Neural substrates for processing task-irrelevant emotional distracters in maltreated adolescents with depressive disorders: A pilot study

In this pilot study, neural systems related to cognitive and emotional processing were examined using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging in five maltreated youth with depressive disorders and eleven non-maltreated healthy participants. Subjects underwent an emotional oddball task, where they detected infrequent ovals (targets) within a continual stream of phase-scrambled images (standards). Sad and neutral images were intermittently presented as task-irrelevant distracters. The maltreated youth revealed significantly decreased activation in the left middle frontal gyrus and right precentral gyrus to target stimuli and significantly increased activation to sad stimuli in bilateral amygdala, left subgenual cingulate, left inferior frontal gyrus, and right middle temporal cortex compared to non-maltreated participants. Additionally, the maltreated youth showed significantly decreased activation to both attentional targets and sad distracters in the left posterior middle frontal gyrus compared to non-maltreated participants. In this exploratory study of dorsal control and ventral emotional circuits, we found that maltreated youth with distress disorders demonstrated dysfunction of neural systems related to cognitive control and emotional processing

Intellectual, neurocognitive, and academic achievement in abstinent adolescents with cannabis use disorder

The active component of cannabis, delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), has a long half-life and widespread neurocognitive effects. There are inconsistent reports of neurocognitive deficits in adults and adolescents with cannabis use disorders (CUD), particularly after a period of abstinence

Neuropsychological Findings in Pediatric Maltreatment: Relationship of PTSD, Dissociative Symptoms, and Abuse/Neglect Indices to Neurocognitive Outcomes

Maltreated (n=38), maltreated+posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)(N=60), and control youth (N=104) underwent comprehensive neuropsychological testing. The two maltreated groups performed significantly lower on IQ, Academic Achievement, and nearly all of the neurocognitive Domains than controls. Maltreated+PTSD performed significantly worse than maltreated youth without PTSD on a task in the Visuospatial Domain that assessed higher-order visuoconstructive abilities. No group differences were evident on the Fine-Motor Domain. PTSD diagnosis duration negatively correlated with the Visuospatial, and dissociation negatively correlated with the Attention Domain. Cumulative lifetime maltreatment types experienced negatively correlated with Academic Achievement. Sexual abuse negatively correlated with Language and Memory functions after controlling for other maltreatment types. These data support the adverse effects of maltreatment on neuropsychological functions in youth, and suggest that all child protective services identified youth should be comprehensively examined for the integrity of their neuropsychological functioning and academic skills, regardless of the presence or absence of mental health symptoms

Neurodevelopmental Biology Associated with Childhood Sexual Abuse

Child maltreatment appears to be the single most preventable cause of mental illness and behavioral dysfunction in the US. There are few published studies examining the developmental and the psychobiological consequences of sexual abuse. There are multiple mechanisms through which sexual abuse can cause PTSD, activate biological stress response systems, and contribute to adverse brain development. This article will critically review the psychiatric problems associated with maltreatment and the emerging biologic stress system research with a special emphasis on what is known about victimization by sexual abuse

Neuropsychological findings in childhood neglect and their relationships to pediatric PTSD

Although child neglect is the most prevalent form of child maltreatment, the neurocognitive effects of neglect is understudied

Behavioral Risk Elicits Selective Activation of the Executive System in Adolescents: Clinical Implications

We investigated adolescent brain processing of decisions under conditions of varying risk, reward, and uncertainty. Adolescents (n = 31) preformed a Decision–Reward Uncertainty task that separates decision uncertainty into behavioral and reward risk, while they were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Behavioral risk trials involved uncertainty about which action to perform to earn a fixed monetary reward. In contrast, during reward risk the decision that might lead to a reward was known, but the likelihood of earning a reward was probabilistically determined. Behavioral risk trials evoked greater activation than the reward risk and no risk conditions in the anterior cingulate, medial frontal gyrus, bilateral frontal poles, bilateral inferior parietal lobe, precuneus, bilateral superior-middle frontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, and insula. Our results were similar to those of young adults using the same task (Huettel, 2006) except that adolescents did not show significant activation in the posterior supramarginal gyrus during behavioral risk. During the behavioral risk condition regardless of reward outcome, overall mean frontal pole activity showed a positive correlation with age during the behavioral and reward risk conditions suggesting a developmental difference of this region of interest. Additionally, reward response to the Decision–Reward Uncertainty task in adolescents was similar to that seen in young adults (Huettel, 2006). Our data did not show a correlation between age and mean ventral striatum activity during the three conditions. While our results came from a healthy high functioning non-maltreated sample of adolescents, this method can be used to address types of risks and reward processing in children and adolescents with predisposing vulnerabilities and add to the paucity of imaging studies of risk and reward processing during adolescence

