Jo Adrian Dahl Askelund

• Ioannidis, Konstantinos; Askelund, Adrian Dahl; Kievit, Rogier & van Harmelen, Anne-Laura (2020). The complex neurobiology of resilience after childhood maltreatment. BMC Medicine.  ISSN 1741-7015.  18(32), s 1- 16 . doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-020-1490-7 Vis sammendrag

  Childhood maltreatment has been associated with significant impairment in social, emotional and behavioural functioning later in life. Nevertheless, some individuals who have experienced childhood maltreatment function better than expected given their circumstances. Here, we provide an integrated understanding of the complex, interrelated mechanisms that facilitate such individual resilient functioning after childhood maltreatment. We aim to show that resilient functioning is not facilitated by any single ‘resilience biomarker’. Rather, resilient functioning after childhood maltreatment is a product of complex processes and influences across multiple levels, ranging from ‘bottom-up’ polygenetic influences, to ‘top-down’ supportive social influences. We highlight the complex nature of resilient functioning and suggest how future studies could embrace a complexity theory approach and investigate multiple levels of biological organisation and their temporal dynamics in a longitudinal or prospective manner. This would involve using methods and tools that allow the characterisation of resilient functioning trajectories, attractor states and multidimensional/multilevel assessments of functioning. Such an approach necessitates large, longitudinal studies on the neurobiological mechanisms of resilient functioning after childhood maltreatment that cut across and integrate multiple levels of explanation (i.e. genetics, endocrine and immune systems, brain structure and function, cognition and environmental factors) and their temporal interconnections. We conclude that a turn towards complexity is likely to foster collaboration and integration across fields. It is a promising avenue which may guide future studies aimed to promote resilience in those who have experienced childhood maltreatment.

• Askelund, Adrian Dahl; Schweizer, Susanne; Goodyer, Ian M. & van Harmelen, Anne-Laura (2019). Positive memory specificity is associated with reduced vulnerability to depression. Nature Human Behaviour.  ISSN 2397-3374.  3(3), s 265- 273 . doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0504-3 Vis sammendrag

  Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Early life stress exposure increases risk for depression and has been proposed to sensitize the maturing psychophysiological stress system to stress in later life. In response to stress, positive memory activation has been found to dampen cortisol responses and improve mood in humans and to reduce depression-like behaviour in mice. We used path modelling to examine whether recalling specific positive memories predicts reduced vulnerability to depression (high morning cortisol and negative self-cognitions during low mood) in adolescents at risk due to early life stress (n = 427, age 14 years). We found that positive memory specificity was associated with lower morning cortisol and fewer negative self-cognitions during low mood over the course of one year. Moderated mediation analyses demonstrated that positive memory specificity was related to lower depressive symptoms through fewer negative self-cognitions in response to negative life events reported in the one-year interval. These findings indicate that recalling specific positive life experiences may be a resilience factor that helps in lowering depressive vulnerability in adolescents with a history of early life stress.

• Fritz, Jessica; Stretton, Jason; Askelund, Adrian Dahl; Schweizer, Susanne; Walsh, Nicholas D.; Elzinga, Bernet M.; Goodyer, Ian M.; Wilkinson, Paul O. & van Harmelen, Anne-Laura (2019). Mood and neural responses to social rejection do not seem to be altered in resilient adolescents with a history of adversity. Development and Psychopathology.  ISSN 0954-5794.  32(2), s 411- 423 . doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579419000178 Vis sammendrag

  Childhood adversity (CA) increases the risk of subsequent mental health problems. Adolescent social support (from family and/or friends) reduces the risk of mental health problems after CA. However, the mechanisms of this effect remain unclear, and we speculate that they are manifested on neurodevelopmental levels. Therefore, we investigated whether family and/or friendship support at ages 14 and 17 function as intermediate variables for the relationship between CA before age 11 and affective or neural responses to social rejection feedback at age 18. We studied 55 adolescents with normative mental health at age 18 (26 with CA and therefore considered “resilient”), from a longitudinal cohort. Participants underwent a Social Feedback Task in the magnetic resonance imaging scanner. Social rejection feedback activated the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and the left anterior insula. CA did not predict affective or neural responses to social rejection at age 18. Yet, CA predicted better friendships at age 14 and age 18, when adolescents with and without CA had comparable mood levels. Thus, adolescents with CA and normative mood levels have more adolescent friendship support and seem to have normal mood and neural responses to social rejection.

• Moreno-López, Laura; Ioannidis, Konstantinos; Askelund, Adrian Dahl; Smith, Alicia J.; Schueler, Katja & van Harmelen, Anne-Laura (2019). The Resilient Emotional Brain: A Scoping Review of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Limbic Structure and Function in Resilient Adults With a History of Childhood Maltreatment. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging.  ISSN 2451-9022.  5(4), s 392- 402 . doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2019.12.008 Vis sammendrag

  Childhood maltreatment (CM) is one of the strongest predictors of adult mental illness, although not all adults with CM develop psychopathology. Here, we describe the structure and function of the emotional brain regions that may contribute to resilient functioning after CM. We review studies that report medial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus (limbic regions) structure, function, and/or connections in resilient adults (i.e., those reporting CM without psychopathology) versus vulnerable adults (i.e., those reporting CM with psychopathology) or healthy adults (those without CM and with no psychopathology). We find that resilient adults have larger hippocampal gray and white matter volume and greater connectivity between the central executive network and the limbic regions. In addition, resilient adults have improved ability to regulate emotions through medial prefrontal cortex–limbic downregulation, lower hippocampal activation to emotional faces, and increased amygdala habituation to stress. We highlight the need for longitudinal designs that examine resilient functioning across domains and consider gender, type, timing, and nature of CM assessments and further stressors to further improve our understanding of the role of the emotional brain in resilient functioning after CM.

• Blakey, Robert; Askelund, Adrian D.; Boccanera, Matilde; Immonen, Johanna; Plohl, Nejc; Popham, Cassandra; Sorger, Clarissa & Stuhlreyer, Julia (2017). Communicating the neuroscience of psychopathy and its influence on moral behavior: Protocol of two experimental studies. Frontiers in Psychology.  ISSN 1664-1078.  8 . doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00294

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