title: Sex differences in emotion-related cognitive processes in irritable bowel syndrome and healthy control subjects.
abstract: Greater responsiveness of emotional arousal circuits in relation to delivered visceral pain has been implicated as underlying central pain amplification in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), with female subjects showing greater responses than male subjects. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure neural responses to an emotion recognition paradigm, using faces expressing negative emotions (fear and anger). Sex and disease differences in the connectivity of affective and modulatory cortical circuits were studied in 47 IBS (27 premenopausal female subjects) and 67 healthy control subjects (HCs; 38 premenopausal female subjects). Male subjects (IBS+HC) showed greater overall brain responses to stimuli than female subjects in prefrontal cortex, insula, and amygdala. Effective connectivity analyses identified major sex- and disease-related differences in the functioning of brain networks related to prefrontal regions, cingulate, insula, and amygdala. Male subjects had stronger connectivity between anterior cingulate subregions, amygdala, and insula, whereas female subjects had stronger connectivity to and from the prefrontal modulatory regions (medial/dorsolateral cortex). Male IBS subjects demonstrate greater engagement of cortical and affect-related brain circuitry compared to male control subjects and female subjects, when viewing faces depicting emotions previously shown to elicit greater behavioral and brain responses in male subjects.
authors.affiliation: Oppenheimer Family Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Pain and Interoception Network (PAIN) Repository, Los Angeles, CA, USA Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Section of Developmental and Affective Neuroscience, Bethesda, MD, USA Department of Psychiatry, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Labus
authors.forename: Arpana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Kristen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Coveleskie
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tillisch
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kilpatrick
authors.forename: Johanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jarcho
authors.forename: Natasha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Feier
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bueller
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stains
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Brandall
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Suyenobu
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Naliboff
authors.forename: Emeran A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Mayer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D043183:Irritable Bowel Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000523:psychology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Emotion recognition; Irritable bowel syndrome; Sex differences