Dataset Information

Bidirectional Associations Between Stress and Reward Processing in Children and Adolescents: A Longitudinal Neuroimaging Study.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Aberrations in both neural reward processing and stress reactivity are associated with increased risk for mental illness; yet, how these two factors relate to each other remains unclear. Several studies suggest that stress exposure impacts reward function, thus increasing risk for psychopathology. However, the alternative hypothesis, in which reward dysfunction impacts stress reactivity, has been rarely examined. The current study aimed to test both hypotheses using a longitudinal design. METHODS:Participants were 38 children (23 girls; 61%) from a prospective cohort study. A standard stress-exposure measure was collected at 7 years of age. Children performed a well-validated imaging reward paradigm at age 10, and a standardized acute psychological stress laboratory protocol was administered both at age 10 and at age 13. Structural equation modeling was used to examine bidirectional associations between stress and neural response to reward anticipation. RESULTS:Higher exposure to stressful life events at age 7 predicted lower neural response to reward anticipation in regions of the basal ganglia at age 10, which included ventral caudate, nucleus accumbens, putamen, and globus pallidus. Lower response to reward anticipation in medial prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex predicted higher stress reactivity at age 13. CONCLUSIONS:Our findings provide support for bidirectional associations between stress and reward processing, in that stress may impact reward anticipation, but also in that reduced reward anticipation may increase susceptibility to stress.

SUBMITTER: Vidal-Ribas P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6783352 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Bidirectional Associations Between Stress and Reward Processing in Children and Adolescents: A Longitudinal Neuroimaging Study.

Vidal-Ribas Pablo P Benson Brenda B Vitale Aria D AD Keren Hanna H Harrewijn Anita A Fox Nathan A NA Pine Daniel S DS Stringaris Argyris A

Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging 20190603 10

<h4>Background</h4>Aberrations in both neural reward processing and stress reactivity are associated with increased risk for mental illness; yet, how these two factors relate to each other remains unclear. Several studies suggest that stress exposure impacts reward function, thus increasing risk for psychopathology. However, the alternative hypothesis, in which reward dysfunction impacts stress reactivity, has been rarely examined. The current study aimed to test both hypotheses using a longitud ...[more]

PMID: 31324591

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundThe use of functional neuroimaging has been an extremely fruitful avenue for investigating the neural basis of human reward function. This approach has included identification of potential neurobiological mechanisms of psychiatric disease and examination of environmental, experiential, and biological factors that may contribute to disease risk via effects on the reward system. However, a central and largely unexamined assumption of much of this research is that neural reward function is an individual difference characteristic that is relatively stable and trait-like over time.MethodsIn two independent samples of adolescents and young adults studied longitudinally (Ns = 145 & 139, 100% female and 100% male, ages 15-21 and 20-22, 2-4 scans and 2 scans respectively), we tested within-person stability of reward-task BOLD activation, with a median of 1 and 2 years between scans. We examined multiple commonly used contrasts of active states and baseline in both the anticipation and feedback phases of a card-guessing reward task. We examined the effects of cortical parcellation resolution, contrast, network (reward regions and resting-state networks), region-size, and activation strength and variability on the stability of reward-related activation.ResultsIn both samples, contrasts of an active state relative to a baseline were more stable (ICC: intra-class correlation; e.g., Win>Baseline; mean ICC = 0.13 - 0.33) than contrasts of two active states (e.g., Win>Loss; mean ICC = 0.048 - 0.05). Additionally, activation in reward regions was less stable than in many non-task networks (e.g., dorsal attention), and activation in regions with greater between-subject variability showed higher stability in both samples.ConclusionsThese results show that some contrasts from functional neuroimaging activation during a card guessing reward task have partially trait-like properties in adolescent and young adult samples over 1-2 years. Notably, results suggest that contrasts intended to map cognitive function and show robust group-level effects (i.e. Win > Loss) may be less effective in studies of individual differences and disease risk. The robustness of group-level activation should be weighed against other factors when selecting regions of interest in individual difference fMRI studies.

Dataset Information

Bidirectional Associations Between Stress and Reward Processing in Children and Adolescents: A Longitudinal Neuroimaging Study.

Publications

Bidirectional Associations Between Stress and Reward Processing in Children and Adolescents: A Longitudinal Neuroimaging Study.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets