Perceived Neighborhood Disadvantage Predicts Similarity in Amygdala Representations of Negative and Neutral Images in Early Adolescents

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Abstract
Neighborhood disadvantage encompasses multiple co‐occurring adversities, including threat and deprivation, yet its underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. Applying a dimensional framework to neighborhood contexts may help clarify how distinct features of disadvantage influence brain development. Here, we used representational similarity analysis to investigate associations between adolescents’ neural representations of affective valence and neighborhood disadvantage, as measured by caregiver self‐report and the Area Deprivation Index (ADI). One hundred and twenty‐one adolescents aged 11 to 14 ( M age = 12.81 years old, 52.07% female, 28.93% White non‐Hispanic) completed an emotional reactivity fMRI task. Caregiver‐reported neighborhood disadvantage was associated with greater representational similarity in right amygdala between negative and neutral images, while no such effect emerged for the ADI. Follow‐up analyses examined whether specific dimensions of disadvantage drove these effects. Although our measure did not map cleanly onto threat and deprivation dimensions, factor analyses revealed distinctions between social (e.g., crime, loitering) and physical (e.g., abandoned buildings, walkability) disadvantage‐related items; our preliminary findings suggest that the effects of reported overall neighborhood disadvantage may be driven by characteristics of the social environment. No associations between caregiver‐reported neighborhood disadvantage or ADI were observed for positive/neutral similarity. These findings provide preliminary evidence that neighborhood disadvantage may impact the amygdala's differentiation of negative and neutral stimuli during early adolescence, supporting the view that neighborhoods are a critical ecological context for development.
Funding Information
  • National Science Foundation (SES 1459719)
  • National Institutes of Health (R01DA039923)
  • National Institutes of Health (R01DA051127)
  • National Institutes of Health (F31AG081073)

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