Probing the Neural Correlates of Anticipated Peer Evaluation in Adolescence

Neural correlates of social cognition were assessed in 9-to-17-year-olds using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants appraised how unfamiliar peers they had previously identified as being of high or low interest would evaluate them for an anticipated online chat session. Differential age- and sex-related activation patterns emerged in several regions previously implicated in affective processing. These included the ventral striatum, hippocampus, hypothalamus, and insula. In general, activation patterns shifted with age in older relative to younger females, but showed no association with age in males. Relating these neural response patterns to changes in adolescent social-cognition enriches theories of adolescent social development through enhanced neurobiological understanding of social behavior

The influence of mother care on the relationship between self-esteem and neural subtrates in young men and women : a neuroimaging study

Introduction. Numerous studies have suggested that maternal care can influence the development and expansion of an individual's self-esteem. Yet the neural mechanisms of this relationship remain unexplored. Incidentally, it has already been demonstrated that a brain region, namely the Hippocampus (HC) is associated with both self-esteem and maternal care. Thus suggesting that there may be a three-way relationship. This also provided the impetus to speculate that a similar interaction could be observed in other brain regions like for example, the Dorsolateral Prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the Medial Prefrontal Cortex (MPFC). Therefore, the aim of this study is to scrutinize the possible relationship between mother care, self-esteem and neural correlates including the DLPFC, MPFC and HC, with emphasis on how normal variations in mother care could have consequences for the relationship between self-esteem and particularly the prefrontal cortices. Methods . Fifty-one subjects were recruited on the basis of their maternal scores, as assessed by the Parental Bonding Index and were consequently assigned to either a high mother care (MOCA) or low MOCA group. Their self-esteem was measured through various self-esteem scales including the Rosenberg self-esteem scale. The structural integrity of the regions was ascertained through the use of both manual and semi automated segmenting procedures. Results . Initial Bivariate correlations reported a negative association between DLPFC volumes and self-esteem in the high MOCA group while HC was positively associated with self-esteem in both high and low MOCA groups. There were no associations to report for the MPFC. Additional analysis revealed that the Biregional association was sex specific. Discussion. For the first time, we were successful in associating DLPFC volume with self-esteem. In addition, we successfully replicated the association between self-esteem and HC volume. This study could provide an indication how of maternal care could have a sex specific affect not only on the evolution of self-esteem, but also on the regions they may be targeting

Social and emotional processing in borderline personality disorder

Objective Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a common and serious mental illness, associated with severe emotional dysregulation, a high risk of suicide and self-harm. Those with a diagnosis of BPD often display difficulties with social interaction, making daily life problematic, and sufferers can struggle to form and maintain interpersonal relationships. Childhood trauma is believed to contribute to the development of BPD, however the mechanism by which childhood trauma increases risk for specific symptoms of the disorder is not well understood. Here, we investigate the ability of participants with a diagnosis of BPD to make social judgements and recognise emotions from facial stimuli. We also explore the relationship between childhood trauma, brain structure, and brain activation in response to emotional stimuli. Methods Individuals with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder, as well as matched healthy controls, were recruited to take part in a neuropsychology study of emotion recognition and social judgement from faces. Participants also underwent a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, during which data was collected for analysis of brain structure, and brain function in response to emotional faces. In addition, all participants completed a structured clinical interview and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Results Individuals with a diagnosis of BPD were less well able to correctly identify facial emotions than healthy control participants (p < 0.001), with a particular deficit in the recognition of disgust (p = 0.001). Those with BPD also had difficulty making appropriate social judgements about others from their faces, and between group differences were greatest for judgements of approachability (p = 0.004) and trustworthiness (p = 0.014). Significant correlations were identified between CTQ scores and performance on both tasks in the BPD group. Although no structural brain differences were noted between the BPD group and healthy controls, we found that brain activation correlated to childhood trauma in midbrain, pulvinar and medial frontal gyrus to fearful (versus neutral) faces. There was a significant association between incidence of abuse in childhood and psychotic symptoms in adulthood. In addition, there was a significant correlation between midbrain activation and reported psychotic symptoms in the BPD group, suggesting a potential relationship between childhood trauma, midbrain activity and the development of psychotic symptoms in those with a diagnosis of BPD. Conclusion Abuse in childhood is associated with impaired social and emotional function, as well as increased activation of a network of brain regions in response to emotional stimuli in BPD. Brain abnormalities in BPD appear to be confined to functional activation changes, rather than structural changes, in regions associated with emotional and social information processing. In addition, childhood trauma is correlated with increased psychotic symptoms in adulthood. These results provide striking evidence for the involvement of childhood adversity in the development of symptoms of BPD, and suggest a possible mechanism by which psychotic symptoms may occur