Cumulative stress in childhood is associated with blunted reward-related brain activity in adulthood.
Abstract
Early life stress (ELS) is strongly associated with negative outcomes in adulthood,
including reduced motivation and increased negative mood. The mechanisms mediating
these relations, however, are poorly understood. We examined the relation between
exposure to ELS and reward-related brain activity, which is known to predict motivation
and mood, at age 26, in a sample followed since kindergarten with annual assessments.
Using functional neuroimaging, we assayed individual differences in the activity of
the ventral striatum (VS) during the processing of monetary rewards associated with
a simple card-guessing task, in a sample of 72 male participants. We examined associations
between a cumulative measure of ELS exposure and VS activity in adulthood. We found
that greater levels of cumulative stress during childhood and adolescence predicted
lower reward-related VS activity in adulthood. Extending this general developmental
pattern, we found that exposure to stress early in development (between kindergarten
and grade 3) was significantly associated with variability in adult VS activity. Our
results provide an important demonstration that cumulative life stress, especially
during this childhood period, is associated with blunted reward-related VS activity
in adulthood. These differences suggest neurobiological pathways through which a history
of ELS may contribute to reduced motivation and increased negative mood.
Type
Journal articleSubject
early life stressfMRI
neurodevelopment
reward
ventral striatum
Adolescent
Adult
Affect
Brain
Child
Child, Preschool
Humans
Individuality
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Motivation
Reward
Stress, Psychological
Ventral Striatum
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/10777Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1093/scan/nsv124Publication Info
Hanson, JL; Albert, WD; Iselin, AR; Carré, JM; Dodge, KA; & Hariri, AR (2016). Cumulative stress in childhood is associated with blunted reward-related brain activity
in adulthood. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci, 11(3). pp. 405-412. 10.1093/scan/nsv124. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/10777.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Kenneth A. Dodge
William McDougall Distinguished Professor of Public Policy Studies
Kenneth A. Dodge is the William McDougall Distinguished Professor of Public Policy
and Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. He is also the founding
and past director of the Center for Child and Family Policy, as well as the founder
of Family Connects International.
Dodge is a leading scholar in the development and prevention of aggressive and violent
beha
Ahmad Hariri
Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
Integrating psychology, neuroimaging, pharmacology and molecular genetics in the search
for biological pathways mediating individual differences in behavior and related risk
for psychopathology.
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