Neural activation and memory for natural scenes: Explicit and spontaneous retrieval.

PubMed

Weymar, Mathias; Bradley, Margaret M; Sege, Christopher T; Lang, Peter J

2018-05-06

Stimulus repetition elicits either enhancement or suppression in neural activity, and a recent fMRI meta-analysis of repetition effects for visual stimuli (Kim, 2017) reported cross-stimulus repetition enhancement in medial and lateral parietal cortex, as well as regions of prefrontal, temporal, and posterior cingulate cortex. Repetition enhancement was assessed here for repeated and novel scenes presented in the context of either an explicit episodic recognition task or an implicit judgment task, in order to study the role of spontaneous retrieval of episodic memories. Regardless of whether episodic memory was explicitly probed or not, repetition enhancement was found in medial posterior parietal (precuneus/cuneus), lateral parietal cortex (angular gyrus), as well as in medial prefrontal cortex (frontopolar), which did not differ by task. Enhancement effects in the posterior cingulate cortex were significantly larger during explicit compared to implicit task, primarily due to a lack of functional activity for new scenes. Taken together, the data are consistent with an interpretation that medial and (ventral) lateral parietal cortex are associated with spontaneous episodic retrieval, whereas posterior cingulate cortical regions may reflect task or decision processes. © 2018 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

What Do I Want and When Do I Want It: Brain Correlates of Decisions Made for Self and Other

PubMed Central

Albrecht, Konstanze; Volz, Kirsten G.; Sutter, Matthias; von Cramon, D. Yves

2013-01-01

A number of recent functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies on intertemporal choice behavior have demonstrated that so-called emotion- and reward-related brain areas are preferentially activated by decisions involving immediately available (but smaller) rewards as compared to (larger) delayed rewards. This pattern of activation was not seen, however, when intertemporal choices were made for another (unknown) individual, which speaks to that activation having been triggered by self-relatedness. In the present fMRI study, we investigated the brain correlates of individuals who passively observed intertemporal choices being made either for themselves or for an unknown person. We found higher activation within the ventral striatum, medial prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortex, pregenual anterior cingulate cortex, and posterior cingulate cortex when an immediate reward was possible for the observer herself, which is in line with findings from studies in which individuals actively chose immediately available rewards. Additionally, activation in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, and precuneus was higher for choices that included immediate options than for choices that offered only delayed options, irrespective of who was to be the beneficiary. These results indicate that (1) the activations found in active intertemporal decision making are also present when the same decisions are merely observed, thus supporting the assumption that a robust brain network is engaged in immediate gratification; and (2) with immediate rewards, certain brain areas are activated irrespective of whether the observer or another person is the beneficiary of a decision, suggesting that immediacy plays a more general role for neural activation. An explorative analysis of participants’ brain activation corresponding to chosen rewards, further indicates that activation in the aforementioned brain areas depends on the mere presence, availability, or actual reception of immediate rewards. PMID:23991196

The role of the mesolimbic dopamine system in the formation of blood-oxygen-level dependent responses in the medial prefrontal/anterior cingulate cortex during high-frequency stimulation of the rat perforant pathway.

PubMed

Helbing, Cornelia; Brocka, Marta; Scherf, Thomas; Lippert, Michael T; Angenstein, Frank

2016-12-01

Several human functional magnetic resonance imaging studies point to an activation of the mesolimbic dopamine system during reward, addiction and learning. We previously found activation of the mesolimbic system in response to continuous but not to discontinuous perforant pathway stimulation in an experimental model that we now used to investigate the role of dopamine release for the formation of functional magnetic resonance imaging responses. The two stimulation protocols elicited blood-oxygen-level dependent responses in the medial prefrontal/anterior cingulate cortex and nucleus accumbens. Inhibition of dopamine D 1/5 receptors abolished the formation of functional magnetic resonance imaging responses in the medial prefrontal/anterior cingulate cortex during continuous but not during discontinuous pulse stimulations, i.e. only when the mesolimbic system was activated. Direct electrical or optogenetic stimulation of the ventral tegmental area caused strong dopamine release but only electrical stimulation triggered significant blood-oxygen level-dependent responses in the medial prefrontal/anterior cingulate cortex and nucleus accumbens. These functional magnetic resonance imaging responses were not affected by the D 1/5 receptor antagonist SCH23390 but reduced by the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist MK801. Therefore, glutamatergic ventral tegmental area neurons are already sufficient to trigger blood-oxygen-level dependent responses in the medial prefrontal/anterior cingulate cortex and nucleus accumbens. Although dopamine release alone does not affect blood-oxygen-level dependent responses it can act as a switch, permitting the formation of blood-oxygen-level dependent responses. © The Author(s) 2015.

Brain Responses during the Anticipation of Dyspnea

PubMed Central

Stoeckel, M. Cornelia; Esser, Roland W.; Büchel, Christian

2016-01-01

Dyspnea is common in many cardiorespiratory diseases. Already the anticipation of this aversive symptom elicits fear in many patients resulting in unfavorable health behaviors such as activity avoidance and sedentary lifestyle. This study investigated brain mechanisms underlying these anticipatory processes. We induced dyspnea using resistive-load breathing in healthy subjects during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Blocks of severe and mild dyspnea alternated, each preceded by anticipation periods. Severe dyspnea activated a network of sensorimotor, cerebellar, and limbic areas. The left insular, parietal opercular, and cerebellar cortices showed increased activation already during dyspnea anticipation. Left insular and parietal opercular cortex showed increased connectivity with right insular and anterior cingulate cortex when severe dyspnea was anticipated, while the cerebellum showed increased connectivity with the amygdala. Notably, insular activation during dyspnea perception was positively correlated with midbrain activation during anticipation. Moreover, anticipatory fear was positively correlated with anticipatory activation in right insular and anterior cingulate cortex. The results demonstrate that dyspnea anticipation activates brain areas involved in dyspnea perception. The involvement of emotion-related areas such as insula, anterior cingulate cortex, and amygdala during dyspnea anticipation most likely reflects anticipatory fear and might underlie the development of unfavorable health behaviors in patients suffering from dyspnea. PMID:27648309

Brain Responses during the Anticipation of Dyspnea.

PubMed

Stoeckel, M Cornelia; Esser, Roland W; Gamer, Matthias; Büchel, Christian; von Leupoldt, Andreas

2016-01-01

Dyspnea is common in many cardiorespiratory diseases. Already the anticipation of this aversive symptom elicits fear in many patients resulting in unfavorable health behaviors such as activity avoidance and sedentary lifestyle. This study investigated brain mechanisms underlying these anticipatory processes. We induced dyspnea using resistive-load breathing in healthy subjects during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Blocks of severe and mild dyspnea alternated, each preceded by anticipation periods. Severe dyspnea activated a network of sensorimotor, cerebellar, and limbic areas. The left insular, parietal opercular, and cerebellar cortices showed increased activation already during dyspnea anticipation. Left insular and parietal opercular cortex showed increased connectivity with right insular and anterior cingulate cortex when severe dyspnea was anticipated, while the cerebellum showed increased connectivity with the amygdala. Notably, insular activation during dyspnea perception was positively correlated with midbrain activation during anticipation. Moreover, anticipatory fear was positively correlated with anticipatory activation in right insular and anterior cingulate cortex. The results demonstrate that dyspnea anticipation activates brain areas involved in dyspnea perception. The involvement of emotion-related areas such as insula, anterior cingulate cortex, and amygdala during dyspnea anticipation most likely reflects anticipatory fear and might underlie the development of unfavorable health behaviors in patients suffering from dyspnea.

Task-Related Deactivation and Functional Connectivity of the Subgenual Cingulate Cortex in Major Depressive Disorder

PubMed Central

Davey, Christopher G.; Yücel, Murat; Allen, Nicholas B.; Harrison, Ben J.

2012-01-01

Background: Major depressive disorder is associated with functional alterations in activity and resting-state connectivity of the extended medial frontal network. In this study we aimed to examine how task-related medial network activity and connectivity were affected in depression. Methods: 18 patients with major depressive disorder, aged 15- to 24-years-old, were matched with 19 healthy control participants. We characterized task-related activations and deactivations while participants engaged with an executive-control task (the multi-source interference task, MSIT). We used a psycho-physiological interactions approach to examine functional connectivity changes with subgenual anterior cingulate cortex. Voxel-wise statistical maps for each analysis were compared between the patient and control groups. Results: There were no differences between groups in their behavioral performances on the MSIT task, and nor in patterns of activation and deactivation. Assessment of functional connectivity with the subgenual cingulate showed that depressed patients did not demonstrate the same reduction in functional connectivity with the ventral striatum during task performance, but that they showed greater reduction in functional connectivity with adjacent ventromedial frontal cortex. The magnitude of this latter connectivity change predicted the relative activation of task-relevant executive-control regions in depressed patients. Conclusion: The study reinforces the importance of the subgenual cingulate cortex for depression, and demonstrates how dysfunctional connectivity with ventral brain regions might influence executive–attentional processes. PMID:22403553

Changes in cue-induced, prefrontal cortex activity with video-game play.

PubMed

Han, Doug Hyun; Kim, Yang Soo; Lee, Yong Sik; Min, Kyung Joon; Renshaw, Perry F

2010-12-01

Brain responses, particularly within the orbitofrontal and cingulate cortices, to Internet video-game cues in college students are similar to those observed in patients with substance dependence in response to the substance-related cues. In this study, we report changes in brain activity between baseline and following 6 weeks of Internet video-game play. We hypothesized that subjects with high levels of self-reported craving for Internet video-game play would be associated with increased activity in the prefrontal cortex, particularly the orbitofrontal and anterior cingulate cortex. Twenty-one healthy university students were recruited. At baseline and after a 6-week period of Internet video-game play, brain activity during presentation of video-game cues was assessed using 3T blood oxygen level dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging. Craving for Internet video-game play was assessed by self-report on a 7-point visual analogue scale following cue presentation. During a standardized 6-week video-game play period, brain activity in the anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortex of the excessive Internet game-playing group (EIGP) increased in response to Internet video-game cues. In contrast, activity observed in the general player group (GP) was not changed or decreased. In addition, the change of craving for Internet video games was positively correlated with the change in activity of the anterior cingulate in all subjects. These changes in frontal-lobe activity with extended video-game play may be similar to those observed during the early stages of addiction.

Amitriptyline reduces rectal pain related activation of the anterior cingulate cortex in patients with irritable bowel syndrome.

PubMed

Morgan, V; Pickens, D; Gautam, S; Kessler, R; Mertz, H

2005-05-01

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a disorder of intestinal hypersensitivity and altered motility, exacerbated by stress. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during painful rectal distension in IBS has demonstrated greater activation of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), an area relevant to pain and emotions. Tricyclic antidepressants are effective for IBS. The aim of this study was to determine if low dose amitriptyline reduces ACC activation during painful rectal distension in IBS to confer clinical benefits. Secondary aims were to identify other brain regions altered by amitriptyline, and to determine if reductions in cerebral activation are greater during mental stress. Nineteen women with painful IBS were randomised to amitriptyline 50 mg or placebo for one month and then crossed over to the alternate treatment after washout. Cerebral activation during rectal distension was compared between placebo and amitriptyline groups by fMRI. Distensions were performed alternately during auditory stress and relaxing music. Rectal pain induced significant activation of the perigenual ACC, right insula, and right prefrontal cortex. Amitriptyline was associated with reduced pain related cerebral activations in the perigenual ACC and the left posterior parietal cortex, but only during stress. The tricyclic antidepressant amitriptyline reduces brain activation during pain in the perigenual (limbic) anterior cingulated cortex and parietal association cortex. These reductions are only seen during stress. Amitriptyline is likely to work in the central nervous system rather than peripherally to blunt pain and other symptoms exacerbated by stress in IBS.

The role of the posterior cingulate cortex in cognition and disease

PubMed Central

Sharp, David J.

2014-01-01

The posterior cingulate cortex is a highly connected and metabolically active brain region. Recent studies suggest it has an important cognitive role, although there is no consensus about what this is. The region is typically discussed as having a unitary function because of a common pattern of relative deactivation observed during attentionally demanding tasks. One influential hypothesis is that the posterior cingulate cortex has a central role in supporting internally-directed cognition. It is a key node in the default mode network and shows increased activity when individuals retrieve autobiographical memories or plan for the future, as well as during unconstrained ‘rest’ when activity in the brain is ‘free-wheeling’. However, other evidence suggests that the region is highly heterogeneous and may play a direct role in regulating the focus of attention. In addition, its activity varies with arousal state and its interactions with other brain networks may be important for conscious awareness. Understanding posterior cingulate cortex function is likely to be of clinical importance. It is well protected against ischaemic stroke, and so there is relatively little neuropsychological data about the consequences of focal lesions. However, in other conditions abnormalities in the region are clearly linked to disease. For example, amyloid deposition and reduced metabolism is seen early in Alzheimer’s disease. Functional neuroimaging studies show abnormalities in a range of neurological and psychiatric disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, autism, depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, as well as ageing. Our own work has consistently shown abnormal posterior cingulate cortex function following traumatic brain injury, which predicts attentional impairments. Here we review the anatomy and physiology of the region and how it is affected in a range of clinical conditions, before discussing its proposed functions. We synthesize key findings into a novel model of the region’s function (the ‘Arousal, Balance and Breadth of Attention’ model). Dorsal and ventral subcomponents are functionally separated and differences in regional activity are explained by considering: (i) arousal state; (ii) whether attention is focused internally or externally; and (iii) the breadth of attentional focus. The predictions of the model can be tested within the framework of complex dynamic systems theory, and we propose that the dorsal posterior cingulate cortex influences attentional focus by ‘tuning’ whole-brain metastability and so adjusts how stable brain network activity is over time. PMID:23869106

Inactivation of the Anterior Cingulate Cortex Impairs Extinction of Rabbit Jaw Movement Conditioning and Prevents Extinction-Related Inhibition of Hippocampal Activity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Griffin, Amy L.; Berry, Stephen D.

2004-01-01

Although past research has highlighted the involvement of limbic structures such as the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and hippocampus in learning, few have addressed the nature of their interaction. The current study of rabbit jaw movement conditioning used a combination of reversible lesions and electrophysiology to examine the involvement of…

A longitudinal fMRI investigation in acute post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

PubMed

Ke, Jun; Zhang, Li; Qi, Rongfeng; Li, Weihui; Hou, Cailan; Zhong, Yuan; He, Zhong; Li, Lingjiang; Lu, Guangming

2016-11-01

Background Neuroimaging studies have implicated limbic, paralimbic, and prefrontal cortex in the pathophysiology of chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, little is known about the neural substrates of acute PTSD and how they change with symptom improvement. Purpose To examine the neural circuitry underlying acute PTSD and brain function changes during clinical recovery from this disorder. Material and Methods Nineteen acute PTSD patients and nine non-PTSD subjects who all experienced a devastating mining accident underwent clinical assessment as well as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning while viewing trauma-related and neutral pictures. Two years after the accident, a subgroup of 17 patients completed a second clinical evaluation, of which 13 were given an identical follow-up scan. Results Acute PTSD patients demonstrated greater activation in the vermis and right posterior cingulate, and greater deactivation in the bilateral medial prefrontal cortex and inferior parietal lobules than controls in the traumatic versus neutral condition. At follow-up, PTSD patients showed symptom reduction and decreased activation in the right middle frontal gyrus, bilateral posterior cingulate/precuneus, and cerebellum. Correlation results confirmed these findings and indicated that brain activation in the posterior cingulate/precuneus and vermis was predictive of PTSD symptom improvement. Conclusion The findings support the involvement of the medial prefrontal cortex, inferior parietal lobule, posterior cingulate, and vermis in the pathogenesis of acute PTSD. Brain activation in the vermis and posterior cingulate/precuneus appears to be a biological marker of recovery potential from PTSD. Furthermore, decreased activation of the middle frontal gyrus, posterior cingulate/precuneus, and cerebellum may reflect symptom improvement.

Distinct patterns of brain activity evoked by histamine-induced itch reveal an association with itch intensity and disease severity in atopic dermatitis

PubMed Central

Ishiuji, Y.; Coghill, R.C.; Patel, T.S.; Oshiro, Y.; Kraft, R.A.; Yosipovitch, G.

2009-01-01

Summary Background Little is known about brain mechanisms supporting the experience of chronic puritus in disease states. Objectives To examine the difference in brain processing of histamine-induced itch in patients with active atopic dermatitis (AD) vs. healthy controls with the emerging technique of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) using arterial spin labelling (ASL). Methods Itch was induced with histamine iontophoresis in eight patients with AD and seven healthy subjects. Results We found significant differences in brain processing of histamine-induced itch between patients with AD and healthy subjects. Patients with AD exhibited bilateral activation of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), retrosplenial cingulate cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) as well as contralateral activation of the caudate nucleus and putamen. In contrast, healthy subjects activated the primary motor cortex, primary somatosensory cortex and superior parietal lobe. The PCC and precuneus exhibited significantly greater activity in patients vs. healthy subjects. A significant correlation between percentage changes of brain activation was noted in the activation of the ACC and contralateral insula and histamine-induced itch intensity as well as disease severity in patients with AD. In addition, an association was noted between DLPFC activity and disease severity. Conclusions Our results demonstrate that ASL fMRI is a promising technique to assess brain activity in chronic itch. Brain activity of acute itch in AD seems to differ from that in healthy subjects. Moreover, the activity in cortical areas involved in affect and emotion correlated to measures of disease severity. PMID:19663870

Abnormalities of Intrinsic Functional Connectivity in Autism Spectrum Disorders

PubMed Central

Monk, Christopher S.; Peltier, Scott J.; Wiggins, Jillian Lee; Weng, Shih-Jen; Carrasco, Melisa; Risi, Susan; Lord, Catherine

2009-01-01

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) impact social functioning and communication, and individuals with these disorders often have restrictive and repetitive behaviors. Accumulating data indicate that ASD is associated with alterations of neural circuitry. Functional MRI (FMRI) studies have focused on connectivity in the context of psychological tasks. However, even in the absence of a task, the brain exhibits a high degree of functional connectivity, known as intrinsic or resting connectivity. Notably, the default network, which includes the posterior cingulate cortex, retro-splenial, lateral parietal cortex/angular gyrus, medial prefrontal cortex, superior frontal gyrus, temporal lobe, and parahippocampal gyrus, is strongly active when there is no task. Altered intrinsic connectivity within the default network may underlie offline processing that may actuate ASD impairments. Using FMRI, we sought to evaluate intrinsic connectivity within the default network in ASD. Relative to controls, the ASD group showed weaker connectivity between the posterior cingulate cortex and superior frontal gyrus and stronger connectivity between the posterior cingulate cortex and both the right temporal lobe and right parahippocampal gyrus. Moreover, poorer social functioning in the ASD group was correlated with weaker connectivity between the posterior cingulate cortex and the superior frontal gyrus. In addition, more severe restricted and repetitive behaviors in ASD were correlated with stronger connectivity between the posterior cingulate cortex and right parahippocampal gyrus. These findings indicate that ASD subjects show altered intrinsic connectivity within the default network, and connectivity between these structures is associated with specific ASD symptoms. PMID:19409498

Neural foundation of human moral reasoning: an ALE meta-analysis about the role of personal perspective.

PubMed

Boccia, M; Dacquino, C; Piccardi, L; Cordellieri, P; Guariglia, C; Ferlazzo, F; Ferracuti, S; Giannini, A M

2017-02-01

Moral sense is defined as a feeling of the rightness or wrongness of an action that knowingly causes harm to people other than the agent. The large amount of data collected over the past decade allows drawing some definite conclusions about the neurobiological foundations of moral reasoning as well as a systematic investigation of methodological variables during fMRI studies. Here, we verified the existence of converging and consistent evidence in the current literature by means of a meta-analysis of fMRI studies of moral reasoning, using activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis. We also tested for a possible neural segregation as function of the perspective used during moral reasoning i.e., first or third person perspectives. Results demonstrate the existence of a wide network of areas underpinning moral reasoning, including orbitofrontal cortex, insula, amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex as well as precuneus and posterior cingulate cortex. Within this network we found a neural segregation as a function of the personal perspective, with 1PP eliciting higher activation in the bilateral insula and superior temporal gyrus as well as in the anterior cingulate cortex, lingual and fusiform gyri, middle temporal gyrus and precentral gyrus in the left hemisphere, and 3PP eliciting higher activation in the bilateral amygdala, the posterior cingulate cortex, insula and supramarginal gyrus in the left hemisphere as well as the medial and ventromedial prefrontal cortex in the right hemisphere. These results shed some more light on the contribution of these areas to moral reasoning, strongly supporting a functional specialization as a function of the perspective used during moral reasoning.

