From the Departments of Psychiatry, Neurology, Pediatrics, Radiology, Psychology, and Neuroscience, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Mo.
Am J Psychiatry. 2018 Feb 1;175(2):180-187. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2017.17010018. Epub 2017 Aug 4.
The infant temperament behavioral inhibition is a potent risk factor for development of an anxiety disorder. It is difficult to predict risk for behavioral inhibition at birth, however, and the neural underpinnings are poorly understood. The authors hypothesized that neonatal functional connectivity of the ventral attention network is related to behavioral inhibition at age 2 years beyond sociodemographic and familial factors. This hypothesis is supported by the ventral attention network's role in attention to novelty, a key feature of behavioral inhibition.
Using a longitudinal design (N=45), the authors measured functional connectivity using MRI in neonates and behavioral inhibition at age 2 using the Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment. Whole-brain connectivity maps were computed for regions from the ventral attention, default mode, and salience networks. Regression analyses related these maps to behavioral inhibition at age 2, covarying for sex, social risk, and motion during scanning.
Decreased neonatal functional connectivity of three connections was associated with increased behavioral inhibition at age 2. One connection (between the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and the right temporal-parietal junction) included the ventral attention network seed, and two connections (between the medial prefrontal cortex and both the right superior parietal lobule and the left lateral occipital cortex) included the default mode network seed.
Neonatal functional connectivity of the ventral attention and default mode networks is associated with behavioral inhibition at age 2. These results inform the developmental neurobiology of behavioral inhibition and anxiety disorders and may aid in early risk assessment and intervention.
婴儿气质行为抑制是发展为焦虑障碍的一个强有力的风险因素。然而，很难在出生时预测行为抑制的风险，而且其神经基础也知之甚少。作者假设，腹侧注意网络的新生儿功能连接与 2 岁时的行为抑制有关，超出了社会人口学和家族因素的影响。这一假设得到了腹侧注意网络在注意新奇性方面的作用的支持，这是行为抑制的一个关键特征。
作者采用纵向设计（N=45），在新生儿期使用 MRI 测量功能连接，在 2 岁时使用婴儿-幼儿社交和情绪评估测量行为抑制。计算了来自腹侧注意、默认模式和突显网络的区域的全脑连接图。回归分析将这些图谱与 2 岁时的行为抑制相关联，同时对性别、社会风险和扫描过程中的运动进行了协方差分析。
三种连接的新生儿功能连接减少与 2 岁时行为抑制增加有关。一个连接（右侧腹外侧前额叶皮层与右侧颞顶联合）包括腹侧注意网络种子，两个连接（内侧前额叶皮层与右侧顶叶上回和左侧外侧枕叶皮层）包括默认模式网络种子。
腹侧注意和默认模式网络的新生儿功能连接与 2 岁时的行为抑制有关。这些结果为行为抑制和焦虑障碍的发育神经生物学提供了信息，并可能有助于早期风险评估和干预。
