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Differential patterns of activity and functional connectivity in emotion processing neural circuitry to angry and happy faces in adolescents with and without suicide attempt

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2013

L. A. Pan ,
S. Hassel ,
A. M. Segreti ,
S. A. Nau ,
D. A. Brent  and
M. L. Phillips
L. A. Pan*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
S. Hassel
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, School of Medicine, Calgary, AB, Canada
A. M. Segreti
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
S. A. Nau
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
D. A. Brent
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
M. L. Phillips
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA Department of Psychological Medicine, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
*
*Address for correspondence: L. A. Pan, M.D., Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Loeffler Building, 121 Meyran Avenue, Room 304, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. (Email: thomasla@upmc.edu)
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Abstract

Background

Neural substrates of emotion dysregulation in adolescent suicide attempters remain unexamined.

Method

We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure neural activity to neutral, mild or intense (i.e. 0%, 50% or 100% intensity) emotion face morphs in two separate emotion-processing runs (angry and happy) in three adolescent groups: (1) history of suicide attempt and depression (ATT, n = 14); (2) history of depression alone (NAT, n = 15); and (3) healthy controls (HC, n = 15). Post-hoc analyses were conducted on interactions from 3 group × 3 condition (intensities) whole-brain analyses (p < 0.05, corrected) for each emotion run.

Results

To 50% intensity angry faces, ATT showed significantly greater activity than NAT in anterior cingulate gyral–dorsolateral prefrontal cortical attentional control circuitry, primary sensory and temporal cortices; and significantly greater activity than HC in the primary sensory cortex, while NAT had significantly lower activity than HC in the anterior cingulate gyrus and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. To neutral faces during the angry emotion-processing run, ATT had significantly lower activity than NAT in the fusiform gyrus. ATT also showed significantly lower activity than HC to 100% intensity happy faces in the primary sensory cortex, and to neutral faces in the happy run in the anterior cingulate and left medial frontal gyri (all p < 0.006,corrected). Psychophysiological interaction analyses revealed significantly reduced anterior cingulate gyral–insula functional connectivity to 50% intensity angry faces in ATT v. NAT or HC.

Conclusions

Elevated activity in attention control circuitry, and reduced anterior cingulate gyral–insula functional connectivity, to 50% intensity angry faces in ATT than other groups suggest that ATT may show inefficient recruitment of attentional control neural circuitry when regulating attention to mild intensity angry faces, which may represent a potential biological marker for suicide risk.

Keywords

Adolescentsanterior cingulatedepressionemotion processinginsulasuicide

Information

Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 43 , Issue 10 , October 2013 , pp. 2129 - 2142
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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