Differences In Behavioral Inhibition Research Articles

Molecular mechanisms underlying resting-state brain functional correlates of behavioral inhibition

Previous literature has established the presence of sex differences in behavioral inhibition as well as its neural substrates and related disease risk. However, there is limited evidence that speaks directly to the question of whether or not there are sex-dependent associations between behavioral inhibition and resting-state brain function and, if so, how they are modulated by the underlying molecular mechanisms. We computed functional connectivity density (FCD) using resting-state functional MRI data to examine their associations with behavioral inhibition ability measured using a Go/No-Go task across a large cohort of 510 healthy young adults. Then, we examined the spatial relationships of the FCD correlates of behavioral inhibition with gene expression and neurotransmitter atlases to explore their potential genetic architecture and neurochemical basis. A significant negative correlation between behavioral inhibition and FCD in the left superior parietal lobule was found in females but not males. Further spatial correlation analyses demonstrated that the identified neural correlates of behavioral inhibition were associated with expression of gene categories predominantly implicating essential components of the cerebral cortex (glial cell, neuron, axon, dendrite, and synapse) and ion channel activity, as well as were linked to the serotonergic system. Our findings may not only yield important insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the female-specific neural substrates of behavioral inhibition, but also provide a critical context for understanding how biological sex might contribute to variation in behavioral inhibition and its related disease risk.

Behavioral Inhibition and Activation (BIS/BAS) Among Extremely Low Birth Weight Adult Survivors

Abstract. Although individual differences in behavioral inhibition and behavioral activation (BIS/BAS) are associated with differential risk of psychopathology in typical development, and extremely low birth weight (ELBW) survivors experience higher rates of psychopathology, measures of BIS/BAS have been largely unexplored in this population. As well, apparently no studies have examined the long-term stability of BIS/BAS in typical or atypical development. Ninety-nine ELBW survivors and 86 normal birth weight (NBW) control participants completed a measure of BIS/BAS at ages 22–26 and 30–35 years. At age 30–35 years we found that ELBW survivors scored lower on the BAS scale than NBW controls, but did not differ on the BIS scale. We also found evidence for long-term stability of BIS/BAS at the individual and rank-order levels, but not at the mean-level. These results highlight the importance of considering stability of motivational aspects of personality and also add to our understanding of how individual differences in these motivational tendencies may underlie psychopathology among ELBW survivors.

Levels of early-childhood behavioral inhibition predict distinct neurodevelopmental pathways to pediatric anxiety.

Anxiety symptoms gradually emerge during childhood and adolescence. Individual differences in behavioral inhibition (BI), an early-childhood temperament, may shape developmental paths through which these symptoms arise. Cross-sectional research suggests that level of early-childhood BI moderates associations between later anxiety symptoms and threat-related amygdala-prefrontal cortex (PFC) circuitry function. However, no study has characterized these associations longitudinally. Here, we tested whether level of early-childhood BI predicts distinct evolving associations between amygdala-PFC function and anxiety symptoms across development. Eighty-seven children previously assessed for BI level in early childhood provided data at ages 10 and/or 13 years, consisting of assessments of anxiety and an fMRI-based dot-probe task (including threat, happy, and neutral stimuli). Using linear-mixed-effects models, we investigated longitudinal changes in associations between anxiety symptoms and threat-related amygdala-PFC connectivity, as a function of early-childhood BI. In children with a history of high early-childhood BI, anxiety symptoms became, with age, more negatively associated with right amygdala-left dorsolateral-PFC connectivity when attention was to be maintained on threat. In contrast, with age, low-BI children showed an increasingly positive anxiety-connectivity association during the same task condition. Behaviorally, at age 10, anxiety symptoms did not relate to fluctuations in attention bias (attention bias variability, ABV) in either group; by age 13, low-BI children showed a negative anxiety-ABV association, whereas high-BI children showed a positive anxiety-ABV association. Early-childhood BI levels predict distinct neurodevelopmental pathways to pediatric anxiety symptoms. These pathways involve distinct relations among brain function, behavior, and anxiety symptoms, which may inform diagnosis and treatment.

Individual differences in affective touch: Behavioral inhibition and gender define how an interpersonal touch is perceived

Receiving a tender caress from a caregiver or spouse reduces stress and promotes emotional well-being, but receiving the same caress from a stranger makes us feel uncomfortable. According to recent neurophysiological findings, we not only react differently to the invited versus uninvited touch but also perceive the touch differently depending on context. A virtual reality experiment was conducted to investigate whether individual differences regarding behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and gender contribute to this affective touch perception. Touch perception was measured directly using self-reports and indirectly using the touch-related orienting response. The results showed that touch perception depended on the emotional expression of the virtual agents. High-arousal approach-related (happiness, anger) and avoidance-related (fear) expressions increased self-reported touch intensity, while happiness reduced the orienting response to touch. Moreover, interpersonal differences in behavioral inhibition and gender played distinct roles: BIS sensitivity in males was associated with stronger affective touch perception, particularly with high-arousal emotions whereas in females BIS sensitivity did not affect touch perception. The results suggest that individual differences that are related to preferences regarding tactile communication also determine how touch is perceived.

Fearful victims and fearless bullies? Subjective reactions to emotional imagery scenes of children involved in school aggression

Being aggressive has been related to fearlessness, low empathy and premeditated antisocial behaviors. The current study examined how school bullies and victims respond to affective situations presented through imagery. It was hypothesized that victims would perceive fear imagery as more fearful than bullies, demonstrating their proneness to fear and high behavioral inhibition. Bullies were expected to perceive fear imagery as less fearful and experience less negative affect, based on their callous-unemotional characteristics. Children participated in a tone-cued imagery experiment during which they imagined for 8s twelve pre-normed scripts describing fear, anger, joy and pleasant relaxation. Children rated their experienced emotions of fear, anger, joy and sadness for each scene. Bullies responded with low levels of fear to fear imagery and across emotion types and reported overall higher positive affect, even during provocative anger scenes. In contrast, victims responded with higher fear, anger and sadness. The varied emotional responses appeared to be partly explained by group differences in behavioral inhibition, which was high in victims. Results are discussed in light of aggression theories and potential interventions.

Individual differences and day-to-day fluctuations in perceived self-regulation associated with daily adherence in late adolescents with type 1 diabetes.

To examine whether individual differences and intraindividual (within-person day-to-day) fluctuations in late adolescents' self-regulation were associated with daily adherence to the type 1 diabetes regimen. 110 school seniors (M age = 17.78 years) and their mothers assessed adolescents' skills underlying self-regulation (executive function, attention, self-control, behavioral inhibition and activation, emotion regulation) and adherence, with glycosylated hemoglobin from medical records. Teens completed daily diaries reporting self-regulation failures surrounding monitoring blood glucose, adherence, and number of blood glucose checks each day for 14 days. Hierarchical Linear Models indicated that better daily adherence was associated with teen and mother reports of better self-regulation skills and teens' reports of fewer daily self-regulation failures. Daily adherence was unrelated to temperamental differences in behavioral inhibition and activation. Results indicate that both individual and intraindividual differences in self-regulation contribute to daily adherence highlighting the importance of daily self-regulatory challenges to adherence.

The development of stranger fear in infancy and toddlerhood: normative development, individual differences, antecedents, and outcomes

Despite implications that stranger fear is an important aspect of developing behavioral inhibition, a known risk factor for anxiety, normative and atypical developmental trajectories of stranger fear across infancy and toddlerhood remain understudied. We used a large, longitudinal data set (N = 1285) including multi-trait, multi-method assessments of temperament to examine the normative course of development for stranger fear and to explore the possibility that individual differences exist in trajectories of stranger fear development between 6 and 36 months of age. A latent class growth analysis suggested four different trajectories of stranger fear during this period. Stable, high levels of stranger fear over time were associated with poorer RSA suppression at 6 months of age. Rates of concordance in trajectory-based class membership for identical (monozygotic) and fraternal (dizygotic) twins, along with associations between atypical stranger fear development and greater anxiety-related maternal characteristics, suggested that individual differences in developmental trajectories of stranger fear may be heritable. Importantly, trajectories of stranger fear during infancy and toddlerhood were linked to individual differences in behavioral inhibition, with chronically high levels of stranger fear and sharp increases in stranger fear over time related to greater levels of inhibition than other developmental trajectories.

Behavioral inhibition and risk for posttraumatic stress symptoms in Latino children exposed to violence.

Latino children in urban contexts marked by poverty are at high risk of being exposed to violence and developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Nonetheless, there is great variability in individual responses to violence exposure. This study examines risk for developing re-experiencing, avoidance, and arousal symptoms of PTSD as a function of individual differences in behavioral inhibition and exposure to community violence. Participants were 148 Latino students (M age =11.43years, SD = 0.69; 55% girls) living in an area marked by poverty and crime. Children completed self-report measures of behavioral inhibition and posttraumatic stress symptoms during a baseline assessment. During a follow-up interview 6months later, children completed self-report measures of exposure to community violence since the baseline assessment and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Structural equation models revealed that behavioral inhibition at baseline was positively associated with PTSD avoidance and arousal symptoms at follow-up, after controlling for symptoms at baseline. Furthermore, behavioral inhibition moderated the association between violence exposure and symptoms such that violence was more strongly associated with the development of PTSD avoidance symptoms as behavioral inhibition increased. Results suggest that individual differences in behavioral inhibition contribute to risk for specific PTSD symptoms and are important for understanding variation in responses to trauma exposure. By examining diathesis--stress models within a disorder, we may be better able to elucidate the etiology of a disorder and translate this improved understanding into personalized intervention approaches that maximize effectiveness.

Emotional reactivity and force control: The influence of behavioral inhibition

Individual difference measures have been shown to alter emotional arousal and emotional arousal alters force production during force control tasks. In the current study we examined whether individual differences in behavioral inhibition influence force control during emotional image viewing. Subjects who scored high and low in behavioral inhibition (BIS) produced force with visual feedback for 5s. Feedback was then removed and replaced by a mutilation, attack, erotica, or neutral image for 6s. The magnitude and direction of error in force production during image presentation was compared between groups and across image type. The high BIS group displayed a relative increase in force production during exposure to attack and mutilation images compared to the low BIS group. Bias scores (i.e., comparison of unpleasant image to neutral or pleasant image) further confirmed these findings by demonstrating a relative increase in force for the high BIS group during attack and mutilation images as compared to erotica images, whereas the low BIS group displayed the reverse effect. Together these findings extend the premise of action readiness to demonstrate that dispositional differences in behavioral inhibition interact with emotional state to alter force production.

White matter integrity and behavioral activation in healthy subjects.

Individual differences in behavioral inhibition and behavioral activation may place certain people at greater risk for neuropsychiatric disorders and engagement in risky behaviors. Therefore, studying the neural correlates of behavioral inhibition and activation may help us understand neural mechanisms underlying risk behaviors in both clinical and non-clinical populations. To investigate, we assessed the relationships between white matter integrity and measures of behavioral inhibition and behavioral activation in 51 healthy participants using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and the Behavioral Inhibition System/Behavioral Activation System (BIS/BAS) scale. Scores on the Fun-Seeking subscale of the BAS positively correlated with DTI fractional anisotropy in the left corona radiata and adjacent superior longitudinal fasciculus, and with mean diffusivity in the left inferior longitudinal fasciculus and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus after controlling for age, gender, and education. These findings suggest that the integrity of white matter connecting extensive brain regions implicated in self-control and the processing of rewards and emotions are associated with individual differences in the motivation for seeking and participating in fun and novel experiences.

The effects of the behavioral inhibition and activation systems on social inclusion and exclusion

Human beings have a strong fundamental need to form and maintain relationships. Social exclusion therefore evokes social pain in excluded individuals, whereas social inclusion evokes pleasure in those individuals who are included. The present study used near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to investigate whether individual differences in personality, specifically differences in behavioral inhibition and activation system (BIS and BAS) functioning, affect the experiences of social pleasure and pain. Thirty-seven undergraduates participated in an NIRS session that involved both social rejection and inclusion during an online ball-tossing game. People with greater BIS sensitivity experienced more social pain during social exclusion, while people with greater BAS sensitivity reported more social pleasure during social inclusion. BIS sensitivity was negatively correlated with ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) activity during social exclusion. Finally, VLPFC activity partially mediated the relationship between BIS sensitivity and social pain experienced during social exclusion.

Strain Differences in Behavioral Inhibition in a Go/No‐go Task Demonstrated Using 15 Inbred Mouse Strains

High levels of impulsivity have been associated with a number of substance abuse disorders including alcohol abuse. Research has not yet revealed whether these high levels predate the development of alcohol abuse. The current study examined impulsivity in 15 inbred strains of mice (A/HeJ, AKR/J, BALB/cJ, C3H/HeJ, C57BL/6J, C57L/J, C58/J, CBA/J, DBA/1J, DBA/2J, NZB/B1NJ, PL/J, SJL/J, SWR/J, and 129P3/J) using a Go/No-go task, which was designed to measure a subject's ability to inhibit a behavior. Numerous aspects of response to ethanol and other drugs of abuse have been examined in these strains. There were significant strain differences in the number of responses made during the No-go signal (false alarms) and the extent to which strains responded differentially during the Go and No-go signals (d'). The rate of responding prior to the cue did not differ among strains, although there was a statistically significant correlation between false alarms and precue responding that was not related to basal activity level. Interstrain correlations suggested that false alarms and rate of responding were associated with strain differences in ethanol-related traits from the published literature. The results of this study do support a link between innate level of impulsivity and response to ethanol and are consistent with a genetic basis for some measures of behavioral inhibition.

Right Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortical Activity and Behavioral Inhibition

Individuals show marked variation in their responses to threat. Such individual differences in behavioral inhibition play a profound role in mental and physical well-being. Behavioral inhibition is thought to reflect variation in the sensitivity of a distributed neural system responsible for generating anxiety and organizing defensive responses to threat and punishment. Although progress has been made in identifying the key constituents of this behavioral inhibition system in humans, the involvement of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) remains unclear. Here, we acquired self-reported Behavioral Inhibition System Sensitivity scores and high-resolution electroencephalography from a large sample (n= 51). Using the enhanced spatial resolution afforded by source modeling techniques, we show that individuals with greater tonic (resting) activity in right-posterior DLPFC rate themselves as more behaviorally inhibited. This observation provides novel support for recent conceptualizations of behavioral inhibition and clues to the mechanisms that might underlie variation in threat-induced negative affect.

The Endophenotype of Impulsivity: Reaching Consilience Through Behavioral, Genetic, and Neuroimaging Approaches

Impulsivity is a multidimensional construct with implications for understanding the etiology and treatment of multiple forms of psychopathology. As a multidimensional construct, however, the processes underlying impulsivity, particularly behavioral inhibition, must be separated to allow for investigations into its neurogenetic bases. Evidence from both animal and human studies supports the role of dopamine in impulsivity, and neuroimaging research is elucidating brain regions involved in behavioral inhibition. Evidence is now emerging that suggests an interaction between dopamine system genes and frontal brain regions in underlying individual differences in behavioral inhibition. However, to reach a comprehensive understanding of the neurogenetic bases of behavioral inhibition, an appropriate framework is required. Therefore, it is proposed that by identifying intervening variables more sensitive to the effects of genetic variation, known as an endophenotype approach, we will be able to overcome many of the methodological limitations that prevent a better understanding at present.

Behavioral inhibition: relation to negative emotion regulation and reactivity

The present experimental psychopathology study sought to address two interrelated theoretical predictions from behavioral inhibition theory and research among young adults. The first was whether individual differences in behavioral inhibition, as indexed by the Behavioral Inhibition Sensitivity (Carver & White, 1994) would relate to negative emotional reactivity elicited by a cognitive stressor. The second aim was to examine how individual differences in behavioral inhibition relate to rumination, a response style associated with prolonged periods of negative affect, particularly depression. Consistent with our hypotheses, behavioral inhibition, relative to other theoretically relevant variables (e.g. basal levels of negative affect), predicted cognitive-affective reactivity as well as a rumination response style. These findings are discussed in relation to understanding how behavioral inhibition is associated with prototypical indices of emotional distress, with implications for forwarding future work with specific types of emotional disorders.

Crowding stress and violent injuries among behaviorally inhibited rhesus macaques.

Environmental stressors and stable individual differences in human behavior have both been implicated etiologically in injuries. Because stress-related injuries are difficult to study experimentally in humans, the authors examined injury incidence in a troop of 21 male and 15 female free-ranging rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) before, during, and after a 6-month group confinement. Individual differences in behavioral inhibition to novelty were assessed, using multiple, quantified observations of behavior by 3 independent raters during 3 previous years. Incidence and severity of medically attended injuries were ascertained from veterinary records over a 2-year study period. A 5-fold increase in the incidence of injuries was documented during confinement stress, and an interaction was found between the stressor and behavioral inhibition in the prediction of injury incidence. Highly inhibited animals had significantly higher injury rates during confinement, compared with their uninhibited peers, but equal or lower rates in the low stress periods that preceded and followed confinement. Inhibited individuals appeared to have been specifically targeted for violence during the group stressor but were protected under normative, more predictable conditions.

Behavioral inhibition: Stability and associations with adaptation from childhood to early adulthood.

The stability of individual differences in behavioral inhibition and their association with peer relations, emotional distress, and life-course timing were examined in a longitudinal study of 205 individuals from childhood (ages 8 to 12) to early adulthood (ages 17 to 24). Behavioral inhibition was conceptualized as stranger wariness and measured through ratings made by interviewers following individual interview or testing sessions. Individual differences in behavioral inhibition were consistent from childhood to early adulthood (r = .57). In early adulthood, higher behavioral inhibition was associated with a less positive, less active social life for both sexes and, for men, with greater emotional distress and negative emotionality. For both genders, participants who were inhibited as children were less likely to have moved away from their family of origin by the early adulthood assessment.

Behavioral inhibition: stability and associations with adaptation from childhood to early adulthood.

The stability of individual differences in behavioral inhibition and their association with peer relations, emotional distress, and life-course timing were examined in a longitudinal study of 205 individuals from childhood (ages 8 to 12) to early adulthood (ages 17 to 24). Behavioral inhibition was conceptualized as stranger wariness and measured through ratings made by interviewers following individual interview or testing sessions. Individual differences in behavioral inhibition were consistent from childhood to early adulthood (r = .57). In early adulthood, higher behavioral inhibition was associated with a less positive, less active social life for both sexes and, for men, with greater emotional distress and negative emotionality. For both genders, participants who were inhibited as children were less likely to have moved away from their family of origin by the early adulthood assessment.

Differences between Tryon Bright and Dull rats in seizure activity evoked by amygdala stimulation

Bipolar electrodes were implanted unilaterally in the basolateral amygdala of descendants of Tryon's Maze-Bright and Maze-Dull rats and thresholds for afterdischarge were determined. Animals were then stimulated for one second a day at a constant suprathreshold intensity until bilateral clonic convulsions were elicited. Maze-Bright animals had significantly lower afterdischarge thresholds and required a significantly greater number of stimulations with accompanying afterdischarge to manifest convulsion. The possibility that Bright-Dull differences in behavioral inhibition were correlated directly with the seizure differences as well as implications for experimental epilepsy were briefly discussed.

Correlation between cyclic strain range and low-cycle fatigue life of metals : J. Morrow and T. A. Johnson, Materials Research and Standards5, 30 (1965)

Being aggressive has been related to fearlessness, low empathy and premeditated antisocial behaviors. The current study examined how school bullies and victims respond to affective situations presented through imagery. It was hypothesized that victims would perceive fear imagery as more fearful than bullies, demonstrating their proneness to fear and high behavioral inhibition. Bullies were expected to perceive fear imagery as less fearful and experience less negative affect, based on their callous-unemotional characteristics. Children participated in a tone-cued imagery experiment during which they imagined for 8 s twelve pre-normed scripts describing fear, anger, joy and pleasant relaxation. Children rated their experienced emotions of fear, anger, joy and sadness for each scene. Bullies responded with low levels of fear to fear imagery and across emotion types and reported overall higher positive affect, even during provocative anger scenes. In contrast, victims responded with higher fear, anger and sadness. The varied emotional responses appeared to be partly explained by group differences in behavioral inhibition, which was high in victims. Results are discussed in light of aggression theories and potential interventions.