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Microstructural integrity of white matter moderates an association between childhood adversity and adult trait anger.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Kim, MJ; Elliott, ML; d'Arbeloff, TC; Knodt, AR; Radtke, SR; Brigidi, BD; Hariri, AR
Published in: Aggressive behavior
May 2019

Amongst a number of negative life sequelae associated with childhood adversity is the later expression of a higher dispositional tendency to experience anger and frustration to a wide range of situations (i.e., trait anger). We recently reported that an association between childhood adversity and trait anger is moderated by individual differences in both threat-related amygdala activity and executive control-related dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) activity, wherein individuals with relatively low amygdala and high dlPFC activity do not express higher trait anger even when having experienced childhood adversity. Here, we examine possible structural correlates of this functional dynamic using diffusion magnetic resonance imaging data from 647 young adult men and women volunteers. Specifically, we tested whether the degree of white matter microstructural integrity as indexed by fractional anisotropy modulated the association between childhood adversity and trait anger. Our analyses revealed that higher microstructural integrity of multiple pathways was associated with an attenuated link between childhood adversity and adult trait anger. Amongst these pathways was the uncinate fasciculus (UF; ΔR 2  = 0.01), which not only provides a major anatomical link between the amygdala and prefrontal cortex but also is associated with individual differences in regulating negative emotion through top-down cognitive reappraisal. These findings suggest that higher microstructural integrity of distributed white matter pathways including but not limited to the UF may represent an anatomical foundation serving to buffer against the expression of childhood adversity as later trait anger, which is itself associated with multiple negative health outcomes.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Aggressive behavior

DOI

EISSN

1098-2337

ISSN

0096-140X

Publication Date

May 2019

Volume

45

Issue

3

Start / End Page

310 / 318

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • White Matter
  • Prefrontal Cortex
  • Personality
  • Neural Pathways
  • Male
  • Individuality
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Executive Function
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Kim, M. J., Elliott, M. L., d’Arbeloff, T. C., Knodt, A. R., Radtke, S. R., Brigidi, B. D., & Hariri, A. R. (2019). Microstructural integrity of white matter moderates an association between childhood adversity and adult trait anger. Aggressive Behavior, 45(3), 310–318. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21820
Kim, M Justin, Maxwell L. Elliott, Tracy C. d’Arbeloff, Annchen R. Knodt, Spenser R. Radtke, Bartholomew D. Brigidi, and Ahmad R. Hariri. “Microstructural integrity of white matter moderates an association between childhood adversity and adult trait anger.Aggressive Behavior 45, no. 3 (May 2019): 310–18. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21820.
Kim MJ, Elliott ML, d’Arbeloff TC, Knodt AR, Radtke SR, Brigidi BD, et al. Microstructural integrity of white matter moderates an association between childhood adversity and adult trait anger. Aggressive behavior. 2019 May;45(3):310–8.
Kim, M. Justin, et al. “Microstructural integrity of white matter moderates an association between childhood adversity and adult trait anger.Aggressive Behavior, vol. 45, no. 3, May 2019, pp. 310–18. Epmc, doi:10.1002/ab.21820.
Kim MJ, Elliott ML, d’Arbeloff TC, Knodt AR, Radtke SR, Brigidi BD, Hariri AR. Microstructural integrity of white matter moderates an association between childhood adversity and adult trait anger. Aggressive behavior. 2019 May;45(3):310–318.
Journal cover image

Published In

Aggressive behavior

DOI

EISSN

1098-2337

ISSN

0096-140X

Publication Date

May 2019

Volume

45

Issue

3

Start / End Page

310 / 318

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • White Matter
  • Prefrontal Cortex
  • Personality
  • Neural Pathways
  • Male
  • Individuality
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Executive Function