Effects of distraction on magnetoencephalographic responses ascending through C-fibers in humans.

PubMed

Qiu, Yunhai; Inui, Koji; Wang, Xiaohong; Nguyen, Binh Thi; Tran, Tuan Diep; Kakigi, Ryusuke

2004-03-01

Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we evaluated the cerebral regions relating to second pain perception ascending through C-fibers and investigated the effect of distraction on each region. Thirteen normal subjects participated in this study. CO2 laser pulses were delivered to the dorsum of the left hand to selectively activate C-fibers. The MEG responses were analyzed using a multi-dipole model. (1) primary somatosensory cortex (SI), and (2) secondary somatosensory cortex (SII)--insula were the main generators for the primary component, 1M, whose mean peak latency was 744 ms. In addition to (1) and (2), (3) cingulate cortex and (4) medial temporal area (MT) were also activated for the subsequent component, 2M, whose mean peak latency was 947 ms. During a mental calculation task (Distraction), all 6 sources were significantly reduced in amplitude, but the SII-insula (P < 0.01) and cingulate cortex (P < 0.001) were more sensitive than the SI (P < 0.05) and MT (P < 0.05). We confirmed that SI in the contralateral hemisphere and SII-insula, cingulate cortex and MT in bilateral hemispheres play a major role in second pain perception, and all sites were much affected by a change of attention, indicating that these regions are related to the cognitive aspect of second pain perception. The SI, SII, cingulate and MT were activated during the C-fiber-related MEG response, and responses in these regions were significantly diminished during mental distraction.

Neural dissociations in attitude strength: Distinct regions of cingulate cortex track ambivalence and certainty.

PubMed

Luttrell, Andrew; Stillman, Paul E; Hasinski, Adam E; Cunningham, William A

2016-04-01

People's behaviors are often guided by valenced responses to objects in the environment. Beyond positive and negative evaluations, attitudes research has documented the importance of attitude strength--qualities of an attitude that enhance or attenuate its impact and durability. Although neuroscience research has extensively investigated valence, little work exists on other related variables like metacognitive judgments about one's attitudes. It remains unclear, then, whether the various indicators of attitude strength represent a single underlying neural process or whether they reflect independent processes. To examine this, we used functional MRI (fMRI) to identify the neural correlates of attitude strength. Specifically, we focus on ambivalence and certainty, which represent metacognitive judgments that people can make about their evaluations. Although often correlated, prior neuroscience research suggests that these 2 attributes may have distinct neural underpinnings. We investigate this by having participants make evaluative judgments of visually presented words while undergoing fMRI. After scanning, participants rated the degree of ambivalence and certainty they felt regarding their attitudes toward each word. We found that these 2 judgments corresponded to distinct brain regions' activity during the process of evaluation. Ambivalence corresponded to activation in anterior cingulate cortex, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, and posterior cingulate cortex. Certainty, however, corresponded to activation in unique areas of the precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex. These results support a model treating ambivalence and certainty as distinct, though related, attitude strength variables, and we discuss implications for both attitudes and neuroscience research. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

The Integration of Negative Affect, Pain, and Cognitive Control in the Cingulate Cortex

PubMed Central

Shackman, Alexander J.; Salomons, Tim V.; Slagter, Heleen A.; Fox, Andrew S.; Winter, Jameel J.; Davidson, Richard J.

2011-01-01

Preface It has been argued that emotion, pain, and cognitive control are functionally segregated in distinct subdivisions of the cingulate cortex. But recent observations encourage a fundamentally different view. Imaging studies indicate that negative affect, pain, and cognitive control activate an overlapping region of dorsal cingulate, the anterior midcingulate cortex (aMCC). Anatomical studies reveal that aMCC constitutes a hub where information about reinforcers can be linked to motor centers responsible for expressing affect and executing goal-directed behavior. Computational modeling and other kinds of evidence suggest that this intimacy reflects control processes that are common to all three domains. These observations compel a reconsideration of dorsal cingulate’s contribution to negative affect and pain. PMID:21331082

Neural correlates of strategic processes underlying episodic memory in women with major depression: A 15O-PET study.

PubMed

Ottowitz, William E; Deckersbach, Thilo; Savage, Cary R; Lindquist, Martin A; Dougherty, Darin D

2010-01-01

To evaluate the functional integrity of brain regions underlying strategic mnemonic processing in patients with major depressive disorder, the authors administered a modified version of the California Verbal Learning Test to depressed patients during presentation of lists of unrelated words and, conversely, during presentation of lists of related words with and without orientation regarding the relatedness of the words (eight healthy females, IQ=122, and eight depressed females, IQ=107). Brain function evaluated across all three conditions showed that patients with major depressive disorder revealed activation of the right anterior cingulate cortex, left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, both hippocampi, and the left orbitofrontal cortex. Further analysis showed that patients with major depressive disorder had greater activation of the right anterior cingulate cortex during semantic organization and the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex during strategy initiation.

Cortical midline involvement in autobiographical memory

PubMed Central

Summerfield, Jennifer J.; Hassabis, Demis; Maguire, Eleanor A.

2009-01-01

Recollecting autobiographical memories of personal past experiences is an integral part of our everyday lives and relies on a distributed set of brain regions. Their occurrence externally in the real world (‘realness’) and their self-relevance (‘selfness’) are two defining features of these autobiographical events. Distinguishing between personally experienced events and those that happened to other individuals, and between events that really occurred and those that were mere figments of the imagination, is clearly advantageous, yet the respective neural correlates remain unclear. Here we experimentally manipulated and dissociated realness and selfness during fMRI using a novel paradigm where participants recalled self (autobiographical) and non-self (from a movie or television news clips) events that were either real or previously imagined. Distinct sub-regions within dorsal and ventral medial prefrontal cortex, retrosplenial cortex and along the parieto-occipital sulcus preferentially coded for events (real or imagined) involving the self. By contrast, recollection of autobiographical events that really happened in the external world activated different areas within ventromedial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex. In addition, recall of externally experienced real events (self or non-self) was associated with increased activity in areas of dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex. Taken together our results permitted a functional deconstruction of anterior (medial prefrontal) and posterior (retrosplenial cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus) cortical midline regions widely associated with autobiographical memory but whose roles have hitherto been poorly understood. PMID:18973817

Age-Group Differences in Medial Cortex Activity Associated with Thinking About Self-Relevant Agendas

PubMed Central

Mitchell, Karen J.; Raye, Carol L.; Ebner, Natalie C.; Tubridy, Shannon M.; Frankel, Hillary; Johnson, Marcia K.

2009-01-01

This functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study compared young and older adults’ brain activity as they thought about motivationally self-relevant agendas (hopes and aspirations, duties and obligations) and concrete control items (e.g., shape of USA). Young adults’ activity replicated a double dissociation (Johnson et al., 2006): an area of medial frontal gyrus/anterior cingulate cortex was most active during hopes and aspirations trials and an area of medial posterior cortex, primarily posterior cingulate, was most active during duties and obligations trials. Compared to young adults, older adults showed attenuated responses in medial cortex, especially in medial prefrontal cortex, with both less activity during self-relevant trials and less deactivation during control trials. The fMRI data, together with post-scan reports and the behavioral literature on age-group differences in motivational orientation, suggest that the differences in medial cortex seen in this study reflect young and older adults’ focus on different information during motivationally self-relevant thought. Differences also may be related to an age-associated deficit in controlled cognitive processes that are engaged by complex self-reflection and mediated by prefrontal cortex. PMID:19485660

Midcingulate Motor Map and Feedback Detection: Converging Data from Humans and Monkeys

PubMed Central

Procyk, Emmanuel; Wilson, Charles R. E.; Stoll, Frederic M.; Faraut, Maïlys C. M.; Petrides, Michael; Amiez, Céline

2016-01-01

The functional and anatomical organization of the cingulate cortex across primate species is the subject of considerable and often confusing debate. The functions attributed to the midcingulate cortex (MCC) embrace, among others, feedback processing, pain, salience, action-reward association, premotor functions, and conflict monitoring. This multiplicity of functional concepts suggests either unresolved separation of functional contributions or integration and convergence. We here provide evidence from recent experiments in humans and from a meta-analysis of monkey data that MCC feedback-related activity is generated in the rostral cingulate premotor area by specific body maps directly related to the modality of feedback. As such, we argue for an embodied mechanism for adaptation and exploration in MCC. We propose arguments and precise tools to resolve the origins of performance monitoring signals in the medial frontal cortex, and to progress on issues regarding homology between human and nonhuman primate cingulate cortex. PMID:25217467

Deficient Activity in the Neural Systems That Mediate Self-regulatory Control in Bulimia Nervosa

PubMed Central

Marsh, Rachel; Steinglass, Joanna E.; Gerber, Andrew J.; O’Leary, Kara Graziano; Wang, Zhishun; Murphy, David; Walsh, B. Timothy; Peterson, Bradley S.

2009-01-01

Context Disturbances in neural systems that mediate voluntary self-regulatory processes may contribute to bulimia nervosa (BN) by releasing feeding behaviors from regulatory control. Objective To study the functional activity in neural circuits that subserve self-regulatory control in women with BN. Design We compared functional magnetic resonance imaging blood oxygenation level–dependent responses in patients with BN with healthy controls during performance of the Simon Spatial Incompatibility task. Setting University research institute. Participants Forty women: 20 patients with BN and 20 healthy control participants. Main Outcome Measure We used general linear modeling of Simon Spatial Incompatibility task–related activations to compare groups on their patterns of brain activation associated with the successful or unsuccessful engagement of self-regulatory control. Results Patients with BN responded more impulsively and made more errors on the task than did healthy controls; patients with the most severe symptoms made the most errors. During correct responding on incongruent trials, patients failed to activate frontostriatal circuits to the same degree as healthy controls in the left inferolateral prefrontal cortex (Brodmann area [BA] 45), bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (BA 44), lenticular and caudate nuclei, and anterior cingulate cortex (BA 24/32). Patients activated the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (BA 32) more when making errors than when responding correctly. In contrast, healthy participants activated the anterior cingulate cortex more during correct than incorrect responses, and they activated the striatum more when responding incorrectly, likely reflecting an automatic response tendency that, in the absence of concomitant anterior cingulate cortex activity, produced incorrect responses. Conclusions Self-regulatory processes are impaired in women with BN, likely because of their failure to engage frontostriatal circuits appropriately. These findings enhance our understanding of the pathogenesis of BN by pointing to functional abnormalities within a neural system that subserves self-regulatory control, which may contribute to binge eating and other impulsive behaviors in women with BN. PMID:19124688

Altered resting-state neural activity and changes following a craving behavioral intervention for Internet gaming disorder.

PubMed

Zhang, Jin-Tao; Yao, Yuan-Wei; Potenza, Marc N; Xia, Cui-Cui; Lan, Jing; Liu, Lu; Wang, Ling-Jiao; Liu, Ben; Ma, Shan-Shan; Fang, Xiao-Yi

2016-07-06

Internet gaming disorder (IGD) has become a serious mental health issue worldwide. Evaluating the benefits of interventions for IGD is of great significance. Thirty-six young adults with IGD and 19 healthy comparison (HC) subjects were recruited and underwent resting-state fMRI scanning. Twenty IGD subjects participated in a group craving behavioral intervention (CBI) and were scanned before and after the intervention. The remaining 16 IGD subjects did not receive an intervention. The results showed that IGD subjects showed decreased amplitude of low fluctuation in the orbital frontal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex, and exhibited increased resting-state functional connectivity between the posterior cingulate cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, compared with HC subjects. Compared with IGD subjects who did not receive the intervention, those receiving CBI demonstrated significantly reduced resting-state functional connectivity between the: (1) orbital frontal cortex with hippocampus/parahippocampal gyrus; and, (2) posterior cingulate cortex with supplementary motor area, precentral gyrus, and postcentral gyrus. These findings suggest that IGD is associated with abnormal resting-state neural activity in reward-related, default mode and executive control networks. Thus, the CBI may exert effects by reducing interactions between regions within a reward-related network, and across the default mode and executive control networks.

Altered resting-state neural activity and changes following a craving behavioral intervention for Internet gaming disorder

PubMed Central

Zhang, Jin-Tao; Yao, Yuan-Wei; Potenza, Marc N.; Xia, Cui-Cui; Lan, Jing; Liu, Lu; Wang, Ling-Jiao; Liu, Ben; Ma, Shan-Shan; Fang, Xiao-Yi

2016-01-01

Internet gaming disorder (IGD) has become a serious mental health issue worldwide. Evaluating the benefits of interventions for IGD is of great significance. Thirty-six young adults with IGD and 19 healthy comparison (HC) subjects were recruited and underwent resting-state fMRI scanning. Twenty IGD subjects participated in a group craving behavioral intervention (CBI) and were scanned before and after the intervention. The remaining 16 IGD subjects did not receive an intervention. The results showed that IGD subjects showed decreased amplitude of low fluctuation in the orbital frontal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex, and exhibited increased resting-state functional connectivity between the posterior cingulate cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, compared with HC subjects. Compared with IGD subjects who did not receive the intervention, those receiving CBI demonstrated significantly reduced resting-state functional connectivity between the: (1) orbital frontal cortex with hippocampus/parahippocampal gyrus; and, (2) posterior cingulate cortex with supplementary motor area, precentral gyrus, and postcentral gyrus. These findings suggest that IGD is associated with abnormal resting-state neural activity in reward-related, default mode and executive control networks. Thus, the CBI may exert effects by reducing interactions between regions within a reward-related network, and across the default mode and executive control networks. PMID:27381822

Does low self-esteem enhance social pain? The relationship between trait self-esteem and anterior cingulate cortex activation induced by ostracism.

PubMed

Onoda, Keiichi; Okamoto, Yasumasa; Nakashima, Ken'ichiro; Nittono, Hiroshi; Yoshimura, Shinpei; Yamawaki, Sigeto; Yamaguchi, Shuhei; Ura, Mitsuhiro

2010-12-01

According to sociometer theory, self-esteem serves as a barometer of the extent to which individuals are socially included or excluded by others. We hypothesized that trait self-esteem would be related to social pain responsiveness, and we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to experimentally investigate this potential relationship. Participants (n = 26) performed a cyberball task, a computerized game of catch during which the participants were excluded from the game. Participants then rated the degree of social pain experienced during both inclusion in and exclusion from the game. Individuals with lower trait self-esteem reported increased social pain relative to individuals with higher trait self-esteem, and such individuals also demonstrated a greater degree of dorsal anterior cingulate cortex activation. A psychophysiological interaction analysis revealed a positive connectivity between the dorsal anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortices for the lower trait self-esteem group, and a corresponding negative connectivity for the higher trait self-esteem group. Heightened dorsal anterior cortex activity and a corresponding connection with the prefrontal cortex might be one possible explanation for the greater levels of social pain observed experienced by individuals with low trait self-esteem.

Brain-heart coupling at the P300 latency is linked to anterior cingulate cortex and insula--a cardio-electroencephalographic covariance tracing study.

PubMed

Panitz, Christian; Wacker, Jan; Stemmler, Gerhard; Mueller, Erik M

2013-09-01

Prior work on the coupling of cortical and cardiac responses to feedback demonstrated that feedback-evoked single-trial EEG magnitudes 300 ms post-stimulus predict the degree of subsequent cardiac acceleration. The main goal of the current study was to explore the neural sources of this phenomenon using (a) independent component analysis in conjunction with dipole fitting and (b) low resolution electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) in N=14 participants who performed a gambling task with feedback presented after each trial. It was shown that independent components localized near anterior cingulate cortex produced robust within-subjects correlations with feedback-evoked heart-period, suggesting that anterior cingulate cortex activity 300ms after feedback presentation predicts the strength of subsequent cardiac acceleration. Moreover, interindividual differences in evoked left insular cortex LORETA-estimated activity at around 300ms moderated within-subjects EEG-heart period correlations. These results suggest that key regions of central autonomic control are involved in cortico-cardiac coupling evoked by feedback stimuli. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Frontolimbic Neural Circuit Changes in Emotional Processing and Inhibitory Control Associated With Clinical Improvement Following Transference-Focused Psychotherapy in Borderline Personality Disorder

PubMed Central

Perez, David L.; Vago, David R.; Pan, Hong; Root, James; Tuescher, Oliver; Fuchs, Benjamin H.; Leung, Lorene; Epstein, Jane; Cain, Nicole M.; Clarkin, John F.; Lenzenweger, Mark F.; Kernberg, Otto F.; Levy, Kenneth N.; Silbersweig, David A.; Stern, Emily

2015-01-01

Aim Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by self-regulation deficits, including impulsivity and affective lability. Transference-Focused Psychotherapy (TFP) is an evidence-based treatment proven to reduce symptoms across multiple cognitive-emotional domains in BPD. This pilot study aims to investigate neural activation associated with, and predictive of, clinical improvement in emotional and behavioral regulation in BPD following TFP. Methods BPD subjects (N=10) were scanned pre- and post-TFP treatment using a within-subjects design. A disorder-specific emotional-linguistic go/no-go fMRI paradigm was used to probe the interaction between negative emotional processing and inhibitory control. Results Analyses demonstrated significant treatment-related effects with relative increased dorsal prefrontal (dorsal anterior cingulate, dorsolateral prefrontal, and frontopolar cortices) activation, and relative decreased ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and hippocampal activation following treatment. Clinical improvement in constraint correlated positively with relative increased left dorsal anterior cingulate cortex activation. Clinical improvement in affective lability correlated positively with left posterior-medial orbitofrontal cortex/ventral striatum activation, and negatively with right amygdala/parahippocampal activation. Post-treatment improvements in constraint were predicted by pre-treatment right dorsal anterior cingulate cortex hypoactivation, and pre-treatment left posterior-medial orbitofrontal cortex/ventral striatum hypoactivation predicted improvements in affective lability. Conclusions These preliminary findings demonstrate potential TFP-associated alterations in frontolimbic circuitry and begin to identify neural mechanisms associated with a psychodynamically-oriented psychotherapy. PMID:26289141

Brain Functional Connectivity Is Modified by a Hypocaloric Mediterranean Diet and Physical Activity in Obese Women.

PubMed

García-Casares, Natalia; Bernal-López, María R; Roé-Vellvé, Nuria; Gutiérrez-Bedmar, Mario; Fernández-García, Jose C; García-Arnés, Juan A; Ramos-Rodriguez, José R; Alfaro, Francisco; Santamaria-Fernández, Sonia; Steward, Trevor; Jiménez-Murcia, Susana; Garcia-Garcia, Isabel; Valdivielso, Pedro; Fernández-Aranda, Fernando; Tinahones, Francisco J; Gómez-Huelgas, Ricardo

2017-07-01

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in the resting state has shown altered brain connectivity networks in obese individuals. However, the impact of a Mediterranean diet on cerebral connectivity in obese patients when losing weight has not been previously explored. The aim of this study was to examine the connectivity between brain structures before and six months after following a hypocaloric Mediterranean diet and physical activity program in a group of sixteen obese women aged 46.31 ± 4.07 years. Before and after the intervention program, the body mass index (BMI) (kg/m²) was 38.15 ± 4.7 vs. 34.18 ± 4.5 ( p < 0.02), and body weight (kg) was 98.5 ± 13.1 vs. 88.28 ± 12.2 ( p < 0.03). All subjects underwent a pre- and post-intervention fMRI under fasting conditions. Functional connectivity was assessed using seed-based correlations. After the intervention, we found decreased connectivity between the left inferior parietal cortex and the right temporal cortex ( p < 0.001), left posterior cingulate ( p < 0.001), and right posterior cingulate ( p < 0.03); decreased connectivity between the left superior frontal gyrus and the right temporal cortex ( p < 0.01); decreased connectivity between the prefrontal cortex and the somatosensory cortex ( p < 0.025); and decreased connectivity between the left and right posterior cingulate ( p < 0.04). Results were considered significant at a voxel-wise threshold of p ≤ 0.05, and a cluster-level family-wise error correction for multiple comparisons of p ≤ 0.05. In conclusion, functional connectivity between brain structures involved in the pathophysiology of obesity (the inferior parietal lobe, posterior cingulate, temporo-insular cortex, prefrontal cortex) may be modified by a weight loss program including a Mediterranean diet and physical exercise.

