School of Medicine Publications and Presentations
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-2021
Abstract
Objective
Infant amygdalaconnectivity correlates with maternal reports of infant temperament characterized by novelty-evoked distress and avoidance. However, no studies have examined how human infant amygdala connectivity relates to direct observations of novelty-evoked distress. This study examined the link between amygdala connectivity and infant novelty-evoked distress using direct observation of temperament.
Method
Novelty-evoked distress was assessed at 4 months of age (N = 90) using a standardized reactivity assessment and parent report. Within 3 weeks of assessment, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was collected in a subset of infants (n = 34). Using a whole-brain voxelwise approach, amygdala connectivity associated with positive and negative affect during the reactivity assessment was examined. Regions where the association of amygdala connectivity with negative affect was higher than with positive affect were then examined. Associations between amygdala connectivity and parent report of temperament were also examined.
Results
Greater amygdala-cingulate and amygdala–superior frontal gyrus connectivity was associated with lower positive affect during the reactivity assessment. Further, the association between amygdala-cingulate connectivity was greater for negative affect compared with positive affect. There were no significant associations between latency to approach novelty (as measured by parent report) and amygdala connectivity. Validation analyses conducted using a large independent longitudinal sample (N = 323) demonstrated that negative reactivity was associated with increased child-reported anxiety symptoms in adolescence.
Conclusion
These results provide novel insight into the developmental pathophysiology of novelty-evoked distress. This is consistent with research linking an altered cognitive control mechanism to temperamental risk for anxiety.
Recommended Citation
Filippi, C. A., Ravi, S., Bracy, M., Winkler, A., Sylvester, C. M., Pine, D. S., & Fox, N. A. (2021). Amygdala Functional Connectivity and Negative Reactive Temperament at Age 4 Months. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 60(9), 1137–1146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2020.11.021
Publication Title
Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2020.11.021
Academic Level
faculty
Mentor/PI Department
Office of Human Genetics
Comments
PMC Copyright notice