2 results
Trauma-associated anterior cingulate connectivity during reward learning predicts affective and anxiety states in young adults
- Kristen L. Eckstrand, Lindsay C. Hanford, Michele A. Bertocci, Henry W. Chase, Tsafrir Greenberg, Jeanette Lockovich, Ricki Stiffler, Haris A. Aslam, Simona Graur, Genna Bebko, Erika E. Forbes, Mary L. Phillips
-
- Journal:
- Psychological Medicine / Volume 49 / Issue 11 / August 2019
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 19 September 2018, pp. 1831-1840
-
- Article
- Export citation
-
Background
Trauma exposure is associated with development of depression and anxiety; yet, some individuals are resilient to these trauma-associated effects. Differentiating mechanisms underlying development of negative affect and resilience following trauma is critical for developing effective interventions. One pathway through which trauma could exert its effects on negative affect is reward-learning networks. In this study, we examined relationships among lifetime trauma, reward-learning network function, and emotional states in young adults.
MethodsOne hundred eleven young adults self-reported trauma and emotional states and underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging during a monetary reward task. Trauma-associated neural activation and functional connectivity were analyzed during reward prediction error (RPE). Relationships between trauma-associated neural functioning and affective and anxiety symptoms were examined.
ResultsNumber of traumatic events was associated with greater ventral anterior cingulate cortex (vACC) activation, and lower vACC connectivity with the right insula, frontopolar, inferior parietal, and temporoparietal regions, during RPE. Lower trauma-associated vACC connectivity with frontoparietal regions implicated in regulatory and decision-making processes was associated with heightened affective and anxiety symptoms; lower vACC connectivity with insular regions implicated in interoception was associated with lower affective and anxiety symptoms.
ConclusionsIn a young adult sample, two pathways linked the impact of trauma on reward-learning networks with higher v. lower negative affective and anxiety symptoms. The disconnection between vACC and regions implicated in decision-making and self-referential processes may reflect aberrant regulatory but appropriate self-focused mechanisms, respectively, conferring risk for v. resilience against negative affective and anxiety symptoms.
Are Cognitive Symptoms of Schizophrenia Mediated by Abnormalities in Emotional Arousal?
- Lilianne R. Mujica-Parodi, Cheryl Corcoran, Tsafrir Greenberg, Harold A. Sackeim, Dolores Malaspina
-
- Journal:
- CNS Spectrums / Volume 7 / Issue 1 / January 2002
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 07 November 2014, pp. 58-70
-
- Article
- Export citation
-
We tested 28 individuals with schizophrenia (SZ) and 16 healthy individuals on a test of logical reasoning and “cognitive gating,” defined as the ability to discriminate between relevant and irrelevant information in confirming or disconfirming a given belief. The Logical Reasoning and Cognitive Gating Task tests both processes under neutral and affect-laden conditions. This is done by presenting formally identical constructs using benign and emotionally arousing language. When separated by symptom profiles, we found statistically significant differences for performance and arousal response between patients with delusions, patients with formal thought disorder, and patients with neither delusions nor formal thought disorder, as well as between patients and healthy controls. When analyzed by error type, we found that nearly all errors by delusional patients were caused by overly restrictive information choice, a pattern that may be related to a delusional patient's tendency to “jump to conclusions” on Bayesian probabilistic tasks. This is in contrast to patients with formal thought disorder, whose low performance resulted also from overly extensive information choice. The tendencies towards restriction were exacerbated by arousal, which is consistent with studies on cognition and arousal in healthy individuals. After briefly examining research on emotional arousal and SZ, and the interaction between emotional arousal and restriction of perceptual cues in healthy individuals, we conclude by suggesting a model which accounts for the distinctive cognitive characteristics of delusional patients by their possessing distinct vulnerabilities to emotional arousal. Specifically, these results suggest the possibility that delusional patients process information in a manner that is essentially intact. However, delusional patients may possess an acute vulnerability to emotional arousal that might cause delusional individuals to behave cognitively as if they were healthy individuals under significantly more severe forms of stress.