Article 5b: Neurobiological Markers of Resilience to Depression Following Childhood Maltreatment: The Role of Neural Circuits Supporting the Cognitive Control of Emotion (Rodman et al., 2019) Flashcards
Design of the study
151 participants completed an emotion regulation task during an fMRI scan in 2 conditions:
1. Passive viewing of negative stimuli
2. Reappraisal of negative stimuli
In a follow up study they looked at the effect of these reappraisal strategies on the development of depression and anxiety.
Cognitive reappraisal
A strategy for altering emotions responses by reinterpreting the meaning of a stimuli. Is effective in reducing anxiety and depression symptoms. Appraisal activates the fronto-parietal network in the brain, which regulates amygdala activity.
The succes of reappraisal improves with age, as children form stronger prefrontal-amygdala connections, leading to better emotion regulation. Effective recruitment of this network is important for resilience to adverse life events.
Cognitive appraisal as a resilience factors
Childhood adversity often results in heightened emotional reactivity. This reactivity is a major risk for depression and anxiety. Reducing this reactivity with reappraisal may therefor serve as a resilience factor.
Key findings
(1) Better amygdala modulation
(2) Better prefrontal recruitment
(3) Self-reported use of reappraisal as a moderator
! No patterns of resilience to anxiety symptoms.
- Better amygdala modulation
Cognitive reappraisal activated the fronto-parietal regions and reduced amygdala activity. Greater amygdala modulation during reappraisal was linked to lower depression risk at follow-up.
- Better prefrontal recruitment
Maltreated children with greater reappraisal-related activation (in the right superior frontal gyrus and right dorsal cingulate cortex) reported fewer depression symptoms (these regions are crucial for cognitive reappraisal).
- Self-reported use of reappraisal as a moderator
Greater self-reported use of reappraisal in daily life moderated the relationship between maltreatment severity and depression. Maltreated children who frequently used reappraisal strategies showed weaker associations between maltreatment and depression symptoms.
Conclusion
Children who are better at regulating emotion through recruitment of the fronto-parietal network exhibit greater resilience to DEPRESSION following childhood maltreatment.
Ai podcast
Cognitive reappraisal = continuously changing how you think about a situation, to change how you feel about it. Shifting our perspective to change our emotional response. This is done within the fronto-parietal network: the control centre for our thoughts and actions, influences our amygdala activity. Better fronto-parietal network control → better emotions regulation.
This study looked at the ability to reappraise and how well they were coping/ their overall well-being (in children with a history of maltreatment).
Results:
Children who were better at modulating their amygdala activity during reappraisal (=successfully regulating their emotional responses) had fewer symptoms of depression 2 years later.
2 areas of the brain were active in the kids who were doing well, despite having experienced maltreatment (=resilience):
Superior frontal gyrus
Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex
These areas are important for cognitive control and regulating emotional responses.
Kids who used reappraisal more in their daily lives, also had fewer symptoms of depression.
Implications
Provides a clear aim of interventions: use of reappraisal. Parents and caregivers can also model and encourage this reappraisal skills.
Limitations
- It’s just one piece of the puzzle: reappraisal is important, but also other factors play a role (having supportive relationships, access to mental health care etc.).
- Maybe reappraisal can cause to much focus on the positive, while ignoring the negative.
Inverse coupling
= One goes up and the other goes down:
- If your cognitive control goes up, then amygdala reactivity goes down.
