Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2021 Jan;60(1):176-185. doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2020.01.024. Epub 2020 Feb 29.
Emotion dysregulation has been suggested to be a potent risk factor for multiple psychiatric conditions. Altered amygdala-prefrontal cortex (PFC) connectivity has been consistently linked to emotion dysregulation. Recent data indicate that amygdala-PFC functional connectivity undergoes a prolonged period of development, with amygdala reactivity during early childhood potentially shaping this unfolding process. Little is known about the relationships between amygdala-PFC functional connectivity, amygdala reactivity, and emotion regulation during early childhood. This information is likely critical for understanding early emotion dysregulation as a transdiagnostic risk factor for psychopathology. The current study examined the relationships between amygdala functional connectivity, amygdala reactivity, and emotion regulation in preschoolers.
A total of 66 medication-naive 4- to 6-year-olds participated in a study where resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and parent-reported child emotion regulation ability data were collected. fMRI data collected during a face viewing task was also available for 24 children.
Right amygdala-medial PFC (mPFC) functional connectivity was positively associated with child emotion regulation ability and negatively associated with child negative affect and right amygdala reactivity to facial expressions of emotion. Right amygdala-mPFC functional connectivity also statistically mediated the relationship between heightened right amygdala reactivity and elevated child negative affect.
Study findings suggest that amygdala-mPFC functional connectivity during early childhood, and its relationships with amygdala reactivity and emotion regulation during this highly sensitive developmental period, may play an important role in early emotional development. These results inform the neurodevelopmental biology of emotion regulation and its potential relationship with risk for psychopathology.
情绪失调被认为是多种精神疾病的一个强有力的风险因素。杏仁核-前额叶皮层（PFC）连接的改变与情绪失调密切相关。最近的数据表明，杏仁核-PFC 功能连接经历了一个长时间的发展过程，儿童早期的杏仁核反应可能会影响这个发展过程。目前，关于儿童早期杏仁核-PFC 功能连接、杏仁核反应和情绪调节之间的关系知之甚少。这些信息对于理解早期情绪失调作为一种精神病理学的跨诊断风险因素可能是至关重要的。本研究探讨了学龄前儿童杏仁核功能连接、杏仁核反应和情绪调节之间的关系。
共有 66 名未服用药物的 4 至 6 岁儿童参与了一项研究，该研究收集了静息态功能磁共振成像（rs-fMRI）和家长报告的儿童情绪调节能力数据。还为 24 名儿童收集了在观看面孔任务期间的 fMRI 数据。
右杏仁核-内侧前额叶皮质（mPFC）功能连接与儿童情绪调节能力呈正相关，与儿童负性情绪和右杏仁核对面部表情的反应呈负相关。右杏仁核-mPFC 功能连接也在右杏仁核反应性与儿童负性情绪升高之间的关系中具有统计学上的中介作用。
研究结果表明，儿童早期的杏仁核-mPFC 功能连接，以及它与这个高度敏感的发育阶段的杏仁核反应和情绪调节之间的关系，可能在早期情绪发展中发挥重要作用。这些结果为情绪调节的神经发育生物学及其与精神病理学风险的潜在关系提供了信息。
