Cited by 338Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentChild Abuse and Trauma

Blunted Ventral Striatum Development in Adolescence Reflects Emotional Neglect and Predicts Depressive Symptoms

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Hanson, Jamie L., Hariri, Ahmad R., Williamson, Douglas E.·2015·Biological Psychiatry

Abstract

Background Emotional neglect is associated with multiple negative outcomes, particularly increased risk for depression. Motivated by increasing evidence of reward-related ventral striatum (VS) dysfunction in depression, we investigated the role of developmental changes in VS activity on the emergence of depressive symptomatology as a function of emotional neglect. Methods We examined relationships between longitudinal neuroimaging of reward-related VS activity, assessments of mood, and measures of emotional neglect in 106 participants first scanned between ages 11 to 15 and then 2 years later. Results We found that greater levels of emotional neglect were associated with blunted development of reward-related VS activity between the first and second assessments (as indexed by lower residualized change scores). Additionally, we found that decreases in this reward-related VS activity were related to greater depressive symptomatology and partially mediated the association between emotional neglect and subsequent depressive symptomatology. Conclusions Our results provide an important demonstration that blunted development of reward-related VS activity as a function of emotional neglect predicts the emergence of depressive symptoms in adolescents. Further, our results are consistent with emerging evidence for the importance of reward-related VS dysfunction in the etiology and pathophysiology of depression. These results are a first step toward developing the ability to predict, prevent, and treat stress-related psychopathology through the targeting of specific neural phenotypes.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.05.010

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  • Maltreatment-associated reduced striatal function is associated with adverse outcomes including disrupted attachment and depression.

    “Furthermore, maltreatment-associated reduced striatal function is associated with adverse outcomes including disrupted attachment (Takiguchi et al., 2015) and depression (Hanson et al., 2015).”
  • Previous reports suggest decreased striatal activity during reward anticipation in adults and adolescents with a history of childhood adversity.

    “Our finding of reduced activation in the ventral striatum is largely consistent with previous reports, suggesting decreased striatal activity during reward anticipation in adults and adolescents with a history of childhood adversity.36–39”
  • Ventral striatal activity during reward processing was previously associated with depressive symptoms in maltreated adolescents.

    “Whereas ventral striatal activity during reward processing was previously associated with depressive symptoms in maltreated adolescents,39”
  • Two notable neuroimaging studies observed reduced activity to reward cues in the ventral striatum among Romanian adolescent adoptees who had experienced early global deprivation and individuals who had experienced emotional neglect in early childhood.

    “Specifically, two notable neuroimaging studies directly assessing reward system deficits during adolescence observed reduced activity to reward cues in the ventral striatum among Romanian adolescent adoptees who had experienced early global deprivation,36 and individuals who had experienced emotional neglect in early childhood.39”
  • Two studies from one group link ELS to lower ventral striatal response to positive feedback.

    “In two studies by the same group, ELS was associated with decreased ventral striatal activity to positive feedback (Hanson et al, 2015; Hanson et al, 2016).”

    From The effects of early life stress on reward processing (2018) · cites this paper as Hanson et al, 2015

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Authors
Hanson, J. L., Hariri, A. R., & Williamson, D. E.
Affiliations
  • Duke University (US)
  • The University of Texas at San Antonio Health Science Center (US)
Corresponding author
Hanson, Jamie L.
Venue
Biological Psychiatry
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2015-11
Volume
78
Issue
9
Pages
598-605
ISSN
0006-3223 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W1854033343
Cited by
338
References
111
Citations by year
2026: 30 · 2025: 31 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 34 · 2020: 52 · 2019: 28 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 25 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 5
FWCI
13.82
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Biological Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (R01AA016274)
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA033369, R01DA031579)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (MH087493)
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse through the Center for the Study of Adolescent Risk and Resilience (P30DA023026)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
Keywords
ventral striatum, emotional neglect, depressive symptoms, adolescence, reward processing, neural development, depression risk, mediation, stress-related psychopathology, neural phenotypes
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Psychology, Adolescent, Brain Mapping, Cerebrovascular Circulation, Child, Child Abuse, Depression, Emotions, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Neuropsychological Tests, Oxygen, Prognosis, Reward, Adolescent Development, Ventral Striatum

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