Work

Amygdala–medial prefrontal cortex connectivity relates to stress and mental health in early childhood

Year: 2018

Type: article

Abstract: Early life stress has been associated with disrupted functional connectivity between the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), but it is unknown how early in development stress-related differences in amygdala-mPFC connectivity emerge. In a resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) analysis with 79 four- to seven-year-old children, we found a significant correlation between more adverse experiences and weaker amygdala-mPFC rs-FC. We also found that weaker amygdala-mPFC rs-FC was associated with higher levels of aggressive behavior and attention problems. These findings suggest that the impact of stress on emotional circuitry is detectable in early childhood and that this impact is associated with mental health difficulties. Connectivity in this circuit may be useful as a marker for mental health risk and for tracking the efficacy of early interventions.

Source: Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsy017

Authors: Anne T Park, Julia A Leonard, Patricia K Saxler, Abigail B Cyr, John D E Gabrieli, Allyson P Mackey

Institutions: University of Pennsylvania, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Language: English

Topic: Functional Brain Connectivity Studies

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,379