1-059 - The cognitive neuroscience of infant fearfulness: Recent advancements and implications for childhood psychopathology.

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Fearfulness in infancy is a temperament trait characterized by a proclivity for reactivity in the face of the unfamiliar or unexpected. Though part of normative development, elevated fearfulness that persists across early development is associated with an increased risk for childhood psychopathology, particularly anxiety (Clauss & Blackford, 2012). The processes underlying stability of this trait remain unclear, though cognitive processes such as attention and emotion regulation may be influential. The aim of this symposium is to bring together research examining the cognitive neuroscience of infant fearfulness to further our understanding of the processes through which this trait is associated with risk for childhood psychopathology. The first presenter will speak to how patterns of neonatal functional connectivity place infants at differential risk for childhood psychopathology, and the role of the attachment relationship in “buffering” this risk. The second presenter will then address how variations in attention to fearful and novel faces (via pupil dilation) differentiates infant high in fearfulness from their less fearful peers. The third presenter will speak to the role of proactive cognitive control as a link between fearfulness in toddlerhood and anxiety in adolescence. Discussion with be led by an expert in temperament and developmental neurophysiology. The discussant will integrate results and provide context for short and long-term implications of early cognitive control processes on functioning in childhood.

Sub Unit

• Developmental Psychopathology

Chair

• Brendan Dale Ostlund, University of Utah

Discussant

• Martha Ann Bell, Virginia Tech

Individual Presentations

• Patterns of newborn amygdala connectivity relevant for fear and emerging behavior problems. - Presenting Author: Alice M Graham, Oregon Health and Science University; Claudia Buss, UCI Development, Health and Disease Research Program, University of California Irvine, USA; Jerod Rasmussen, University of California, Irvine; Marc D Rudolph, Oregon Health and Science University; Pathik Wadhwa, UCI Development, Health and Disease Research Program, University of California Irvine, USA; Sonja Entringer, UCI Development, Health and Disease Research Program, University of California Irvine, USA; John H. Gilmore, University of North Carolina School of Medicine; Martin Styner, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill; Damien Fair, Oregon Health and Science University

• Allocating attention to threat: Pupil dilation and fearfulness in infancy. - Presenting Author: Brendan Dale Ostlund, University of Utah; Lauren Williams, University of Utah; Elisabeth Conradt, University of Utah; Trafton Drew, University of Utah

• The moderating role of cognitive control on the link between behavioral inhibition and the development of anxiety. - Presenting Author: Sonya Troller-Renfree, University of Maryland; Brady K. Stevens, University of Maryland; George A. Buzzel, University of Maryland; Kathryn Degnan, Catholic University; Heather Henderson, University of Waterloo; Nathan Fox, 3. Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland