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Emotional processing and brain activity in youth at high risk for alcoholism.

ABSTRACT: Even in the absence of heavy alcohol use, youth with familial alcoholism (family history positive [FHP]) exhibit atypical brain functioning and behavior. Although emotional and cognitive systems are affected in alcohol use disorders (AUDs), little attention has focused on whether brain and behavior phenotypes related to the interplay between affective and executive functioning may be a premorbid risk factor for the development of AUDs in FHP youth.Twenty-four FHP and 22 family history negative (FHN) 12- to 16-year-old adolescents completed study procedures. After exclusion of participants with clinically significant depressive symptoms and those who did not meet performance criteria during an Emotional Go-NoGo task, 19 FHP and 17 FHN youth were included in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analyses. Resting state functional connectivity MRI, using amygdalar seed regions, was analyzed in 16 FHP and 18 FHN youth, after exclusion of participants with excessive head movement.fMRI showed that brain activity in FHP youth, compared with FHN peers, was reduced during emotional processing in the superior temporal cortex, as well as during cognitive control within emotional contexts in frontal and striatal regions. Group differences in resting state amygdalar connectivity were seen bilaterally between FHP and FHN youth. In FHP youth, reduced resting state synchrony between the left amygdala and left superior frontal gyrus was related to poorer response inhibition, as measured during the fMRI task.To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine emotion-cognition interactions and resting state functional connectivity in FHP youth. Findings from this research provide insight into neural and behavioral phenotypes associated with emotional processing in familial alcoholism, which may relate to increased risk of developing AUDs.

SUBMITTER: Cservenka A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4867220 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Emotional processing and brain activity in youth at high risk for alcoholism.

Cservenka Anita A Fair Damien A DA Nagel Bonnie J BJ

Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research 20140529 7

<h4>Background</h4>Even in the absence of heavy alcohol use, youth with familial alcoholism (family history positive [FHP]) exhibit atypical brain functioning and behavior. Although emotional and cognitive systems are affected in alcohol use disorders (AUDs), little attention has focused on whether brain and behavior phenotypes related to the interplay between affective and executive functioning may be a premorbid risk factor for the development of AUDs in FHP youth.<h4>Methods</h4>Twenty-four F ...[more]

PMID: 24890898

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Project description:BackgroundDisturbances in trait emotions are a predominant feature in schizophrenia. However, less is known about (a) differences in trait emotion across phases of the illness such as the clinical high-risk (CHR) phase and (b) whether abnormalities in trait emotion that are associated with negative symptoms are driven by primary (i.e. idiopathic) or secondary (e.g. depression, anxiety) factors.AimsTo examine profiles of trait affective disturbance and their clinical correlates in individuals with schizophrenia and individuals at CHR for psychosis.MethodIn two studies (sample 1: 56 out-patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and 34 demographically matched individuals without schizophrenia (controls); sample 2: 50 individuals at CHR and 56 individuals not at CHR (controls)), participants completed self-report trait positive affect and negative affect questionnaires, clinical symptom interviews (positive, negative, disorganised, depression, anxiety) and community-based functional outcome measures.ResultsBoth clinical groups reported lower levels of positive affect (specific to joy among individuals with schizophrenia) and higher levels of negative affect compared with controls. For individuals with schizophrenia, links were found between positive affect and negative symptoms (which remained after controlling for secondary factors) and between negative affect and positive symptoms. For individuals at CHR, links were found between both affect dimensions and both types of symptom (which were largely accounted for by secondary factors).ConclusionsBoth clinical groups showed some evidence of reduced trait positive affect and elevated trait negative affect, suggesting that increasing trait positive affect and reducing trait negative affect is an important treatment goal across both populations. Clinical correlates of these emotional abnormalities were more integrally linked to clinical symptoms in individuals with schizophrenia and more closely linked to secondary influences such as depression and anxiety in individuals at CHR.Declaration of interestNone.

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Emotional processing and brain activity in youth at high risk for alcoholism.

Publications

Emotional processing and brain activity in youth at high risk for alcoholism.

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