TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2019//
TI  - Functional imaging of the implicit association of the self with life and death
JO  - Suicide and life-threatening behavior
A1  - Ballard, Elizabeth D.
A1  - Reed, Jessica L.
A1  - Szczepanik, Joanna
A1  - Evans, Jennifer W.
A1  - Yarrington, Julia S.
A1  - Dickstein, Daniel P.
A1  - Nock, Matthew K.
A1  - Nugent, Allison C.
A1  - Zarate, Carlos A.
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - OBJECTIVE: A critical need exists to identify objective markers of suicide ideation. One potential suicide risk marker is the Suicide Implicit Association Task (S-IAT), a behavioral task that uses differential reaction times to compare the implicit association between the self and death to the implicit association between the self and life. Individuals with a stronger association between the self and death on the S-IAT are more likely to attempt suicide in the future. To better understand the neural underpinnings of the implicit association between self and either life or death, a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) version of the S-IAT was adapted and piloted in healthy volunteers. <br><br>METHOD: An fMRI version of the S-IAT was administered to 28 healthy volunteers (ages 18-65, 14F/14M). <br><br>RESULTS: Behavioral results were comparable to those seen in non-scanner versions of the task. The task was associated with patterns of neural activation in areas relevant to emotional processing, specifically the insula and right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Performance on the S-IAT fMRI task may reflect scores obtained outside of the scanner. In future evaluations, this task could help assess whether individuals at increased risk of suicide display a different pattern of neural activation in response to self/death and self/life stimuli.<br><br>© 2019 The American Association of Suicidology.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0363-0234
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12543
ID  - ref1
ER  -