Cited by 185Child Abuse and TraumaNeural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesStress Responses and Cortisol

Cumulative stress in childhood is associated with blunted reward-related brain activity in adulthood

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Hanson, Jamie L., Albert, Dustin, Iselin, Anne-Marie R., Carré, Justin M., Dodge, Kenneth A., Hariri, Ahmad R.·2016·Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

Abstract

Early life stress (ELS) is strongly associated with negative outcomes in adulthood, including reduced motivation and increased negative mood. The mechanisms mediating these relations, however, are poorly understood. We examined the relation between exposure to ELS and reward-related brain activity, which is known to predict motivation and mood, at age 26, in a sample followed since kindergarten with annual assessments. Using functional neuroimaging, we assayed individual differences in the activity of the ventral striatum (VS) during the processing of monetary rewards associated with a simple card-guessing task, in a sample of 72 male participants. We examined associations between a cumulative measure of ELS exposure and VS activity in adulthood. We found that greater levels of cumulative stress during childhood and adolescence predicted lower reward-related VS activity in adulthood. Extending this general developmental pattern, we found that exposure to stress early in development (between kindergarten and grade 3) was significantly associated with variability in adult VS activity. Our results provide an important demonstration that cumulative life stress, especially during this childhood period, is associated with blunted reward-related VS activity in adulthood. These differences suggest neurobiological pathways through which a history of ELS may contribute to reduced motivation and increased negative mood.

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  • 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, 2016

  • That link was significant for stress in early childhood (kindergarten to grade 3) but not for later stress.

    “This relationship was significant when the stress was experienced earlier in life (kindergarten through grade 3) but not later (Hanson et al., 2016).”

    From The effects of early life stress on reward processing (2018) · cites this paper as Hanson et al., 2016

  • ELA leads to weaker reward responsivity, and deprivation may increase substance use to overcome this blunted reward response.

    “Behavioral and neurobiological studies indicate that ELA leads to blunted reward responsivity (i.e. lower neural response to reward in reward-processing brain regions such as the ventral striatum (VS)), an effect that persists across the lifespan.67–70”

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Authors
Hanson, J. L., Albert, D., Iselin, A.-M. R., Carré, J. M., Dodge, K. A., & Hariri, A. R.
Affiliations
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
  • Bryn Mawr College (US)
  • University of North Carolina Wilmington (US)
  • Nipissing University (CA)
  • Duke University (US)
Venue
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
Published
2015-10-05
Volume
11
Issue
3
Pages
405-412
ISSN
  • 1749-5016 (ISSN-L)
  • 1749-5024
OpenAlex
W2176954879
Cited by
185
References
71
Citations by year
2026: 17 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 2
FWCI
19.04
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by-nc
Locations
  • Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) (submittedVersion)
  • DukeSpace (Duke University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
  • UNC Libraries
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (5p20da017589-05)
  • National Institute on Aging (R01AG049789)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R18 MH 50953, R18MH050951, R18 MH50951, R18MH48043, K05MH000797, K05MH-00797, R18-MH50952, R18MH048043, K05MH01027, R18MH050953, K05MH001027, R18MH050952)
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA 16903, RC1DA028248, R01DA016903, R01DA033369, P30DA023026, DA031579, DA033369, K05DA015226, DA023026, DA017589, DA015226, R01DA031579)
  • National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
  • Center for Substance Abuse Prevention
  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (T32HD0737625)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
Keywords
early life stress, cumulative stress, childhood stress, ventral striatum, reward processing, motivation, negative mood, adolescence, longitudinal development, individual differences, monetary rewards
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Affect, Brain, Child, Child, Preschool, Humans, Individuality, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Motivation, Reward, Stress, Psychological, Ventral Striatum

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