Dataset Information

Multi-method assessment of irritability and differential linkages to neurophysiological indicators of attention allocation to emotional faces in young children.

ABSTRACT: Facilitated attention toward angry stimuli (attention bias) may contribute to anger proneness and temper outbursts exhibited by children with high irritability. However, most studies linking attention bias and irritability rely on behavioral measures with limited precision and no studies have explored these associations in young children. The present study explores irritability-related attention biases toward anger in young children (N = 128; ages 4-7 years) engaged in a dot-probe task with emotional faces, as assessed with event-related brain potential (ERP) indices of early selective attention and multi-method assessment of irritability. Irritability assessed via semi-structured clinical interview predicted larger anterior N1 amplitudes to all faces. In contrast, irritability assessed via a laboratory observation paradigm predicted reduced P1 amplitudes to angry relative to neutral faces. These findings suggest that altered early attentional processing occurs in young children with high irritability; however, the nature of these patterns may vary with methodological features of the irritability assessments. Future investigations using different assessment tools may provide greater clarity regarding the underlying neurocognitive correlates of irritability. Such studies may also contribute to the ongoing debates about how to best define and measure irritability across the developmental spectrum in a manner that is most informative for linkage to neural processes.

SUBMITTER: Deveney CM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7328764 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Multi-method assessment of irritability and differential linkages to neurophysiological indicators of attention allocation to emotional faces in young children.

Deveney Christen M CM Grasso Damion D Hsu Amy A Pine Daniel S DS Estabrook Christopher R CR Zobel Elvira E Burns James L JL Wakschlag Lauren S LS Briggs-Gowan Margaret J MJ

Developmental psychobiology 20191020 5

Facilitated attention toward angry stimuli (attention bias) may contribute to anger proneness and temper outbursts exhibited by children with high irritability. However, most studies linking attention bias and irritability rely on behavioral measures with limited precision and no studies have explored these associations in young children. The present study explores irritability-related attention biases toward anger in young children (N = 128; ages 4-7 years) engaged in a dot-probe task with emot ...[more]

PMID: 31631345

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Project description:Irritability, defined as proneness to anger, is among the most common reasons youth are seen for psychiatric care. Youth with irritability demonstrate aberrant processing of anger-related stimuli; however, the neural mechanisms remain unknown. We applied a drift-diffusion model (DDM), a computational tool, to derive a latent behavioral metric of attentional bias to angry faces in youth with varying levels of irritability during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We examined associations among irritability, task behavior using a DDM-based index for preferential allocation of attention to angry faces (i.e., extra-decisional time bias; Δt0), and amygdala context-dependent connectivity during the dot-probe task. Our transdiagnostic sample, enriched for irritability, included 351 youth (ages 8-18; M = 12.92 years, 51% male, with primary diagnoses of either attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD], disruptive mood dysregulation disorder [DMDD], an anxiety disorder, or healthy controls). Models accounted for age, sex, in-scanner motion, and co-occurring symptoms of anxiety. Youth and parents rated youth's irritability using the Affective Reactivity Index. An fMRI dot-probe task was used to assess attention orienting to angry faces. In the angry-incongruent vs. angry-congruent contrast, amygdala connectivity with the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), insula, caudate, and thalamus/pulvinar was modulated by irritability level and attention bias to angry faces, Δt0, all ts350 > 4.46, ps < 0.001. In youth with high irritability, elevated Δt0 was associated with a weaker amygdala connectivity. In contrast, in youth with low irritability, elevated Δt0 was associated with stronger connectivity in those regions. No main effect emerged for irritability. As irritability is associated with reactive aggression, these results suggest a potential neural regulatory deficit in irritable youth who have elevated attention bias to angry cues.

Dataset Information

Multi-method assessment of irritability and differential linkages to neurophysiological indicators of attention allocation to emotional faces in young children.

Publications

Multi-method assessment of irritability and differential linkages to neurophysiological indicators of attention allocation to emotional faces in young children.

Similar Datasets

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