Dysfunctional Social Reinforcement Processing in Disruptive Behavior Disorders: An Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study.

Objective: Prior functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) work has revealed that children/adolescents with disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs) show dysfunctional reward/non-reward processing of non-social reinforcements in the context of instrumental learning tasks. Neural responsiveness to reinforcements during instrumental learning, despite the importance of this for socialization, has not yet been previously investigated.

Methods: Twenty-nine healthy children/adolescents and 19 children/adolescents with DBDs performed the fMRI social/non-social reinforcement learning task.

The role of ventral striatum in reward-based attentional bias.

Introduction: Models of attention suggest that endogenous and exogenous factors can bias attention. However, recent data suggest that reward can also enhance attention towards relevant stimulus features as a function of involuntary biases. In this study, we utilized the additional singleton task to determine the neural circuitry that biases perceptual processing as a function of reward history.

Neurodevelopmental Changes in Social Reinforcement Processing: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study.

Objective: In the current study we investigated neurodevelopmental changes in response to social and non-social reinforcement.

Methods: Fifty-three healthy participants including 16 early adolescents (age, 10-15 years), 16 late adolescents (age, 15-18 years), and 21 young adults (age, 21-25 years) completed a social/non-social reward learning task while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging. Participants responded to fractal image stimuli and received social or non-social reward/non-rewards according to their accuracy.

Neurobiological Programming of Early Life Stress: Functional Development of Amygdala-Prefrontal Circuitry and Vulnerability for Stress-Related Psychopathology.

Early adverse experiences are associated with heighted vulnerability for stress-related psychopathology across the lifespan. While extensive work has investigated the effects of early adversity on neurobiology in adulthood, developmental approaches can provide further insight on the neurobiological mechanisms that link early experiences and long-term mental health outcomes. In the current review, we discuss the role of emotion regulation circuitry implicated in stress-related psychopathology from a developmental and transdiagnostic perspective.

Positive valence bias and parent-child relationship security moderate the association between early institutional caregiving and internalizing symptoms.

Institutional caregiving is associated with significant deviations from species-expected caregiving, altering the normative sequence of attachment formation and placing children at risk for long-term emotional difficulties. However, little is known about factors that can promote resilience following early institutional caregiving. In the current study, we investigated how adaptations in affective processing (i.