The Effects of Early Life Stress on Decision Making Under Risk, Response Inhibition, and Error Processing as Risk Factors for Cocaine Addiction Public
Straub, Amanda Lea (2010)
Abstract
Early life stress is associated with an increased risk for drug addiction, but little is understood about how traumatic events in childhood mediate adverse outcomes in adulthood. Eleven adults with early life stress histories (ELS group), eleven men with cocaine dependence (Cocaine group), and fifteen healthy comparison subjects (Control group) participated in an fMRI study of response inhibition and decision making under risk. In a stop-signal task, groups did not differ in stop-signal reaction time, a measure of response inhibition. However, exploratory analyses determined that both ELS males and cocaine-dependent subjects failed to display adaptive slowing following failed stops. Neuroimaging data identified diminished striatal and insula responses in the ELS subjects compared to the Control group for errors of commission; a regression analysis of Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) total scores across these trials indicated a dose-effect relationship between early life stress and insula hypoactivity following errors of commission. Despite reduced adaptive slowing behavior, cocaine-dependent individuals displayed greater error-related activations in the striatum - but not insula - compared with the Control group. These results implicate early life stress in an inability to adapt behavior to a changing environment, potentially through reduced insula activity related to poor recognition of errors. The behavioral results from a decision making task revealed no group differences among females in choice selection. However, ELS males and Cocaine males were more likely than Control males to make risky decisions for small rewards. fMRI results indicated that decision making activated the bilateral striatum in the Control group but not the ELS or Cocaine groups. A regression analysis of decision making trials and CTQ total scores further revealed that early life stress results in decreased engagement of the striatum and frontal cortical regions during decision making under risk. These results suggest that early life stress may affect the processes of reward valuation and choice selection through altered neurodevelopment of striatal and frontal brain regions. This research provides a novel understanding of the effects of early life stress on cognitive processes and their behavioral consequences and identifies potential brain mechanisms through which early life stress may increase risk for addiction.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
CONTENTS PAGE
NUMBERS
Introduction
1
Methods
12
Results
25
Discussion
35
Figures and Tables
46
Literature Cited
72
Figures and Tables
CONTENTS PAGE
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Figure 1
46
Figure 2
47
Table 1
48
Figure 3
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Table 2
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Figure 4
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Table 3
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Table 4
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Table 5
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Table 6
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Table 7
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Table 8
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Table 9
58
Figure 5
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Figure 6
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Figure 7
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Figure 8
63
Figure 9
64
Figure 10
65
Table 10
66
Table 11
67
Table 12
68
Table13
69
Table 14
70
Figure 11
71
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