Interpersonal violence moderates sustained-transient threat co-activation in the vmPFC and amygdala in a community sample of youth

Abstract

The increased risk for psychopathology associated with interpersonal violence exposure (IPV, e.g., physical abuse, sexual assault) is partially mediated by neurobiological alterations in threat-related processes. Evidence supports parsing neural circuitry related to transient and sustained threat, as they appear to be separable processes with distinct neurobiological underpinnings. Although childhood is a sensitive period for neurodevelopment, most prior work has been conducted in adult samples. Further, it is unknown how IPV exposure may impact transient-sustained threat neural interactions. The current study tested the moderating role of IPV exposure on sustained vmPFC-transient amygdala co-activation during an fMRI task during which threat and neutral cues were predictably or unpredictably presented. Analyses were conducted in a sample of 212 community-recruited youth (M/SDage = 11.77/2.44 years old; 51.9% male; 56.1% White/Caucasian). IPV-exposed youth evidenced a positive sustained vmPFC-transient amygdala co-activation, while youth with no IPV exposure did not show this association. Consistent with theoretical models, effects were specific to unpredictable, negative trials and to exposure to IPV (i.e., unrelated to non-IPV traumatic experiences). Although preliminary, these findings provide novel insight into how childhood IPV exposure may alter neural circuity involved in specific facets of threat processing.