Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208;
Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 Nov 20;115(47):12063-12068. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1810067115. Epub 2018 Nov 5.
Although violent crime has declined in recent decades, it remains a recurring feature of daily life in some neighborhoods. Mounting evidence indicates that such violence has a long reach, which goes beyond family and friends of the victim and undermines the health of people in the surrounding community. However, like all forms of adversity, community violence elicits a heterogeneous response: Some remain healthy, but others deteriorate. Despite much scientific attention, the neural circuitries that contribute to differential adaptation remain poorly understood. Drawing on knowledge of the brain's intrinsic functional architecture, we predicted that individual differences in resting-state connectivity would explain variability in the strength of the association between neighborhood violence and cardiometabolic health. We enrolled 218 urban youth (age 12-14 years, 66% female; 65% black or Latino) and used geocoding to characterize their exposure to neighborhood murder over the past five years. Multiple aspects of cardiometabolic health were assessed, including obesity, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome. Functional MRI was used to quantify the connectivity of major intrinsic networks. Consistent with predictions, resting-state connectivity within the central executive network (CEN) emerged as a moderator of adaptation. Across six distinct outcomes, a higher neighborhood murder rate was associated with greater cardiometabolic risk, but this relationship was apparent only among youth who displayed lower CEN resting-state connectivity. By contrast, there was little evidence of moderation by the anterior salience and default mode networks. These findings advance basic and applied knowledge about adaptation by highlighting intrinsic CEN connectivity as a potential neurobiological contributor to resilience.
尽管暴力犯罪在最近几十年有所下降，但在一些社区，它仍然是日常生活中反复出现的特征。越来越多的证据表明，这种暴力具有深远的影响，不仅超出了受害者的家人和朋友，还破坏了周围社区人们的健康。然而，与所有形式的逆境一样，社区暴力引发的反应是多种多样的：一些人保持健康，但另一些人则恶化。尽管科学界对此给予了高度关注，但导致适应能力差异的神经回路仍知之甚少。借鉴对大脑内在功能结构的了解，我们预测，静息状态连接的个体差异将解释社区暴力与心脏代谢健康之间关联强度的可变性。我们招募了 218 名城市青少年（年龄 12-14 岁，66%为女性；65%为黑人和拉丁裔），并使用地理编码来描述他们在过去五年中接触邻里谋杀的情况。评估了多个心脏代谢健康方面，包括肥胖、胰岛素抵抗和代谢综合征。使用功能磁共振成像来量化主要内在网络的连接。与预测一致，中央执行网络（CEN）的静息状态连接成为适应的调节剂。在六个不同的结果中，较高的邻里谋杀率与更高的心脏代谢风险相关，但这种关系仅在 CEN 静息状态连接较低的青少年中明显。相比之下，前注意和默认模式网络的调节作用几乎没有证据。这些发现通过强调内在 CEN 连接作为适应能力的潜在神经生物学贡献，推进了关于适应的基础和应用知识。
