Penn State University, United States.
Penn State University, United States.
Neuropsychologia. 2022 Sep 9;174:108313. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108313. Epub 2022 Jul 4.
The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is a key brain area in considering adaptive regulatory behaviors. This includes regulatory projections to regions of the limbic system such as the amygdala, where the nature of functional connections may confer lower risk for anxiety disorders. The PFC is also associated with behaviors like executive functioning. Inhibitory control is a behavior encompassed by executive functioning and is generally viewed favorably for adaptive socioemotional development. Yet, some research suggests that high levels of inhibitory control may actually be a risk factor for some maladaptive developmental outcomes, like anxiety disorders. In a sample of 51 children ranging from 7 to 9 years old, we examined resting state functional connectivity between regions of the PFC and the amygdala. We used Subgrouping Group Iterative Multiple Model Estimation (S-GIMME) to identify and characterize data-driven subgroups of individuals with similar networks of connectivity between these brain regions. Generated subgroups were collapsed into children characterized by the presence or absence of recovered connections between the PFC and amygdala. For subsets of children with available data (N = 38-44), we then tested whether inhibitory control, as measured by a stop signal task, moderated the relation between these subgroups and child-reported anxiety symptoms. We found an inverse relation between stop-signal reaction times and reported count of anxiety symptoms when covarying for connectivity group, suggesting that greater inhibitory control was actually related to greater anxiety symptoms, but only when accounting for patterns of PFC-amygdala connectivity. These data suggest that there is a great deal of heterogeneity in the nature of functional connections between the PFC and amygdala during this stage of development. The findings also provide support for the notion of high levels of inhibitory control as a risk factor for anxiety, but trait-level biopsychosocial factors may be important to consider in assessing the nature of risk.
前额皮质（prefrontal cortex，PFC）是考虑适应性调节行为的关键大脑区域。这包括向边缘系统区域（如杏仁核）的调节投射，其中功能连接的性质可能为焦虑障碍的低风险提供保障。PFC 还与执行功能等行为相关。抑制控制是执行功能所涵盖的一种行为，通常被认为有利于适应性社会情感发展。然而，一些研究表明，高水平的抑制控制实际上可能是某些适应不良的发展结果（如焦虑障碍）的风险因素。在一个由 7 至 9 岁的 51 名儿童组成的样本中，我们检查了 PFC 和杏仁核之间的静息状态功能连接。我们使用亚组分组迭代多模型估计（Subgrouping Group Iterative Multiple Model Estimation，S-GIMME）来识别和描述具有这些脑区相似连接网络的个体的基于数据驱动的亚组。生成的亚组被合并为具有 PFC 和杏仁核之间恢复连接的存在或缺失的儿童特征。对于具有可用数据的儿童子集（N=38-44），我们随后测试了抑制控制（通过停止信号任务衡量）是否调节了这些亚组与儿童报告的焦虑症状之间的关系。当共变数为连接组时，我们发现停止信号反应时间与报告的焦虑症状计数呈反比关系，这表明更大的抑制控制实际上与更大的焦虑症状相关，但仅在考虑 PFC-杏仁核连接模式时才如此。这些数据表明，在发育的这个阶段，PFC 和杏仁核之间的功能连接具有很大的异质性。这些发现还支持高水平的抑制控制作为焦虑风险因素的观点，但特质水平的生物心理社会因素在评估风险性质时可能很重要。
