title: Amygdala responses to salient social cues vary with oxytocin receptor genotype in youth.
abstract: Depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder are linked to altered limbic morphology, dysregulated neuroendocrine function, and heightened amygdala responses to salient social cues. Oxytocin appears to be a potent modulator of amygdala reactivity and neuroendocrine responses to psychosocial stress. Given these stress regulatory effects, there is increasing interest in understanding the role of oxytocin in vulnerability to stress-related clinical disorders. The present study examines the impact of a common functional variant within the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene (rs2254298) on structure and function of the amygdala in a high-risk sample of urban, low-income, minority youth with a high incidence of early life stress (ELS). Compared to G/G homozygotes, youth carrying the OXTR A-allele showed increased amygdala volume, reduced behavioral performance, and heightened amygdala response during two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) tasks that involved viewing socially-relevant face stimuli. Higher amygdala response was related to ELS in A-allele carriers but not G/G homozygotes. These findings underscore a series of relations among a common oxytocin system gene variant, ELS exposure, and structure and function of the amygdala in early life. Heightened amygdala response to salient social cues in OXTR A-allele carriers may elevate risk for emotional psychopathology by increasing amygdala involvement in disambiguating environmental cues, particularly for individuals with ELS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, USA; Merill Palmer Skillman Institute for Child and Family Development, Wayne State University, 71 E Ferry Street, Dertroit, MI 48202, USA.
authors.forename: Hilary A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Marusak
authors.affiliation: Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, USA.
authors.forename: Daniella J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Furman
authors.affiliation: Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine, USA.
authors.forename: Nisha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kuruvadi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, USA.
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Shattuck
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, USA.
authors.forename: Shantanu H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Joshi
authors.affiliation: Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California, USA; Signal and Image Processing Institute, University of Southern California, USA.
authors.forename: Anand A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Joshi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, USA; Sierra-Pacific Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC), Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, USA.
authors.forename: Amit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Etkin
authors.affiliation: Merill Palmer Skillman Institute for Child and Family Development, Wayne State University, 71 E Ferry Street, Dertroit, MI 48202, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Wayne State University School of Medicine, USA. Electronic address: moriah@wayne.edu.
authors.forename: Moriah E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Thomason
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000679:Amygdala / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D003463:Cues; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D005838:Genotype; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000098:blood supply; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008913:Minority Groups; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics*; D011203:Poverty; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D018045:Receptors, Oxytocin / Q000235:genetics*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: C569600:OXTR protein, human; D018045:Receptors, Oxytocin; D010100:Oxygen
keywords: Depression; Early stress; Genetics; Limbic; Stroop