The Superior Longitudinal Fasciculus in Typically Developing Children and Adolescents: Diffusion Tensor Imaging and Neuropsychological Correlates

The relationship between superior longitudinal fasciculus microstructural integrity and neuropsychological functions were examined in 49 healthy children (range: 5–17 years) using diffusion tensor imaging. Seven major cognitive domains (intellegience, fine-motor, attention, language, visual-spatial, memory, executive function) were assessed. Data analyses utilized correlational methods. After adjusting for age and gender, fractional anisotropy and axial diffusivity values in the superior longitudinal fasciculus were positively correlated with executive functions of set-shifting; while left superior longitudinal fasciculus fractional anisotropy values correlated with attention and language. Apparent diffusion coefficient values in the left superior longitudinal fasciculus negatively correlated with inhibitory control. In the left arcuate fasciculus, fractional anisotropy correlated with IQ and attention; while radial diffusivity values negatively correlated with IQ, fine-motor skills, and expressive language. Findings from this study provide an examination of the relationship between superior longitudinal fasciculus integrity and children’s neuropsychological abilities that can be useful in monitoring pediatric neurological diseases

Diffusion Tensor Measures of the Corpus Callosum in Adolescents With Adolescent Onset Alcohol Use Disorders

In adults, myelination injury is associated with alcoholism. Maturation of the corpus callosum is prominent during adolescence. We hypothesized that subjects with adolescent-onset alcohol use disorders (AUD; defined as Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV alcohol dependence or abuse) would have myelination mircostructural differences compared to controls

Posterior structural brain volumes differ in maltreated youth with and without chronic posttraumatic stress disorder

Abstract Magnetic resonance imaging studies of maltreated children with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) suggest that maltreatment-related PTSD is associated with adverse brain development. Maltreated youth resilient to chronic PTSD were not previously investigated and may elucidate neuromechanisms of the stress diathesis that leads to resilience to chronic PTSD. In this cross-sectional study, anatomical volumetric and corpus callosum diffusion tensor imaging measures were examined using magnetic resonance imaging in maltreated youth with chronic PTSD ( N = 38), without PTSD ( N = 35), and nonmaltreated participants ( n = 59). Groups were sociodemographically similar. Participants underwent assessments for strict inclusion/exclusion criteria and psychopathology. Maltreated youth with PTSD were psychobiologically different from maltreated youth without PTSD and nonmaltreated controls. Maltreated youth with PTSD had smaller posterior cerebral and cerebellar gray matter volumes than did maltreated youth without PTSD and nonmaltreated participants. Cerebral and cerebellar gray matter volumes inversely correlated with PTSD symptoms. Posterior corpus callosum microstructure in pediatric maltreatment-related PTSD differed compared to maltreated youth without PTSD and controls. The group differences remained significant when controlling for psychopathology, numbers of Axis I disorders, and trauma load. Alterations of these posterior brain structures may result from a shared trauma-related mechanism or an inherent vulnerability that mediates the pathway from chronic PTSD to comorbidity

Identifying high school risk factors that forecast heavy drinking onset in understudied young adults

Heavy alcohol drinking is a major, preventable problem that adversely impacts the physical and mental health of US young adults. Studies seeking drinking risk factors typically focus on young adults who enrolled in 4-year residential college programs (4YCP) even though most high school graduates join the workforce, military, or community colleges. We examined 106 of these understudied young adults (USYA) and 453 4YCPs from the National Consortium on Alcohol and NeuroDevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA) by longitudinally following their drinking patterns for 8 years from adolescence to young adulthood. All participants were no-to-low drinkers during high school. Whereas 4YCP individuals were more likely to initiate heavy drinking during college years, USYA participants did so later. Using mental health metrics recorded during high school, machine learning forecasted individual-level risk for initiating heavy drinking after leaving high school. The risk factors differed between demographically matched USYA and 4YCP individuals and between sexes. Predictors for USYA drinkers were sexual abuse, physical abuse for girls, and extraversion for boys, whereas 4YCP drinkers were predicted by the ability to recognize facial emotion and, for boys, greater openness. Thus, alcohol prevention programs need to give special consideration to those joining the workforce, military, or community colleges, who make up the majority of this age group