Associations between amygdala connectivity and experienced discrimination in children

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Public Health

Background:

• Discrimination is a significant chronic stressor with documented adverse health outcomes, especially among racial and ethnic minorities.
• Early life experiences, including discrimination, can shape brain development and potentially influence long-term health trajectories.
• Understanding the neural mechanisms linking childhood discrimination to health is crucial for intervention and prevention strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between perceived discrimination (PD) and brain connectivity in children.
• To explore how PD relates to amygdala connectivity with key brain networks, including the salience network (SN), default mode network (DMN), and thalamus.
• To examine potential moderators, such as traumatic experiences, in these associations, particularly within a diverse subsample.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from 4512 children (ages 9-11) from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study®.
• Employed linear mixed-effects models to assess the relationship between youth self-reported PD and amygdala resting-state fMRI connectivity (AC).
• Conducted secondary analyses to evaluate environmental and behavioral factors as moderators in the full sample and a BIPOC subsample (N = 1567).

Main Results:

• Higher levels of perceived discrimination (PD) were significantly associated with increased amygdala connectivity (AC) to the right thalamus in the overall sample.
• In the BIPOC subsample, a significant interaction was found: traumatic experiences moderated the PD-AC link to the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC; SN).
• Specifically, greater traumatic experiences amplified the positive association between PD and AC to the ACC.

Conclusions:

• Perceived discrimination in early life impacts neural connectivity, specifically affecting the amygdala's connections to the thalamus and, in vulnerable subgroups, the ACC.
• These findings highlight discrimination as a critical factor influencing brain development during childhood.
• The results underscore the importance of considering the neurobiological effects of discrimination in the context of psychopathology risk.