Adolescent Impulsivity is Predicted by Dynamic Functional Connectivity Between the Amygdala and Cognitive Control Network

Poster Session C - Sunday, April 14, 2024, 5:00 – 7:00 pm EDT, Sheraton Hall ABC

Attakias Mertens¹ (attakias.mertens@boystown.org), Callum Goldsmith¹, Katrina Myers¹, Jordanna Kruse¹, Jacob Oleson², Gaelle Doucet¹; ¹Boys Town National Research Hospital, ²Iowa State University

Adolescence is a period of development known for physiological and behavioral changes. Impulsivity is noted to increase during adolescence; however, the brain mechanisms behind this are not fully understood. Previous research has found that regions of the cognitive control network (CC) and the amygdala are active during impulsive behavior, especially in adolescents. Studies on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) have found that static functional connectivity (sFC) between these areas is associated with impulsivity. In contrast, fewer studies have examined adolescent impulsivity using dFC, which measures changes in FC patterns during rs-fMRI. Thus, this study examined the relationship of FC between the CC network and the amygdala (dFC and sFC, separately) and impulsivity within a developmental sample. Two datasets of typically developing adolescents/young adults were used in this study: the Human Connectome Project Development (HCP-D) (n=512, mean (sd) age=15.09 (3.82) years, 241 males) and a replication dataset (n=149, age=18.59 (3.97) years, 69 males). DFC was conducted using a non-overlapping window approach while sFC was computed using the whole time-series, after which a principal component analysis (PCA) was conducted for the sFC and dFC, separately. In the HCP-D, we found that, above and beyond age, dFC predicted impulsivity, with stronger connectivity between the CC and amygdala indicating higher impulsivity. SFC was not able to predict impulsivity. The replication dataset showed similar results, suggesting robust findings. Our results suggest that stronger dynamic connectivity between the amygdala and areas involved in higher-order cognition reflects a tendency toward impulsive behavior in adolescents.

Topic Area: METHODS: Neuroimaging