Leiden Consortium on Individual Development, Leiden University, The Netherlands; Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, The Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, The Netherlands.
Leiden Consortium on Individual Development, Leiden University, The Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, The Netherlands.
Neuroimage. 2018 Jul 15;175:138-149. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.03.076. Epub 2018 Apr 1.
Connectivity between limbic/subcortical and prefrontal-cortical brain regions develops considerably across childhood, but less is known about the heritability of these networks at this age. We tested the heritability of limbic/subcortical-cortical and limbic/subcortical-subcortical functional brain connectivity in 7- to 9-year-old twins (N = 220), focusing on two key limbic/subcortical structures: the ventral striatum and the amygdala, given their combined influence on changing incentivised behavior during childhood and adolescence. Whole brain analyses with ventral striatum (VS) and amygdala as seeds in genetically independent groups showed replicable functional connectivity patterns. The behavioral genetic analyses revealed that in general VS and amygdala connectivity showed distinct influences of genetics and environment. VS-prefrontal cortex connections were best described by genetic and unique environmental factors (the latter including measurement error), whereas amygdala-prefrontal cortex connectivity was mainly explained by environmental influences. Similarities were also found: connectivity between both the VS and amygdala and ventral anterior cingulate cortex (vACC) showed influences of shared environment, while connectivity with the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) showed heritability. These findings may inform future interventions that target behavioral control and emotion regulation, by taking into account genetic dispositions as well as shared and unique environmental factors such as child rearing.
边缘/皮质下和前额叶皮质大脑区域之间的连接在儿童期有很大的发展，但在这个年龄段，这些网络的遗传性知之甚少。我们测试了 7 至 9 岁双胞胎（N=220）的边缘/皮质下-皮质和边缘/皮质下-皮质下功能脑连接的遗传性，重点关注两个关键的边缘/皮质下结构：腹侧纹状体和杏仁核，因为它们共同影响儿童和青少年时期激励行为的变化。具有腹侧纹状体（VS）和杏仁核作为种子的全脑分析在遗传上独立的群体中显示出可复制的功能连接模式。行为遗传学分析表明，一般来说，VS 和杏仁核的连接受到遗传和环境的不同影响。VS-前额叶皮层的连接最好由遗传和独特的环境因素（后者包括测量误差）来描述，而杏仁核-前额叶皮层的连接主要受环境影响。也发现了相似之处：VS 和杏仁核与腹侧前扣带皮层（vACC）之间的连接受到共享环境的影响，而与眶额皮层（OFC）的连接则具有遗传性。这些发现可能为未来的干预措施提供信息，这些干预措施可以通过考虑遗传倾向以及共享和独特的环境因素（如育儿）来针对行为控制和情绪调节。
