Krasnow Institute > Monday Seminars > Abstracts

Genetic and Neural Moderators of
Socioemotional Trajectories  

Koraly Perez-Edgar
Department of Psychology
George Mason University

The temperamental trait Behavioral Inhibition has consistently proven to be one of the strongest precursors to the emergence of anxiety disorders in adolescents and adults.  However, we know relatively little concerning the neural mechanisms that may moderate individual risk.  To that end, recent work has focused on three candidate systems that may shape developmental trajectories.  These include the fear circuitry (centered on the limbic system), reward processes (the striatum), and inhibitory control mechanisms (the prefrontal cortex).  The current presentation will outline the latest work examining the neural correlates of behavioral inhibition, the link to phenotypic outcomes, and the potential role of genetic risk markers.

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