title: Neural correlates of stress and favorite-food cue exposure in adolescents: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study.
abstract: Adolescence is a critical period of neurodevelopment for stress and appetitive processing, as well as a time of increased vulnerability to stress and engagement in risky behaviors. This study was conducted to examine brain activation patterns during stress and favorite-food-cue experiences relative to a neutral-relaxing condition in adolescents. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was employed using individualized script-driven guided imagery to compare brain responses with such experiences in 43 adolescents. Main effects of condition and gender were found, without a significant gender-by-condition interaction. Stress imagery, relative to neutral, was associated with activation in the caudate, thalamus, left hippocampus/parahippocampal gyrus, midbrain, left superior/middle temporal gyrus, and right posterior cerebellum. Appetitive imagery of favorite food was associated with caudate, thalamus, and midbrain activation compared with the neutral-relaxing condition. To understand neural correlates of anxiety and craving, subjective (self-reported) measures of stress-induced anxiety and favorite-food-cue-induced craving were correlated with brain activity during stress and appetitive food-cue conditions, respectively. High self-reported stress-induced anxiety was associated with hypoactivity in the striatum, thalamus, hippocampus, and midbrain. Self-reported favorite-food-cue-induced craving was associated with blunted activity in cortical-striatal regions, including the right dorsal and ventral striatum, medial prefrontal cortex, motor cortex, and left anterior cingulate cortex. These findings in adolescents indicate the activation of predominantly subcortical-striatal regions in the processing of stressful and appetitive experiences and link hypoactive striatal circuits to self-reported stress-induced anxiety and cue-induced favorite-food craving.
authors.affiliation: Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Rebecca E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Hommer
authors.forename: Dongju
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: Cheryl M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Lacadie
authors.forename: Tara M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Chaplin
authors.forename: Linda C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Mayes
authors.forename: Rajita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sinha
authors.forename: Marc N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Potenza
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D001007:Anxiety / Q000503:physiopathology; D001066:Appetite / Q000502:physiology*; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000503:physiopathology; D003463:Cues; D017352:Echo-Planar Imaging; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005502:Food; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D019018:Imagery, Psychotherapy; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D059906:Neuroimaging; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012201:Reward; D057566:Self Report; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013788:Thalamus / Q000503:physiopathology