Neural correlates of peer evaluation in irritable adolescents: Linking anticipation to receipt of social feedback

M Yan; T Clarkson; J C Walker; T Alam; P Brock; N Kirk; J Lee Wiggins; J M Jarcho

doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2023.108564

Neural correlates of peer evaluation in irritable adolescents: Linking anticipation to receipt of social feedback

Biol Psychol. 2023 Apr:179:108564. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2023.108564. Epub 2023 Apr 13.

Authors

M Yan¹, T Clarkson², J C Walker³, T Alam⁴, P Brock⁵, N Kirk⁵, J Lee Wiggins³, J M Jarcho²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92120, United States. Electronic address: myan5421@sdsu.edu.
² Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, United States.
³ Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92120, United States; Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego, CA 92120, United States.
⁴ Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92120, United States.
⁵ San Diego State University Research Foundation, San Diego, CA 92182, United States.

PMID: 37061084
DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2023.108564

Abstract

Elevated irritability during adolescence predicts mental health issues in adulthood. Social interactions commonly elicit symptoms of irritability. Prior research has traditionally examined neural activity during the anticipation of, and immediate reaction to, social feedback separately in irritable adolescents. However, studies suggest that irritable adolescents demonstrate altered brain activation when anticipating feedback, and these alterations may have downstream effects on the neural activity when actually presented with feedback. Thus, the goal of this study was to characterize the influence of irritability on the relationship between brain function during anticipation and receipt of social feedback. We leveraged the Virtual School task to mimic social interactions using dynamic stimuli. Parallel region of interest (ROI) analyses tested effects of anticipatory bilateral amygdala (or dorsal anterior cingulate cortex; dACC) activation on the dACC (or bilateral amygdala) activation during receipt of peer feedback. Parallel exploratory whole-brain analyses were conducted to identify the effects of anticipatory bilateral amygdala or dACC activation on other regions during receipt of peer feedback. In ROI analyses, more vs. less irritable adolescents showed distinct relationships between anticipatory bilateral amygdala activation and dACC activation when receiving predictably mean feedback. Across both whole-brain analyses, anticipatory bilateral amygdala and dACC activation were separately associated with activation in socioemotional regions of the brain during subsequent feedback. These relationships were modulated by irritability, and the valence and predictability of the feedback. This suggests that irritable adolescents may engage in altered emotion processing and regulation strategies, depending on the valence and predictability of social feedback.

Keywords: Adolescence; FMRI; Irritability; Neuroimaging; Peer evaluation; Social feedback.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Brain*
Feedback
Gyrus Cinguli / physiology
Humans
Irritable Mood* / physiology
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Peer Group