Neural Correlates of Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse in Women With and Without Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

PubMed Central

Bremner, J. Douglas; Narayan, Meena; Staib, Lawrence H.; Southwick, Steven M.; McGlashan, Thomas; Charney, Dennis S.

2011-01-01

Objective Childhood sexual abuse is very common in our society, but little is known about the long-term effects of abuse on brain function. The purpose of this study was to measure neural correlates of memories of childhood abuse in sexually abused women with and without the diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Method Twenty-two women with a history of childhood sexual abuse underwent injection of [15O]H2O, followed by positron emission tomography imaging of the brain while they listened to neutral and traumatic (personalized childhood sexual abuse events) scripts. Brain blood flow during exposure to traumatic and neutral scripts was compared for sexually abused women with and without PTSD. Results Memories of childhood sexual abuse were associated with greater increases in blood flow in portions of anterior prefrontal cortex (superior and middle frontal gyri—areas 6 and 9), posterior cingulate (area 31), and motor cortex in sexually abused women with PTSD than in sexually abused women without PTSD. Abuse memories were associated with alterations in blood flow in medial prefrontal cortex, with decreased blood flow in subcallosal gyrus (area 25), and a failure of activation in anterior cingulate (area 32). There was also decreased blood flow in right hippocampus, fusiform/inferior temporal gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, and visual association cortex in women with PTSD relative to women without PTSD. Conclusions These findings implicate dysfunction of medial prefrontal cortex (subcallosal gyrus and anterior cingulate), hippocampus, and visual association cortex in pathological memories of childhood abuse in women with PTSD. Increased activation in posterior cingulate and motor cortex was seen in women with PTSD. Dysfunction in these brain areas may underlie PTSD symptoms provoked by traumatic reminders in subjects with PTSD. PMID:10553744

Intra- and Interhemispheric Propagation of Electrophysiological Synchronous Activity and Its Modulation by Serotonin in the Cingulate Cortex of Juvenile Mice

PubMed Central

Rovira, Víctor; Geijo-Barrientos, Emilio

2016-01-01

Disinhibition of the cortex (e.g., by GABA -receptor blockade) generates synchronous and oscillatory electrophysiological activity that propagates along the cortex. We have studied, in brain slices of the cingulate cortex of mice (postnatal age 14–20 days), the propagation along layer 2/3 as well as the interhemispheric propagation through the corpus callosum of synchronous discharges recorded extracellularly and evoked in the presence of 10 μM bicuculline by electrical stimulation of layer 1. The latency of the responses obtained at the same distance from the stimulus electrode was longer in anterior cingulate cortex (ACC: 39.53 ± 2.83 ms, n = 7) than in retrosplenial cortex slices (RSC: 21.99 ± 2.75 ms, n = 5; p<0.05), which is equivalent to a lower propagation velocity in the dorso-ventral direction in ACC than in RSC slices (43.0 mm/s vs 72.9 mm/s). We studied the modulation of this propagation by serotonin. Serotonin significantly increased the latency of the intracortical synchronous discharges (18.9% in the ipsilateral hemisphere and 40.2% in the contralateral hemisphere), and also increased the interhemispheric propagation time by 86.4%. These actions of serotonin were mimicked by the activation of either 5-HT1B or 5-HT2A receptors, but not by the activation of the 5-HT1A subtype. These findings provide further knowledge about the propagation of synchronic electrical activity in the cerebral cortex, including its modulation by serotonin, and suggest the presence of deep differences between the ACC and RSC in the structure of the local cortical microcircuits underlying the propagation of synchronous discharges. PMID:26930051

Feelings of shame, embarrassment and guilt and their neural correlates: A systematic review.

PubMed

Bastin, Coralie; Harrison, Ben J; Davey, Christopher G; Moll, Jorge; Whittle, Sarah

2016-12-01

This systematic review aimed to provide a comprehensive summary of the current literature on the neurobiological underpinnings of the experience of the negative moral emotions: shame, embarrassment and guilt. PsycINFO, PubMed and MEDLINE were used to identify existing studies. Twenty-one functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography studies were reviewed. Although studies differed considerably in methodology, their findings highlight both shared and distinct patterns of brain structure/function associated with these emotions. Shame was more likely to be associated with activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex and sensorimotor cortex; embarrassment was more likely to be associated with activity in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and amygdala; guilt was more likely to be associated with activity in ventral anterior cingulate cortex, posterior temporal regions and the precuneus. Although results point to some common and some distinct neural underpinnings of these emotions, further research is required to replicate findings. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modelling brain activations and connectivity of pain modulated by having a loved one nearby

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tamam, Sofina; Ahmad, Asma Hayati; Kamil, Wan Ahmad

2018-06-01

This study is to model the connectivity between activated areas in the brain associated with pain responses in the presence and absence of a loved one. We used Th:YAG laser targeted onto the dorsum of the right hand of 17 Malay-female participants (mean age 20.59; SD 2.85 years) in two conditions: (1) in the absence of a loved one in the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) room (Alone condition), and (2) in the presence of a loved one (Support condition). The laser-induced pain stimuli were delivered according to an fMRI paradigm utilising blocked design comprising 15 blocks of activity and 15 blocks of rest. Brain activations and connectivity were analysed using statistical parametric mapping (SPM), dynamic causal modelling (DCM) and Bayesian model selection (BMS) analyses. Individual responses to pain were found to be divided into two categories: (1) Love Hurts (participants who reported more pain in the presence of a loved one) involved activations in thalamus (THA), parahippocampal gyrus (PHG) and hippocampus (HIP); and (2) Love Heals (participants who reported less pain in the presence of a loved one) involved activations in all parts of cingulate cortex. BMS showed that Love Heals could be represented by a cortical network involving the area of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), middle cingulate cortex (MCC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) in the intrinsic connectivity of ACC → PCC → MCC and ACC → MCC. There was no optimal model to explain the increase in pain threshold when accompanied by the loved one in Love Hurts. The present study reveals a new possible cortical network for the reduction of pain by having a loved one nearby.

Medial cortex activity, self-reflection and depression.

PubMed

Johnson, Marcia K; Nolen-Hoeksema, Susan; Mitchell, Karen J; Levin, Yael

2009-12-01

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated neural activity associated with self-reflection in depressed [current major depressive episode (MDE)] and healthy control participants, focusing on medial cortex areas previously shown to be associated with self-reflection. Both the MDE and healthy control groups showed greater activity in anterior medial cortex (medial frontal gyrus, anterior cingulate gyrus) when cued to think about hopes and aspirations compared with duties and obligations, and greater activity in posterior medial cortex (precuneus, posterior cingulate) when cued to think about duties and obligations (Experiment 1). However, the MDE group showed less activity than controls in the same area of medial frontal cortex when self-referential cues were more ambiguous with respect to valence (Experiment 2), and less deactivation in a non-self-referential condition in both experiments. Furthermore, individual differences in rumination were positively correlated with activity in both anterior and posterior medial cortex during non-self-referential conditions. These results provide converging evidence for a dissociation of anterior and posterior medial cortex depending on the focus of self-relevant thought. They also provide neural evidence consistent with behavioral findings that depression is associated with disruption of positively valenced thoughts in response to ambiguous cues, and difficulty disengaging from self-reflection when it is appropriate to do so.

Medial cortex activity, self-reflection and depression

PubMed Central

Nolen-Hoeksema, Susan; Mitchell, Karen J.; Levin, Yael

2009-01-01

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated neural activity associated with self-reflection in depressed [current major depressive episode (MDE)] and healthy control participants, focusing on medial cortex areas previously shown to be associated with self-reflection. Both the MDE and healthy control groups showed greater activity in anterior medial cortex (medial frontal gyrus, anterior cingulate gyrus) when cued to think about hopes and aspirations compared with duties and obligations, and greater activity in posterior medial cortex (precuneus, posterior cingulate) when cued to think about duties and obligations (Experiment 1). However, the MDE group showed less activity than controls in the same area of medial frontal cortex when self-referential cues were more ambiguous with respect to valence (Experiment 2), and less deactivation in a non-self-referential condition in both experiments. Furthermore, individual differences in rumination were positively correlated with activity in both anterior and posterior medial cortex during non-self-referential conditions. These results provide converging evidence for a dissociation of anterior and posterior medial cortex depending on the focus of self-relevant thought. They also provide neural evidence consistent with behavioral findings that depression is associated with disruption of positively valenced thoughts in response to ambiguous cues, and difficulty disengaging from self-reflection when it is appropriate to do so. PMID:19620180

Cognitive control and the anterior cingulate cortex: how conflicting stimuli affect attentional control in the rat

PubMed Central

Newman, Lori A.; Creer, David J.; McGaughy, Jill A.

2014-01-01

Converging evidence supports the hypothesis that the prefrontal cortex is critical for cognitive control. One prefrontal subregion, the anterior cingulate cortex, is hypothesized to be necessary to resolve response conflicts, disregard salient distractors and alter behavior in response to the generation of an error. These situations all involve goal-oriented monitoring of performance in order to effectively adjust cognitive processes. Several neuropsychological disorders, e.g., schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity and obsessive compulsive disorder, are accompanied by morphological changes in the anterior cingulate cortex. These changes are hypothesized to underlie the impairments on tasks that require cognitive control found in these subjects. A novel conflict monitoring task was used to assess the effects on cognitive control of excitotoxic lesions to anterior cingulate cortex in rats. Prior to surgery all subjects showed improved accuracy on the second of two consecutive, incongruent trials. Lesions to the anterior cingulate cortex abolished this. Lesioned animals had difficulty in adjusting cognitive control on a trial-by-trial basis regardless of whether cognitive changes were increased or decreased. These results support a role for the anterior cingulate cortex in adjustments in cognitive control. PMID:25051488

[Psychotherapy of Depression as Neurobiological Process - Evidence from Neuroimaging].

PubMed

Rubart, Antonie; Hohagen, Fritz; Zurowski, Bartosz

2018-06-01

Research on neurobiological effects of psychotherapy in depression facilitates the improvement of treatment strategies. The cortico-limbic dysregulation model serves as a framework for numerous studies on neurobiological changes in depression. In this model, depression is described as hypoactivation of dorsal cortical brain regions in conjunction with hyperactivation of ventral paralimbic regions. This assumption has been supported by various studies of structural and functional brain abnormalities in depression. However, also regions not included in the original cortico-limbic dysregulation model, such as the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, seem to play an important role in depression. Functional connectivity studies of depression have revealed an enhanced connectivity within the so-called default mode network which is involved in self-referential thinking. Studies also point to a normalization of limbic and cortical brain activity, especially in the anterior cingulate cortex, during psychotherapy. Some neurobiological markers like the activity of the anterior cingulate cortex, striatum and insula as well as hippocampal volume have been proposed to predict treatment response on a group-level. The activity of the anterior insula appears to be a candidate bio-marker for differential indication for psychotherapy or pharmacotherapy. The cortico-limbic dysregulation model and following research have inspired new forms of treatment for depression like deep brain stimulation of the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, neurofeedback and attention training. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Basal Forebrain Cholinergic Deficits Reduce Glucose Metabolism and Function of Cholinergic and GABAergic Systems in the Cingulate Cortex.

PubMed

Jeong, Da Un; Oh, Jin Hwan; Lee, Ji Eun; Lee, Jihyeon; Cho, Zang Hee; Chang, Jin Woo; Chang, Won Seok

2016-01-01

Reduced brain glucose metabolism and basal forebrain cholinergic neuron degeneration are common features of Alzheimer's disease and have been correlated with memory function. Although regions representing glucose hypometabolism in patients with Alzheimer's disease are targets of cholinergic basal forebrain neurons, the interaction between cholinergic denervation and glucose hypometabolism is still unclear. The aim of the present study was to evaluate glucose metabolism changes caused by cholinergic deficits. We lesioned basal forebrain cholinergic neurons in rats using 192 immunoglobulin G-saporin. After 3 weeks, lesioned animals underwent water maze testing or were analyzed by ¹⁸F-2-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography. During water maze probe testing, performance of the lesioned group decreased with respect to time spent in the target quadrant and platform zone. Cingulate cortex glucose metabolism in the lesioned group decreased, compared with the normal group. Additionally, acetylcholinesterase activity and glutamate decarboxylase 65/67 expression declined in the cingulate cortex. Our results reveal that spatial memory impairment in animals with selective basal forebrain cholinergic neuron damage is associated with a functional decline in the GABAergic and cholinergic system associated with cingulate cortex glucose hypometabolism.

Midcingulate Motor Map and Feedback Detection: Converging Data from Humans and Monkeys.

PubMed

Procyk, Emmanuel; Wilson, Charles R E; Stoll, Frederic M; Faraut, Maïlys C M; Petrides, Michael; Amiez, Céline

2016-02-01

The functional and anatomical organization of the cingulate cortex across primate species is the subject of considerable and often confusing debate. The functions attributed to the midcingulate cortex (MCC) embrace, among others, feedback processing, pain, salience, action-reward association, premotor functions, and conflict monitoring. This multiplicity of functional concepts suggests either unresolved separation of functional contributions or integration and convergence. We here provide evidence from recent experiments in humans and from a meta-analysis of monkey data that MCC feedback-related activity is generated in the rostral cingulate premotor area by specific body maps directly related to the modality of feedback. As such, we argue for an embodied mechanism for adaptation and exploration in MCC. We propose arguments and precise tools to resolve the origins of performance monitoring signals in the medial frontal cortex, and to progress on issues regarding homology between human and nonhuman primate cingulate cortex. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Neural correlates of episodic and semantic memory retrieval in borderline personality disorder: an fMRI study.

PubMed

Mensebach, Christoph; Beblo, Thomas; Driessen, Martin; Wingenfeld, Katja; Mertens, Markus; Rullkoetter, Nina; Lange, Wolfgang; Markowitsch, Hans J; Ollech, Isabella; Saveedra, Anamaria Silva; Rau, Harald; Woermann, Friedrich G

2009-02-28

Verbal memory impairment in borderline personality disorder (BPD) is still a matter of debate. In this study we combine investigations of both, memory retrieval as well as underlying neural circuits in BPD. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to study regional brain activation in 18 right-handed female patients with BPD and 18 matched controls during the retrieval of an episodic memory retrieval (EMR) task (free recall of a word list) and a semantic memory retrieval (SMR) task (verbal fluency). Despite unaffected performance in EMR and SMR, patients with BPD showed task-specific increased activation compared with controls. During EMR, the increased activation encompassed the posterior cingulate cortex bilaterally, the left middle and superior temporal gyrus, the right inferior frontal gyrus, and the right angular gyrus. SMR was associated with increased activation of the posterior cingulate cortex, of the right fusiform gyrus, of the left anterior cingulate cortex, and of the left postcentral gyrus. Our findings suggest that BPD patients may need to engage larger brain areas to reach a level of performance in episodic and semantic retrieval tasks that is comparable to that of healthy controls.

[Review of the effects of mindfulness meditation on mental and physical health and its mechanisms of action].

PubMed

Ngô, Thanh-Lan

2013-01-01

Interventions based on mindfulness have become increasingly popular. This article reviews the empirical literature on its effects on mental and physical health, discusses presumed mechanisms of action as well as its proposed neurobiological underpinning. Mindfulness is associated with increased well-being as well as reduced cognitive reactivity and behavioral avoidance. It seems to contribute to enhance immune functions, diminish inflammation, diminish the reactivity of the autonomic nervous system, increase telomerase activity, lead to higher levels of plasmatic melatonin and serotonin. It enhances the quality of life for patients suffering from chronic pain, fibromylagia and HIV infection. It facilitates adaptation to the diagnosis of cancer and diabetes. It seems to lead to symptomatic improvement in irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, hot flashes, insomnia, stress related hyperphagia. It diminishes craving in substance abuse. The proposed mechanism of action are enhanced metacognitive conscience, interoceptive exposure, experiential acceptance, self-management, attention control, memory, relaxation. Six mechanism of actions for which neurological underpinnings have been published are: attention regulation (anterior cingulate cortex), body awareness (insula, temporoparietal junction), emotion regulation (modulation of the amygdala by the lateral prefrontal cortex), cognitive re-evaluation (activation of the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex or diminished activity in prefrontal regions), exposure/extinction/reconsolidation (ventromedial prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, amygdala) and flexible self-concept (prefrontal median cortex, posterior cingulated cortex, insula, temporoparietal junction). The neurobiological effects of meditation are described. These are: (1) the deactivation of the default mode network that generates spontaneous thoughts, contributes to the maintenance of the autobiographical self and is associated with anxiety and depression; (2) the anterior cingulate cortex that underpins attention functions; (3) the anterior insula associated with the perception of visceral sensation, the detection of heartbeat and respiratory rate, and the affective response to pain; (4) the posterior cingulate cortex which helps to understand the context from which a stimulus emerges; (5) the temporoparietal junction which assumes a central role in empathy and compassion; (6) the amygdala implicated in fear responses. The article ends with a short review of the empirical basis supporting the efficacy for mindfulness based intervention and suggested directions for future research.

Coordinated Interaction between Hippocampal Sharp-Wave Ripples and Anterior Cingulate Unit Activity

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Hippocampal–cortical interaction during sleep promotes transformation of memory for long-term storage in the cortex. In particular, hippocampal sharp-wave ripple-associated neural activation is important for this transformation during slow-wave sleep. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) has been shown to be crucial for expression and likely storage of long-term memory. However, little is known about how ACC activity is influenced by hippocampal ripple activity during sleep. We report here about coordinated interactions between hippocampal ripple activity and ACC neural firings. By recording from the ACC and hippocampal CA1 simultaneously in mice, we found that almost all ACC neurons showed increased activity before hippocampal ripple activity; moreover, a subpopulation (17%) displayed a further activation immediately after ripple activity. This postripple activation of ACC neurons correlated positively with ripple amplitude, and the same neurons were excited upon electrical stimulation of the CA1. Interestingly, the preripple activation of ACC neurons was present during the sleep state, but not during the awake state. These results suggest intimate interactions between hippocampal sharp-wave ripples and ACC neurons in a state-dependent manner. Importantly, sharp-wave ripples and associated activation appear to regulate activity of a small population of ACC neurons, a process that may play a critical role in memory consolidation. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The hippocampus communicates with the cortex for memory transformation. Memories of previous experiences become less dependent on the hippocampus and increasingly dependent on cortical areas, such as the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). However, little evidence is available to directly support this hippocampus-to-cortex information transduction hypothesis of memory consolidation. Here we show that a subpopulation of ACC neurons becomes active just after hippocampal ripple activity, and that electrical stimulation of the hippocampus excites the same ACC neurons. In addition, the majority of ACC neurons are activated just before ripple activity during the sleep state, but not during the awake state. These results provide evidence supporting the hypothesis of hippocampus-to-cortex information flow for memory consolidation as well as reciprocal interaction between the hippocampus and the cortex. PMID:27733616

Cognitive Strategy Use as an Index of Developmental Differences in Neural Responses to Feedback

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Andersen, Lau M.; Visser, Ingmar; Crone, Eveline A.; Koolschijn, P. Cédric M. P.; Raijmakers, Maartje E. J.

2014-01-01

Developmental differences in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and superior parietal cortex (SPC) activation are associated with differences in how children, adolescents, and adults learn from performance feedback in rule-learning tasks (Crone, Zanolie, Leijenhorst, Westenberg, & Rombouts, 2008). Both…

Conflict processing in the anterior cingulate cortex constrains response priming.

PubMed

Pastötter, Bernhard; Hanslmayr, Simon; Bäuml, Karl-Heinz T

2010-05-01

A prominent function of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is to process conflict between competing response options. In this study, we investigated the role of conflict processing in a response-priming task in which manual responses were either validly or invalidly cued. Examining electrophysiological measurements of oscillatory brain activity on the source level, we found response priming to be related to a beta power decrease in the premotor cortex and conflict processing to be linked to a theta power increase in the ACC. In particular, correlation of oscillatory brain activities in the ACC and the premotor cortex showed that conflict processing reduces response priming by slowing response time in valid trials and lowering response errors in invalid trials. This relationship emerged on a between subjects level as well as within subjects, on a single trial level. These findings suggest that conflict processing in the ACC constrains the automatic priming process. 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neural substrates of reward magnitude, probability, and risk during a wheel of fortune decision-making task.

PubMed

Smith, Bruce W; Mitchell, Derek G V; Hardin, Michael G; Jazbec, Sandra; Fridberg, Daniel; Blair, R James R; Ernst, Monique

2009-01-15

Economic decision-making involves the weighting of magnitude and probability of potential gains/losses. While previous work has examined the neural systems involved in decision-making, there is a need to understand how the parameters associated with decision-making (e.g., magnitude of expected reward, probability of expected reward and risk) modulate activation within these neural systems. In the current fMRI study, we modified the monetary wheel of fortune (WOF) task [Ernst, M., Nelson, E.E., McClure, E.B., Monk, C.S., Munson, S., Eshel, N., et al. (2004). Choice selection and reward anticipation: an fMRI study. Neuropsychologia 42(12), 1585-1597.] to examine in 25 healthy young adults the neural responses to selections of different reward magnitudes, probabilities, or risks. Selection of high, relative to low, reward magnitude increased activity in insula, amygdala, middle and posterior cingulate cortex, and basal ganglia. Selection of low-probability, as opposed to high-probability reward, increased activity in anterior cingulate cortex, as did selection of risky, relative to safe reward. In summary, decision-making that did not involve conflict, as in the magnitude contrast, recruited structures known to support the coding of reward values, and those that integrate motivational and perceptual information for behavioral responses. In contrast, decision-making under conflict, as in the probability and risk contrasts, engaged the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex whose role in conflict monitoring is well established. However, decision-making under conflict failed to activate the structures that track reward values per se. Thus, the presence of conflict in decision-making seemed to significantly alter the pattern of neural responses to simple rewards. In addition, this paradigm further clarifies the functional specialization of the cingulate cortex in processes of decision-making.

Common and distinct networks for self-referential and social stimulus processing in the human brain.

PubMed

Herold, Dorrit; Spengler, Stephanie; Sajonz, Bastian; Usnich, Tatiana; Bermpohl, Felix

2016-09-01

Self-referential processing is a complex cognitive function, involving a set of implicit and explicit processes, complicating investigation of its distinct neural signature. The present study explores the functional overlap and dissociability of self-referential and social stimulus processing. We combined an established paradigm for explicit self-referential processing with an implicit social stimulus processing paradigm in one fMRI experiment to determine the neural effects of self-relatedness and social processing within one study. Overlapping activations were found in the orbitofrontal cortex and in the intermediate part of the precuneus. Stimuli judged as self-referential specifically activated the posterior cingulate cortex, the ventral medial prefrontal cortex, extending into anterior cingulate cortex and orbitofrontal cortex, the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex, the ventral and dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex, the left inferior temporal gyrus, and occipital cortex. Social processing specifically involved the posterior precuneus and bilateral temporo-parietal junction. Taken together, our data show, not only, first, common networks for both processes in the medial prefrontal and the medial parietal cortex, but also, second, functional differentiations for self-referential processing versus social processing: an anterior-posterior gradient for social processing and self-referential processing within the medial parietal cortex and specific activations for self-referential processing in the medial and lateral prefrontal cortex and for social processing in the temporo-parietal junction.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging of hippocampal activation during silent mantra meditation.

PubMed

Engström, Maria; Pihlsgård, Johan; Lundberg, Peter; Söderfeldt, Birgitta

2010-12-01

The objective of the present study was to investigate whether moderately experienced meditators activate hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex during silent mantra meditation, as has been observed in earlier studies on subjects with several years of practice. Subjects with less than 2 years of meditation practice according to the Kundalini yoga or Acem tradition were examined by functional magnetic resonance imaging during silent mantra meditation, using an on-off block design. Whole-brain as well as region-of-interest analyses were performed. The most significant activation was found in the bilateral hippocampus/parahippocampal formations. Other areas with significant activation were the bilateral middle cingulate cortex and the bilateral precentral cortex. No activation in the anterior cingulate cortex was found, and only small activation clusters were observed in the prefrontal cortex. In conclusion, the main finding in this study was the significant activation in the hippocampi, which also has been correlated with meditation in several previous studies on very experienced meditators. We propose that the hippocampus is activated already after moderate meditation practice and also during different modes of meditation, including relaxation. The role of hippocampal activity during meditation should be further clarified in future studies, especially by investigating whether the meditation-correlated hippocampal activity is related to memory consolidation.

Altered resting-state functional connectivity in women with chronic fatigue syndrome.

PubMed

Kim, Byung-Hoon; Namkoong, Kee; Kim, Jae-Jin; Lee, Seojung; Yoon, Kang Joon; Choi, Moonjong; Jung, Young-Chul

2015-12-30

The biological underpinnings of the psychological factors characterizing chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) have not been extensively studied. Our aim was to evaluate alterations of resting-state functional connectivity in CFS patients. Participants comprised 18 women with CFS and 18 age-matched female healthy controls who were recruited from the local community. Structural and functional magnetic resonance images were acquired during a 6-min passive-viewing block scan. Posterior cingulate cortex seeded resting-state functional connectivity was evaluated, and correlation analyses of connectivity strength were performed. Graph theory analysis of 90 nodes of the brain was conducted to compare the global and local efficiency of connectivity networks in CFS patients with that in healthy controls. The posterior cingulate cortex in CFS patients showed increased resting-state functional connectivity with the dorsal and rostral anterior cingulate cortex. Connectivity strength of the posterior cingulate cortex to the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex significantly correlated with the Chalder Fatigue Scale score, while the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) score was controlled. Connectivity strength to the rostral anterior cingulate cortex significantly correlated with the Chalder Fatigue Scale score. Global efficiency of the posterior cingulate cortex was significantly lower in CFS patients, while local efficiency showed no difference from findings in healthy controls. The findings suggest that CFS patients show inefficient increments in resting-state functional connectivity that are linked to the psychological factors observed in the syndrome. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Brain substrates of social decision-making in dual diagnosis: cocaine dependence and personality disorders.

PubMed

Verdejo-Garcia, Antonio; Verdejo-Román, Juan; Albein-Urios, Natalia; Martínez-González, José M; Soriano-Mas, Carles

2017-03-01

Cocaine dependence frequently co-occurs with personality disorders, leading to increased interpersonal problems and greater burden of disease. Personality disorders are characterised by patterns of thinking and feeling that divert from social expectations. However, the comorbidity between cocaine dependence and personality disorders has not been substantiated by measures of brain activation during social decision-making. We applied functional magnetic resonance imaging to compare brain activations evoked by a social decision-making task-the Ultimatum Game-in 24 cocaine dependents with personality disorders (CDPD), 19 cocaine dependents without comorbidities and 19 healthy controls. In the Ultimatum Game participants had to accept or reject bids made by another player to split monetary stakes. Offers varied in fairness (in fair offers the proposer shares ~50 percent of the money; in unfair offers the proposer shares <30 percent of the money), and participants were told that if they accept both players get the money, and if they reject both players lose it. We contrasted brain activations during unfair versus fair offers and accept versus reject choices. During evaluation of unfair offers CDPD displayed lower activation in the insula and the anterior cingulate cortex and higher activation in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex and superior frontal and temporal gyri. Frontal activations negatively correlated with emotion recognition. During rejection of offers CDPD displayed lower activation in the anterior cingulate cortex, striatum and midbrain. Dual diagnosis is linked to hypo-activation of the insula and anterior cingulate cortex and hyper-activation of frontal-temporal regions during social decision-making, which associates with poorer emotion recognition. © 2015 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Reduced activation in lateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate during attention and cognitive control functions in medication-naïve adolescents with depression compared to controls.

PubMed

Halari, Rozmin; Simic, Mima; Pariante, Carmine M; Papadopoulos, Andrew; Cleare, Anthony; Brammer, Michael; Fombonne, Eric; Rubia, Katya

2009-03-01

There is increasing recognition of major depressive disorder (MDD) in adolescence. In adult MDD, abnormalities of fronto-striatal and fronto-cingulate circuitries mediating cognitive control functions have been implicated in the pathogenesis and been related to problems with controlling negative thoughts. No neuroimaging studies of cognitive control functions, however, exist in paediatric depression. This study investigated whether medication-naïve adolescents with MDD show abnormal brain activation of fronto-striatal and fronto-cingulate networks when performing tasks of attentional and cognitive control. Event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to compare brain activation between 21 medication-naïve adolescents with a first-episode of MDD aged 14-17 years and 21 healthy adolescents, matched for handedness, age, sex, demographics and IQ. Activation paradigms were tasks of selective attention (Simon task), attentional switching (Switch task), and motor response inhibition and error detection (Stop task). In all three tasks, adolescents with depression compared to healthy controls demonstrated reduced activation in task-relevant right dorsolateral (DLPFC), inferior prefrontal cortex (IFC) and anterior cingulate gyrus (ACG). Additional areas of relatively reduced activation were in the parietal lobes during the Stop and Switch tasks, putamen, insula and temporal lobes during the Switch task and precuneus during the Simon task. This study shows first evidence that medication-naïve adolescents with MDD are characterised by abnormal function in ACG and right lateral prefrontal cortex during tasks of attention and performance monitoring, suggesting an early pathogenesis of these functional abnormalities attributed to MDD.

Brain Functional Connectivity Is Modified by a Hypocaloric Mediterranean Diet and Physical Activity in Obese Women

PubMed Central

García-Casares, Natalia; Bernal-López, María R.; Roé-Vellvé, Nuria; Gutiérrez-Bedmar, Mario; García-Arnés, Juan A.; Ramos-Rodriguez, José R.; Alfaro, Francisco; Santamaria-Fernández, Sonia; Jiménez-Murcia, Susana; Garcia-Garcia, Isabel; Valdivielso, Pedro; Fernández-Aranda, Fernando; Tinahones, Francisco J.; Gómez-Huelgas, Ricardo

2017-01-01

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in the resting state has shown altered brain connectivity networks in obese individuals. However, the impact of a Mediterranean diet on cerebral connectivity in obese patients when losing weight has not been previously explored. The aim of this study was to examine the connectivity between brain structures before and six months after following a hypocaloric Mediterranean diet and physical activity program in a group of sixteen obese women aged 46.31 ± 4.07 years. Before and after the intervention program, the body mass index (BMI) (kg/m2) was 38.15 ± 4.7 vs. 34.18 ± 4.5 (p < 0.02), and body weight (kg) was 98.5 ± 13.1 vs. 88.28 ± 12.2 (p < 0.03). All subjects underwent a pre- and post-intervention fMRI under fasting conditions. Functional connectivity was assessed using seed-based correlations. After the intervention, we found decreased connectivity between the left inferior parietal cortex and the right temporal cortex (p < 0.001), left posterior cingulate (p < 0.001), and right posterior cingulate (p < 0.03); decreased connectivity between the left superior frontal gyrus and the right temporal cortex (p < 0.01); decreased connectivity between the prefrontal cortex and the somatosensory cortex (p < 0.025); and decreased connectivity between the left and right posterior cingulate (p < 0.04). Results were considered significant at a voxel-wise threshold of p ≤ 0.05, and a cluster-level family-wise error correction for multiple comparisons of p ≤ 0.05. In conclusion, functional connectivity between brain structures involved in the pathophysiology of obesity (the inferior parietal lobe, posterior cingulate, temporo-insular cortex, prefrontal cortex) may be modified by a weight loss program including a Mediterranean diet and physical exercise. PMID:28671558

Neurofunctional Differences Among Youth With and at Varying Risk for Developing Mania.

PubMed

Welge, Jeffrey A; Saliba, Lawrence J; Strawn, Jeffrey R; Eliassen, James C; Patino, L Rodrigo; Adler, Caleb M; Weber, Wade; Schneider, Marguerite Reid; Barzman, Drew H; Strakowski, Stephen M; DelBello, Melissa P; McNamara, Robert K

2016-11-01

To examine prefrontal and amygdala activation during emotional processing in youth with or at varying risk for developing mania to identify candidate central prodromal risk biomarkers. Four groups of medication-free adolescents (10-20 years old) participated: adolescents with first-episode bipolar I disorder (BP-I; n = 32), adolescents with a parent with bipolar disorder and a depressive disorder (at-risk depressed [ARD]; n = 32), healthy adolescents with a parent with bipolar disorder (at-risk healthy [ARH]; n = 32), and healthy adolescents with no personal or family history of psychiatric illness (healthy comparison [HC]; n = 32). Participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a continuous performance task with emotional and neutral distracters. Region-of-interest analyses were performed for the bilateral amygdala and for subregions of the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex. Overall, no group differences in bilateral amygdala and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (Brodmann area [BA] 45/47) activation during emotional or neutral stimuli were observed. The BP-I group exhibited lower right pregenual anterior cingulate cortex activation compared with the HC group, and activation in the left BA 44 was greater in the ARH and ARD groups compared with the HC group. BP-I and ARD groups exhibited blunted activation in the right BA 10 compared with the ARH group. During emotional processing, amygdala and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (BA 45/47) activation does not differ in youth with or at increasing risk for BP-I. However, blunted pregenual anterior cingulate cortex activation in first-episode mania could represent an illness biomarker, and greater prefrontal BA 10 and BA 44 activations in at-risk youth could represent a biomarker of risk or resilience warranting additional investigation in prospective longitudinal studies. Copyright © 2016 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Risky decision making and the anterior cingulate cortex in abstinent drug abusers and nonusers.

PubMed

Fishbein, Diana H; Eldreth, Diana L; Hyde, Christopher; Matochik, John A; London, Edythe D; Contoreggi, Carlo; Kurian, Varughese; Kimes, Alane S; Breeden, Andrew; Grant, Steven

2005-04-01

Risky decision making is a hallmark behavioral phenotype of drug abuse; thus, an understanding of its biological bases may inform efforts to develop therapies for addictive disorders. A neurocognitive task that measures this function (Rogers Decision-Making Task; RDMT) was paired with measures of regional cerebral perfusion to identify brain regions that may underlie deficits in risky decision making in drug abusers. Subjects were abstinent drug abusers (> or =3 months) and healthy controls who underwent positron emission tomography scans with H(2)(15)O. Drug abusers showed greater risk taking and heightened sensitivity to rewards than control subjects. Both drug abusers and controls exhibited significant activations in a widespread network of brain regions, primarily in the frontal cortex, previously implicated in decision-making tasks. The only significant group difference in brain activation, however, was found in the left pregenual anterior cingulate cortex, with drug abusers exhibiting less task-related activation than control subjects. There were no significant correlations between neural activity and task performance within the control group. In the drug abuse group, on the other hand, increased risky choices on the RDMT negatively correlated with activation in the right hippocampus, left anterior cingulate gyrus, left medial orbitofrontal cortex, and left parietal lobule, and positively correlated with activation in the right insula. Drug abuse severity was related positively to right medial orbitofrontal activity. Attenuated activation of the pregenual ACC in the drug abusers relative to the controls during performance on the RDMT may underlie the abusers' tendency to choose risky outcomes.

Altered cingulo-striatal function underlies reward drive deficits in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Park, Il Ho; Chun, Ji Won; Park, Hae-Jeong; Koo, Min-Seong; Park, Sunyoung; Kim, Seok-Hyeong; Kim, Jae-Jin

2015-02-01

Amotivation in schizophrenia is assumed to involve dysfunctional dopaminergic signaling of reward prediction or anticipation. It is unclear, however, whether the translation of neural representation of reward value to behavioral drive is affected in schizophrenia. In order to examine how abnormal neural processing of response valuation and initiation affects incentive motivation in schizophrenia, we conducted functional MRI using a deterministic reinforcement learning task with variable intervals of contingency reversals in 20 clinically stable patients with schizophrenia and 20 healthy controls. Behaviorally, the advantage of positive over negative reinforcer in reinforcement-related responsiveness was not observed in patients. Patients showed altered response valuation and initiation-related striatal activity and deficient rostro-ventral anterior cingulate cortex activation during reward approach initiation. Among these neural abnormalities, rostro-ventral anterior cingulate cortex activation was correlated with positive reinforcement-related responsiveness in controls and social anhedonia and social amotivation subdomain scores in patients. Our findings indicate that the central role of the anterior cingulate cortex is in translating action value into driving force of action, and underscore the role of the cingulo-striatal network in amotivation in schizophrenia. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Medial Prefrontal Cortex Activity When Thinking About Others Depends on Their Age

PubMed Central

Ebner, Natalie C.; Gluth, Sebastian; Johnson, Matthew R.; Raye, Carol L.; Mitchell, Karen J.; Johnson, Marcia K.

2011-01-01

This functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study examined medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) activity as young and older participants rated an unknown young and older person, and themselves, on personality characteristics. For both young and older participants, there was greater activation in ventral mPFC (anterior cingulate) when they made judgments about own-age than other-age individuals. Additionally, across target age and participant age, there was greater activity in a more anterior region of ventral mPFC (largely medial frontal gyrus, anterior cingulate) when participants rated others than when they rated themselves. We discuss potential interpretations of these findings in the context of previous results suggesting functional specificity of subregions of ventral mPFC. PMID:21432722

Context conditioning and extinction in humans: differential contribution of the hippocampus, amygdala and prefrontal cortex

PubMed Central

Lang, Simone; Kroll, Alexander; Lipinski, Slawomira J; Wessa, Michèle; Ridder, Stephanie; Christmann, Christoph; Schad, Lothar R; Flor, Herta

2009-01-01

Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to investigate the role of the hippocampus, amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in a contextual conditioning and extinction paradigm provoking anxiety. Twenty-one healthy persons participated in a differential context conditioning procedure with two different background colours as contexts. During acquisition increased activity to the conditioned stimulus (CS+) relative to the CS− was found in the left hippocampus and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). The amygdala, insula and inferior frontal cortex were differentially active during late acquisition. Extinction was accompanied by enhanced activation to CS+ vs. CS− in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC). The results are in accordance with animal studies and provide evidence for the important role of the hippocampus in contextual learning in humans. Connectivity analyses revealed correlated activity between the left posterior hippocampus and dACC (BA32) during early acquisition and the dACC, left posterior hippocampus and right amygdala during extinction. These data are consistent with theoretical models that propose an inhibitory effect of the mPFC on the amygdala. The interaction of the mPFC with the hippocampus may reflect the context-specificity of extinction learning. PMID:19200075

Choline, myo-inositol and mood in bipolar disorder: a proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging study of the anterior cingulate cortex.

PubMed

Moore, C M; Breeze, J L; Gruber, S A; Babb, S M; Frederick, B B; Villafuerte, R A; Stoll, A L; Hennen, J; Yurgelun-Todd, D A; Cohen, B M; Renshaw, P F

2000-09-01

Alterations in choline and myo-inositol metabolism have been noted in bipolar disorder, and the therapeutic efficacy of lithium in mania may be related to these effects. We wished to determine the relationship between anterior cingulate cortex choline and myo-inositol levels, assessed using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI), and mood state in subjects with bipolar disorder. Serial assessments of anterior cingulate cortex choline and myo-inositol metabolism were performed in nine subjects with bipolar disorder, taking either lithium or valproate, and 14 controls. Each bipolar subject was examined between one and four times (3.1 +/- 1.3). On the occasion of each examination, standardized ratings of both depression and mania were recorded. In the left cingulate cortex, the bipolar subjects' depression ratings correlated positively with MRSI measures of Cho/Cr-PCr. In the right cingulate cortex, the Cho/Cr-PCr ratio was significantly higher in subjects with bipolar disorder compared with control subjects. In addition, bipolar subjects not taking antidepressants had a significantly higher right cingulate cortex Cho/Cr-PCr ratio compared with patients taking antidepressants or controls. No clinical or drug-related changes were observed for the Ino/Cr-PCr ratio. The results of this study suggest that bipolar disorder is associated with alterations in the metabolism of cytosolic, choline-containing compounds in the anterior cingulate cortex. As this resonance arises primarily from phosphocholine and glycerophosphocholine, both of which are metabolites of phosphatidylcholine, these results are consistent with impaired intraneuronal signaling mechanisms.

Assessing the Psychedelic "After-Glow" in Ayahuasca Users: Post-Acute Neurometabolic and Functional Connectivity Changes Are Associated with Enhanced Mindfulness Capacities.

