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Sex differences in neural mechanisms of social and non-social threat monitoring

Adolescent males and females differ in their responses to social threat. Yet, threat processing is often probed in non-social contexts using the error-related negativity (ERN; Flanker EEG Task), which does not yield sex-specific outcomes. fMRI studies show inconsistent patterns of sex-specific neura...

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Autores principales: Clarkson, Tessa, Karvay, Yvette, Quarmley, Megan, Jarcho, Johanna M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Elsevier 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8608892/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34814040
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2021.101038
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author Clarkson, Tessa
Karvay, Yvette
Quarmley, Megan
Jarcho, Johanna M.
author_facet Clarkson, Tessa
Karvay, Yvette
Quarmley, Megan
Jarcho, Johanna M.
author_sort Clarkson, Tessa
collection PubMed
description Adolescent males and females differ in their responses to social threat. Yet, threat processing is often probed in non-social contexts using the error-related negativity (ERN; Flanker EEG Task), which does not yield sex-specific outcomes. fMRI studies show inconsistent patterns of sex-specific neural engagement during threat processing. Thus, the relation between threat processing in non-social and social contexts across sexes and the effects perceived level of threat on brain function are unclear. We tested the interactive effect of non-social threat-vigilance (ERN), sex (N = 69; Male=34; 11–14-year-olds), and perceived social threat on brain function while anticipating feedback from ‘unpredictable’, ‘nice’, or ‘mean’ purported peers (fMRI; Virtual School Paradigm). Whole-brain analyses revealed differential engagement of precentral and inferior frontal gyri, putamen, anterior cingulate cortex, and insula. Among males with more threat-vigilant ERNs, greater social threat was associated with increased activation when anticipating unpredictable feedback. Region of interest analyses revealed this same relation in females in the amygdala and anterior hippocampus when anticipating mean feedback. Thus, non-social threat vigilance relates to neural engagement depending on perceived social threat, but peer-based social contexts and brain regions engaged, differ across sexes. This may partially explain divergent psychosocial outcomes in adolescence.
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spelling pubmed-86088922021-11-29 Sex differences in neural mechanisms of social and non-social threat monitoring Clarkson, Tessa Karvay, Yvette Quarmley, Megan Jarcho, Johanna M. Dev Cogn Neurosci Original Research Adolescent males and females differ in their responses to social threat. Yet, threat processing is often probed in non-social contexts using the error-related negativity (ERN; Flanker EEG Task), which does not yield sex-specific outcomes. fMRI studies show inconsistent patterns of sex-specific neural engagement during threat processing. Thus, the relation between threat processing in non-social and social contexts across sexes and the effects perceived level of threat on brain function are unclear. We tested the interactive effect of non-social threat-vigilance (ERN), sex (N = 69; Male=34; 11–14-year-olds), and perceived social threat on brain function while anticipating feedback from ‘unpredictable’, ‘nice’, or ‘mean’ purported peers (fMRI; Virtual School Paradigm). Whole-brain analyses revealed differential engagement of precentral and inferior frontal gyri, putamen, anterior cingulate cortex, and insula. Among males with more threat-vigilant ERNs, greater social threat was associated with increased activation when anticipating unpredictable feedback. Region of interest analyses revealed this same relation in females in the amygdala and anterior hippocampus when anticipating mean feedback. Thus, non-social threat vigilance relates to neural engagement depending on perceived social threat, but peer-based social contexts and brain regions engaged, differ across sexes. This may partially explain divergent psychosocial outcomes in adolescence. Elsevier 2021-11-18 /pmc/articles/PMC8608892/ /pubmed/34814040 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2021.101038 Text en © 2021 Published by Elsevier Ltd. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
spellingShingle Original Research
Clarkson, Tessa
Karvay, Yvette
Quarmley, Megan
Jarcho, Johanna M.
Sex differences in neural mechanisms of social and non-social threat monitoring
title Sex differences in neural mechanisms of social and non-social threat monitoring
title_full Sex differences in neural mechanisms of social and non-social threat monitoring
title_fullStr Sex differences in neural mechanisms of social and non-social threat monitoring
title_full_unstemmed Sex differences in neural mechanisms of social and non-social threat monitoring
title_short Sex differences in neural mechanisms of social and non-social threat monitoring
title_sort sex differences in neural mechanisms of social and non-social threat monitoring
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8608892/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34814040
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2021.101038
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