title: Early life stress is associated with greater default network deactivation during working memory in healthy controls: a preliminary report.
abstract: Early life stress (ELS) is a common risk factor for psychopathology, but there are few functional neuroimaging studies investigating its effects. In this preliminary study, we investigated the correlates of ELS exposure on the default network (DN) through measurements of task-associated DN deactivation. Data were analyzed from 19 subjects without psychiatric illness (10 with ELS). Subjects performed the working memory (WM) N-back task (including a 2-back WM and 0-back control condition) while undergoing functional MRI. We compared brain responses in the two groups across 5 bilateral DN regions using an a priori region of interest (ROI) analysis. The ELS group demonstrated significantly greater DN deactivation, observed in the right posterior cingulate cortex PCC, bilateral medial prefrontal cortex, left middle/superior frontal gyrus and right middle temporal region. These preliminary results indicate subjects with ELS demonstrate greater DN deactivations to WM challenges compared to non-ELS controls, potentially reflecting a biomarker of long-term effects of ELS exposure.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Clinical and Translational Neuroscience, Butler Hospital, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA. Noah_Philip@Brown.edu
authors.forename: Noah S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Philip
authors.forename: Lawrence H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Sweet
authors.forename: Audrey R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Tyrka
authors.forename: Lawrence H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Price
authors.forename: Linda L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Carpenter
authors.forename: Yuliya I
authors.initials: YI
authors.lastname: Kuras
authors.forename: Uraina S
authors.initials: US
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: Raymond S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Niaura
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D010865:Pilot Projects; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult