Abstract
BACKGROUNDIntolerance to psychological distress is associated with various forms of psychopathology ranging from addiction to mood disturbance. The capacity to withstand aversive affective states is often explained by individual differences in cardiovagal tone as well as resting state connectivity of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), a region involved in the regulation of emotions and cardio-autonomic tone. However, it is unclear how functional connectivity of vmPFC with other brain regions involved in behavioral response to stress compare as a function of tolerance to psychological distress.METHODSOne-hundred and twenty-six adults, aged 20 to 83.5 years, were selected from a lifespan cohort at the Nathan Kline Institute-Rockland Sample. Participants performed the Behavioral Indicator of Resiliency to Distress (BIRD) task and artifact-free resting-state functional brain scans during separate sessions. While inside the scanner, a pulse oximeter was used to record beat-to-beat intervals to derive peak high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV). The relationship between HF-HRV and vmPFC to whole brain functional connectivity was compared between distress tolerant (BIRD completers) and distress intolerant (BIRD non-completers).RESULTSGroups did not differ in the history of psychiatric diagnosis. Higher resting HF-HRV was associated with longer total time spent on the BIRD task for the entire sample (r = 0.255, p = 0.004). After controlling for age, gender, body mass index, head motion, and gray matter volume. Distress tolerant individuals showed greater rsFC (p < 0.005 (uncorrected), k = 20) between the vmPFC and default-mode network (DMN) hubs including posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus, medial temporal lobes, and the parahippocampal cortex. As a function of higher resting HF-HRV greater vmPFC connectivity was observed with sub-threshold regions in the right amygdala and left anterior prefrontal cortex in distress tolerant versus distress intolerant individuals.CONCLUSIONIn a lifespan sample of community-dwelling adults, distress tolerant individuals showed greater vMPFC connectivity with anterior and posterior hubs of the DMN compared to distress intolerant individuals. As a function of greater HF-HRV, distress tolerant individuals evidenced greater vmPFC with salience and executive control network hubs. These resting-state findings are consistent with deficits in neural resource allocation within a triple network resting amongst persons exhibiting behavioral intolerance to psychological distress.
