Institut für Psychologie
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Converging evidence emphasizes the role of an interaction between monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) genotype, environmental adversity, and sex in the pathophysiology of aggression. The present study aimed to clarify the impact of this interaction on neural activity in aggression-related brain systems. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 125 healthy adults from a high-risk community sample followed since birth. DNA was genotyped for the MAOA-VNTR (variable number of tandem repeats). Exposure to childhood life stress (CLS) between the ages of 4 and 11 years was assessed using a standardized parent interview, aggression by the Youth/Young Adult Self-Report between the ages of 15 and 25 years, and the VIRA-R (Vragenlijst Instrumentele En Reactieve Agressie) at the age of 15 years. Significant interactions were obtained between MAOA genotype, CLS, and sex relating to amygdala, hippocampus, and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) response, respectively. Activity in the amygdala and hippocampus during emotional face-matching increased with the level of CLS in male MAOA-L, while decreasing in male MAOA-H, with the reverse pattern present in females. Findings in the opposite direction in the ACC during a flanker NoGo task suggested that increased emotional activity coincided with decreased inhibitory control. Moreover, increasing amygdala activity was associated with higher Y(A)SR aggression in male MAOA-L and female MAOA-H carriers. Likewise, a significant association between amygdala activity and reactive aggression was detected in female MAOA-H carriers. The results point to a moderating role of sex in the MAOAx CLS interaction for intermediate phenotypes of emotional and inhibitory processing, suggesting a possible mechanism in conferring susceptibility to violence-related disorders.
Background: Cannabis is the most commonly used illegal substance among adolescents and young adults. Problematic cannabis use is often associated with comorbid psychopathological problems. The purpose of the current study was to elucidate the underlying developmental processes connecting externalizing and internalizing psychopathology in childhood and adolescence with problematic cannabis use in young adulthood. Methods: Data were drawn from the Mannheim Study of Children at Risk, an ongoing epidemiological cohort study from birth to adulthood. For n = 307 participants, symptom scores of conduct/oppositional defiant disorder, attention problems, hyperactivity/impulsivity, and internalizing disorders were available for the periods of childhood (4.5-11 years) and adolescence (15 years). At age 25 years, problematic cannabis use was assessed via clinical interview and a self-rating questionnaire. Results: At age 25 years, problematic cannabis use was identified in n = 28 participants (9.1%). Childhood conduct/oppositional behavior problems were predictive of problematic cannabis use during young adulthood when comorbid symptoms were controlled for. No such effect was found for childhood attention, hyperactivity/impulsivity or internalizing problems. With respect to psychopathological symptoms during adolescence, only attention problems were significantly related to later problematic cannabis use when controlling for comorbidity. Conclusions: The current study highlights the role of conduct/oppositional behavior problems during childhood and attention problems during adolescence in later problematic cannabis use. It sheds more light on the developmental sequence of childhood and adolescence psychopathology and young adult cannabis use, which is a prerequisite for effective prevention approaches. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Findings on the etiology of aggressive behavior have provided evidence for an effect both of genetic factors, such as variation in the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene, and adverse environmental factors. Recent studies have supported the existence of gene × environment interactions, with early experiences playing a key role. In the present study, the effects of prenatal nicotine exposure, MAOA genotype and their interaction on aggressive behavior during young adulthood were examined. In a sample of 272 young adults (129 males, 143 females) from an epidemiological cohort study, smoking during pregnancy was measured with a standardized parent interview at the offspring’s age of 3 months. Aggressive behavior was assessed between the ages of 19 and 25 years using the Young Adult Self-Report. DNA was genotyped for the MAOA 5′ untranslated region variable number of tandem repeats polymorphism (VNTR). Results revealed a significant interaction between MAOA and smoking during pregnancy, indicating higher levels of aggressive behavior in young adults carrying the MAOA low-expressing genotype who had experienced prenatal nicotine exposure (n = 8, p = .025). In contrast, in carriers of the MAOA high-expressing genotype, maternal smoking during pregnancy had no effect on aggressive behavior during young adulthood (n = 20, p = .145). This study extends earlier findings demonstrating an interaction between MAOA genotype and prenatal nicotine exposure on aggressive behavior into young adulthood. The results point to the long-term adverse effects of smoking during pregnancy on the offspring’s mental health, possibly underlining the importance of smoking cessation during pregnancy. According to the nature of the study (particularly sample size and power), analyses are exploratory and results need to be interpreted cautiously.
Converging evidence has highlighted the association between poverty and conduct disorder (CD) without specifying neurobiological pathways. Neuroimaging research has emphasized structural and functional alterations in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) as one key mechanism underlying this disorder. The present study aimed to clarify the long-term influence of early poverty on OFC volume and its association with CD symptoms in healthy participants of an epidemiological cohort study followed since birth. At age 25 years, voxel-based morphometry was applied to study brain volume differences. Poverty (0 = non-exposed (N = 134), I = exposed (N = 33)) and smoking during pregnancy were determined using a standardized parent interview, and information on maternal responsiveness was derived from videotaped mother infant interactions at the age of 3 months. CD symptoms were assessed by diagnostic interview from 8 to 19 years of age. Information on life stress was acquired at each assessment and childhood maltreatment was measured using retrospective self-report at the age of 23 years. Analyses were adjusted for sex, parental psychopathology and delinquency, obstetric adversity, parental education, and current poverty. Individuals exposed to early life poverty exhibited a lower OFC volume. Moreover, we replicated previous findings of increased CD symptoms as a consequence of childhood poverty. This effect proved statistically mediated by OFC volume and exposure to life stress and smoking during pregnancy, but not by childhood maltreatment and maternal responsiveness. These findings underline the importance of studying the impact of early life adversity on brain alterations and highlight the need for programs to decrease income-related disparities.
