Maternal buffering of human amygdala-prefrontal circuitry during childhood but not during adolescence.

ABSTRACT: Mature amygdala-prefrontal circuitry regulates affect in adulthood but shows protracted development. In altricial and semialtricial species, caregivers provide potent affect regulation when mature neurocircuitry is absent. The present investigation examined a potential mechanism through which caregivers provide regulatory influences in childhood. Children, but not adolescents, showed evidence of maternal buffering, such that maternal stimuli suppressed amygdala reactivity. In the absence of maternal stimuli, children exhibited immature amygdala-prefrontal connectivity. However, in the presence of maternal stimuli, children's connectivity was more mature, resembling adolescents' connectivity. Children showed improved affect-related regulation in the presence of their mothers. Individual dif

SUBMITTER: Gee DG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4377225 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature