Decreased Amygdala Reactivity to Parent Cues Protects Against Anxiety Following Early Adversity: An Examination Across 3 Years.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The human brain remains highly plastic for a protracted developmental period. Thus, although early caregiving adversities that alter amygdala development can result in enduring emotion regulation difficulties, these trajectories should respond to subsequent enriched caregiving. Exposure to high-quality parenting can regulate (i.e., decrease) children's amygdala reactivity, a process that, over the long term, is hypothesized to enhance emotion regulation. We tested the hypothesis that even following adversity, the parent-child relationship would be associated with decreases in amygdala reactivity to parent cues, which would in turn predict lower future anxiety.

Methods

Participants were 102 children (6-10 years of age) and adolescents (11-17 years of age), for whom

SUBMITTER: Callaghan BL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6612442 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature