BackHome
Refresh: OffView Personal Schedule
Individual Submission Summary
Share...

Direct link:

Neural Markers of Eye Gaze to Face Emotion in Pediatric Irritability

Thu, March 21, 4:00 to 5:30pm, Hilton Baltimore, Floor: Level 1, Johnson A

Integrative Statement

Background
Irritability is a common and impairing clinical phenotype in youth (Brotman et al., 2017; Leibenluft, 2017). Of the limited pathophysiological research on pediatric irritability, one replicated finding is a broad deficit in identifying or labeling facial emotions (Guyer et al., 2007; Kim et al., 2013; Rich et al., 2008). Functional neuroimaging methods may help to elucidate brain-behavior mechanisms of face emotion labeling deficits in irritability (Wiggins et al., 2016). Here, we integrated fMRI and eye-tracking methods to investigate how transdiagnostic, dimensionally-assessed irritability relates to neural markers of eye gaze during face emotion labeling.
Methods
fMRI data were acquired from 65 children and adolescents varying in level of irritability (mean age=15 years; 41% female; n=21 with disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, n=24 with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and n=20 healthy volunteers). Latent variable analysis quantified irritability dimensionally across all participants using parent- and youth-report scores on the Affective Reactivity Index (Stringaris et al., 2012). A face-emotion labeling paradigm assessed youth’s neural activity as a function of stimulus face emotion (angry, fearful, happy) and intensity of expression (0% [neutral], 50%, 75%, 100%). Following fMRI, participants completed an identical eye-tracking paradigm that assessed gaze (duration, fixations) to the faces’ eye regions as salient emotion cues (Kim et al., 2013). Whole-brain linear mixed effects analyses in AFNI examined neural activity during face emotion labeling in relation to youth’s level of irritability and gaze fixation behavior.
Results
Higher irritability was associated with fewer gaze fixations to faces’ eye regions for specific face intensities relative to others (50% and 100% vs. 75%, ps<.05). With respect to neural activation, irritability, face intensity, and gaze fixation behavior interacted in relation to widespread activation in the orbitofrontal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, insula, and other regions (all ps<.005, whole-brain corrected; Figure 1). In general, youth with higher vs. lower levels of irritability showed opposing patterns in how their eye gaze related to brain function in these regions. Additionally, irrespective of gaze fixation behavior, irritability, face emotion, and face intensity interacted in relation to ventromedial prefrontal cortex activation (p<.005, whole-brain corrected; Figure 2). Specifically, higher irritability was associated with decreased activation when labeling moderate-intensity angry faces relative to both high-intensity angry faces and moderate-intensity fearful faces.
Conclusions
Transdiagnostic, dimensionally-assessed irritability was associated with widespread neural dysfunction during face emotion labeling. Youth’s levels of irritability interacted with their patterns of visual attention on the task in relation to brain function. This suggests that the neural substrates of visual attention to faces’ salient emotion cues vary by level of irritability. In addition, irritability was associated with differential activation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, suggesting a specific deficit in labeling moderate-intensity angry faces relative to other face emotion types. Findings warrant replication. Further research on the brain-behavior mechanisms of face emotion labeling deficits in irritability may help guide the development of targeted interventions in youth.

Authors