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Childhood trauma moderates inhibitory control and anterior cingulate cortex activation during stress.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE:The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is critical for both stress and inhibitory control processes and has been implicated in childhood trauma. This prospective study tested the hypothesis that early trauma moderates the association between inhibitory control during late childhood and ACC stress reactivity during adolescence. METHOD:Sixty-four adolescents were stratified into higher- or lower-childhood-trauma groups. Inhibitory control was indicated by fewer errors on a Stroop Color-Word task. Personalized stress cues during functional magnetic resonance imaging assessed neural correlates of stress in adolescents. RESULTS:Using a priori-defined anterior (rCZa) and posterior rostral cingulate zones of the ACC, associated with Stroop Color-Word task performance in prior meta-analyses, Stroop errors correlated inversely with activation in the rCZa during stress-cue exposure (r?=?-.23, p?=?.04). Childhood trauma moderated the association between Stroop errors and rCZa stress reactivity (interaction?=?-1.26, p?=?.02, 95%CI?=?-2.33,-0.20), where Stroop errors were inversely associated with brain activation among those with higher childhood trauma (simple slopes?=?-.83, p?=?.007, 95%CI?=?-1.40,-0.25). Low stress-related rCZa activation inversely (R2?=?0.19, b?=?-0.43, p?=?.001, 95%CI?=?-4.11,-1.06) and Stroop errors directly (R2?=?0.09, b?=?0.27, p?=?.048, 95%CI?=?0.02, 5.8) associated with baseline subjective anxiety while controlling for childhood trauma. CONCLUSIONS:This is the first study to demonstrate a moderating role of childhood trauma on the relationship between inhibitory control and stress-related ACC activation. Childhood trauma may portend neurodevelopmental changes that impede recruitment of control-associated ACC-functioning during distress, which may relate to dysregulation of stress-induced affective responses. Further work is needed to elucidate relationships between childhood trauma and addictive behaviors precipitated by stress.

SUBMITTER: Zhai ZW

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6392043 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Childhood trauma moderates inhibitory control and anterior cingulate cortex activation during stress.

Zhai Zu Wei ZW Yip Sarah W SW Lacadie Cheryl M CM Sinha Rajita R Mayes Linda C LC Potenza Marc N MN

NeuroImage 20181019

<h4>Objective</h4>The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is critical for both stress and inhibitory control processes and has been implicated in childhood trauma. This prospective study tested the hypothesis that early trauma moderates the association between inhibitory control during late childhood and ACC stress reactivity during adolescence.<h4>Method</h4>Sixty-four adolescents were stratified into higher- or lower-childhood-trauma groups. Inhibitory control was indicated by fewer errors on a St ...[more]

PMID: 30342975

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Project description:The lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) of the primate play distinctive roles in the mediation of complex cognitive tasks. Compared with the LPFC, integration of information by the ACC can span longer timescales and requires stronger engagement of inhibitory processes. Here, we reveal the synaptic mechanism likely to underlie these differences using in vitro patch-clamp recordings of synaptic events and multiscale imaging of synaptic markers in rhesus monkeys. Although excitatory synaptic signaling does not differ, the level of synaptic inhibition is much higher in ACC than LPFC layer 3 pyramidal neurons, with a significantly higher frequency (∼6×) and longer duration of inhibitory synaptic currents. The number of inhibitory synapses and the ratio of cholecystokinin to parvalbumin-positive inhibitory inputs are also significantly higher in ACC compared with LPFC neurons. Therefore, inhibition is functionally and structurally more robust and diverse in ACC than in LPFC, resulting in a lower excitatory: inhibitory ratio and a greater dynamic range for signal integration and network oscillation by the ACC. These differences in inhibitory circuitry likely underlie the distinctive network dynamics in ACC and LPC during normal and pathological brain states.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) play temporally distinct roles during the execution of cognitive tasks (rapid working memory during ongoing tasks and long-term memory to guide future action, respectively). Compared with LPFC-mediated tasks, ACC-mediated tasks can span longer timescales and require stronger engagement of inhibition. This study shows that inhibitory signaling is much more robust and diverse in the ACC than in the LPFC. Therefore, there is a lower excitatory: inhibitory synaptic ratio and a greater dynamic range for signal integration and oscillatory behavior in the ACC. These significant differences in inhibitory synaptic transmission form an important basis for the differential timing of cognitive processing by the LPFC and ACC in normal and pathological brain states.

Dataset Information

Childhood trauma moderates inhibitory control and anterior cingulate cortex activation during stress.

Publications

Childhood trauma moderates inhibitory control and anterior cingulate cortex activation during stress.

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