Seventy-nine 3-year olds and their mothers participated in a laboratory-based task to assess maternal hostility. Mothers also reported their behavioral regulation of their child. Seven years later, functional magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired while viewing emotional faces and completing a reward processing task. Maternal hostility predicted more negative amygdala connectivity during exposure to sad relative to neutral faces with frontal and parietal regions as well as more negative left ventral striatal connectivity during monetary gain relative to loss feedback with the right posterior orbital frontal cortex and right inferior frontal gyrus. In contrast, maternal regulation predicted enhanced cingulo-frontal connectivity during monetary gain relative to loss feedback. Results suggest parenting is associated with alterations in emotion and reward processing circuitry 7-8 years later.

Objective: Bulimia nervosa (BN) is characterized by excessive attention to self and, specifically, body shape and weight, but the ventral attention (VAN) and default mode networks (DMN) that support attentional and self-referential processes are understudied in BN. We assessed whether altered functional connectivity within and between these networks contributes to such excessive concerns in adolescents with BN, early the course of the disorder. Method:Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans were acquired from 33 BN and 37 healthy comparison (HC) adolescents (aged 12 to 21 years), group-matched by age and body mass index. Region-of-interest analyses were performed to examine group differences in

Objective Cross-sectional data suggest functional and anatomical disturbances in inferior and orbital frontal regions in bulimia nervosa (BN). Using longitudinal data, we investigated whether reduced cortical thickness (CT) in these regions arises early and persists over adolescence in BN, independent of symptom remission, and whether CT reductions are markers of BN symptoms. Method Thirty-three adolescent females with BN symptoms (BN or other specified feeding or eating disorder) and 28 healthy adolescents participated in this study. Anatomical magnetic resonance imaging and clinical data were acquired at three time points within 2-year intervals over adolescence with 31% average attrition between assessments. Using a region-of-interest approach, we assessed group differences in CT at baseline and over time, and tested whether between- and within-subject variations in CT were associated with the frequency of BN symptoms. Results Reduced CT in right inferior frontal gyrus persisted over adolescence in BN compared to healthy adolescents, even in those who achieved full or partial remission. Within the BN group, between-subject variations in CT in inferior and orbital frontal regions were inversely associated with specific BN symptoms, suggesting, on average over time, greater CT reductions in those with more frequent BN symptoms. Conclusion Reduced CT in inferior frontal regions may contribute to illness persistence into adulthood. Reductions in the thickness of inferior and orbital frontal regions may be markers of specific BN symptoms. Since our sample size precluded correcting for multiple comparisons, these findings should be replicated in a larger sample. Future study of functional changes in associated fronto-striatal circuits could identify potential circuit-based intervention targets.

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