Neural Correlates of Positive and Negative Valence System Dysfunction in Adolescents Revealed by Data-Driven Parcellation and Resting-State Network Modeling

Objective: Adolescence is a period of rapid brain development when symptoms of mood, anxiety, and other disorders often first emerge, suggesting disruptions in maturing reward circuitry may play a role in mental illness onset. Here, we characterized associations between resting-state network properties and psychiatric symptomatology in medication-free adolescents with a wide range of symptom severity. Methods: Adolescents (age 12-20) with mood and/or anxiety symptoms (n=68) and healthy controls (n=19) completed diagnostic interviews, depression/anhedonia/anxiety questionnaires, and 3T resting-state fMRI (10min/2.3mm/TR=1s). Data were preprocessed (HCP Pipelines), aligned (MSMAll), and parcellated into 750 nodes encompassing the entire cortex/subcortex (Cole-Anticevic Brain-wide Network Partition). Weighted graph theoretical metrics (Strength Centrality=CStr; Eigenvector Centrality=CEig; Local Efficiency=ELoc) were estimated within Whole Brain and task-derived Reward Anticipation/Attainment/Prediction Error networks. Associations with clinical status and symptoms were assessed non-parametrically (two-tailed pFWE