Enhanced endocannabinoid signaling has been implicated in typically adolescent behavioral features such as increased risk-taking, impulsivity and novelty seeking. Research investigating the impact of genetic variants in the cannabinoid receptor 1 gene (CNR1) and of early rearing conditions has demonstrated that both factors contribute to the prediction of impulsivity-related phenotypes. The present study aimed to test the hypothesis of an interaction of the two most studied CNR1 polymorphisms rs806379 and rs1049353 with early psychosocial adversity in terms of affecting impulsivity in 15-year-olds from an epidemiological cohort sample followed since birth. In 323 adolescents (170 girls, 153 boys), problems of impulse control and novelty seeking were assessed using parent-report and self-report, respectively. Exposure to early psychosocial adversity was determined in a parent interview conducted at the age of 3 months. The results indicated that impulsivity increased following exposure to early psychosocial adversity, with this increase being dependent on CNR1 genotype. In contrast, while individuals exposed to early adversity scored higher on novelty seeking, no significant impact of genotype or the interaction thereof was detected. This is the first evidence to suggest that the interaction of CNR1 gene variants with the experience of early life adversity may play a role in determining adolescent impulsive behavior. However, given that the reported findings are obtained in a high-risk community sample, results are restricted in terms of interpretation and generalization. Future research is needed to replicate these findings and to identify the mediating mechanisms underlying this effect.
Brain activation stability is crucial to understanding attention lapses. EEG methods could provide excellent markers to assess neuronal response variability with respect to temporal (intertrial coherence) and spatial variability (topographic consistency) as well as variations in activation intensity (low frequency variability of single trial global field power).
We calculated intertrial coherence, topographic consistency and low frequency amplitude variability during target P300 in a continuous performance test in 263 15-year-olds from a cohort with psychosocial and biological risk factors.
Topographic consistency and low frequency amplitude variability predicted reaction time fluctuations (RTSD) in a linear model. Higher RTSD was only associated with higher psychosocial adversity in the presence of the homozygous 6R-10R dopamine transporter haplotype.
We propose that topographic variability of single trial P300 reflects noise as well as variability in evoked cortical activation patterns. Dopaminergic neuromodulation interacted with environmental and biological risk factors to predict behavioural reaction time variability. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Variation in the gene encoding for the norepinephrine transporter (NET, SLC6A2) has repeatedly been linked with ADHD, although there is some inconsistency regarding the association with specific genes. The variants for which most consistent association has been found are the NET variants rs3785157 and rs28386840. Here, we tested for their association with ADHD diagnosis and ADHD-related phenotypes during development in a longitudinal German community sample. Children were followed from age 4 to age 15, using diagnostic interviews to assess ADHD. Between the ages of 8 and 15 years, the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) was administered to the primary caregivers. The continuous performance task (CPT) was performed at age 15. Controlling for possible confounders, we found that homozygous carriers of the major A allele of the functional promoter variant rs28386840 displayed a higher rate of ADHD lifetime diagnosis. Moreover, homozygous carriers of the minor T allele of rs3785157 were more likely to develop ADHD and showed higher scores on the CBCL externalizing behavior scales. Additionally, we found that individuals heterozygous for rs3785157 made fewer omission errors in the CPT than homozygotes. This is the first longitudinal study to report associations between specific NET variants and ADHD-related phenotypes during the course of development. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Accumulating evidence suggests a role of FKBP5, a co-chaperone regulating the glucocorticoid receptor sensitivity, in the etiology of depression and anxiety disorders. Based on recent findings of altered amygdala activity following childhood adversity, the present study aimed at clarifying the impact of genetic variation in FKBP5 on threat-related neural activity and coupling as well as morphometric alterations in stress-sensitive brain systems. Functional magnetic resonance imaging during an emotional face-matching task was performed in 153 healthy young adults (66 males) from a high-risk community sample followed since birth. Voxel-based morphometry was applied to study structural alterations and DNA was genotyped for FKBP5 rs1360780. Childhood adversity was measured using retrospective self-report (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire) and by a standardized parent interview assessing childhood family adversity. Depression was assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory. There was a main effect of FKBP5 on the left amygdala, with T homozygotes showing the highest activity, largest volume and increased coupling with the left hippocampus and the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Moreover, amygdala-OFC coupling proved to be associated with depression in this genotype. In addition, our results support previous evidence of a gene-environment interaction on right amygdala activity with respect to retrospective assessment of childhood adversity, but clarify that this does not generalize to the prospective assessment. These findings indicated that activity in T homozygotes increased with the level of adversity, whereas the opposite pattern emerged in C homozygotes, with CT individuals being intermediate. The present results point to a functional involvement of FKBP5 in intermediate phenotypes associated with emotional processing, suggesting a possible mechanism for this gene in conferring susceptibility to stress-related disorders.
We assessed intra-individual variability of response times (RT) and single-trial P3 amplitudes following targets in healthy adults during a Flanker/NO-GO task. RT variability and variability of the neural responses coupled at the faster frequencies examined (0.07-0.17 Hz) at Pz, the target-P3 maxima, despite non-significant associations for overall variability (standard deviation, SD). Frequency-specific patterns of variability in the single-trial P3 may help to understand the neurophysiology of RT variability and its explanatory models of attention allocation deficits beyond intra-individual variability summary indices such as SD.