Basolateral Amygdala Connectivity With Subgenual Anterior Cingulate Cortex Represents Enhanced Fear-Related Memory Encoding in Anxious Humans

Hakamata, Yuko; Mizukami, Shinya; Izawa, Shuhei; Moriguchi, Yoshiya; Hori, Hiroaki; Kim, Yoshiharu; Hanakawa, Takashi; Inoue, Yusuke; Tagaya, Hirokuni

doi:10.1016/j.bpsc.2019.11.008

Cited by 14 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 90 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A breadth of research has demonstrated top-down, cortico-subcortical projections. In addition to the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, other regions in the cortex have been implicated, such as: the anterior insula, associated with a range of functioning including anxiety-relevant interoceptive sensitivity, anticipation of future events, and controllability of stressors (Terasawa et al, 2013;Grupe & Nitschke 2013;Limbachia et al, 2021); subgenual anterior cingulate, related to threat-relevant memory processes (Hakamata et al, 2020); and an anterior section of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex/medial orbitofrontal cortex (Pujara et al, 2019), though there is relatively less theorization on its functional role in anxiety. Broadly speaking, projections from the cortex have typically been thought of as providing regulatory, evaluative, and contextual inputs to fundamental threat processes in subcortical regions (Tillman et al, 2018).…”

Section: Threat Vigilance and Intrinsic Amygdala Connectivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Threat Vigilance and Intrinsic Amygdala Connectivity

Kirk¹,

Holmes²,

Robinson³

2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A well documented amygdala-dorsomedial prefrontal circuit is theorized to promote attention to threat (‘threat vigilance’). Prior research has implicated a relationship between individual differences in trait anxiety/vigilance, engagement of this circuitry, and anxiogenic features of the environment (e.g. through threat-of-shock and movie-watching). In the present study, we predicted that—for those scoring high in self-reported anxiety and a behavioral measure of threat vigilance—this circuitry is chronically engaged, even in the absence of anxiogenic stimuli. Our analyses of resting-state fMRI data (N=639) did not, however, provide evidence for such a relationship. Nevertheless, in our planned exploratory analyses, we saw a relationship between threat vigilance behavior (but not self-reported anxiety) and intrinsic amygdala-periaqueductal gray connectivity. Here, we suggest this subcortical circuitry may be chronically engaged in hypervigilant individuals, but that the amygdala-prefrontal circuitry may only be engaged in response to anxiogenic stimuli.

show abstract

Section: Threat Vigilance and Intrinsic Amygdala Connectivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Threat Vigilance and Intrinsic Amygdala Connectivity

Kirk¹,

Holmes²,

Robinson³

2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Amygdala-sgACC connectivity may also predict treatment response ( Taylor et al, 2018 ; Nakamura et al, 2021 ). Recent studies highlight the role of amygdala-sgACC connectivity in fear-related encoding, emotional processing/regulation and anxiety ( Hakamata et al, 2020 ; Scharnowski et al, 2020 ). Hakamata et al (2020) demonstrated that greater fear encoding strength is associated with greater basolateral amygdala-sgACC connectivity, and that this connectivity was also elevated in anxious participants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent studies highlight the role of amygdala-sgACC connectivity in fear-related encoding, emotional processing/regulation and anxiety ( Hakamata et al, 2020 ; Scharnowski et al, 2020 ). Hakamata et al (2020) demonstrated that greater fear encoding strength is associated with greater basolateral amygdala-sgACC connectivity, and that this connectivity was also elevated in anxious participants. Scharnowski et al (2020) have examined the role of amygdala-sgACC connectivity during automated and effortful emotion regulation; during more automated/less effortful emotion regulation, they found greater amygdala-to-sgACC connectivity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Childhood Threat Is Associated With Lower Resting-State Connectivity Within a Central Visceral Network

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Childhood adversity is associated with altered or dysregulated stress reactivity; these altered patterns of physiological functioning persist into adulthood. Evidence from both preclinical animal models and human neuroimaging studies indicates that early life experience differentially influences stressor-evoked activity within central visceral neural circuits proximally involved in the control of stress responses, including the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC), paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN), bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) and amygdala. However, the relationship between childhood adversity and the resting-state connectivity of this central visceral network remains unclear. To this end, we examined relationships between childhood threat and childhood socioeconomic deprivation, the resting-state connectivity between our regions of interest (ROIs), and affective symptom severity and diagnoses. We recruited a transdiagnostic sample of young adult males and females (n = 100; mean age = 27.28, SD = 3.99; 59 females) with a full distribution of maltreatment history and symptom severity across multiple affective disorders. Resting-state data were acquired using a 7.2-min functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) sequence; noted ROIs were applied as masks to determine ROI-to-ROI connectivity. Threat was determined by measures of childhood traumatic events and abuse. Socioeconomic deprivation (SED) was determined by a measure of childhood socioeconomic status (parental education level). Covarying for age, race and sex, greater childhood threat was significantly associated with lower BNST-PVN, amygdala-sgACC and PVN-sgACC connectivity. No significant relationships were found between SED and resting-state connectivity. BNST-PVN connectivity was associated with the number of lifetime affective diagnoses. Exposure to threat during early development may entrain altered patterns of resting-state connectivity between these stress-related ROIs in ways that contribute to dysregulated neural and physiological responses to stress and subsequent affective psychopathology.

show abstract

“…Notably, our findings linking amygdala-sgACC FC to parental warmth and depressive symptoms were specific to the basolateral subdivision of the amgydala (BLA). Prior research suggests that the BLA plays a critical role in associative learning and evaluation and regulation of emotionally evocative stimuli (15,37), that stronger BLA-sgACC connectivity is related to stronger encoding of negative-emotion related information in individuals with higher internalizing symptoms (50), and that disruptions of these psychological processes are related to depression (51). Considered together with our findings, it may be that adolescents who exhibit stronger BLA-sgACC resting-state connectivity engage in psychological processes that confer vulnerability for experiencing depressive symptoms and that are sensitive to parenting influences.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing a Developmental Model of Parental Warmth, Amygdala–Subgenual Anterior Cingulate Cortex Connectivity, and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Jg¹,

Ho²,

Js³

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Neurobiological measures may serve as predictive markers of risk for and resilience to depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. We tested a developmental model linking variation in amygdala–subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) resting-state connectivity both to earlier experiences in the family environment and to subsequent vulnerability to depressive symptoms during the pandemic.Methods: We used data from a longitudinal study that included three waves (N=214 adolescents; ages 9-15 years at Time 1 (T1), 11-17 years at Time 2 (T2), and 12-19 years during the pandemic at Time 3 [T3]). We assessed parental warmth (T1), depressive symptoms (T1 to T3), and functional connectivity between the sgACC and basolateral (BLA) and centromedial amygdala (CMA) (T1 and T2). We modeled associations among early parental warmth, amygdala–sgACC connectivity, and depressive symptoms before and during the pandemic.Results: Less parental warmth was associated prospectively with stronger BLA–sgACC connectivity approximately two years later (=-.23, p=.021) over and above the effect of BLA–sgACC connectivity at T1. Stronger BLA–sgACC connectivity, in turn, was associated with heightened depressive symptoms, both before (r=.21, p=.031) and during the pandemic (=.22, p=.031; independent of the effect of pre-pandemic symptoms). Conclusion: Adolescents who experience less parental warmth may develop a pattern of BLA–sgACC connectivity that increases their risk for mental health problems during the pandemic. BLA–sgACC connectivity in early to middle adolescence may be a predictive marker of risk for depressive symptoms in general and specifically during periods of heightened stress.

show abstract

Basolateral Amygdala Connectivity With Subgenual Anterior Cingulate Cortex Represents Enhanced Fear-Related Memory Encoding in Anxious Humans

Cited by 14 publications

References 90 publications

Threat Vigilance and Intrinsic Amygdala Connectivity

Threat Vigilance and Intrinsic Amygdala Connectivity

Childhood Threat Is Associated With Lower Resting-State Connectivity Within a Central Visceral Network

Testing a Developmental Model of Parental Warmth, Amygdala–Subgenual Anterior Cingulate Cortex Connectivity, and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About