title: Stress-related anhedonia is associated with ventral striatum reactivity to reward and transdiagnostic psychiatric symptomatology.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Early life stress (ELS) is consistently associated with increased risk for subsequent psychopathology. Individual differences in neural response to reward may confer vulnerability to stress-related psychopathology. Using data from the ongoing Duke Neurogenetics Study, the present study examined whether reward-related ventral striatum (VS) reactivity moderates the relationship between retrospectively reported ELS and anhedonic symptomatology. We further assessed whether individual differences in reward-related VS reactivity were associated with other depressive symptoms and problematic alcohol use via stress-related anhedonic symptoms and substance use-associated coping.
  
  
  METHODS
  Blood oxygen level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was collected while participants (n = 906) completed a card-guessing task, which robustly elicits VS reactivity. ELS, anhedonic symptoms, other depressive symptoms, coping behavior, and alcohol use behavior were assessed with self-report questionnaires. Linear regressions were run to examine whether VS reactivity moderated the relationship between ELS and anhedonic symptoms. Structural equation models examined whether this moderation was indirectly associated with other depression symptoms and problematic alcohol use through its association with anhedonia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Analyses of data from 820 participants passing quality control procedures revealed that the VS × ELS interaction was associated with anhedonic symptoms (p = 0.011). Moreover, structural equation models indirectly linked this interaction to non-anhedonic depression symptoms and problematic alcohol use through anhedonic symptoms and substance-related coping.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that reduced VS reactivity to reward is associated with increased risk for anhedonia in individuals exposed to ELS. Such stress-related anhedonia is further associated with other depressive symptoms and problematic alcohol use through substance-related coping.
authors: Department of Psychiatry,Washington University in St Louis,St Louis,MO,USA.
authors: N S
authors: NS
authors: Corral-Frías
authors: Laboratory of NeuroGenetics,Department of Psychology and Neuroscience,Duke University,Durham,NC,USA.
authors: Y S
authors: YS
authors: Nikolova
authors: BRAIN Laboratory,Department of Psychology,Washington University in St Louis,St Louis,MO,USA.
authors: L J
authors: LJ
authors: Michalski
authors: BRAIN Laboratory,Department of Psychology,Washington University in St Louis,St Louis,MO,USA.
authors: D A A
authors: DA
authors: Baranger
authors: Laboratory of NeuroGenetics,Department of Psychology and Neuroscience,Duke University,Durham,NC,USA.
authors: A R
authors: AR
authors: Hariri
authors: Department of Psychiatry,Washington University in St Louis,St Louis,MO,USA.
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Bogdan
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D059445:Anhedonia / Q000502:physiology; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009657:North Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012201:Reward; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D013334:Students; D014495:Universities; D066328:Ventral Striatum; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Alcohol; anhedonia; depression; early life stress; fMRI; reward; ventral striatum