Pecifically probe PFC function–such as preparation for an aversive event, emotion regulation, or attentional control–can be used to test for PFC alterations. One important role of the PFC is anticipatory processing and planning for an upcoming event, which is mediated by two regions of the PFC, the ACC and dlPFC (Grupe and Nitschke, 2013). In the first fMRI investigation of prefrontal cortical function in inhibited adults, Clauss and colleagues (2011) manipulated the expectation of viewing fear faces between groups; half of the participants knew that fear faces would be shown and thus had an opportunity to prepare for viewing the faces, whereas the other half had no prior expectation. Significant effects of expectation by temperament were observed in two prefrontal control regions, the dorsal ACC and dlPFC, and the amygdala. Consistent with findings of heightened PFC activation during anticipation (Nitschke et al., 2006), when forewarned to expect fear faces, the uninhibited participants had increased activation in the PFC and HIV-1 integrase inhibitor 2 site decreased activation in the amygdala, relative to those who weren’t forewarned. In contrast, inhibited individuals who were forewarned had reduced PFC activation and increased amygdala activation compared to those who weren’t forewarned. These findings suggest that inhibited individuals fail to respond JC-1 side effects adaptively to an upcoming aversive event, similar to patients with an anxiety disorder (Grupe and Nitschke, 2013), and may in fact have a heightened response or sensitization to the upcoming event. To explicitly test for temperament differences in anticipatory processing (Clauss et al., 2014a), we examined brain activation during a cued anticipation task in a new sample. In this task and one cue signaled an upcoming fear face and another cue signaled an upcoming neutral face. Importantly, the time between the cue and face was sufficiently long to provide a reliable measure of anticipation. We hypothesized that inhibited adults would have less anticipatory PFC activation than uninhibited adults, and were surprised to discover that inhibited temperament was associated with increased PFC activation during anticipation of viewing fear faces. Additional analyses revealed that in inhibited individuals, stronger PFC activation during anticipation predicted both lower social anxiety and better coping skills, demonstrating that inhibited individuals who can effectively engage prefrontal cortical resources during fear anticipation are resilient to developing social anxiety. This finding has important implications for prevention of psychopathology in high-risk inhibited children. Adolescence is both a peak time for the onset of social anxiety disorder and a time of rapid PFC development; therefore, strategies that enhance PFC engagement during anticipation provide a promising strategy for enhancing resilience to psychiatric disorders. Another important function of the PFC is cognitive control, which has been investigated in inhibited temperament in two recent studies. First, Jarcho and colleagues (2013) examined emotional conflict in young adults with a history of inhibited temperament using a variant of the Stroop task with emotional facial expressions and congruent or incongruent emotional labels. During conflict detection–incongruent relative to congruent faces/labels–inhibited individuals had greater activation in the dorsomedial PFC (dmPFC). Interestingly, presenceAuthor Manuscript Author Manuscript Author Manuscript.Pecifically probe PFC function–such as preparation for an aversive event, emotion regulation, or attentional control–can be used to test for PFC alterations. One important role of the PFC is anticipatory processing and planning for an upcoming event, which is mediated by two regions of the PFC, the ACC and dlPFC (Grupe and Nitschke, 2013). In the first fMRI investigation of prefrontal cortical function in inhibited adults, Clauss and colleagues (2011) manipulated the expectation of viewing fear faces between groups; half of the participants knew that fear faces would be shown and thus had an opportunity to prepare for viewing the faces, whereas the other half had no prior expectation. Significant effects of expectation by temperament were observed in two prefrontal control regions, the dorsal ACC and dlPFC, and the amygdala. Consistent with findings of heightened PFC activation during anticipation (Nitschke et al., 2006), when forewarned to expect fear faces, the uninhibited participants had increased activation in the PFC and decreased activation in the amygdala, relative to those who weren’t forewarned. In contrast, inhibited individuals who were forewarned had reduced PFC activation and increased amygdala activation compared to those who weren’t forewarned. These findings suggest that inhibited individuals fail to respond adaptively to an upcoming aversive event, similar to patients with an anxiety disorder (Grupe and Nitschke, 2013), and may in fact have a heightened response or sensitization to the upcoming event. To explicitly test for temperament differences in anticipatory processing (Clauss et al., 2014a), we examined brain activation during a cued anticipation task in a new sample. In this task and one cue signaled an upcoming fear face and another cue signaled an upcoming neutral face. Importantly, the time between the cue and face was sufficiently long to provide a reliable measure of anticipation. We hypothesized that inhibited adults would have less anticipatory PFC activation than uninhibited adults, and were surprised to discover that inhibited temperament was associated with increased PFC activation during anticipation of viewing fear faces. Additional analyses revealed that in inhibited individuals, stronger PFC activation during anticipation predicted both lower social anxiety and better coping skills, demonstrating that inhibited individuals who can effectively engage prefrontal cortical resources during fear anticipation are resilient to developing social anxiety. This finding has important implications for prevention of psychopathology in high-risk inhibited children. Adolescence is both a peak time for the onset of social anxiety disorder and a time of rapid PFC development; therefore, strategies that enhance PFC engagement during anticipation provide a promising strategy for enhancing resilience to psychiatric disorders. Another important function of the PFC is cognitive control, which has been investigated in inhibited temperament in two recent studies. First, Jarcho and colleagues (2013) examined emotional conflict in young adults with a history of inhibited temperament using a variant of the Stroop task with emotional facial expressions and congruent or incongruent emotional labels. During conflict detection–incongruent relative to congruent faces/labels–inhibited individuals had greater activation in the dorsomedial PFC (dmPFC). Interestingly, presenceAuthor Manuscript Author Manuscript Author Manuscript.
