Increased amygdala and decreased frontolimbic r esting- s tate functional connectivity in children with aggressive behavior.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Sukhodolsky DG
PROVIDER: S-EPMC9250305 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Mood disorder patients have greater suicide risk than members of the general population, but how suicidal behavior relates to brain functions has not been fully elucidated. This study investigated how functional connectivity (FC) values between the right/left amygdala and the whole brain relate to suicidal behavior in patients with mood disorder. The participants in this study were 100 mood disorder patients with suicidal behavior (SB group), 120 mood disorder patients with non-suicidal behavior (NSB group), and 138 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HC group). Whole-brain FC values among the three groups were compared using an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Compared to the NSB and HC groups, increased FC values in the right amygdala-bilateral paracentral lobule/precuneus circuit were observed in the SB group (Bonferroni-corrected, p < 0.017). The FC values in the NSB group did not differ significantly from those in the HC group (Bonferroni-corrected, p > 0.017). Moreover, there were no significant differences in FC values between mood disorder patients with suicide attempt (SA group) and mood disorder patients with suicidal ideation (SI group), while the FC values between the right amygdala and bilateral paracentral lobule/precuneus in the SA group were higher than the mean in the SI group. These findings suggest that right amygdala-paracentral lobule/precuneus dysfunction has an important role in patients with mood disorder and suicidal behavior.
| S-EPMC7843440 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BACKGROUND:Disruptive behaviors are prevalent in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and often cause substantial impairments. However, the underlying neural mechanisms of disruptive behaviors remain poorly understood in ASD. In children without ASD, disruptive behavior is associated with amygdala hyperactivity and reduced connectivity with the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC). This study examined amygdala reactivity and connectivity in children with ASD with and without co-occurring disruptive behavior disorders. We also investigated differential contributions of externalizing behaviors and callous-unemotional traits to variance in amygdala connectivity and reactivity. METHODS:This cross-sectional study involved behavioral assessments and neuroimaging in three groups of children 8 to 16 years of age: 18 children had ASD and disruptive behavior, 20 children had ASD without disruptive behavior, and 19 children were typically developing control participants matched for age, gender, and IQ. During functional magnetic resonance imaging, participants completed an emotion perception task of fearful versus calm faces. Task-specific changes in amygdala reactivity and connectivity were examined using whole-brain, psychophysiological interaction, and multiple regression analyses. RESULTS:Children with ASD and disruptive behavior showed reduced amygdala-vlPFC connectivity compared with children with ASD without disruptive behavior. Externalizing behaviors and callous-unemotional traits were associated with amygdala reactivity to fearful faces in children with ASD after controlling for suppressor effects. CONCLUSIONS:Reduced amygdala-vlPFC connectivity during fear processing may differentiate children with ASD and disruptive behavior from children with ASD without disruptive behavior. The presence of callous-unemotional traits may have implications for identifying differential patterns of amygdala activity associated with increased risk of aggression in ASD. These findings suggest a neural mechanism of emotion dysregulation associated with disruptive behavior in children with ASD.
| S-EPMC7173634 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IntroductionDyslexia is a reading disorder characterized by significant difficulty in reading, as well as reports of altered executive functions (EF). Children with reading difficulties (RD) experience a broad range of social and emotional problems. Recently it was suggested that children with RD have altered functional connections within the amygdala, which is related to emotional processing. Altered brain laterality related to reading was previously reported in children with RD. Hence, we sought to determine the differences in functional connectivity between the right and left emotional network as related to emotional challenges and the other reported difficulties in reading and EF in children with RD compared to typical readers.MethodsSixty-four 8 to 12 year old children, 27 children with RD and 37 age-matched typical readers, participated in the study. Reading, emotional, and EF abilities were assessed. Global efficiency of the emotional network was calculated and compared between the groups, and left vs. right functional connectivity of the amygdala was tested using the CONN toolbox. Functional connectivity measures were then associated with measures of reading, emotional, and EF abilities.ResultsChildren with RD showed significantly decreased emotional and EF abilities compared to typical readers. A negative correlation between reading, emotional, and EF abilities was determined in both groups. Neuroimaging results showed decreased global efficiency measures within the emotional network in children with RD, who also showed lower functional connectivity between the amygdala and the left and right frontal pole regions. Results also indicated increased functional connectivity of the right vs. left amygdala with left and right pre-central and post-central gyri regions, which were related to decreased reading, emotional, and EF abilities in both typical readers and children with RD.ConclusionThe positive relationship between EF and emotional abilities in children with RD strengthens the relationship between EF difficulties and emotional stress, which in turn may lower EF abilities (monitoring, inhibition, and attention) as well as decreased reading abilities. The emotional challenges in children with RD were associated with decreased functional connectivity of the left amygdala with pre/post central gyrus and cognitive-control regions. These findings suggest that although the right hemisphere is thought to be related to emotional stress, it was the decreased control of the left hemisphere that was related to emotional disturbance in children with RD.