PubMed

Sampedro, Frederic; de la Fuente Revenga, Mario; Valle, Marta; Roberto, Natalia; Domínguez-Clavé, Elisabet; Elices, Matilde; Luna, Luís Eduardo; Crippa, José Alexandre S; Hallak, Jaime E C; de Araujo, Draulio B; Friedlander, Pablo; Barker, Steven A; Álvarez, Enrique; Soler, Joaquim; Pascual, Juan C; Feilding, Amanda; Riba, Jordi

2017-09-01

Ayahuasca is a plant tea containing the psychedelic 5-HT2A agonist N,N-dimethyltryptamine and harmala monoamine-oxidase inhibitors. Acute administration leads to neurophysiological modifications in brain regions of the default mode network, purportedly through a glutamatergic mechanism. Post-acutely, ayahuasca potentiates mindfulness capacities in volunteers and induces rapid and sustained antidepressant effects in treatment-resistant patients. However, the mechanisms underlying these fast and maintained effects are poorly understood. Here, we investigated in an open-label uncontrolled study in 16 healthy volunteers ayahuasca-induced post-acute neurometabolic and connectivity modifications and their association with mindfulness measures. Using 1H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy and functional connectivity, we compared baseline and post-acute neurometabolites and seed-to-voxel connectivity in the posterior and anterior cingulate cortex after a single ayahuasca dose. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy showed post-acute reductions in glutamate+glutamine, creatine, and N-acetylaspartate+N-acetylaspartylglutamate in the posterior cingulate cortex. Connectivity was increased between the posterior cingulate cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex, and between the anterior cingulate cortex and limbic structures in the right medial temporal lobe. Glutamate+glutamine reductions correlated with increases in the "nonjudging" subscale of the Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire. Increased anterior cingulate cortex-medial temporal lobe connectivity correlated with increased scores on the self-compassion questionnaire. Post-acute neural changes predicted sustained elevations in nonjudging 2 months later. These results support the involvement of glutamate neurotransmission in the effects of psychedelics in humans. They further suggest that neurometabolic changes in the posterior cingulate cortex, a key region within the default mode network, and increased connectivity between the anterior cingulate cortex and medial temporal lobe structures involved in emotion and memory potentially underlie the post-acute psychological effects of ayahuasca. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of CINP.

Assessing the Psychedelic “After-Glow” in Ayahuasca Users: Post-Acute Neurometabolic and Functional Connectivity Changes Are Associated with Enhanced Mindfulness Capacities

PubMed Central

Sampedro, Frederic; de la Fuente Revenga, Mario; Valle, Marta; Roberto, Natalia; Domínguez-Clavé, Elisabet; Elices, Matilde; Luna, Luís Eduardo; Crippa, José Alexandre S; Hallak, Jaime E C; de Araujo, Draulio B; Friedlander, Pablo; Barker, Steven A; Álvarez, Enrique; Soler, Joaquim; Pascual, Juan C; Feilding, Amanda

2017-01-01

Abstract Background Ayahuasca is a plant tea containing the psychedelic 5-HT2A agonist N,N-dimethyltryptamine and harmala monoamine-oxidase inhibitors. Acute administration leads to neurophysiological modifications in brain regions of the default mode network, purportedly through a glutamatergic mechanism. Post-acutely, ayahuasca potentiates mindfulness capacities in volunteers and induces rapid and sustained antidepressant effects in treatment-resistant patients. However, the mechanisms underlying these fast and maintained effects are poorly understood. Here, we investigated in an open-label uncontrolled study in 16 healthy volunteers ayahuasca-induced post-acute neurometabolic and connectivity modifications and their association with mindfulness measures. Methods Using 1H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy and functional connectivity, we compared baseline and post-acute neurometabolites and seed-to-voxel connectivity in the posterior and anterior cingulate cortex after a single ayahuasca dose. Results Magnetic resonance spectroscopy showed post-acute reductions in glutamate+glutamine, creatine, and N-acetylaspartate+N-acetylaspartylglutamate in the posterior cingulate cortex. Connectivity was increased between the posterior cingulate cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex, and between the anterior cingulate cortex and limbic structures in the right medial temporal lobe. Glutamate+glutamine reductions correlated with increases in the “nonjudging” subscale of the Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire. Increased anterior cingulate cortex-medial temporal lobe connectivity correlated with increased scores on the self-compassion questionnaire. Post-acute neural changes predicted sustained elevations in nonjudging 2 months later. Conclusions These results support the involvement of glutamate neurotransmission in the effects of psychedelics in humans. They further suggest that neurometabolic changes in the posterior cingulate cortex, a key region within the default mode network, and increased connectivity between the anterior cingulate cortex and medial temporal lobe structures involved in emotion and memory potentially underlie the post-acute psychological effects of ayahuasca. PMID:28525587

Neural substrates of resisting craving during cigarette cue exposure.

PubMed

Brody, Arthur L; Mandelkern, Mark A; Olmstead, Richard E; Jou, Jennifer; Tiongson, Emmanuelle; Allen, Valerie; Scheibal, David; London, Edythe D; Monterosso, John R; Tiffany, Stephen T; Korb, Alex; Gan, Joanna J; Cohen, Mark S

2007-09-15

In cigarette smokers, the most commonly reported areas of brain activation during visual cigarette cue exposure are the prefrontal, anterior cingulate, and visual cortices. We sought to determine changes in brain activity in response to cigarette cues when smokers actively resist craving. Forty-two tobacco-dependent smokers underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging, during which they were presented with videotaped cues. Three cue presentation conditions were tested: cigarette cues with subjects allowing themselves to crave (cigarette cue crave), cigarette cues with the instruction to resist craving (cigarette cue resist), and matched neutral cues. Activation was found in the cigarette cue resist (compared with the cigarette cue crave) condition in the left dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), and precuneus. Lower magnetic resonance signal for the cigarette cue resist condition was found in the cuneus bilaterally, left lateral occipital gyrus, and right postcentral gyrus. These relative activations and deactivations were more robust when the cigarette cue resist condition was compared with the neutral cue condition. Suppressing craving during cigarette cue exposure involves activation of limbic (and related) brain regions and deactivation of primary sensory and motor cortices.

Thinking on luxury or pragmatic brand products: Brain responses to different categories of culturally based brands.

PubMed

Schaefer, Michael; Rotte, Michael

2007-08-24

Culturally based brands have a high impact on people's economic actions. Here we aimed to examine whether socioeconomic information conveyed by certain classes of brands (prestigious versus pragmatic classes) differentially evoke brain response. We presented icons of brands while recording subject's brain activity during a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) session. After the experiment, we asked subjects to assess the brands according to different characteristics. Results revealed an active network of bilateral superior frontal gyri, hippocampus and posterior cingulate related to familiar brands in general. Brands of the category sports and luxury activated regions in medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and precuneus. In contrast, brands rated as value products activated the left superior frontal gyrus and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). The results suggest an active cortical network related to cognitive control for value brands and a network known to be associated with self-relevant processing for prestigious brands. We discuss the results as differential engagement of the prefrontal cortex depending on the attributed characteristic of a brand.

Diurnal alterations of brain electrical activity in healthy adults: a LORETA study.

PubMed

Toth, Marton; Kiss, Attila; Kosztolanyi, Peter; Kondakor, Istvan

2007-01-01

EEG background activity was investigated by low resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) to test the diurnal alterations of brain electrical activity in healthy adults. Fourteen right-handed healthy male postgraduate medical students were examined four times (8 a.m., 2 p.m., 8 p.m. and next day 2 p.m.). LORETA was computed to localize generators of EEG frequency components. Comparing the EEG activity between 2 p.m. and 8 a.m., increased activity was seen (1) in theta band (6.5-8 Hz) in the left prefrontal, bilateral mesial frontal and anterior cingulate cortex; (2) in alpha2 band (10.5-12 Hz) in the bilateral precuneus and posterior parietal cortex as well as in the right temporo-occipital cortex; (3) in beta1-2-3 band (12.5-30 Hz) in the right hippocampus and parieto-occipital cortex, left frontal and bilateral cingulate cortex. Comparing the brain activity between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m., (1) midline theta activity disappeared; (2) increased alpha2 band activity was seen in the left hemisphere (including the left hippocampus); and (3) increased beta bands activity was found over almost the whole cortex (including both of hippocampi) with the exception of left temporo-occipital region. There were no significant changes between the background activities of 2 p.m. and next day 2 p.m. Characteristic distribution of increased activity of cortex (no change in delta band, and massive changes in the upper frequency bands) may mirror increasing activation of reticular formation and thus evoked thalamocortical feedback mechanisms as a sign of maintenance of arousal.

Forming a negative impression of another person correlates with activation in medial prefrontal cortex and amygdala.

PubMed

Iidaka, Tetsuya; Harada, Tokiko; Sadato, Norihiro

2011-09-01

Neural correlates involved in the formation of negative impression from face were investigated using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging and a partial conditioning paradigm. Eighteen normal volunteers underwent imaging while they viewed the faces of two unfamiliar individuals: one individual's face was partially accompanied by negative emotion but the other's was not. After the volunteers learned the relationship between the faces and the emotion, they formed a more negative impression of the person's face when the emotion was presented. Subtraction analysis of the individuals' neutral faces revealed activation in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and superior temporal sulcus, but this activity did not correlate with the change of impression from face. On the other hand, the response in the left amygdala negatively correlated with the change of impression from face in the first run. Time modulation analysis revealed that activity in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex associated with negative emotion was the largest in the initial part of the acquisition. These results suggest that a negative impression from face may be formed by orchestrated activity in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and amygdala, and that the activity has a prominent role in the initial acquisition of negative emotion.

The functional integration of the anterior cingulate cortex during conflict processing.

PubMed

Fan, Jin; Hof, Patrick R; Guise, Kevin G; Fossella, John A; Posner, Michael I

2008-04-01

Although functional activation of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) related to conflict processing has been studied extensively, the functional integration of the subdivisions of the ACC and other brain regions during conditions of conflict is still unclear. In this study, participants performed a task designed to elicit conflict processing by using flanker interference on target response while they were scanned using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging. The physiological response of several brain regions in terms of an interaction between conflict processing and activity of the anterior rostral cingulate zone (RCZa) of the ACC, and the effective connectivity between this zone and other regions were examined using psychophysiological interaction analysis and dynamic causal modeling, respectively. There was significant integration of the RCZa with the caudal cingulate zone (CCZ) of the ACC and other brain regions such as the lateral prefrontal, primary, and supplementary motor areas above and beyond the main effect of conflict and baseline connectivity. The intrinsic connectivity from the RCZa to the CCZ was modulated by the context of conflict. These findings suggest that conflict processing is associated with the effective contribution of the RCZa to the neuronal activity of CCZ, as well as other cortical regions.

Functional neuroimaging of extraversion-introversion.

PubMed

Lei, Xu; Yang, Tianliang; Wu, Taoyu

2015-12-01

Neuroimaging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography have provided an unprecedented neurobiological perspective for research on personality traits. Evidence from task-related neuroimaging has shown that extraversion is associated with activations in regions of the anterior cingulate cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, middle temporal gyrus and the amygdala. Currently, resting-state neuroimaging is being widely used in cognitive neuroscience. Initial exploration of extraversion has revealed correlations with the medial prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, insular cortex, and the precuneus. Recent research work has indicated that the long-range temporal dependence of the resting-state spontaneous oscillation has high test-retest reliability. Moreover, the long-range temporal dependence of the resting-state networks is highly correlated with personality traits, and this can be used for the prediction of extraversion. As the long-range temporal dependence reflects real-time information updating in individuals, this method may provide a new approach to research on personality traits.

Fiction feelings in Harry Potter: haemodynamic response in the mid-cingulate cortex correlates with immersive reading experience.

PubMed

Hsu, Chun-Ting; Conrad, Markus; Jacobs, Arthur M

2014-12-03

Immersion in reading, described as a feeling of 'getting lost in a book', is a ubiquitous phenomenon widely appreciated by readers. However, it has been largely ignored in cognitive neuroscience. According to the fiction feeling hypothesis, narratives with emotional contents invite readers more to be empathic with the protagonists and thus engage the affective empathy network of the brain, the anterior insula and mid-cingulate cortex, than do stories with neutral contents. To test the hypothesis, we presented participants with text passages from the Harry Potter series in a functional MRI experiment and collected post-hoc immersion ratings, comparing the neural correlates of passage mean immersion ratings when reading fear-inducing versus neutral contents. Results for the conjunction contrast of baseline brain activity of reading irrespective of emotional content against baseline were in line with previous studies on text comprehension. In line with the fiction feeling hypothesis, immersion ratings were significantly higher for fear-inducing than for neutral passages, and activity in the mid-cingulate cortex correlated more strongly with immersion ratings of fear-inducing than of neutral passages. Descriptions of protagonists' pain or personal distress featured in the fear-inducing passages apparently caused increasing involvement of the core structure of pain and affective empathy the more readers immersed in the text. The predominant locus of effects in the mid-cingulate cortex seems to reflect that the immersive experience was particularly facilitated by the motor component of affective empathy for our stimuli from the Harry Potter series featuring particularly vivid descriptions of the behavioural aspects of emotion.

Brain fMRI study of crave induced by cue pictures in online game addicts (male adolescents).

PubMed

Sun, Yueji; Ying, Huang; Seetohul, Ravi M; Xuemei, Wang; Ya, Zheng; Qian, Li; Guoqing, Xu; Ye, Sun

2012-08-01

To study crave-related cerebral regions induced by game figure cues in online game addicts. fMRI brain imaging was done when the subjects were shown picture cues of the WoW (World of Warcraft, Version: 4.1.014250) game. 10 male addicts of WoW were selected as addicts' group, and 10 other healthy male non-addicts who were matched by age, were used as non-game addicts' group. All volunteers participated in fMRI paradigms. WoW associated cue pictures and neutral pictures were shown. We examined functional cerebral regions activated by the pictures with 3.0 T Philips MRI. The imaging signals' database was analyzed by SPM5. The correlation between game craving scores and different image results were assessed. When the game addicts watch the pictures, some brain areas show increased signal activity namely: dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, bilateral temporal cortex, cerebellum, right inferior parietal lobule, right cuneus, right hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, left caudate nucleus. But in these same brain regions we did not observe remarkable activities in the control group. Differential image signal densities of the addict group were subtracted from the health control group, results of which were expressed in the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, inferior parietal lobe and inferior temporal gyrus, cerebellum, right insular and the right angular gyrus. The increased imaging signal densities were significant and positively correlated with the craving scale scores in the bilateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex and right inferior parietal lobe. Craving of online game addicts was successfully induced by game cue pictures. Crave related brain areas are: dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and right inferior parietal lobe. The brain regions are overlapped with cognitive and emotion related processing brain areas. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Neural substrates of visuomotor learning based on improved feedback control and prediction

PubMed Central

Grafton, Scott T.; Schmitt, Paul; Horn, John Van; Diedrichsen, Jörn

2008-01-01

Motor skills emerge from learning feedforward commands as well as improvements in feedback control. These two components of learning were investigated in a compensatory visuomotor tracking task on a trial-by-trial basis. Between trial learning was characterized with a state-space model to provide smoothed estimates of feedforward and feedback learning, separable from random fluctuations in motor performance and error. The resultant parameters were correlated with brain activity using magnetic resonance imaging. Learning related to the generation of a feedforward command correlated with activity in dorsal premotor cortex, inferior parietal lobule, supplementary motor area and cingulate motor area, supporting a role of these areas in retrieving and executing a predictive motor command. Modulation of feedback control was associated with activity in bilateral posterior superior parietal lobule as well as right ventral premotor cortex. Performance error correlated with activity in a widespread cortical and subcortical network including bilateral parietal, premotor and rostral anterior cingulate cortex as well as the cerebellar cortex. Finally, trial-by-trial changes of kinematics, as measured by mean absolute hand acceleration, correlated with activity in motor cortex and anterior cerebellum. The results demonstrate that incremental, learning dependent changes can be modeled on a trial-by-trial basis and neural substrates for feedforward control of novel motor programs are localized to secondary motor areas. PMID:18032069

The Iowa Gambling Task in fMRI Images

PubMed Central

Li, Xiangrui; Lu, Zhong-Lin; D'Argembeau, Arnaud; Ng, Marie; Bechara, Antoine

2009-01-01

The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is a sensitive test for the detection of decision-making impairments in several neurologic and psychiatric populations. Very few studies have employed the IGT in fMRI investigations, in part, because the task is cognitively complex. Here we report a method for exploring brain activity using fMRI during performance of the IGT. Decision-making during the IGT was associated with activity in several brain regions in a group of healthy individuals. The activated regions were consistent with the neural circuitry hypothesized to underlie somatic marker activation and decision-making. Specifically, a neural circuitry involving the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (for working memory), the insula and posterior cingulate cortex (for representations of emotional states), the mesial orbitofrontal and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (for coupling the two previous processes), the ventral striatum and anterior cingulate/SMA (supplementary motor area) for implementing behavioral decisions was engaged. These results have implications for using the IGT to study abnormal mechanisms of decision making in a variety of clinical populations. PMID:19777556

Motivation but not valence modulates neuroticism-dependent cingulate cortex and insula activity.

PubMed

Deng, Yaling; Li, Shijia; Zhou, Renlai; Walter, Martin

2018-04-01

Neuroticism has been found to specifically modulate amygdala activations during differential processing of valence and motivation while other brain networks yet are unexplored for associated effects. The main purpose of this study was to investigate whether neural mechanisms processing valence or motivation are prone to neuroticism in the salience network (SN), a network that is anchored in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the anterior insula. This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and an approach/avoid emotional pictures task to investigate brain activations modulated by pictures' valence or motivational status between high and low neurotic individuals. We found that neuroticism-dependent SN and the parahippocampal-fusiform area activations were modulated by motivation but not valence. Valence in contrast interacted with neuroticism in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex. We suggested that neuroticism modulated valence and motivation processing, however, under the influence of the two distinct networks. Neuroticism modulated the motivation through the SN while it modulated the valence through the orbitofrontal networks. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Brain Areas Controlling Heart Rate Variability in Tinnitus and Tinnitus-Related Distress

PubMed Central

Vanneste, Sven; De Ridder, Dirk

2013-01-01

Background Tinnitus is defined as an intrinsic sound perception that cannot be attributed to an external sound source. Distress in tinnitus patients is related to increased beta activity in the dorsal part of the anterior cingulate and the amount of distress correlates with network activity consisting of the amygdala-anterior cingulate cortex-insula-parahippocampus. Previous research also revealed that distress is associated to a higher sympathetic (OS) tone in tinnitus patients and tinnitus suppression to increased parasympathetic (PS) tone. Methodology The aim of the present study is to investigate the relationship between tinnitus distress and the autonomic nervous system and find out which cortical areas are involved in the autonomic nervous system influences in tinnitus distress by the use of source localized resting state electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings and electrocardiogram (ECG). Twenty-one tinnitus patients were included in this study. Conclusions The results indicate that the dorsal and subgenual anterior cingulate, as well as the left and right insula are important in the central control of heart rate variability in tinnitus patients. Whereas the sympathovagal balance is controlled by the subgenual and pregenual anterior cingulate cortex, the right insula controls sympathetic activity and the left insula the parasympathetic activity. The perceived distress in tinnitus patients seems to be sympathetically mediated. PMID:23533644

A Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Study in Autism Spectrum Disorder Using a 3-Tesla Clinical Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) System: The Anterior Cingulate Cortex and the Left Cerebellum.

PubMed

Ito, Hiromichi; Mori, Kenji; Harada, Masafumi; Hisaoka, Sonoka; Toda, Yoshihiro; Mori, Tatsuo; Goji, Aya; Abe, Yoko; Miyazaki, Masahito; Kagami, Shoji

2017-07-01

The pathophysiology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is not fully understood. We used proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy to investigate metabolite concentration ratios in the anterior cingulate cortex and left cerebellum in ASD. In the ACC and left cerebellum studies, the ASD group and intelligence quotient- and age-matched control group consisted of 112 and 114 subjects and 65 and 45 subjects, respectively. In the ASD group, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)+/ creatine/phosphocreatine (Cr) was significantly decreased in the anterior cingulate cortex, and glutamate (Glu)/Cr was significantly increased and GABA+/Cr was significantly decreased in the left cerebellum compared to those in the control group. In addition, both groups showed negative correlations between Glu/Cr and GABA+/Cr in the left cerebellum, and positive correlations between GABA+/Cr in the anterior cingulate cortex and left cerebellum. ASD subjects have hypoGABAergic alterations in the anterior cingulate cortex and hyperglutamatergic/hypoGABAergic alterations in the left cerebellum.

