The influence of anterior cingulate GABA+ and glutamate on emotion regulation and reactivity in adolescents and adults
Widegren, Ebba ; Frick, Matilda A. ; Hoppe, Johanna Motilla ; Weis, Jan ; Möller, Stefan LU
; Fällmar, David
; Mårtensson, Johanna
; Brocki, Karin
; Gingnell, Malin
and Frick, Andreas
(2024)
In Developmental Psychobiology
66(4).
- Abstract
During adolescence, emotion regulation and reactivity are still developing and are in many ways qualitatively different from adulthood. However, the neurobiological processes underpinning these differences remain poorly understood, including the role of maturing neurotransmitter systems. We combined magnetic resonance spectroscopy in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and self-reported emotion regulation and reactivity in a sample of typically developed adolescents (n = 37; 13–16 years) and adults (n = 39; 30–40 years), and found that adolescents had higher levels of glutamate to total creatine (tCr) ratio in the dACC than adults. A glutamate Í age group interaction indicated a differential relation between dACC glutamate... (More)
During adolescence, emotion regulation and reactivity are still developing and are in many ways qualitatively different from adulthood. However, the neurobiological processes underpinning these differences remain poorly understood, including the role of maturing neurotransmitter systems. We combined magnetic resonance spectroscopy in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and self-reported emotion regulation and reactivity in a sample of typically developed adolescents (n = 37; 13–16 years) and adults (n = 39; 30–40 years), and found that adolescents had higher levels of glutamate to total creatine (tCr) ratio in the dACC than adults. A glutamate Í age group interaction indicated a differential relation between dACC glutamate levels and emotion regulation in adolescents and adults, and within-group follow-up analyses showed that higher levels of glutamate/tCr were related to worse emotion regulation skills in adolescents. We found no age-group differences in gamma-aminobutyric acid+macromolecules (GABA+) levels; however, emotion reactivity was positively related to GABA+/tCr in the adult group, but not in the adolescent group. The results demonstrate that there are developmental changes in the concentration of glutamate, but not GABA+, within the dACC from adolescence to adulthood, in accordance with previous findings indicating earlier maturation of the GABA-ergic than the glutamatergic system. Functionally, glutamate and GABA+ are positively related to emotion regulation and reactivity, respectively, in the mature brain. In the adolescent brain, however, glutamate is negatively related to emotion regulation, and GABA+ is not related to emotion reactivity. The findings are consistent with synaptic pruning of glutamatergic synapses from adolescence to adulthood and highlight the importance of brain maturational processes underlying age-related differences in emotion processing.
(Less)
- author
- Widegren, Ebba
; Frick, Matilda A.
; Hoppe, Johanna Motilla
; Weis, Jan
; Möller, Stefan
LU
; Fällmar, David
; Mårtensson, Johanna
; Brocki, Karin
; Gingnell, Malin
and Frick, Andreas
- organization
- publishing date
- 2024-05
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- brain maturation, emotion regulation, emotional reactivity, GABA+, glutamate, magnetic resonance spectroscopy
- in
- Developmental Psychobiology
- volume
- 66
- issue
- 4
- article number
- e22492
- publisher
- John Wiley & Sons Inc.
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85190888473
- pmid:38643360
- ISSN
- 0012-1630
- DOI
- 10.1002/dev.22492
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- b1b4f849-f198-4b46-a9af-5f7270f18897
- date added to LUP
- 2025-01-14 13:56:39
- date last changed
- 2025-07-16 04:55:30
@article{b1b4f849-f198-4b46-a9af-5f7270f18897,
abstract = {{<p>During adolescence, emotion regulation and reactivity are still developing and are in many ways qualitatively different from adulthood. However, the neurobiological processes underpinning these differences remain poorly understood, including the role of maturing neurotransmitter systems. We combined magnetic resonance spectroscopy in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and self-reported emotion regulation and reactivity in a sample of typically developed adolescents (n = 37; 13–16 years) and adults (n = 39; 30–40 years), and found that adolescents had higher levels of glutamate to total creatine (tCr) ratio in the dACC than adults. A glutamate Í age group interaction indicated a differential relation between dACC glutamate levels and emotion regulation in adolescents and adults, and within-group follow-up analyses showed that higher levels of glutamate/tCr were related to worse emotion regulation skills in adolescents. We found no age-group differences in gamma-aminobutyric acid+macromolecules (GABA+) levels; however, emotion reactivity was positively related to GABA+/tCr in the adult group, but not in the adolescent group. The results demonstrate that there are developmental changes in the concentration of glutamate, but not GABA+, within the dACC from adolescence to adulthood, in accordance with previous findings indicating earlier maturation of the GABA-ergic than the glutamatergic system. Functionally, glutamate and GABA+ are positively related to emotion regulation and reactivity, respectively, in the mature brain. In the adolescent brain, however, glutamate is negatively related to emotion regulation, and GABA+ is not related to emotion reactivity. The findings are consistent with synaptic pruning of glutamatergic synapses from adolescence to adulthood and highlight the importance of brain maturational processes underlying age-related differences in emotion processing.</p>}},
author = {{Widegren, Ebba and Frick, Matilda A. and Hoppe, Johanna Motilla and Weis, Jan and Möller, Stefan and Fällmar, David and Mårtensson, Johanna and Brocki, Karin and Gingnell, Malin and Frick, Andreas}},
issn = {{0012-1630}},
keywords = {{brain maturation; emotion regulation; emotional reactivity; GABA+; glutamate; magnetic resonance spectroscopy}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{4}},
publisher = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
series = {{Developmental Psychobiology}},
title = {{The influence of anterior cingulate GABA+ and glutamate on emotion regulation and reactivity in adolescents and adults}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/dev.22492}},
doi = {{10.1002/dev.22492}},
volume = {{66}},
year = {{2024}},
}