorder. However, the pathophysiology of these deficits is largely unknown; published studies have mainly examined adolescents, and the integrity of core functional processes underpinning decision making remains undetermined. In particular, it is unclear whether the representation of reinforcement prediction error (PE) (the difference between received and expected reinforcement) is disrupted in generalized anxiety disorder. This study addresses these issues in adults with the disorder. METHOD Forty-six unmedicated individuals with generalized anxiety disorder and 32 healthy comparison subjects group-matched on IQ, gender, and age performed a passive avoidance task while undergoing functional MRI. Data analyses were performed using a computational modeling approach. RESULTS Behaviorally, individuals with generalized anxiety disorder showed impaired reinforcement-based decision making. Imaging results revealed that during feedback, individuals with generalized anxiety disorder relative to healthy subjects showed a reduced correlation between PE and activity within the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, ventral striatum, and other structures implicated in decision making. In addition, individuals with generalized anxiety disorder relative to healthy participants showed a reduced correlation between punishment PEs, but not reward PEs, and activity within the left and right lentiform nucleus/putamen. CONCLUSIONS This is the first study to identify computational impairments during decision making in generalized anxiety disorder. PE signaling is significantly disrupted in individuals with the disorder and may lead to their decision-making deficits and excessive worry about everyday problems by disrupting the online updating ("reality check") of the current relationship between the expected values of current response options and the actual received rewards and punishments.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Cindy Teng
- Section on Affective Cognitive Neuroscience, NIMH, NIH
| | | | - Harma Meffert
- Section on Affective Cognitive Neuroscience, NIMH, NIH
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
31
|
Lago T, Davis A, Grillon C, Ernst M. Striatum on the anxiety map: Small detours into adolescence. Brain Res 2017; 1654:177-184. [PMID: 27276526 PMCID: PMC5140771 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2016.06.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 79] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2016] [Revised: 05/09/2016] [Accepted: 06/03/2016] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Adolescence is the most sensitive period for the development of pathological anxiety. Moreover, specific neural changes associated with the striatum might be related to adolescent vulnerability to anxiety. Up to now, the study of anxiety has primarily focused on the amygdala, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), hippocampus and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), while the striatum has typically not been considered as part of the anxiety system. This review proposes the addition of the striatum, a complex, multi-component structure, to the anxiety network by underscoring two lines of research. First, the co-occurrence of the adolescent striatal development with the peak vulnerability of adolescents to anxiety disorders might potentially reflect a causal relationship. Second, the recognition of the role of the striatum in fundamental behavioral processes that do affect anxiety supports the putative importance of the striatum in anxiety. These behavioral processes include (1) attention, (2) conditioning/prediction error, and (3) motivation. This review proposes a simplistic schematic representation of the anxiety circuitry that includes the striatum, and aims to promote further work in this direction, as the role of the striatum in shaping an anxiety phenotype during adolescence could have critical implications for understanding and preventing the peak onset of anxiety disorders during this period. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI: Adolescent plasticity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tiffany Lago
- The National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Section on Neurobiology of Fear and Anxiety (SNFA), National Institute of Mental Health/NIH, 15K North Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892 USA.
| | - Andrew Davis
- The National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Section on Neurobiology of Fear and Anxiety (SNFA), National Institute of Mental Health/NIH, 15K North Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892 USA.
| | - Christian Grillon
- The National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Section on Neurobiology of Fear and Anxiety (SNFA), National Institute of Mental Health/NIH, 15K North Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892 USA.
| | - Monique Ernst
- The National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Section on Neurobiology of Fear and Anxiety (SNFA), National Institute of Mental Health/NIH, 15K North Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892 USA.
| |
Collapse
|