| S-EPMC7198704 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Pediatric reading disorder (RD) is associated with an increased risk of anxiety symptoms, yet understudied are the neurobiological factors that might underlie anxiety in children with RD. Given the role of the amygdala in anxiety, we assessed resting state functional connectivity of amygdalar subregions in children with RD to identify functional correlates of anxiety and reading impairment. We collected resting state functional MRI data from 22 children with RD and 21 typically developing (TD) children, ages 7 to 13 years. We assessed group differences in resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) from amygdalar subregions. Associations of amygdalar RSFC and volume with reading impairment, reading fluency scores, and anxiety symptoms were explored. Relative to TD children, those with RD showed increased RSFC from amygdalar nuclei to medial prefrontal cortex. Across all subjects, RSFC from right centromedial amygdala to left medial prefrontal cortex positively predicted both reading impairment and self-reported anxiety, and anxiety mediated the relationship between RSFC and reading impairment. These findings are consistent with amygdalar functional abnormalities in pediatric anxiety disorders, suggesting a common neurobiological mechanism underlying anxiety and reading impairment in children. Thus, aberrant patterns of RSFC from amygdalar subregions may serve as potential targets for the treatment of anxiety symptoms that typically co-occur with RD. Our dimensional approach to studying anxiety in RD revealed how amygdalar connectivity underlies anxiety and reading impairment across a continuum from normal to abnormal.
| S-EPMC6042207 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The thalamus, with the highest density of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) in the brain, plays a central role in thalamo-cortical circuits that are implicated in nicotine addiction. However, little is known about whether the thalamo-cortical circuits are potentially predictive of smoking relapse. In the current study, a total of 125 participants (84 treatment-seeking male smokers and 41 age-matched male nonsmokers) were recruited. Structural and functional magnetic resonance images (MRI) were acquired from all participants. After a 12-week smoking cessation treatment with varenicline, the smokers were then divided into relapsers (n = 54) and nonrelapsers (n = 30). Then, we compared thalamic volume and seed-based thalamo-cortical resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) prior to the cessation treatment among relapsers, nonrelapsers and nonsmokers to investigate the associations between thalamic structure/function and smoking relapse. Increased thalamic volume was detected in smokers relative to nonsmokers, and in relapsers relative to nonrelapsers, especially on the left side. Moreover, decreased left thalamo-precuneus rsFC was detected in relapsers relative to nonrelapsers. Additionally, a logistic regression analysis showed that the thalamic volume and thalamo-precuneus rsFC predicted smoking relapse with an accuracy of 75.7%. These novel findings indicate that increased thalamic volume and decreased thalamo-precuneus rsFC are associated with smoking relapse, and these thalamic measures may be used to predict treatment efficacy of nicotine addiction and serve as a potential biomarker for personalized medicine.
| S-EPMC7548987 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveConverging evidence indicates that brain abnormalities in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) involve atypical network connectivity. Given the central role of social deficits in the ASD phenotype, this investigation examined functional connectivity of the amygdala-a brain structure critically involved in processing of social information-in children and adolescents with ASDs, as well as age-dependent changes and links with clinical symptoms.MethodResting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data from 55 participants with ASDs and 50 typically developing (TD) controls, aged 7 to 17 years, were included. Groups were matched for age, gender, IQ, and head motion. Functional connectivity MRI (fcMRI) analysis was applied to examine intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) of the amygdala, including cross-sectional tests of age-related changes.ResultsDirect between-group comparisons revealed reduced functional connectivity between bilateral amygdalae and left inferior occipital cortex, accompanied by greater connectivity between right amygdala and right sensorimotor cortex in the ASD group. This atypical pattern of amygdala connectivity was associated with decreased symptom severity and better overall functioning, as specifically seen in an ASD subgroup with the most atypical amygdala iFC but the least impaired social functioning. Age-related strengthening of amygdala-prefrontal connectivity, as observed in the TD group, was not detected in children with ASDs.ConclusionFindings support aberrant network sculpting in ASDs, specifically atypical integration between amygdala and primary sensorimotor circuits. Paradoxical links between atypical iFC and behavioral measures suggest that abnormal amygdala functional connections may be compensatory in some individuals with ASDs.
| S-EPMC6230473 | biostudies-literature
Project description:In a group of 831 participants from the general population in the Human Connectome Project, smokers exhibited low overall functional connectivity, and more specifically of the lateral orbitofrontal cortex which is associated with non-reward mechanisms, the adjacent inferior frontal gyrus, and the precuneus. Participants who drank a high amount had overall increases in resting state functional connectivity, and specific increases in reward-related systems including the medial orbitofrontal cortex and the cingulate cortex. Increased impulsivity was found in smokers, associated with decreased functional connectivity of the non-reward-related lateral orbitofrontal cortex; and increased impulsivity was found in high amount drinkers, associated with increased functional connectivity of the reward-related medial orbitofrontal cortex. The main findings were cross-validated in an independent longitudinal dataset with 1176 participants, IMAGEN. Further, the functional connectivities in 14-year-old non-smokers (and also in female low-drinkers) were related to who would smoke or drink at age 19. An implication is that these differences in brain functional connectivities play a role in smoking and drinking, together with other factors.
