Biological mechanisms associated with response to trauma may impact risk for depression. One such mechanism is endocannabinoid signaling (eCB), a neuromodulatory system comprised of the CB1 subtype of cannabinoid receptors (CB1R), encoded by the CNR1 gene, and two primary endogenous ligands: 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) and N-arachidonylethanolamine (AEA), hydrolyzed by monoacylglycerol lipase (gene name MGLL) and fatty […]
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I told you it was safe: Associations between intolerance of uncertainty and different types of uncertainty during instructed threat of shock.
Background and objectives: Self-reported Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) is the tendency to find uncertainty aversive. There is a lack of empirical research on how IU modulates anticipatory responding during threatening contexts with different parameters of uncertainty. Methods: Exploratory secondary analyses were conducted on an existing data set (n = 45) to examine whether IU is […]
Resting state functional connectivity in the default mode network: Relationships between cannabis use, gender, and cognition in adolescents and young adults
Introduction: Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit substance in the United States, and nearly 1 in 4 young adults are current cannabis users. Chronic cannabis use is associated with changes in resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) in the default mode network (DMN) in adolescents and young adults; results are somewhat inconsistent across studies, potentially […]
Abnormal cortical gyrification in criminal psychopathy.
Background: Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by interpersonal and emotional abnormalities (e.g., lack of empathy and guilt) and antisocial behavior. Psychopathy has been associated with a number of structural brain abnormalities, most notably in orbital frontal and anterior/medial temporal regions, that may underlie psychopathic individuals’ problematic behaviors. Past research evaluating cortical structure in psychopathy […]
If or when? Uncertainty’s role in anxious anticipation
Uncertainty is often associated with subjective distress and a potentiated anxiety response. Occurrence uncertainty, or the inability to predict if a threat will occur, has rarely been compared experimentally with temporal uncertainty, or the inability to predict when a threat will occur. The current study aimed to (a) directly compare the anxiogenic effects of anticipating […]
Conservatism and the Neural Circuitry of Threat: Economic Conservatism Predicts Greater Amygdala-BNST Connectivity During Periods of Threat vs. Safety
Political conservatism is associated with an increased negativity bias, including increased attention and reactivity toward negative and threatening stimuli. Although the amygdala has been implicated in the human response to threatening stimuli, no studies to date have investigated whether conservatism is associated with altered amygdala function toward threat. Furthermore, although an influential theory (Davis et […]
Congratulations to Maddie Kallenbach, who earned top honors for poster at the UWM Undergraduate Research Symposium!
Disentangling the effects of novelty, valence and trait anxiety in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, amygdala and hippocampus with high resolution 7T fMRI
The hippocampus and amygdala exhibit sensitivity to stimulus novelty that is reduced in participants with inhibited temperament, which is related to trait anxiety. Although the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) is highly connected to the amygdala and is implicated in anxiety, whether the BNST responds to novelty remains unstudied, as well as how […]
Congratulations to undergraduate RA, Jessica Hanson!
Jessica was one of 18 students selected for the top honors at the 2014 UW-System Symposium for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity held April 11 at UWM.