Title
Neural Responses to Fluoxetine in Youths with Disruptive Behavior and Trauma Exposure: A Pilot Study
Document Type
Article
Journal Title
Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology
Publication Date
2021
Volume
31
Abstract
Objective: A preliminary investigation of the impact of a serotonergic agent (fluoxetine) on symptom profile and neural response in youths with disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs) and a history of trauma exposure. Methods: There were three participant groups: (i) Youths with DBDs and trauma exposure who received fluoxetine treatment for 8 weeks (n = 11); (ii) A matched group of youths with DBDs and trauma exposure who received routine regular follow-up in an outpatient clinic (n = 10); and (iii) Typically developing youths (n = 18). All participants conducted an expression processing functional magnetic resonance imaging task twice, 8 weeks apart: (pretreatment and post-treatment for youths with DBDs). Results: Youths with DBDs and trauma exposure who received fluoxetine treatment compared to the other two groups showed: (i) significant improvement in externalizing, oppositional defiant disorder, irritability, anxiety-depression, and trauma-related symptoms; (ii) as a function of fearful expression intensity, significantly decreased amygdala response and increased recruitment of regions implicated in top-down attention control (insula cortex, inferior parietal lobule, and postcentral gyrus) and emotional regulation (ventromedial prefrontal cortex [vmPFC]); and (iii) correlation between DBD/irritability symptom improvement and increased activation of top-down attention control areas (inferior parietal lobule, insula cortex, and postcentral gyrus) and an emotion regulation area (vmPFC). Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence that a serotonergic agent (fluoxetine) can reduce disruptive behavior and mood symptoms in youths with DBDs and trauma exposure and that this may be mediated by enhanced activation of top-down attention control and emotion regulation areas (inferior parietal lobule, insula cortex, and vmPFC).
DOI Link
ISSN
1557-8992
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Hwang, Soonjo; Chung, Unsun; Chang, Yongmin; Kim, Eunji; Suk, Ji-Woo; Meffert, Harma; Kratochvil, Christopher J.; Leibenluft, Ellen; and Blair, James, "Neural Responses to Fluoxetine in Youths with Disruptive Behavior and Trauma Exposure: A Pilot Study" (2021). Journal Articles: Psychiatry. 19.
https://digitalcommons.unmc.edu/com_psych_articles/19
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