Neural plasticity in amplitude of low frequency fluctuation, cortical hub construction, regional homogeneity resulting from working memory training.

PubMed

Takeuchi, Hikaru; Taki, Yasuyuki; Nouchi, Rui; Sekiguchi, Atsushi; Kotozaki, Yuka; Nakagawa, Seishu; Makoto Miyauchi, Carlos; Sassa, Yuko; Kawashima, Ryuta

2017-05-03

Working memory training (WMT) induces changes in cognitive function and various neurological systems. Here, we investigated changes in recently developed resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging measures of global information processing [degree of the cortical hub, which may have a central role in information integration in the brain, degree centrality (DC)], the magnitude of intrinsic brain activity [fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (fALFF)], and local connectivity (regional homogeneity) in young adults, who either underwent WMT or received no intervention for 4 weeks. Compared with no intervention, WMT increased DC in the anatomical cluster, including anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), to the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Furthermore, WMT increased fALFF in the anatomical cluster including the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), frontopolar area and mPFC. WMT increased regional homogeneity in the anatomical cluster that spread from the precuneus to posterior cingulate cortex and posterior parietal cortex. These results suggest WMT-induced plasticity in spontaneous brain activity and global and local information processing in areas of the major networks of the brain during rest.

The Neural Correlates of Chronic Symptoms of Vertigo Proneness in Humans

PubMed Central

Alsalman, Ola; Ost, Jan; Vanspauwen, Robby; Blaivie, Catherine; De Ridder, Dirk; Vanneste, Sven

2016-01-01

Vestibular signals are of significant importance for variable functions including gaze stabilization, spatial perception, navigation, cognition, and bodily self-consciousness. The vestibular network governs functions that might be impaired in patients affected with vestibular dysfunction. It is currently unclear how different brain regions/networks process vestibular information and integrate the information into a unified spatial percept related to somatosensory awareness and whether people with recurrent balance complaints have a neural signature as a trait affecting their development of chronic symptoms of vertigo. Pivotal evidence points to a vestibular-related brain network in humans that is widely distributed in nature. By using resting state source localized electroencephalography in non-vertiginous state, electrophysiological changes in activity and functional connectivity of 23 patients with balance complaints where chronic symptoms of vertigo and dizziness are among the most common reported complaints are analyzed and compared to healthy subjects. The analyses showed increased alpha2 activity within the posterior cingulate cortex and the precuneues/cuneus and reduced beta3 and gamma activity within the pregenual and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex for the subjects with balance complaints. These electrophysiological variations were correlated with reported chronic symptoms of vertigo intensity. A region of interest analysis found reduced functional connectivity for gamma activity within the vestibular cortex, precuneus, frontal eye field, intra-parietal sulcus, orbitofrontal cortex, and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. In addition, there was a positive correlation between chronic symptoms of vertigo intensity and increased alpha-gamma nesting in the left frontal eye field. When compared to healthy subjects, there is evidence of electrophysiological changes in the brain of patients with balance complaints even outside chronic symptoms of vertigo episodes. This suggests that these patients have a neural signature or trait that makes them prone to developing chronic balance problems. PMID:27089185

The Neural Correlates of Chronic Symptoms of Vertigo Proneness in Humans.

PubMed

Alsalman, Ola; Ost, Jan; Vanspauwen, Robby; Blaivie, Catherine; De Ridder, Dirk; Vanneste, Sven

2016-01-01

Vestibular signals are of significant importance for variable functions including gaze stabilization, spatial perception, navigation, cognition, and bodily self-consciousness. The vestibular network governs functions that might be impaired in patients affected with vestibular dysfunction. It is currently unclear how different brain regions/networks process vestibular information and integrate the information into a unified spatial percept related to somatosensory awareness and whether people with recurrent balance complaints have a neural signature as a trait affecting their development of chronic symptoms of vertigo. Pivotal evidence points to a vestibular-related brain network in humans that is widely distributed in nature. By using resting state source localized electroencephalography in non-vertiginous state, electrophysiological changes in activity and functional connectivity of 23 patients with balance complaints where chronic symptoms of vertigo and dizziness are among the most common reported complaints are analyzed and compared to healthy subjects. The analyses showed increased alpha2 activity within the posterior cingulate cortex and the precuneues/cuneus and reduced beta3 and gamma activity within the pregenual and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex for the subjects with balance complaints. These electrophysiological variations were correlated with reported chronic symptoms of vertigo intensity. A region of interest analysis found reduced functional connectivity for gamma activity within the vestibular cortex, precuneus, frontal eye field, intra-parietal sulcus, orbitofrontal cortex, and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. In addition, there was a positive correlation between chronic symptoms of vertigo intensity and increased alpha-gamma nesting in the left frontal eye field. When compared to healthy subjects, there is evidence of electrophysiological changes in the brain of patients with balance complaints even outside chronic symptoms of vertigo episodes. This suggests that these patients have a neural signature or trait that makes them prone to developing chronic balance problems.

Ventral anterior cingulate cortex and social decision-making.

PubMed

Lockwood, Patricia L; Wittmann, Marco K

2018-06-07

Studies in the field of social neuroscience have recently made use of computational models of decision-making to provide new insights into how we learn about the self and others during social interactions. Importantly, these studies have increasingly drawn attention to brain areas outside of classical cortical "social brain" regions that may be critical for social processing. In particular, two portions of the ventral anterior cingulate cortex (vACC), subgenual anterior cingulate cortex and perigenual anterior cingulate cortex, have been linked to social and self learning signals, respectively. Here we discuss the emerging parallels between these studies. Uncovering the function of vACC during social interactions could provide important new avenues to understand social decision-making in health and disease. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reduced Activation in Right Lateral Prefrontal Cortex and Anterior Cingulate Gyrus in Medication-Naive Adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder during Time Discrimination

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Anna B.; Taylor, Eric; Brammer, Michael; Halari, Rozmin; Rubia, Katya

2008-01-01

Background: Patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) under-perform when discriminating between durations differing by several hundred milliseconds. This function involves right prefrontal and anterior cingulate (AC) brain regions, which are structurally and functionally compromised in this patient group during executive tasks.…

Emotion disrupts neural activity during selective attention in psychopathy

PubMed Central

Spielberg, Jeffrey M.; Heller, Wendy; Herrington, John D.; Engels, Anna S.; Warren, Stacie L.; Crocker, Laura D.; Sutton, Bradley P.; Miller, Gregory A.

2013-01-01

Dimensions of psychopathy are theorized to be associated with distinct cognitive and emotional abnormalities that may represent unique neurobiological risk factors for the disorder. This hypothesis was investigated by examining whether the psychopathic personality dimensions of fearless-dominance and impulsive-antisociality moderated neural activity and behavioral responses associated with selective attention and emotional processing during an emotion-word Stroop task in 49 adults. As predicted, the dimensions evidenced divergent selective-attention deficits and sensitivity to emotional distraction. Fearless-dominance was associated with disrupted attentional control to positive words, and activation in right superior frontal gyrus mediated the relationship between fearless-dominance and errors to positive words. In contrast, impulsive-antisociality evidenced increased behavioral interference to both positive and negative words and correlated positively with recruitment of regions associated with motivational salience (amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex, insula), emotion regulation (temporal cortex, superior frontal gyrus) and attentional control (dorsal anterior cingulate cortex). Individuals high on both dimensions had increased recruitment of regions related to attentional control (temporal cortex, rostral anterior cingulate cortex), response preparation (pre-/post-central gyri) and motivational value (orbitofrontal cortex) in response to negative words. These findings provide evidence that the psychopathy dimensions represent dual sets of risk factors characterized by divergent dysfunction in cognitive and affective processes. PMID:22210673

Emotion disrupts neural activity during selective attention in psychopathy.

PubMed

Sadeh, Naomi; Spielberg, Jeffrey M; Heller, Wendy; Herrington, John D; Engels, Anna S; Warren, Stacie L; Crocker, Laura D; Sutton, Bradley P; Miller, Gregory A

2013-03-01

Dimensions of psychopathy are theorized to be associated with distinct cognitive and emotional abnormalities that may represent unique neurobiological risk factors for the disorder. This hypothesis was investigated by examining whether the psychopathic personality dimensions of fearless-dominance and impulsive-antisociality moderated neural activity and behavioral responses associated with selective attention and emotional processing during an emotion-word Stroop task in 49 adults. As predicted, the dimensions evidenced divergent selective-attention deficits and sensitivity to emotional distraction. Fearless-dominance was associated with disrupted attentional control to positive words, and activation in right superior frontal gyrus mediated the relationship between fearless-dominance and errors to positive words. In contrast, impulsive-antisociality evidenced increased behavioral interference to both positive and negative words and correlated positively with recruitment of regions associated with motivational salience (amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex, insula), emotion regulation (temporal cortex, superior frontal gyrus) and attentional control (dorsal anterior cingulate cortex). Individuals high on both dimensions had increased recruitment of regions related to attentional control (temporal cortex, rostral anterior cingulate cortex), response preparation (pre-/post-central gyri) and motivational value (orbitofrontal cortex) in response to negative words. These findings provide evidence that the psychopathy dimensions represent dual sets of risk factors characterized by divergent dysfunction in cognitive and affective processes.

Posterior Cingulate Cortex: Adapting Behavior to a Changing World

PubMed Central

Pearson, John M.; Heilbronner, Sarah R.; Barack, David L.; Hayden, Benjamin Y.; Platt, Michael L.

2011-01-01

When has the world changed enough to warrant a new approach? The answer depends upon current needs, behavioral flexibility, and prior knowledge about the environment. Formal approaches solve the problem by integrating the recent history of rewards, errors, uncertainty, and context via Bayesian inference to detect changes in the world and alter behavioral policy. Neuronal activity in posterior cingulate cortex (CGp)—a key node in the default network—is known to vary with learning, memory, reward, and task engagement. We propose that these modulations reflect the underlying process of change detection and motivate subsequent shifts in behavior. PMID:21420893

Attentional Control of Task and Response in Lateral and Medial Frontal Cortex: Brain Activity and Reaction Time Distributions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aarts, Esther; Roelofs, Ardi; van Turennout, Miranda

2009-01-01

It is unclear whether task conflict is reflected in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) or in more dorsal regions of the medial frontal cortex (MFC). When participants switch between tasks involving incongruent, congruent, and neutral stimuli, it is possible to examine both response conflict (incongruent vs. congruent) and task conflict (congruent…

When compliments do not hit but critiques do: an fMRI study into self-esteem and self-knowledge in processing social feedback

PubMed Central

van Schie, Charlotte C; Chiu, Chui-De; Rombouts, Serge A R B; Heiser, Willem J; Elzinga, Bernet M

2018-01-01

Abstract The way we view ourselves may play an important role in our responses to interpersonal interactions. In this study, we investigate how feedback valence, consistency of feedback with self-knowledge and global self-esteem influence affective and neural responses to social feedback. Participants (N = 46) with a high range of self-esteem levels performed the social feedback task in an MRI scanner. Negative, intermediate and positive feedback was provided, supposedly by another person based on a personal interview. Participants rated their mood and applicability of feedback to the self. Analyses on trial basis on neural and affective responses are used to incorporate applicability of individual feedback words. Lower self-esteem related to low mood especially after receiving non-applicable negative feedback. Higher self-esteem related to increased posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus activation (i.e. self-referential processing) for applicable negative feedback. Lower self-esteem related to decreased medial prefrontal cortex, insula, anterior cingulate cortex and posterior cingulate cortex activation (i.e. self-referential processing) during positive feedback and decreased temporoparietal junction activation (i.e. other referential processing) for applicable positive feedback. Self-esteem and consistency of feedback with self-knowledge appear to guide our affective and neural responses to social feedback. This may be highly relevant for the interpersonal problems that individuals face with low self-esteem and negative self-views. PMID:29490088

Motivation and Affective Judgments Differentially Recruit Neurons in the Primate Dorsolateral Prefrontal and Anterior Cingulate Cortex

PubMed Central

Amemori, Ken-ichi; Amemori, Satoko

2015-01-01

The judgment of whether to accept or to reject an offer is determined by positive and negative affect related to the offer, but affect also induces motivational responses. Rewarding and aversive cues influence the firing rates of many neurons in primate prefrontal and cingulate neocortical regions, but it still is unclear whether neurons in these regions are related to affective judgment or to motivation. To address this issue, we recorded simultaneously the neuronal spike activities of single units in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) of macaque monkeys as they performed approach–avoidance (Ap–Av) and approach–approach (Ap–Ap) decision-making tasks that can behaviorally dissociate affective judgment and motivation. Notably, neurons having activity correlated with motivational condition could be distinguished from neurons having activity related to affective judgment, especially in the Ap–Av task. Although many neurons in both regions exhibited similar, selective patterns of task-related activity, we found a larger proportion of neurons activated in low motivational conditions in the dlPFC than in the ACC, and the onset of this activity was significantly earlier in the dlPFC than in the ACC. Furthermore, the temporal onsets of affective judgment represented by neuronal activities were significantly slower in the low motivational conditions than in the other conditions. These findings suggest that motivation and affective judgment both recruit dlPFC and ACC neurons but with differential degrees of involvement and timing. PMID:25653353

Dissociable effects of cingulate and medial frontal cortex lesions on stimulus-reward learning using a novel Pavlovian autoshaping procedure for the rat: implications for the neurobiology of emotion.

PubMed

Bussey, T J; Everitt, B J; Robbins, T W

1997-10-01

The effects of quinolinic acid-induced lesions of the anterior cingulate, posterior cingulate, and medial frontal cortices on stimulus-reward learning were investigated with a novel Pavlovian autoshaping procedure in an apparatus allowing the automated presentation of computer-graphic stimuli to rats (T. J. Bussey, J. L. Muir, & T. W. Robbins, 1994). White vertical rectangles were presented on the left or the right of a computer screen. One of these conditioned stimuli (the CS+) was always followed by the presentation of a sucrose pellet; the other, the CS-, was never followed by reward. With training, rats came to approach the CS+ more often than the CS-. Anterior cingulate cortex-lesioned rats failed to demonstrate normal discriminated approach, making significantly more approaches to the CS- than did sham-operated controls. Medial frontal cortex-lesioned rats acquired the task normally but had longer overall approach latencies. Posterior cingulate cortex lesions did not affect acquisition.

The Distressed Brain: A Group Blind Source Separation Analysis on Tinnitus

PubMed Central

De Ridder, Dirk; Vanneste, Sven; Congedo, Marco

2011-01-01

Background Tinnitus, the perception of a sound without an external sound source, can lead to variable amounts of distress. Methodology In a group of tinnitus patients with variable amounts of tinnitus related distress, as measured by the Tinnitus Questionnaire (TQ), an electroencephalography (EEG) is performed, evaluating the patients' resting state electrical brain activity. This resting state electrical activity is compared with a control group and between patients with low (N = 30) and high distress (N = 25). The groups are homogeneous for tinnitus type, tinnitus duration or tinnitus laterality. A group blind source separation (BSS) analysis is performed using a large normative sample (N = 84), generating seven normative components to which high and low tinnitus patients are compared. A correlation analysis of the obtained normative components' relative power and distress is performed. Furthermore, the functional connectivity as reflected by lagged phase synchronization is analyzed between the brain areas defined by the components. Finally, a group BSS analysis on the Tinnitus group as a whole is performed. Conclusions Tinnitus can be characterized by at least four BSS components, two of which are posterior cingulate based, one based on the subgenual anterior cingulate and one based on the parahippocampus. Only the subgenual component correlates with distress. When performed on a normative sample, group BSS reveals that distress is characterized by two anterior cingulate based components. Spectral analysis of these components demonstrates that distress in tinnitus is related to alpha and beta changes in a network consisting of the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex extending to the pregenual and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex as well as the ventromedial prefrontal cortex/orbitofrontal cortex, insula, and parahippocampus. This network overlaps partially with brain areas implicated in distress in patients suffering from pain, functional somatic syndromes and posttraumatic stress disorder, and might therefore represent a specific distress network. PMID:21998628

Cognitive Control Signals in Posterior Cingulate Cortex

PubMed Central

Hayden, Benjamin Y.; Smith, David V.; Platt, Michael L.

2010-01-01

Efficiently shifting between tasks is a central function of cognitive control. The role of the default network – a constellation of areas with high baseline activity that declines during task performance – in cognitive control remains poorly understood. We hypothesized that task switching demands cognitive control to shift the balance of processing toward the external world, and therefore predicted that switching between the two tasks would require suppression of activity of neurons within the posterior cingulate cortex (CGp). To test this idea, we recorded the activity of single neurons in CGp, a central node in the default network, in monkeys performing two interleaved tasks. As predicted, we found that basal levels of neuronal activity were reduced following a switch from one task to another and gradually returned to pre-switch baseline on subsequent trials. We failed to observe these effects in lateral intraparietal cortex, part of the dorsal fronto-parietal cortical attention network directly connected to CGp. These findings indicate that suppression of neuronal activity in CGp facilitates cognitive control, and suggest that activity in the default network reflects processes that directly compete with control processes elsewhere in the brain. PMID:21160560

The neural substrates of memory suppression: a FMRI exploration of directed forgetting.

PubMed

Bastin, Christine; Feyers, Dorothée; Majerus, Steve; Balteau, Evelyne; Degueldre, Christian; Luxen, André; Maquet, Pierre; Salmon, Eric; Collette, Fabienne

2012-01-01

The directed forgetting paradigm is frequently used to determine the ability to voluntarily suppress information. However, little is known about brain areas associated with information to forget. The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to determine brain activity during the encoding and retrieval phases of an item-method directed forgetting recognition task with neutral verbal material in order to apprehend all processing stages that information to forget and to remember undergoes. We hypothesized that regions supporting few selective processes, namely recollection and familiarity memory processes, working memory, inhibitory and selection processes should be differentially activated during the processing of to-be-remembered and to-be-forgotten items. Successful encoding and retrieval of items to remember engaged the entorhinal cortex, the hippocampus, the anterior medial prefrontal cortex, the left inferior parietal cortex, the posterior cingulate cortex and the precuneus; this set of regions is well known to support deep and associative encoding and retrieval processes in episodic memory. For items to forget, encoding was associated with higher activation in the right middle frontal and posterior parietal cortex, regions known to intervene in attentional control. Items to forget but nevertheless correctly recognized at retrieval yielded activation in the dorsomedial thalamus, associated with familiarity-based memory processes and in the posterior intraparietal sulcus and the anterior cingulate cortex, involved in attentional processes.

Emotional modulation of experimental pain: a source imaging study of laser evoked potentials

PubMed Central

Stancak, Andrej; Fallon, Nicholas

2013-01-01

Negative emotions have been shown to augment experimental pain. As induced emotions alter brain activity, it is not clear whether pain augmentation during noxious stimulation would be related to neural activation existing prior to onset of a noxious stimulus or alternatively, whether emotional stimuli would only alter neural activity during the period of nociceptive processing. We analyzed the spatio-temporal patterns of laser evoked potentials (LEPs) occurring prior to and during the period of cortical processing of noxious laser stimuli during passive viewing of negative, positive, or neutral emotional pictures. Independent component analysis (ICA) was applied to series of source activation volumes, reconstructed using local autoregressive average model (LAURA). Pain was the strongest when laser stimuli were associated with negative emotional pictures. Prior to laser stimulus and during the first 100 ms after onset of laser stimulus, activations were seen in the left and right medial temporal cortex, cerebellum, posterior cingulate, and rostral cingulate/prefrontal cortex. In all these regions, positive or neutral pictures showed stronger activations than negative pictures. During laser stimulation, activations in the right and left anterior insula, temporal cortex and right anterior and posterior parietal cortex were stronger during negative than neutral or positive emotional pictures. Results suggest that negative emotional stimuli increase activation in the left and right anterior insula and temporal cortex, and right posterior and anterior parietal cortex only during the period of nociceptive processing. The role of background brain activation in emotional modulation of pain appears to be only permissive, and consisting in attenuation of activation in structures maintaining the resting state of the brain. PMID:24062659

Enhanced affective brain representations of chocolate in cravers vs. non-cravers.

