Grey matter covariation and the role of emotion reappraisal in mental wellbeing and resilience after early life stress exposure

Haeme R P Park,Justine M Gatt,Leanne M Williams,Peter R Schofield,Yann Quidé

doi:10.1038/s41398-022-01849-6

Haeme R P Park, Justine M Gatt + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-022-01849-6

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Abstract

Resilience is a process of adaptive recovery crucial in maintaining mental wellbeing after stress exposure. A psychological factor known to buffer stress and promote positive wellbeing outcomes is the ability to regulate emotions. However, the neural networks underlying resilience, and the possible mediating role of emotion regulation, remain largely unknown. Here, we examined the association between resilience and grey matter covariation (GMC) in healthy adults with and without early life stress (ELS) exposure, and whether emotion regulation mediated this brain-resilience association. Source-based morphometry was used to identify spatial patterns of common GMC in 242 healthy participants. Wellbeing was measured using the COMPAS-W Wellbeing Scale. Linear mixed models were run to establish associations between GMC and wellbeing scores. Moderated mediation models were used to examine a conditional mediating effect of emotion regulation on the brain-wellbeing relationship, moderated by ELS exposure. Distinct ELS-related morphometric patterns were found in association with resilience. In participants without ELS exposure, decreased GMC in the temporo-parietal regions was associated with wellbeing. In participants with ELS exposure, we observed increased patterns of covariation in regions related to the salience and executive control networks, and decreased GMC in temporo-parietal areas, which were associated with resilience. Cognitive reappraisal mediated the brain-wellbeing relationship in ELS-exposed participants only. Patterns of stronger GMC in regions associated with emotional and cognitive functioning in ELS-exposed participants with high levels of wellbeing may indicate possible neural signatures of resilience. This may be further heightened by utilising an adaptive form of emotion regulation.

Highlights

Life stress (ELS) is a risk factor for multiple adverse outcomes in adulthood, including increased risk for psychopathology, substance dependence, and suicide [1–3]
Quality control of processed images was performed by checking for image homogeneity, using the Mahalanobis distance between the mean correlations of the scans and the weighted overall higher for the total DASS-42 total score, compared to those without Early life stress (ELS) exposure (t173.09 = −2.33, p = 0.021, d = 0.303)
Our key findings show that exposure to ELS moderates the relationship between wellbeing and changes in grey matter volume in middle frontal gyri, temporal regions, cingulate cortex, inferior and superior parietal lobules, somatosensory regions, precuneus, and the insula in a relatively large cohort of healthy twins

Summary

Introduction

Life stress (ELS) is a risk factor for multiple adverse outcomes in adulthood, including increased risk for psychopathology, substance dependence, and suicide [1–3]. Many individuals are able to effectively compensate for such events and positively adjust to the potential neural changes elicited by ELS— defined as the resilience process [7]. Due to the positive implications of fostering resiliency in individuals, a growing number of neuroimaging studies have started exploring the neural correlates that may be related to increased resilience [3, 8– 10]. The underlying structural bases that link both ELS exposure and mental wellbeing, and which may lead to a better understanding of the potential compensatory structural changes that are involved in resilience, remain unclear. This study aimed to determine the relationship between brain morphological networks and wellbeing/resilience as a function of ELS exposure, in a sample of healthy adults

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