Refugee visa insecurity disrupts the brain’s default mode network
Creators: name: Liddell, Belinda J.
name: Das, Pritha
name: Malhi, Gin S.
name: Nickerson, Angela
name: Felmingham, Kim L.
name: Askovic, Mirjana
name: Aroche, Jorge
name: Coello, Mariano
name: Cheung, Jessica
name: Den, Miriam
name: Outhred, Tim
name: Bryant, Richard A.
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Medicine
subject: Pharmacology
subject: Sociology
subject: FOS: Sociology
subject: Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Science Policy
subject: Mental Health

description: Research has largely focused on the psychological consequences of refugee trauma exposure, but refugees living with visa insecurity face an uncertain future that also adversely affects psychological functioning and self-determination. This study aimed to examine how refugee visa insecurity affects the functional brain. We measured resting state brain activity via fMRI in 47 refugees with insecure visas (i.e. temporary visa status) and 52 refugees with secure visas (i.e. permanent visa status) residing in Australia, matched on key demographic, trauma exposure and psychopathology. Data analysis comprised independent components analysis to identify active networks and dynamic functional causal modelling tested visa security group differences in network connectivity. We found that visa insecurity specifically affected sub-systems within the default mode network (DMN) – an intrinsic network subserving self-referential processes and mental simulations about the future. The insecure visa group showed less spectral power in the low frequency band in the anterior ventromedial DMN, and reduced activity in the posterior frontal DMN, compared to the secure visa group. Using functional dynamic causal modelling, we observed positive coupling between the anterior and posterior midline DMN hubs in the secure visa group, while the insecure visa group displayed negative coupling that correlated with self-reported fear of future deportation. Living with visa-related uncertainty appears to undermine synchrony between anterior-posterior midline components of the DMN responsible for governing the construction of the self and making mental representations of the future. This could represent a neural signature of refugee visa insecurity, which is marked by a perception of living in limbo and a truncated sense of the future. Refugee visa insecurity disrupts default mode network (DMN) connectivity – a core network that supports the internal construction of the self.Refugees living with insecure visa status showed decreased connectivity in the DMN and more negative coupling between midline anterior–posterior hubs of the DMN, compared to refugees living with secure visas.Diminished DMN connectivity may represent a neural basis for the psychological effects of refugee visa insecurity, which is associated with prolonged uncertainty regarding the future self and increased risk for psychological distress. Refugee visa insecurity disrupts default mode network (DMN) connectivity – a core network that supports the internal construction of the self. Refugees living with insecure visa status showed decreased connectivity in the DMN and more negative coupling between midline anterior–posterior hubs of the DMN, compared to refugees living with secure visas. Diminished DMN connectivity may represent a neural basis for the psychological effects of refugee visa insecurity, which is associated with prolonged uncertainty regarding the future self and increased risk for psychological distress.