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Although the cerebellum contributes to higher-order cognitive and emotional functions relevant to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), prior research on cerebellar volume in PTSD is scant, particularly when considering subregions that differentially map on to motor, cognitive, and affective functions. In a sample of 4215 adults (PTSD n = 1642; Control n = 2573) across 40 sites from the ENIGMA-PGC PTSD working group, we employed a new state-of-the-art deep-learning based approach for automatic cerebellar parcellation to obtain volumetric estimates for the total cerebellum and 28 subregions. Linear mixed effects models controlling for age, gender, intracranial volume, and site were used to compare cerebellum volumes in PTSD compared to healthy controls (88% trauma-exposed). PTSD was associated with significant grey and white matter reductions of the cerebellum. Compared to controls, people with PTSD demonstrated smaller total cerebellum volume, as well as reduced volume in subregions primarily within the posterior lobe (lobule VIIB, crus II), vermis (VI, VIII), flocculonodular lobe (lobule X), and corpus medullare (all p-FDR

Difficulties with higher-order cognitive functions in youth are a potentially important vulnerability factor for the emergence of problematic behaviors and a range of psychopathologies. This study examined 2013 9-10 year olds in the first data release from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development 21-site consortium study in order to identify resting state functional connectivity patterns that predict individual-differences in three domains of higher-order cognitive functions: General Ability, Speed/Flexibility, and Learning/Memory. For General Ability scores in particular, we observed consistent cross-site generalizability, with statistically significant predictions in 14 out of 15 held-out sites. These results survived several tests for robustness including replication in split-half analysis and in a low head motion subsample. We additionally found that connectivity patterns involving task control networks and default mode network were prominently implicated in predicting differences in General Ability across participants. These findings demonstrate that resting state connectivity can be leveraged to produce generalizable markers of neurocognitive functioning. Additionally, they highlight the importance of task control-default mode network interconnections as a major locus of individual differences in cognitive functioning in early adolescence.

Anxiety disorders are associated with abnormalities in amygdala function and prefrontal cortex-amygdala connectivity. The majority of functional magnetic resonance imaging studies have examined mean group differences in amygdala activation or connectivity in children and adolescents with anxiety disorders relative to controls, but emerging evidence suggests that abnormalities in amygdala function are dependent on the timing of the task and may vary across the course of a scanning session. The goal of the present study was to extend our knowledge of the dynamics of amygdala dysfunction by examining whether changes in amygdala activation and connectivity over scanning differ in pediatric anxiety disorder patients relative to typically developing controls during an emotion processing task. Examining changes in activation over time allows for a comparison of how brain function differs during initial exposure to novel stimuli versus more prolonged exposure. Participants included 34 anxiety disorder patients and 19 controls 7 to 19 years old. Participants performed an emotional face-matching task during functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning, and the task was divided into thirds in order to examine change in activation over time. Results demonstrated that patients exhibited an abnormal pattern of amygdala activation characterized by an initially heightened amygdala response relative to controls at the beginning of scanning, followed by significant decreases in activation over time. In addition, controls evidenced greater context-modulated prefrontal cortex-amygdala connectivity during the beginning of scanning relative to patients. These results indicate that differences in emotion processing between the groups vary from initial exposure to novel stimuli relative to more prolonged exposure. Implications are discussed regarding how this pattern of neural activation may relate to altered early-occurring or anticipatory emotion-regulation strategies and maladaptive later-occurring strategies in children and adolescents with anxiety disorders.

BackgroundPediatric and adult anxiety disorder patients exhibit attention bias to threat and difficulty disengaging attention away from threat. Cognitive frameworks suggest that these patterns are associated with hyperactivation of regions associated with detecting threat, such as the amygdala, and hypoactivation of regions associated with regulating attention, including the lateral prefrontal cortex and rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC). The aim of the present study was to examine the neural correlates of these processes in children and adolescents with anxiety disorders.MethodsParticipants with an anxiety disorder 7 to 19 years old (n = 34) and typically developing controls (n = 35) underwent fMRI scanning. During scanning, they completed a task with conditions that manipulated whether participants were instructed to match emotional faces (direct emotion processing) or match shapes in the context of emotional face distractors (attentional control).ResultsResults revealed a significant difference in rACC activation during shape versus face matching, with controls evidencing greater rACC activation relative to patients.ConclusionsThis study identifies abnormalities in rACC activation as a potential neural mediator associated with pediatric anxiety disorders, which can inform frameworks for understanding their development and treatment.

Background: Structural models of psychopathology consistently identify internalizing (INT) and externalizing (EXT) specific factors as well as a superordinate factor that captures their shared variance, the p factor. Questions remain, however, about the meaning of these data-driven dimensions and the interpretability and distinguishability of the larger nomological networks in which they are embedded. Methods: The sample consisted of 10 645 youth aged 9–10 years participating in the multisite Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. p , INT, and EXT were modeled using the parent-rated Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Patterns of associations were examined with variables drawn from diverse domains including demographics, psychopathology, temperament, family history of substance use and psychopathology, school and family environment, and cognitive ability, using instruments based on youth-, parent-, and teacher-report, and behavioral task performance. Results: p exhibited a broad pattern of statistically significant associations with risk variables across all domains assessed, including temperament, neurocognition, and social adversity. The specific factors exhibited more domain-specific patterns of associations, with INT exhibiting greater fear/distress and EXT exhibiting greater impulsivity. Conclusions: In this largest study of hierarchical models of psychopathology to date, we found that p , INT, and EXT exhibit well-differentiated nomological networks that are interpretable in terms of neurocognition, impulsivity, fear/distress, and social adversity. These networks were, in contrast, obscured when relying on the a priori Internalizing and Externalizing dimensions of the CBCL scales. Our findings add to the evidence for the validity of p , INT, and EXT as theoretically and empirically meaningful broad psychopathology liabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]