| S-EPMC6336408 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundAmygdala plays an important role in the neurobiological basis of panic disorder (PD), and the amygdala contains different subregions, which may play different roles in PD. The aim of the present study was to examine whether there are common or distinct patterns of functional connectivity of the amygdala subregions in PD using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and to explore the relationship between the abnormal spontaneous functional connectivity patterns of the regions of interest (ROIs) and the clinical symptoms of PD patients.MethodsFifty-three drug-naïve, non-comorbid PD patients and 70 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. Seed-based resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) analyses were conducted using the bilateral amygdalae and its subregions as the ROI seed. Two samples t test was performed for the seed-based Fisher's z -transformed correlation maps. The relationship between the abnormal spontaneous functional connectivity patterns of the ROIs and the clinical symptoms of PD patients was investigated by Pearson correlation analysis.ResultsPD patients showed increased rsFC of the bilateral amygdalae and almost all the amygdala subregions with the precuneus/posterior cingulate gyrus compared with the HC group (left amygdala [lAMY]: t = 4.84, P <0.001; right amygdala [rAMY]: t = 4.55, P <0.001; left centromedial amygdala [lCMA]: t = 3.87, P <0.001; right centromedial amygdala [rCMA]: t = 3.82, P = 0.002; left laterobasal amygdala [lBLA]: t = 4.33, P <0.001; right laterobasal amygdala [rBLA]: t = 4.97, P <0.001; left superficial amygdala [lSFA]: t = 3.26, P = 0.006). The rsFC of the lBLA with the left angular gyrus/inferior parietal lobule remarkably increased in the PD group ( t = 3.70, P = 0.003). And most of the altered rsFCs were located in the default mode network (DMN). A significant positive correlation was observed between the severity of anxiety and the rsFC between the lSFA and the left precuneus in PD patients ( r = 0.285, P = 0.039).ConclusionsOur research suggested that the increased rsFC of amygdala subregions with DMN plays an important role in the pathogenesis of PD. Future studies may further explore whether the rsFC of amygdala subregions, especially with the regions in DMN, can be used as a biological marker of PD.
| S-EPMC10309521 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Aggression in schizophrenia is a major societal issue, leading to physical harm, stigmatization, patient distress, and higher health care costs. Impulsivity is associated with aggression in schizophrenia, but it is multidetermined. The subconstruct of urgency is likely to play an important role in this aggression, with positive urgency referring to rash action in the context of positive emotion, and negative urgency referring to rash action in the context of negative emotion.The authors examined urgency and its neural correlates in 33 patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and 31 healthy comparison subjects. Urgency was measured using the Urgency, Premeditation, Perseverance, and Sensation-Seeking scale. Aggressive attitudes were measured using the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire.Positive urgency, negative urgency, and aggressive attitudes were significantly and selectively elevated in schizophrenia patients (Cohen's d values, 1.21-1.50). Positive and negative urgency significantly correlated with the Aggression Questionnaire total score (r>0.48 in all cases) and each uniquely accounted for a significant portion of the variance in aggression over and above the effect of group. Urgency scores correlated with reduced cortical thickness in ventral prefrontal regions including the right frontal pole, the medial and lateral orbitofrontal gyrus and inferior frontal gyri, and the rostral anterior cingulate cortex. In patients, reduced resting-state functional connectivity in some of these regions was associated with higher urgency.These findings highlight the key role of urgency in aggressive attitudes in people with schizophrenia and suggest neural substrates of these behaviors. The results also suggest behavioral and neural targets for interventions to remediate urgency and aggression.
| S-EPMC4178944 | biostudies-literature
Project description:A substantial proportion of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) also display emotion regulation deficits manifesting as chronic irritability, severe temper outbursts, and aggression. The amygdala is implicated in emotion regulation, but its connectivity and relation to emotion regulation in ADHD has yet to be explored. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) of amygdala circuits and emotion regulation deficits in youth with ADHD.Bilateral amygdala iFC was examined using functional magnetic resonance imaging in 63 children with ADHD, aged 6 to 13 years. First, we examined the relationship between amygdala IFC and parent ratings of emotional lability (EL) in children with ADHD. Second, we compared amygdala iFC across subgroups of children with ADHD and high EL (n = 18), ADHD and low EL (n = 20), and typically developing children (TDC), all with low EL (n = 19).Higher EL ratings were associated with greater positive iFC between the amygdala and rostral anterior cingulate cortex in youth with ADHD. EL scores were also negatively associated with iFC between bilateral amygdala and posterior insula/superior temporal gyrus. Patterns of amygdala-cortical iFC in ADHD participants with low EL were not different from the comparison group, and the effect sizes for these comparisons were smaller than those for the trend-level differences observed between the high-EL and TDC groups.In children with ADHD and a range of EL, deficits in emotion regulation were associated with altered amygdala-cortical iFC. When comparing groups that differed on ADHD status but not EL, differences in amygdala iFC were small and nonsignificant, highlighting the specificity of this finding to emotional deficits, independent of other ADHD symptoms.
| S-EPMC3961844 | biostudies-literature