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Maternal overprotection in childhood is associated with amygdala reactivity and structural connectivity in adulthood.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Farber, MJ; Kim, MJ; Knodt, AR; Hariri, AR
Published in: Developmental cognitive neuroscience
December 2019

Recently, we reported that variability in early-life caregiving experiences maps onto individual differences in threat-related brain function. Here, we extend this work to provide further evidence that subtle variability in specific features of early caregiving shapes structural and functional connectivity between the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in a cohort of 312 young adult volunteers. Multiple regression analyses revealed that participants who reported higher maternal overprotection exhibited increased amygdala reactivity to explicit signals of interpersonal threat but not implicit signals of broad environmental threat. While amygdala functional connectivity with regulatory regions of the mPFC was not significantly associated with maternal overprotection, participants who reported higher maternal overprotection exhibited relatively decreased structural integrity of the uncinate fasciculus (UF), a white matter tract connecting these same brain regions. There were no significant associations between structural or functional brain measures and either maternal or paternal care ratings. These findings suggest that an overprotective maternal parenting style during childhood is associated with later functional and structural alterations of brain regions involved in generating and regulating responses to threat.

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Published In

Developmental cognitive neuroscience

DOI

EISSN

1878-9307

ISSN

1878-9293

Publication Date

December 2019

Volume

40

Start / End Page

100711

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Prefrontal Cortex
  • Parenting
  • Neural Pathways
  • Mothers
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Child
  • Brain
 

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Farber, M. J., Kim, M. J., Knodt, A. R., & Hariri, A. R. (2019). Maternal overprotection in childhood is associated with amygdala reactivity and structural connectivity in adulthood. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 40, 100711. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2019.100711
Farber, Madeline J., M Justin Kim, Annchen R. Knodt, and Ahmad R. Hariri. “Maternal overprotection in childhood is associated with amygdala reactivity and structural connectivity in adulthood.Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience 40 (December 2019): 100711. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2019.100711.
Farber MJ, Kim MJ, Knodt AR, Hariri AR. Maternal overprotection in childhood is associated with amygdala reactivity and structural connectivity in adulthood. Developmental cognitive neuroscience. 2019 Dec;40:100711.
Farber, Madeline J., et al. “Maternal overprotection in childhood is associated with amygdala reactivity and structural connectivity in adulthood.Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, vol. 40, Dec. 2019, p. 100711. Epmc, doi:10.1016/j.dcn.2019.100711.
Farber MJ, Kim MJ, Knodt AR, Hariri AR. Maternal overprotection in childhood is associated with amygdala reactivity and structural connectivity in adulthood. Developmental cognitive neuroscience. 2019 Dec;40:100711.

Published In

Developmental cognitive neuroscience

DOI

EISSN

1878-9307

ISSN

1878-9293

Publication Date

December 2019

Volume

40

Start / End Page

100711

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Prefrontal Cortex
  • Parenting
  • Neural Pathways
  • Mothers
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Child
  • Brain