title: Cortical activation deficits during facial emotion processing in youth at high risk for the development of substance use disorders.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent longitudinal studies demonstrate that addiction risk may be influenced by a cognitive, affective and behavioral phenotype that emerges during childhood. Relatively little research has focused on the affective or emotional risk components of this high-risk phenotype, including the relevant neurobiology.
  
  
  METHODS
  Non-substance abusing youth (N=19; mean age=12.2) with externalizing psychopathology and paternal history of a substance use disorder and demographically matched healthy comparisons (N=18; mean age=11.9) were tested on a facial emotion matching task during functional MRI. This task involved matching faces by emotions (angry, anxious) or matching shape orientation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  High-risk youth exhibited increased medial prefrontal, precuneus and occipital cortex activation compared to the healthy comparison group during the face matching condition, relative to the control shape condition. The occipital activation correlated positively with parent-rated emotion regulation impairments in the high-risk group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest a preexisting abnormality in cortical activation in response to facial emotion matching in youth at high risk for the development of problem drug or alcohol use. These cortical deficits may underlie impaired affective processing and regulation, which in turn may contribute to escalating drug use in adolescence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States. lhulvers@iupui.edu
authors.forename: Leslie A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Hulvershorn
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Finn
authors.forename: Tom A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Hummer
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Leibenluft
authors.forename: Brandon
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ball
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gichina
authors.forename: Amit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Anand
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism*; D002648:Child; D004644:Emotions; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: ADHD; Addiction risk; Child and adolescent; Externalizing; Neuroimaging; Prefrontal cortex