Aberrant Emotion-Cognition Integration in FMR1 Premutation Carriers: a fNIRS Study

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Genetics
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Individuals with the Fragile X Messenger Ribonucleoprotein 1 (FMR1) premutation (55-200 CGG repeats) are known as premutation carriers (PMCs).
• Executive dysfunction is common in PMCs, but the underlying neural mechanisms are not well understood.
• Inhibitory control and conflict processing are key executive functions potentially affected in PMCs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the neural alterations associated with inhibitory control and conflict processing in PMCs.
• To examine hemodynamic activity using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) during cognitive tasks.
• To identify specific brain regions showing atypical activation in PMCs compared to controls.

Main Methods:

• Recruited 31 participants: 14 FMR1 premutation carriers (females) and 17 controls (3 males, 14 females).
• Utilized fNIRS to record brain activity during emotional Go/No-Go and Stroop tasks.
• Analyzed neural activation patterns in response to task demands.

Main Results:

• PMCs showed decreased activation in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) during the Stroop task (p=0.03).
• During the Go/No-Go task, PMCs exhibited increased activation in right DLPFC, right frontopolar cortex (FPC), right Broca's area, left pre-motor and supplementary motor area (SMA), and visual association cortex.
• PMCs also displayed decreased activation in the right pre-motor and SMA (p=0.018) and right somatosensory association cortex (p=0.013).

Conclusions:

• The study identified atypical neural activation patterns in PMCs during inhibitory control and conflict processing tasks.
• Findings suggest that the neurobiological mechanisms underlying these executive functions are disrupted in PMCs.
• These results may inform the development of targeted interventions for cognitive deficits in FMR1 premutation carriers.