Sex-specific associations of childhood adversity with frontostriatal network organization and anhedonia in young adulthood

作者：Ryan J Shepherd, Matthias Pierce, Nils Muhlert, Mica Komarnyckyj, Meg Sheppard, Tobias Banaschewski, Gareth J. Barker, Arun L.W. Bokde, Rüdiger Brühl, Sylvane Desrivières, Herta Flor, Penny Gowland, Antoine Grigis, Andreas Heinz, Frauke Nees, Dimitri Papadopoulos Orfanos, Luise Poustka, Michael N. Smolka, Nathalie Holz, Nilakshi Vaidya, Henrik Walter, Robert Whelan, Paul Wirsching, Günter Schumann, Rebecca Elliott · 发表于：bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.64898/2026.07.24.740545 · 研究领域：Mental Health Research Topics、Functional Brain Connectivity Studies、Personality Disorders and Psychopathology

Abstract Introduction Anhedonia is a transdiagnostic psychiatric symptom linked to increased functional connectivity between the prefrontal cortex and striatum. Here, we examined how dimensions of early adversity contribute to this profile of connectivity. Methods In a European community sample of young adults (IMAGEN), we examined cross-sectional (n=613) and longitudinal (n=332) associations of adversity dimensions with resting-state fMRI-derived connectivity. We selected 10 ROIs from anhedonia literature, defined in the functional images as 4mm-radius spheres. We then used network-based regression models to identify clusters of ROI-ROI connections associated with threat and deprivation scores, using interaction terms to examine sex and age-specific associations. We also examined associations between adversity and anhedonia, operationalized using factor analysis of six items from self-report surveys. Results At age 18-22, we identified sex-specific associations between deprivation and connectivity for a cluster of 9 ROI-ROI connections ( p-FWE =0.038), primarily involving the nucleus accumbens. Specifically, we observed positive associations between deprivation and connectivity in males, and negative associations in females. In the longitudinal analysis, negative deprivation associations in females attenuated with age for a cluster of 14 connections ( p-FWE =0.009). A cluster of 17 connections also had initial positive associations with threat in females that attenuated with...