Powell TR, et al. - Given that shorter telomere length (TL) has been associated with the development of mood disorders as well as abnormalities in brain morphology, researchers tried to better understand the association between TL and functional brain activation and connectivity, by studying participants (n = 112) performing an functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) facial affect recognition task. This study provides the first evidence that TL and TL genetic risk are linked to brain activation and connectivity while emotional faces are categorized. Findings suggested a positive association of TL with increased activation in the amygdala and cuneus, as well as increased connectivity from posterior regions of the face network to the ventral prefrontal cortex. Polygenic TL risk scores show a positive association with medial prefrontal cortex activation. The data supported the view that TL and genetic loading for shorter telomeres affect the function of regions of the brain known to be involved in emotional processing.