Multimodal evidence for delayed threat extinction learning in adolescence and young adulthood

Morriss, J., Christakou, A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4267-3436 and Van Reekum, C. M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1516-1101 (2019) Multimodal evidence for delayed threat extinction learning in adolescence and young adulthood. Scientific Reports, 9. 7748. ISSN 2045-2322 doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-44150-1

Abstract/Summary

Previous research in rodents and humans points to an evolutionarily conserved profle of blunted threat extinction learning during adolescence, underpinned by brain structures such as the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). In this study, we examine age-related efects on the function and structural connectivity of this system in threat extinction learning in adolescence and young adulthood. Younger age was associated with greater amygdala activity and later engagement of the mPFC to learned threat cues as compared to safety cues. Furthermore, greater structural integrity of the uncinate fasciculus, a white matter tract that connects the amygdala and mPFC, mediated the relationship between age and mPFC engagement during extinction learning. These fndings suggest that age-related changes in the structure and function of amygdala-mPFC circuitry may underlie the protracted maturation of threat regulatory precesses.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/83878
Identification Number/DOI	10.1038/s41598-019-44150-1
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Psychology Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Psychopathology and Affective Neuroscience
Publisher	Nature Publishing Group
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