PubMed

Rolls, Edmund T; McCabe, Ciara

2007-08-01

To examine the neural circuitry involved in food craving, in making food particularly appetitive and thus in driving wanting and eating, we used fMRI to measure the response to the flavour of chocolate, the sight of chocolate and their combination in cravers vs. non-cravers. Statistical parametric mapping (SPM) analyses showed that the sight of chocolate produced more activation in chocolate cravers than non-cravers in the medial orbitofrontal cortex and ventral striatum. For cravers vs. non-cravers, a combination of a picture of chocolate with chocolate in the mouth produced a greater effect than the sum of the components (i.e. supralinearity) in the medial orbitofrontal cortex and pregenual cingulate cortex. Furthermore, the pleasantness ratings of the chocolate and chocolate-related stimuli had higher positive correlations with the fMRI blood oxygenation level-dependent signals in the pregenual cingulate cortex and medial orbitofrontal cortex in the cravers than in the non-cravers. To our knowledge, this is the first study to show that there are differences between cravers and non-cravers in their responses to the sensory components of a craved food in the orbitofrontal cortex, ventral striatum and pregenual cingulate cortex, and that in some of these regions the differences are related to the subjective pleasantness of the craved foods. Understanding individual differences in brain responses to very pleasant foods helps in the understanding of the mechanisms that drive the liking for specific foods and thus intake of those foods.

Altered resting-state functional activity in isolated pontine infarction patients with pathological laughing and crying.

PubMed

Liu, Tao; Li, Jianjun; Huang, Shixiong; Li, Changqinq; Zhao, Zhongyan; Wen, Guoqiang; Chen, Feng

2017-10-13

We used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the global spontaneous neural activity involved in pathological laughing and crying after stroke. Twelve pathological laughing and crying patients with isolated pontine infarction were included, along with 12 age- and gender-matched acute isolated pontine infarction patients without pathological laughing and crying, and 12 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. We examined both the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation and the regional homogeneity in order to comprehensively evaluate the intrinsic activity in patients with post-stroke pathological laughing and crying. In the post-stroke pathological laughing and crying group, changes in these measures were observed mainly in components of the default mode network (medial prefrontal cortex/anterior cingulate cortex, middle temporal gyrus, inferior temporal gyrus, superior frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus and inferior parietal lobule), sensorimotor network (supplementary motor area, precentral gyrus and paracentral lobule), affective network (medial prefrontal cortex/anterior cingulate cortex, parahippocampal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus and inferior temporal gyrus) and cerebellar lobes (cerebellum posterior lobe). We therefore speculate that when disinhibition of the volitional system is lost, increased activation of the emotional system causes pathological laughing and crying.

Emotion Regulation in the Brain: Conceptual Issues and Directions for Developmental Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, Marc D.; Stieben, Jim

2004-01-01

Emotion regulation cannot be temporally distinguished from emotion in the brain, but activation patterns in prefrontal cortex appear to mediate cognitive control during emotion episodes. Frontal event-related potentials (ERPs) can tap cognitive control hypothetically mediated by the anterior cingulate cortex, and developmentalists have used these…

Alterations in neural systems mediating cognitive flexibility and inhibition in mood disorders.

PubMed

Piguet, Camille; Cojan, Yann; Sterpenich, Virginie; Desseilles, Martin; Bertschy, Gilles; Vuilleumier, Patrik

2016-04-01

Impairment in mental flexibility may be a key component contributing to cardinal cognitive symptoms among mood disorders patients, particularly thought control disorders. Impaired ability to switch from one thought to another might reflect difficulties in either generating new mental states, inhibiting previous states, or both. However, the neural underpinnings of impaired cognitive flexibility in mood disorders remain largely unresolved. We compared a group of mood disorders patients (n = 29) and a group of matched healthy subjects (n = 32) on a novel task-switching paradigm involving happy and sad faces, that allowed us to separate generation of a new mental set (Switch Cost) and inhibition of the previous set during switching (Inhibition Cost), using fMRI. Behavioral data showed a larger Switch Cost in patients relative to controls, but the average Inhibition Cost did not differ between groups. At the neural level, a main effect of group was found with stronger activation of the subgenual cingulate cortex in patients. The larger Switch Cost in patients was reflected by a stronger recruitment of brain regions involved in attention and executive control, including the left intraparietal sulcus, precuneus, left inferior fontal gyrus, and right anterior cingulate. Critically, activity in the subgenual cingulate cortex was not downregulated by inhibition in patients relative to controls. In conclusion, mood disorder patients have exaggerated Switch Cost relative to controls, and this deficit in cognitive flexibility is associated with increased activation of the fronto-parietal attention networks, combined with impaired modulation of the subgenual cingulate cortex when inhibition of previous mental states is needed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Reduced Activation in Lateral Prefrontal Cortex and Anterior Cingulate during Attention and Cognitive Control Functions in Medication-Naive Adolescents with Depression Compared to Controls

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Halari, Rozmin; Simic, Mima; Pariante, Carmine M.; Papadopoulos, Andrew; Cleare, Anthony; Brammer, Michael; Fombonne, Eric; Rubia, Katya

2009-01-01

Background: There is increasing recognition of major depressive disorder (MDD) in adolescence. In adult MDD, abnormalities of fronto-striatal and fronto-cingulate circuitries mediating cognitive control functions have been implicated in the pathogenesis and been related to problems with controlling negative thoughts. No neuroimaging studies of…

Subliminal versus supraliminal stimuli activate neural responses in anterior cingulate cortex, fusiform gyrus and insula: a meta-analysis of fMRI studies.

PubMed

Meneguzzo, Paolo; Tsakiris, Manos; Schioth, Helgi B; Stein, Dan J; Brooks, Samantha J

2014-01-01

Non-conscious neural activation may underlie various psychological functions in health and disorder. However, the neural substrates of non-conscious processing have not been entirely elucidated. Examining the differential effects of arousing stimuli that are consciously, versus unconsciously perceived will improve our knowledge of neural circuitry involved in non-conscious perception. Here we conduct preliminary analyses of neural activation in studies that have used both subliminal and supraliminal presentation of the same stimulus. We use Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) to examine functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies that uniquely present the same stimuli subliminally and supraliminally to healthy participants during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We included a total of 193 foci from 9 studies representing subliminal stimulation and 315 foci from 10 studies representing supraliminal stimulation. The anterior cingulate cortex is significantly activated during both subliminal and supraliminal stimulus presentation. Subliminal stimuli are linked to significantly increased activation in the right fusiform gyrus and right insula. Supraliminal stimuli show significantly increased activation in the left rostral anterior cingulate. Non-conscious processing of arousing stimuli may involve primary visual areas and may also recruit the insula, a brain area involved in eventual interoceptive awareness. The anterior cingulate is perhaps a key brain region for the integration of conscious and non-conscious processing. These preliminary data provide candidate brain regions for further study in to the neural correlates of conscious experience.

Ketamine-dependent neuronal activation in healthy volunteers.

PubMed

Höflich, Anna; Hahn, Andreas; Küblböck, Martin; Kranz, Georg S; Vanicek, Thomas; Ganger, Sebastian; Spies, Marie; Windischberger, Christian; Kasper, Siegfried; Winkler, Dietmar; Lanzenberger, Rupert

2017-04-01

Over the last years, a number of studies have been conducted to clarify the neurobiological correlates of ketamine application. However, comprehensive information regarding the influence of ketamine on cortical activity is still lacking. Using resting-state functional MRI and integrating pharmacokinetic information, a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover study was performed to determine the effects of ketamine on neuronal activation. During a 55 min resting-state fMRI scan, esketamine (Ketanest S ® ) was administered intravenously to 35 healthy volunteers. Neural activation as indicated by the BOLD signal using the pharmacokinetic curve of ketamine plasma levels as a regressor was computed. Compared with placebo, ketamine-dependent increases of neural activation were observed in the midcingulate cortex, the dorsal part of the anterior cingulate cortex, the insula bilaterally, and the thalamus (t values ranging between 5.95-9.78, p < 0.05; FWE-corrected). A significant decrease of neural activation in the ketamine condition compared to placebo was found in a cluster within the subgenual/subcallosal part of the anterior cingulate cortex, the orbitofrontal cortex and the gyrus rectus (t = 7.81, p < 0.05, FWE-corrected). Using an approach combining pharmacological and fMRI data, important information about the neurobiological correlates of the clinical antidepressant effects of ketamine could be revealed.

Brain Activity and Functional Connectivity Associated with Hypnosis.

PubMed

Jiang, Heidi; White, Matthew P; Greicius, Michael D; Waelde, Lynn C; Spiegel, David

2017-08-01

Hypnosis has proven clinical utility, yet changes in brain activity underlying the hypnotic state have not yet been fully identified. Previous research suggests that hypnosis is associated with decreased default mode network (DMN) activity and that high hypnotizability is associated with greater functional connectivity between the executive control network (ECN) and the salience network (SN). We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate activity and functional connectivity among these three networks in hypnosis. We selected 57 of 545 healthy subjects with very high or low hypnotizability using two hypnotizability scales. All subjects underwent four conditions in the scanner: rest, memory retrieval, and two different hypnosis experiences guided by standard pre-recorded instructions in counterbalanced order. Seeds for the ECN, SN, and DMN were left and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), respectively. During hypnosis there was reduced activity in the dACC, increased functional connectivity between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC;ECN) and the insula in the SN, and reduced connectivity between the ECN (DLPFC) and the DMN (PCC). These changes in neural activity underlie the focused attention, enhanced somatic and emotional control, and lack of self-consciousness that characterizes hypnosis. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The Neural Correlates of Self-Regulatory Fatigability During Inhibitory Control of Eye Blinking.

PubMed

Abi-Jaoude, Elia; Segura, Barbara; Cho, Sang Soo; Crawley, Adrian; Sandor, Paul

2018-05-30

The capacity to regulate urges is an important human characteristic associated with a range of social and health outcomes. Self-regulatory capacity has been postulated to have a limited reserve, which when depleted leads to failure. The authors aimed to investigate the neural correlates of self-regulatory fatigability. Functional MRI was used to detect brain activations in 19 right-handed healthy subjects during inhibition of eye blinking, in a block design. The increase in number of blinks during blink inhibition from the first to the last block was used as covariate of interest. There was an increase in the number of eye blinks escaping inhibitory control across blink inhibition blocks, whereas there was no change in the number of eye blinks occurring during rest blocks. Inhibition of blinking activated a wide network bilaterally, including the inferior frontal gyrus, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, supplementary motor area, and caudate. Deteriorating performance was associated with activity in orbitofrontal cortex, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, rostroventral anterior cingulate cortex, precuneus, somatosensory, and parietal areas. As anticipated, effortful eye-blink control resulted in activation of prefrontal control areas and regions involved in urge and interoceptive processing. Worsening performance was associated with activations in brain areas involved in urge, as well as regions involved in motivational evaluation. These findings suggest that self-regulatory fatigability is associated with relatively less recruitment of prefrontal cortical regions involved in executive control.

Neural correlates of preparatory and regulatory control over positive and negative emotion.

PubMed

Seo, Dongju; Olman, Cheryl A; Haut, Kristen M; Sinha, Rajita; MacDonald, Angus W; Patrick, Christopher J

2014-04-01

This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate brain activation during preparatory and regulatory control while participants (N = 24) were instructed either to simply view or decrease their emotional response to, pleasant, neutral or unpleasant pictures. A main effect of emotional valence on brain activity was found in the right precentral gyrus, with greater activation during positive than negative emotion regulation. A main effect of regulation phase was evident in the bilateral anterior prefrontal cortex (PFC), precuneus, posterior cingulate cortex, right putamen and temporal and occipital lobes, with greater activity in these regions during preparatory than regulatory control. A valence X regulation interaction was evident in regions of ventromedial PFC and anterior cingulate cortex, reflecting greater activation while regulating negative than positive emotion, but only during active emotion regulation (not preparation). Conjunction analyses revealed common brain regions involved in differing types of emotion regulation including selected areas of left lateral PFC, inferior parietal lobe, temporal lobe, right cerebellum and bilateral dorsomedial PFC. The right lateral PFC was additionally activated during the modulation of both positive and negative valence. Findings demonstrate significant modulation of brain activity during both preparation for, and active regulation of positive and negative emotional states.

Sexual attraction enhances glutamate transmission in mammalian anterior cingulate cortex

PubMed Central

Wu, Long-Jun; Kim, Susan S; Li, Xiangyao; Zhang, Fuxing; Zhuo, Min

2009-01-01

Functional human brain imaging studies have indicated the essential role of cortical regions, such as the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), in romantic love and sex. However, the neurobiological basis of how the ACC neurons are activated and engaged in sexual attraction remains unknown. Using transgenic mice in which the expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP) is controlled by the promoter of the activity-dependent gene c-fos, we found that ACC pyramidal neurons are activated by sexual attraction. The presynaptic glutamate release to the activated neurons is increased and pharmacological inhibition of neuronal activities in the ACC reduced the interest of male mice to female mice. Our results present direct evidence of the critical role of the ACC in sexual attraction, and long-term increases in glutamate mediated excitatory transmission may contribute to sexual attraction between male and female mice. PMID:19419552

A Functional Imaging Study of Self-Regulatory Capacities in Persons Who Stutter

PubMed Central

Liu, Jie; Wang, Zhishun; Huo, Yuankai; Davidson, Stephanie M.; Klahr, Kristin; Herder, Carl L.; Sikora, Chamonix O.; Peterson, Bradley S.

2014-01-01

Developmental stuttering is a disorder of speech fluency with an unknown pathogenesis. The similarity of its phenotype and natural history with other childhood neuropsychiatric disorders of frontostriatal pathology suggests that stuttering may have a closely related pathogenesis. We investigated in this study the potential involvement of frontostriatal circuits in developmental stuttering. We collected functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 46 persons with stuttering and 52 fluent controls during performance of the Simon Spatial Incompatibility Task. We examined differences between the two groups of blood-oxygen-level-dependent activation associated with two neural processes, the resolution of cognitive conflict and the context-dependent adaptation to changes in conflict. Stuttering speakers and controls did not differ on behavioral performance on the task. In the presence of conflict-laden stimuli, however, stuttering speakers activated more strongly the cingulate cortex, left anterior prefrontal cortex, right medial frontal cortex, left supplementary motor area, right caudate nucleus, and left parietal cortex. The magnitude of activation in the anterior cingulate cortex correlated inversely in stuttering speakers with symptom severity. Stuttering speakers also showed blunted activation during context-dependent adaptation in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a brain region that mediates cross-temporal contingencies. Frontostriatal hyper-responsivity to conflict resembles prior findings in other disorders of frontostriatal pathology, and therefore likely represents a general mechanism supporting functional compensation for an underlying inefficiency of neural processing in these circuits. The reduced activation of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex likely represents the inadequate readiness of stuttering speakers to execute a sequence of motor responses. PMID:24587104

Dissociable roles of default-mode regions during episodic encoding.

PubMed

Maillet, David; Rajah, M Natasha

2014-04-01

We investigated the role of distinct regions of the default-mode network (DMN) during memory encoding with fMRI. Subjects encoded words using either a strategy that emphasized self-referential (pleasantness) processing, or one that emphasized semantic (man-made/natural) processing. During encoding subjects were intermittently presented with thought probes to evaluate if they were concentrated and on-task or exhibiting task-unrelated thoughts (TUT). After the scanning session subjects performed a source retrieval task to determine which of two judgments they performed for each word at encoding. Source retrieval accuracy was higher for words encoded with the pleasantness vs. the man-made/natural task and there was a trend for higher performance for words preceding on-task vs. TUT reports. fMRI results show that left anterior medial PFC and left angular gyrus activity was greater during successful vs. unsuccessful encoding during both encoding tasks. Greater activity in left anterior cingulate and bilateral lateral temporal cortex was related successful vs. unsuccessful encoding only in the pleasantness task. In contrast, posterior cingulate, right anterior cingulate and right temporoparietal junction were activated to a greater extent in unsuccessful vs. successful encoding across tasks. Finally, activation in posterior cingulate and bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was related to TUT across tasks; moreover, we observed a conjunction in posterior cingulate between encoding failure and TUT. We conclude that DMN regions play dissociable roles during memory formation, and that their association with subsequent memory may depend on the manner in which information is encoded and retrieved. Crown Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Poor decision-making by chronic marijuana users is associated with decreased functional responsiveness to negative consequences.

PubMed

Wesley, Michael J; Hanlon, Colleen A; Porrino, Linda J

2011-01-30

Chronic marijuana users (MJ Users) perform poorly on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), a complex decision-making task in which monetary wins and losses guide strategy development. This functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study sought to determine if the poor performance of MJ Users was related to differences in brain activity while evaluating wins and losses during the strategy development phase of the IGT. MJ Users (16) and Controls (16) performed a modified IGT in an MRI scanner. Performance was tracked and functional activity in response to early wins and losses was examined. While the MJ Users continued to perform poorly at the end of the task, there was no difference in group performance during the initial strategy development phase. During this phase, before the emergence of behavioral differences, Controls exhibited significantly greater activity in response to losses in the anterior cingulate cortex, medial frontal cortex, precuneus, superior parietal lobe, occipital lobe and cerebellum as compared to MJ Users. Furthermore, in Controls, but not MJ Users, the functional response to losses in the anterior cingulate cortex, ventral medial prefrontal cortex and rostral prefrontal cortex positively correlated with performance over time. These data suggest MJ Users are less sensitive to negative feedback during strategy development. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Anterior Cingulate Cortex and Cognitive Control: Neuropsychological and Electrophysiological Findings in Two Patients with Lesions to Dorsomedial Prefrontal Cortex

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lovstad, M.; Funderud, I.; Meling, T.; Kramer, U. M.; Voytek, B.; Due-Tonnessen, P.; Endestad, T.; Lindgren, M.; Knight, R. T.; Solbakk, A. K.

2012-01-01

Whereas neuroimaging studies of healthy subjects have demonstrated an association between the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and cognitive control functions, including response monitoring and error detection, lesion studies are sparse and have produced mixed results. Due to largely normal behavioral test results in two patients with medial…

Exposure to subliminal arousing stimuli induces robust activation in the amygdala, hippocampus, anterior cingulate, insular cortex and primary visual cortex: a systematic meta-analysis of fMRI studies.

PubMed

Brooks, S J; Savov, V; Allzén, E; Benedict, C; Fredriksson, R; Schiöth, H B

2012-02-01

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) demonstrates that the subliminal presentation of arousing stimuli can activate subcortical brain regions independently of consciousness-generating top-down cortical modulation loops. Delineating these processes may elucidate mechanisms for arousal, aberration in which may underlie some psychiatric conditions. Here we are the first to review and discuss four Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) meta-analyses of fMRI studies using subliminal paradigms. We find a maximum of 9 out of 12 studies using subliminal presentation of faces contributing to activation of the amygdala, and also a significantly high number of studies reporting activation in the bilateral anterior cingulate, bilateral insular cortex, hippocampus and primary visual cortex. Subliminal faces are the strongest modality, whereas lexical stimuli are the weakest. Meta-analyses independent of studies using Regions of Interest (ROI) revealed no biasing effect. Core neuronal arousal in the brain, which may be at first independent of conscious processing, potentially involves a network incorporating primary visual areas, somatosensory, implicit memory and conflict monitoring regions. These data could provide candidate brain regions for the study of psychiatric disorders associated with aberrant automatic emotional processing. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Pain when love is near

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tamam, S.; Ahmad, A. H.; Aziz, M. E.; Kamil, W. A.

2017-05-01

The aim of the study is to investigate brain responses to acute laser pain when a loved one is nearby. Laser pain stimuli at individual pain threshold were delivered using Th:YAG laser to 17 female participants. The participants were categorised into two groups, Love Hurts or Love Heals, according to their responses to pain stimulation during the presence of their loved ones. fMRI brain activation was obtained using 3 T Philips Achieva MRI scanner utilising blocked design paradigm comprising 15 blocks of stimulation phase and 15 blocks of no stimulation. fMRI images were analysed using statistical parametric mapping (SPM) focusing on random effects (RFX) analysis. We found that both groups activated pain-related areas such as the thalamus, secondary somatosensory cortex, insula and cingulate cortex. However, Love Hurts showed more activity in thalamus, parahippocampal gyrus and hippocampus; while Love Heals showed more activity in the entire part of cingulate cortex during the presence of their loved ones. In conclusion, there may be specific brain regions responsible for modulation of pain due to the presence of a loved one thus manifesting as Love Hurts or Love Heals.

Assessing the Molecular Genetics of the Development of Executive Attention in Children: Focus on Genetic Pathways Related to the Anterior Cingulate Cortex and Dopamine

PubMed Central

Brocki, Karin; Clerkin, Suzanne M.; Guise, Kevin G.; Fan, Jin; Fossella, John A.

