Poster #4 - Reward processing and internalizing psychopathology in the pre-adolescent brain: A fMRI study

• In Event: Poster Session 16

Abstract

Alterations in reward processing are associated with psychopathology (Pizzagalli et al., 2014). The adolescent period is a time of increased risk for psychopathology (e.g. depressive, anxiety, mood and substance use disorders) (Powers, 2015; Costello, 2015) believed to be influenced by puberty (Mendle, 2014). In addition, adolescents, relative to adults and children, display heightened reward sensitivity attributed to robust developmental changes in neural reward circuitry (Galvan et al., 2006). Increases in psychopathology during adolescence are thought to be related to these rapid changes in reward processing as well as heightened sensitivity to social and behavioral problems (Gardner & Steinberg, 2005; Steinberg, 2004, 2007). However, most studies have not examined neural functioning in this onset risk period (e.g. Galvan et al., 2010, 2013; Grady et al., 2014; Smith et al., 2015). Here we examine associations between neural responses to reward and psychopathology in the adolescent transition.
In the present study, a community sample of pre-adolescents (between 8- to 12-years-old) (N= 50; Mage = 9.35, SDage = 0.77; 56% female) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging during the Guessing Reward Task (Somerville, et al., 2018). The Guessing task is designed to elicit neural activity in response to unpredicted reward. Participants were instructed to make a guess whether a baby or an adult was hiding behind the question mark on the given screen. Before the guessing period, participants were prompted with the reward amount related to the guess. Participants were informed they could win or lose a high amount of money (+ $1.00, - $0.50) or a lower amount (+ $0.20, - $0.10). Actual winnings were identical across participants and unrelated to the participants guess; participants won on half the trials. We examined neural activation during reward receipt for “high win” vs. “low win” and all “win” vs. “loss” trials.
First, we examined the main effect of task manipulations across all participants to identify reward reactivity in this sample. We observed expected patterns of activation for high vs. low win and win vs. loss contrasts, including activation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and ventral striatum. This pattern of activation replicates previous findings in older populations (Figure 1). Second, utilizing the the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) questionnaire (Achenbach, 1999), we examined associations between caregiver reports of psychopathological symptoms and activation during reward receipt. Within the participants, who completed the fMRI reward task and the CBCL questionnaire (N= 37; Mage = 9.41, SDage = 0.78; 51% female), activation in the right middle frontal gyrus for both high vs. low win and win vs. loss contrasts was negatively associated with symptoms of internalizing psychopathology (anxious and withdrawn depressed subscales) (Figure 2). Understanding the neural correlates of internalizing psychopathology at different stages in development can inform our understanding of the processes through which risk for psychopathology changes across childhood.

Authors

• Maresa A. Tate, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  Presenting Author

• Mackenzie Woodburn, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• William Asciutto, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• Annette Varghese, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• Tehila Nugiel, University of Texas at Austin

• Megan Davis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• Jessica R Cohen, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• Weili Lin

• Margaret A. Sheridan, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill