Early life stress modulates amygdala-prefrontal functional connectivity: implications for oxytocin effects

Item Type:	Article
Title:	Early life stress modulates amygdala-prefrontal functional connectivity: implications for oxytocin effects
Creators Name:	Fan, Y. and Herrera-Melendez, A.L. and Pestke, K. and Feeser, M. and Aust, S. and Otte, C. and Pruessner, J.C. and Boeker, H. and Bajbouj, M. and Grimm, S.
Abstract:	Recent evidence suggests that early life stress (ELS) changes stress reactivity via reduced resting state functional connectivity (rs-FC) between amygdala and the prefrontal cortex. Oxytocin (OXT) modulates amygdala connectivity and attenuates responses to psychosocial stress, but its effect appears to be moderated by ELS. Here we first investigate the effect of ELS on amygdala-prefrontal rs-FC, and examine whether ELS-associated changes of rs-FC in this neural circuit predict its response to psychosocial stress. Secondly, we explore the joint effect of OXT and ELS on the amygdala-prefrontal circuit. Eighteen healthy young males participated in a resting-state fMRI study of OXT effects using a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, within-subject crossover design. We measured the rs-FC to bilateral amygdalae and subsequently assessed changes of state anxiety and prefrontal responses to psychosocial stress. Multiple linear regressions showed that ELS, specifically emotional abuse, predicted reduced rs-FC between the right amygdala and pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pgACC), which in turn predicted elevated state anxiety after psychosocial stress. In subjects with lower ELS scores, stronger pgACC-amygdala rs-FC predicted stronger pgACC deactivation during the psychosocial stress task, and this rest-task interaction was attenuated by OXT. In subjects with higher ELS scores however, the rest-task interaction was altered and OXT showed no significant effect. These findings highlight that ELS reduces pgACC-amygdala rs-FC and alters how rs-FC of this circuit predicts its stress responsiveness. Such changes in pgACC-amygdala functional dynamics may underlie the altered sensitivity to the effects of OXT after ELS.
Keywords:	Early Life Stress, Oxytocin, Resting-State Functional Connectivity, Pregenual Anterior Cingulate Cortex, Amygdala, State Anxiety
Source:	Human Brain Mapping
ISSN:	1065-9471
Publisher:	Wiley-Blackwell
Volume:	35
Number:	10
Page Range:	5328-5339
Date:	October 2014
Additional Information:	Copyright © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Official Publication:	https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.22553
External Fulltext:	View full text on PubMed Central
PubMed:	View item in PubMed

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