Social behavior is transmitted cross-generationally through coordinated behavior within attachment bonds. Parental depression and poor parental care are major risks for disruptions of such coordination and are associated with offspring’s psychopathology and interpersonal dysfunction. Given the key role of the cortico-basal ganglia (CBG) circuits in social communication, we examined similarities (concordance) of parent–offspring CBG white matter (WM) connections and how parental history of major depressive disorder (MDD) and early parental care moderate these similarities. We imaged 44 parent–offspring dyads and investigated WM connections between basal-ganglia seeds and selected regions in temporal cortex using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) tractography. We found significant concordance in parent–offspring strength of CBG WM connections, moderated by parental lifetime-MDD and care. The results showed diminished neural concordance among dyads with a depressed parent and that better parental care predicted greater concordance, which also provided a protective buffer against attenuated concordance among dyads with a depressed parent. Our findings provide the first neurobiological evidence of concordance between parents-offspring in WM tracts and that concordance is diminished in families where parents have lifetime-MDD. This disruption may be a risk factor for intergenerational transmission of psychopathology. Findings emphasize the long-term role of early caregiving in shaping the neural concordance among at-risk and affected dyads.

中文翻译：

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父母和后代皮质基底节白质连接的一致性因父母重度抑郁症病史和早期父母护理而异

社会行为通过依恋关系内的协调行为跨代传播。父母抑郁和父母照顾不善是破坏这种协调的主要风险，并且与后代的精神病理学和人际功能障碍有关。鉴于皮质基底神经节 (CBG) 回路在社交沟通中的关键作用，我们研究了亲子 CBG 白质 (WM) 连接的相似性（一致性），以及父母的重度抑郁症 (MDD) 病史和早期父母护理如何影响缓和这些相似之处。我们对 44 个亲子配对进行了成像，并使用扩散张量成像 (DTI) 纤维束成像技术研究了基底神经节种子与颞叶皮层选定区域之间的 WM 连接。我们发现父母与子女的 CBG WM 连接强度显着一致，并受到父母一生 MDD 和护理的调节。结果显示，父母患有抑郁症的二人组之间的神经一致性会减弱，而更好的父母照顾预示着更大的一致性，这也为防止父母患有抑郁症的二人组之间的一致性减弱提供了保护性缓冲。我们的研究结果提供了第一个神经生物学证据，证明 WM 区域中父母与子女之间的一致性，并且在父母患有终生 MDD 的家庭中，一致性会减弱。这种破坏可能是精神病理学代际传播的危险因素。研究结果强调了早期护理在塑造高危和受影响二人组之间神经一致性方面的长期作用。