2009-01-01

It is well-known that children show gradual and protracted improvement in an array of behaviors involved in the conscious control of thought and emotion. Non-invasive neuroimaging in developing populations has revealed many neural correlates of behavior, particularly in the developing cingulate cortex and fronto-striatal circuits. These brain regions, themselves, undergo protracted molecular and cellular change in the first two decades of human development and, as such, are ideal regions of interest for cognitive- and imaging-genetic studies that seek to link processes at the biochemical and synaptic levels to brain activity and behavior. We review our research to-date that employs both adult and child-friendly versions of the Attention Network Task (ANT) in an effort to begin to describe the role of specific genes in the assembly of a functional attention system. Presently, we constrain our predictions for genetic association studies by focusing on the role of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and of dopamine in the development of executive attention. PMID:19344637

Generation of novel motor sequences: the neural correlates of musical improvisation.

PubMed

Berkowitz, Aaron L; Ansari, Daniel

2008-06-01

While some motor behavior is instinctive and stereotyped or learned and re-executed, much action is a spontaneous response to a novel set of environmental conditions. The neural correlates of both pre-learned and cued motor sequences have been previously studied, but novel motor behavior has thus far not been examined through brain imaging. In this paper, we report a study of musical improvisation in trained pianists with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), using improvisation as a case study of novel action generation. We demonstrate that both rhythmic (temporal) and melodic (ordinal) motor sequence creation modulate activity in a network of brain regions comprised of the dorsal premotor cortex, the rostral cingulate zone of the anterior cingulate cortex, and the inferior frontal gyrus. These findings are consistent with a role for the dorsal premotor cortex in movement coordination, the rostral cingulate zone in voluntary selection, and the inferior frontal gyrus in sequence generation. Thus, the invention of novel motor sequences in musical improvisation recruits a network of brain regions coordinated to generate possible sequences, select among them, and execute the decided-upon sequence.

Auditory mismatch impairments are characterized by core neural dysfunctions in schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Gaebler, Arnim Johannes; Mathiak, Klaus; Koten, Jan Willem; König, Andrea Anna; Koush, Yury; Weyer, David; Depner, Conny; Matentzoglu, Simeon; Edgar, James Christopher; Willmes, Klaus; Zvyagintsev, Mikhail

2015-01-01

Major theories on the neural basis of schizophrenic core symptoms highlight aberrant salience network activity (insula and anterior cingulate cortex), prefrontal hypoactivation, sensory processing deficits as well as an impaired connectivity between temporal and prefrontal cortices. The mismatch negativity is a potential biomarker of schizophrenia and its reduction might be a consequence of each of these mechanisms. In contrast to the previous electroencephalographic studies, functional magnetic resonance imaging may disentangle the involved brain networks at high spatial resolution and determine contributions from localized brain responses and functional connectivity to the schizophrenic impairments. Twenty-four patients and 24 matched control subjects underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging during an optimized auditory mismatch task. Haemodynamic responses and functional connectivity were compared between groups. These data sets further entered a diagnostic classification analysis to assess impairments on the individual patient level. In the control group, mismatch responses were detected in the auditory cortex, prefrontal cortex and the salience network (insula and anterior cingulate cortex). Furthermore, mismatch processing was associated with a deactivation of the visual system and the dorsal attention network indicating a shift of resources from the visual to the auditory domain. The patients exhibited reduced activation in all of the respective systems (right auditory cortex, prefrontal cortex, and the salience network) as well as reduced deactivation of the visual system and the dorsal attention network. Group differences were most prominent in the anterior cingulate cortex and adjacent prefrontal areas. The latter regions also exhibited a reduced functional connectivity with the auditory cortex in the patients. In the classification analysis, haemodynamic responses yielded a maximal accuracy of 83% based on four features; functional connectivity data performed similarly or worse for up to about 10 features. However, connectivity data yielded a better performance when including more than 10 features yielding up to 90% accuracy. Among others, the most discriminating features represented functional connections between the auditory cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex as well as adjacent prefrontal areas. Auditory mismatch impairments incorporate major neural dysfunctions in schizophrenia. Our data suggest synergistic effects of sensory processing deficits, aberrant salience attribution, prefrontal hypoactivation as well as a disrupted connectivity between temporal and prefrontal cortices. These deficits are associated with subsequent disturbances in modality-specific resource allocation. Capturing different schizophrenic core dysfunctions, functional magnetic resonance imaging during this optimized mismatch paradigm reveals processing impairments on the individual patient level, rendering it a potential biomarker of schizophrenia. PMID:25743635

Loss anticipation and outcome during the Monetary Incentive Delay Task: a neuroimaging systematic review and meta-analysis

PubMed Central

Dugré, Jules R.; Dumais, Alexandre; Bitar, Nathalie

2018-01-01

Background Reward seeking and avoidance of punishment are key motivational processes. Brain-imaging studies often use the Monetary Incentive Delay Task (MIDT) to evaluate motivational processes involved in maladaptive behavior. Although the bulk of research has been done on the MIDT reward events, little is known about the neural basis of avoidance of punishment. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis of brain activations during anticipation and receipt of monetary losses in healthy controls. Methods All functional neuro-imaging studies using the MIDT in healthy controls were retrieved using PubMed, Google Scholar & EMBASE databases. Functional neuro-imaging data was analyzed using the Seed-based d Mapping Software. Results Thirty-five studies met the inclusion criteria, comprising 699 healthy adults. In both anticipation and loss outcome phases, participants showed large and robust activations in the bilateral striatum, (anterior) insula, and anterior cingulate gyrus relatively to Loss > Neutral contrast. Although relatively similar activation patterns were observed during the two event types, they differed in the pattern of prefrontal activations: ventro-lateral prefrontal activations were observed during loss anticipation, while medial prefrontal activations were observed during loss receipt. Discussion Considering that previous meta-analyses highlighted activations in the medial prefrontal cortex/anterior cingulate cortex, the anterior insula and the ventral striatum, the current meta-analysis highlighted the potential specificity of the ventro-lateral prefrontal regions, the median cingulate cortex and the amygdala in the loss events. Future studies can rely on these latter results to examine the neural correlates of loss processing in psychiatric populations characterized by harm avoidance or insensitivity to punishment. PMID:29761060

Loss anticipation and outcome during the Monetary Incentive Delay Task: a neuroimaging systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Dugré, Jules R; Dumais, Alexandre; Bitar, Nathalie; Potvin, Stéphane

2018-01-01

Reward seeking and avoidance of punishment are key motivational processes. Brain-imaging studies often use the Monetary Incentive Delay Task (MIDT) to evaluate motivational processes involved in maladaptive behavior. Although the bulk of research has been done on the MIDT reward events, little is known about the neural basis of avoidance of punishment. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis of brain activations during anticipation and receipt of monetary losses in healthy controls. All functional neuro-imaging studies using the MIDT in healthy controls were retrieved using PubMed, Google Scholar & EMBASE databases. Functional neuro-imaging data was analyzed using the Seed-based d Mapping Software. Thirty-five studies met the inclusion criteria, comprising 699 healthy adults. In both anticipation and loss outcome phases, participants showed large and robust activations in the bilateral striatum, (anterior) insula, and anterior cingulate gyrus relatively to Loss > Neutral contrast. Although relatively similar activation patterns were observed during the two event types, they differed in the pattern of prefrontal activations: ventro-lateral prefrontal activations were observed during loss anticipation, while medial prefrontal activations were observed during loss receipt. Considering that previous meta-analyses highlighted activations in the medial prefrontal cortex/anterior cingulate cortex, the anterior insula and the ventral striatum, the current meta-analysis highlighted the potential specificity of the ventro-lateral prefrontal regions, the median cingulate cortex and the amygdala in the loss events. Future studies can rely on these latter results to examine the neural correlates of loss processing in psychiatric populations characterized by harm avoidance or insensitivity to punishment.

Motivation and affective judgments differentially recruit neurons in the primate dorsolateral prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex.

PubMed

Amemori, Ken-ichi; Amemori, Satoko; Graybiel, Ann M

2015-02-04

The judgment of whether to accept or to reject an offer is determined by positive and negative affect related to the offer, but affect also induces motivational responses. Rewarding and aversive cues influence the firing rates of many neurons in primate prefrontal and cingulate neocortical regions, but it still is unclear whether neurons in these regions are related to affective judgment or to motivation. To address this issue, we recorded simultaneously the neuronal spike activities of single units in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) of macaque monkeys as they performed approach-avoidance (Ap-Av) and approach-approach (Ap-Ap) decision-making tasks that can behaviorally dissociate affective judgment and motivation. Notably, neurons having activity correlated with motivational condition could be distinguished from neurons having activity related to affective judgment, especially in the Ap-Av task. Although many neurons in both regions exhibited similar, selective patterns of task-related activity, we found a larger proportion of neurons activated in low motivational conditions in the dlPFC than in the ACC, and the onset of this activity was significantly earlier in the dlPFC than in the ACC. Furthermore, the temporal onsets of affective judgment represented by neuronal activities were significantly slower in the low motivational conditions than in the other conditions. These findings suggest that motivation and affective judgment both recruit dlPFC and ACC neurons but with differential degrees of involvement and timing. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/351939-15$15.00/0.

The time course of activity in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex during top-down attentional control.

PubMed

Silton, Rebecca Levin; Heller, Wendy; Towers, David N; Engels, Anna S; Spielberg, Jeffrey M; Edgar, J Christopher; Sass, Sarah M; Stewart, Jennifer L; Sutton, Bradley P; Banich, Marie T; Miller, Gregory A

2010-04-15

A network of brain regions has been implicated in top-down attentional control, including left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (LDLPFC) and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC). The present experiment evaluated predictions of the cascade-of-control model (Banich, 2009), which predicts that during attentionally-demanding tasks, LDLPFC imposes a top-down attentional set which precedes late-stage selection performed by dACC. Furthermore, the cascade-of-control model argues that dACC must increase its activity to compensate when top-down control by LDLPFC is poor. The present study tested these hypotheses using fMRI and dense-array ERP data collected from the same 80 participants in separate sessions. fMRI results guided ERP source modeling to characterize the time course of activity in LDLPFC and dACC. As predicted, dACC activity subsequent to LDLPFC activity distinguished congruent and incongruent conditions on the Stroop task. Furthermore, when LDLPFC activity was low, the level of dACC activity was related to performance outcome. These results demonstrate that dACC responds to attentional demand in a flexible manner that is dependent on the level of LDLPFC activity earlier in a trial. Overall, results were consistent with the temporal course of regional brain function proposed by the cascade-of-control model. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A preliminary study of sex differences in brain activation during a spatial navigation task in healthy adults.

PubMed

Sneider, Jennifer Tropp; Sava, Simona; Rogowska, Jadwiga; Yurgelun-Todd, Deborah A

2011-10-01

The hippocampus plays a significant role in spatial memory processing, with sex differences being prominent on various spatial tasks. This study examined sex differences in healthy adults, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in areas implicated in spatial processing during navigation of a virtual analogue of the Morris water-maze. There were three conditions: learning, hidden, and visible control. There were no significant differences in performance measures. However, sex differences were found in regional brain activation during learning in the right hippocampus, right parahippocampal gyrus, and the cingulate cortex. During the hidden condition, the hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, and cingulate cortex were activated in both men and women. Additional brain areas involved in spatial processing may be recruited in women when learning information about the environment, by utilizing external cues (landmarks) more than do men, contributing to the observed sex differences in brain activation.

Increased antidepressant sensitivity after prefrontal cortex glucocorticoid receptor gene deletion in mice.

PubMed

Hussain, Rifat J; Jacobson, Lauren

2015-01-01

Our laboratory has previously shown that antidepressants regulate glucocorticoid receptor (GR) expression in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). To determine if PFC GR are involved in antidepressant effects on behavior or hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis activity, we treated floxed GR male mice with saline or 15 or 30 mg/kg/d imipramine after PFC injection of adeno-associated virus 2/9 vectors transducing expression of Cre recombinase, to knock-down GR (PFC-GRKD), or green fluorescent protein (PFC-GFP), to serve as a control. The pattern of virally transduced GR deletion, common to all imipramine treatment groups, included the infralimbic, prelimbic, and medial anterior cingulate cortex at its largest extent, but was confined to the prelimbic and anterior cingulate cortex at its smallest extent. PFC GR knock-down increased behavioral sensitivity to imipramine, with imipramine-treated PFC-GRKD but not PFC-GFP mice exhibiting significant decreases in depression-like immobility during forced swim. PFC GR deletion did not alter general locomotor activity. The 30 mg/kg dose of imipramine increased plasma corticosterone levels immediately after a 5-min forced swim, but PFC GR knock-down had no significant effect on plasma corticosterone under these experimental conditions. We conclude that PFC GR knock-down, likely limited to the medial prelimbic and anterior cingulate cortices, can increase behavioral sensitivity to antidepressants. These findings indicate a novel role for PFC GR in influencing antidepressant response. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Spindle neurons of the human anterior cingulate cortex

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nimchinsky, E. A.; Vogt, B. A.; Morrison, J. H.; Hof, P. R.; Bloom, F. E. (Principal Investigator)

1995-01-01

The human anterior cingulate cortex is distinguished by the presence of an unusual cell type, a large spindle neuron in layer Vb. This cell has been noted numerous times in the historical literature but has not been studied with modern neuroanatomic techniques. For instance, details regarding the neuronal class to which these cells belong and regarding their precise distribution along both ventrodorsal and anteroposterior axes of the cingulate gyrus are still lacking. In the present study, morphological features and the anatomic distribution of this cell type were studied using computer-assisted mapping and immunocytochemical techniques. Spindle neurons are restricted to the subfields of the anterior cingulate cortex (Brodmann's area 24), exhibiting a greater density in anterior portions of this area than in posterior portions, and tapering off in the transition zone between anterior and posterior cingulate cortex. Furthermore, a majority of the spindle cells at any level is located in subarea 24b on the gyral surface. Immunocytochemical analysis revealed that the neurofilament protein triple was present in a large percentage of these neurons and that they did not contain calcium-binding proteins. Injections of the carbocyanine dye DiI into the cingulum bundle revealed that these cells are projection neurons. Finally, spindle cells were consistently affected in Alzheimer's disease cases, with an overall loss of about 60%. Taken together, these observations indicate that the spindle cells of the human cingulate cortex represent a morphological subpopulation of pyramidal neurons whose restricted distribution may be associated with functionally distinct areas.

Functional Connectivity of Human Chewing

PubMed Central

Quintero, A.; Ichesco, E.; Schutt, R.; Myers, C.; Peltier, S.; Gerstner, G.E.

2013-01-01

Mastication is one of the most important orofacial functions. The neurobiological mechanisms of masticatory control have been investigated in animal models, but less so in humans. This project used functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging (fcMRI) to assess the positive temporal correlations among activated brain areas during a gum-chewing task. Twenty-nine healthy young-adults underwent an fcMRI scanning protocol while they chewed gum. Seed-based fcMRI analyses were performed with the motor cortex and cerebellum as regions of interest. Both left and right motor cortices were reciprocally functionally connected and functionally connected with the post-central gyrus, cerebellum, cingulate cortex, and precuneus. The cerebellar seeds showed functional connections with the contralateral cerebellar hemispheres, bilateral sensorimotor cortices, left superior temporal gyrus, and left cingulate cortex. These results are the first to identify functional central networks engaged during mastication. PMID:23355525

Functional segregation of the human cingulate cortex is confirmed by functional connectivity based neuroanatomical parcellation.

PubMed

Yu, Chunshui; Zhou, Yuan; Liu, Yong; Jiang, Tianzi; Dong, Haiwei; Zhang, Yunting; Walter, Martin

2011-02-14

The four-region model with 7 specified subregions represents a theoretical construct of functionally segregated divisions of the cingulate cortex based on integrated neurobiological assessments. Under this framework, we aimed to investigate the functional specialization of the human cingulate cortex by analyzing the resting-state functional connectivity (FC) of each subregion from a network perspective. In 20 healthy subjects we systematically investigated the FC patterns of the bilateral subgenual (sACC) and pregenual (pACC) anterior cingulate cortices, anterior (aMCC) and posterior (pMCC) midcingulate cortices, dorsal (dPCC) and ventral (vPCC) posterior cingulate cortices and retrosplenial cortices (RSC). We found that each cingulate subregion was specifically integrated in the predescribed functional networks and showed anti-correlated resting-state fluctuations. The sACC and pACC were involved in an affective network and anti-correlated with the sensorimotor and cognitive networks, while the pACC also correlated with the default-mode network and anti-correlated with the visual network. In the midcingulate cortex, however, the aMCC was correlated with the cognitive and sensorimotor networks and anti-correlated with the visual, affective and default-mode networks, whereas the pMCC only correlated with the sensorimotor network and anti-correlated with the cognitive and visual networks. The dPCC and vPCC involved in the default-mode network and anti-correlated with the sensorimotor, cognitive and visual networks, in contrast, the RSC was mainly correlated with the PCC and thalamus. Based on a strong hypothesis driven approach of anatomical partitions of the cingulate cortex, we could confirm their segregation in terms of functional neuroanatomy, as suggested earlier by task studies or exploratory multi-seed investigations. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Scopolamine into the anterior cingulate cortex diminishes nociception in a neuropathic pain model in the rat: an interruption of 'nociception-related memory acquisition'?

PubMed

Ortega-Legaspi, J Manuel; López-Avila, Alberto; Coffeen, Ulises; del Angel, Rosendo; Pellicer, Francisco

2003-01-01

The cingulate cortex plays a key role in the affective component related to pain perception. This structure receives cholinergic projections and also plays a role in memory processing. Therefore, we propose that the cholinergic system in the anterior cingulate cortex is involved in the nociceptive memory process. We used scopolamine (10 microg in 0.25 mircrol/saline) microinjected into the anterior cingulate cortex, either before thermonociception followed by a sciatic denervation, between thermonociception and denervation or after both procedures (n=10 each). The vehicle group (saline solution 0.9%, n=14) was microinjected before thermonociception. Chronic nociception was measured by the autotomy score, which onset and incidence were also determined. Group scopolamine-thermonociception-denervation (STD) presented the lowest autotomy score as compared to vehicle and group thermonociception-denervation-scopolamine (TDS) (vehicle vs. STD, p=0.002, STD vs. TDS, p=0.001). Group thermonociception-scopolamine-denervation (TSD) showed a diminished autotomy score when compared to TDS (p=0.053). STD group showed a delay in the onset of AB as compared to the rest of the groups. Group TSD presented a significative delay (p=0.048) in AB onset when compared to group TDS. There were no differences in the incidence between groups. The results show that nociception-related memory processed in the anterior cingulate cortex is susceptible of being modified by the cholinergic transmission blockade. When scopolamine is microinjected prior to the nociceptive stimuli, nociception-related memory acquisition is prevented. The evidence obtained in this study shows the role of the anterior cingulate cortex in the acquisition of nociception-related memory.

Exposure to blue wavelength light modulates anterior cingulate cortex activation in response to 'uncertain' versus 'certain' anticipation of positive stimuli.

PubMed

Alkozei, Anna; Smith, Ryan; Killgore, William D S

2016-03-11

Blue wavelength light has been used as an effective treatment for some types of mood disorders and circadian rhythm related sleep problems. We hypothesized that acute exposure to blue wavelength light would directly affect the functioning of neurocircuity implicated in emotion regulation (i.e., ventromedial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, insula, and anterior cingulate cortex [ACC]) during 'certain' and 'uncertain' anticipation of negative and positive stimuli. Thirty-five healthy adults were randomized to receive a thirty-minute exposure to either blue (active) or amber (placebo) light, immediately followed by an emotional anticipation task during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In contrast to placebo, participants in the blue light group showed significantly reduced activation within the rostral ACC during 'uncertain' anticipation (i.e., uncertainty regarding whether a positive or negative stimulus would be shown) in comparison to 'certain' anticipation of a positive stimulus. These findings may be explicable in terms of interactions between blue light exposure and the influence of specific neuromodulators on ACC-mediated decision-making mechanisms. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Subjective memory complaints are associated with brain activation supporting successful memory encoding.

PubMed

Hayes, Jessica M; Tang, Lingfei; Viviano, Raymond P; van Rooden, Sanneke; Ofen, Noa; