J Korean Med Sci.  2014 Sep;29(9):1293-1300. 10.3346/jkms.2014.29.9.1293.

Neural Changes Associated with Emotion Processing in Children Experiencing Peer Rejection: A Functional MRI Study

• Lee HS
• Lee JE
• Lee KU
• Kim YH

• KMID: 1794610
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2014.29.9.1293

Abstract

This study was performed to investigate differences between children who did and did not experience peer rejection in psychological state through surveys and in emotion processing during an interpersonal stress challenge task to reflect naturalistic interpersonal face-to-face relationships. A total of 20 right-handed children, 10 to 12 yr of age, completed self-rating questionnaires inquiring about peer rejection in school, depression, and anxiety. They then underwent an interpersonal stress challenge task simulating conditions of emotional stress, in reaction to positive, negative and neutral facial expression stimuli, using interpersonal feedbacks, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) for an analysis of neural correlates during the task. Ten were the peer-rejection group, whereas the remainder were the control group. Based on the behavioral results, the peer-rejection group exhibited elevated levels of depression, state anxiety, trait anxiety and social anxiety as compared to the control group. The FMRI results revealed that the peer-rejection group exhibited greater and remarkably more extensive activation of brain regions encompassing the amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex in response to negative feedback stimuli of emotional faces. The different brain reactivities characterizing emotion processing during interpersonal relationships may be present between children who do and do not experience peer rejection.

Keyword

Peer Rejection; Child; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Emotional Face Processing

MeSH Terms

Anxiety
Brain/*physiology
Brain Mapping
Child
Depression
*Emotions
Facial Expression
Female
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Peer Group
Questionnaires
*Social Distance

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Subjective emotional response of the participants to the different types of interpersonal feedback.

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  Fig. 2 Activated brain regions in the negative interpersonal feedback condition relative to fixation condition in the peer-rejection group than the control group. (A, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex; B, amygdala; C, orbitofrontal gyrus) Baseline depression and anxiety scores were controlled for this comparison (height threshold T = 3.69, uncorrected P < 0.001, extended threshold k = 10).

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