2021

Characterizing the impact of adversity, abuse, and neglect on adolescent amygdala resting-state functional connectivity

Cheng, Theresa W. and Mills, Kathryn L. and Miranda Dominguez, Oscar and Zeithamova, Dagmar and Perrone, Anders and Sturgeon, Darrick and Feldstein Ewing, Sarah W. and Fisher, Philip A. and Pfeifer, Jennifer H. and Fair, Damien A. and Mackiewicz Seghete, Kristen L.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878929320301444

Characterizing typologies of childhood adversity may inform the development of risk profiles and corresponding interventions aimed at mitigating its lifelong consequences. A neurobiological grounding of these typologies requires systematic comparisons of neural structure and function among individuals with different exposure histories. Using seed-to-whole brain analyses, this study examined associations between childhood adversity and amygdala resting-state functional connectivity (rs-fc) in adolescents aged 11–19 years across three independent studies (N = 223; 127 adversity group) in both general and dimensional models of adversity (comparing abuse and neglect). In a general model, adversity was associated with altered amygdala rs-fc with clusters within the left anterior lateral prefrontal cortex. In a dimensional model, abuse was associated with altered amygdala rs-fc within the orbitofrontal cortex, dorsal precuneus, posterior cingulate cortex, and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex/anterior mid-cingulate cortex, as well as within the dorsal attention, visual, and somatomotor networks. Neglect was associated with altered amygdala rs-fc with the hippocampus, supplementary motor cortex, temporoparietal junction, and regions within the dorsal attention network. Both general and dimensional models revealed unique regions, potentially reflecting pathways by which distinct histories of adversity may influence adolescent behavior, cognition, and psychopathology.

Cite this paper:

@article{cheng_characterizing_2021,
  title = {Characterizing the impact of adversity, abuse, and neglect on adolescent amygdala resting-state functional connectivity},
  volume = {47},
  issn = {1878-9293},
  url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878929320301444},
  doi = {10.1016/j.dcn.2020.100894},
  language = {en},
  urldate = {2022-08-15},
  journal = {Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience},
  author = {Cheng, Theresa W. and Mills, Kathryn L. and Miranda Dominguez, Oscar and Zeithamova, Dagmar and Perrone, Anders and Sturgeon, Darrick and Feldstein Ewing, Sarah W. and Fisher, Philip A. and Pfeifer, Jennifer H. and Fair, Damien A. and Mackiewicz Seghete, Kristen L.},
  month = feb,
  year = {2021},
  keywords = {Adolescence, Amygdala, Childhood adversity, Childhood maltreatment, Resting-state functional connectivity},
  pages = {100894}
}