Examining the relationship between psychosocial adversity and inhibitory control: an fMRI study of children growing up in extreme poverty

Abstract

Exposure to psychosocial adversity (PA) is associated with poor behavioral, physical, and mental health outcomes in adulthood. Growing evidence suggests that deficits in executive functions may in part moderate these outcomes, with inhibitory control as an example of such a putative moderator. However, much of the literature examining the development of inhibitory control has been based on children in higher resource environments, and little is known how growing up in a low resource setting might exacerbate the link between inhibitory control and health outcomes. In this context we collected fMRI data during a Go/No-Go inhibitory control task and PA variables for 68 children 5 to 7 years of age living in Dhaka, Bangladesh, an area with a high prevalence of PA. The children's mothers completed behavioral questionnaires to assess the child's PA and their own PA. Whole-brain activation underlying inhibitory control was examined using the No-Go versus Go contrast, and associations with PA variables were assessed using whole-brain regressions. Childhood neglect was associated with weaker activation in the right posterior cingulate, whereas greater family conflict, economic stress, and maternal PA factors were associated with greater activation in the left medial frontal gyrus, right superior and middle frontal gyrus, and left cingulate gyrus. These data suggest that neural networks supporting inhibitory control processes may vary as a function of exposure to different types of PA, particularly between those related to threat and deprivation. Furthermore, increased activation in children with greater PA may serve as a compensatory mechanism, allowing them to maintain similar behavioral task performance.