Zhang, Yicheng
(2024)
Methodological Advancements in Infant Multimodal Neuroimaging Analysis to Elucidate Neural Processes underlying Early Emotional Dysregulation.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
High levels of infant negative emotionality (NE), low positive emotionality (PE), and deficits in emotional regulation predict future emotional and behavioral problems. Identifying neural markers of early emotional dysregulation in infancy can provide neural markers to aid early identification of vulnerability and inform interventions to mitigate or prevent psychiatric disorders before manifestation of symptoms. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) supports emotional regulation, with each subregion specializing in specific emotional processes. These PFC regions connect through white matter (WM) tracts, further supporting the neural architecture for emotional reactivity and regulation. Features from infant multimodal neuroimaging, including gray matter (GM) volume from structural MRI and cortical and WM tract microstructure from multishell diffusion MRI, can evaluate structural and microstructural alterations in the developing brain. Yet, few studies have used infant multimodal neuroimaging to examine associations between these alterations and concurrent or developing infant emotionality. Within this dissertation, PFC subregional GM volume, neurite density index (NDI), and orientation dispersion index (ODI) at 3 months were modeled with caregiver-reported infant NE and PE at 3 and 9 months, using multivariable and bivariate regression models; WM tract NDI and ODI at 3 months and their development from 3 to 9 months were modeled with caregiver-reported infant NE, PE, and soothability over the same period. Sociodemographic and clinical variables for both infant and caregiver were covariates to account for the impact of the infant’s external environment. Results indicate that greater volume in PFC regions supporting self-related information processing (superior frontal cortex) and attention to salient and unexpected environmental stimuli (ventrolateral prefrontal cortex), greater microstructural complexity in PFC regions supporting salience perception (rostral anterior cingulate cortex), decision-making (lateral orbitofrontal cortex), action selection (caudal anterior cingulate cortex), and attentional processes (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) are associated with higher NE and/or lower PE; greater increases of microstructural complexity in emotion-related WM tracts from 3 to 9 months are associated with disrupted development in PE and/or emotional regulation. Our findings highlight the involvement of emotion-related brain structures in various aspects of infant emotional regulation. These findings provide potential neural markers of future psychopathology risk.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
|
| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
6 September 2024 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
22 April 2024 |
| Approval Date: |
6 September 2024 |
| Submission Date: |
9 July 2024 |
| Access Restriction: |
2 year -- Restrict access to University of Pittsburgh for a period of 2 years. |
| Number of Pages: |
99 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Swanson School of Engineering > Bioengineering |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Infant neuroimaging; Prefrontal cortex; MRI; Diffusion MRI; Brain development; Infant emotionality |
| Date Deposited: |
06 Sep 2024 19:58 |
| Last Modified: |
06 Sep 2024 19:58 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/46665 |
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