Blunted Ventral Striatum Development in Adolescence Reflects Emotional Neglect and Predicts Depressive Symptoms.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Emotional neglect is associated with multiple negative outcomes, particularly increased risk for depression. Motivated by increasing evidence of reward-related ventral striatum (VS) dysfunction in depression, we investigated the role of developmental changes in VS activity on the emergence of depressive symptomatology as a function of emotional neglect.

Methods

We examined relationships between longitudinal neuroimaging of reward-related VS activity, assessments of mood, and measures of emotional neglect in 106 participants first scanned between ages 11 to 15 and then 2 years later.

Results

We found that greater levels of emotional neglect were associated with blunted development of reward-related VS activity between the first and second assessments (as ind

SUBMITTER: Hanson JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4593720 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature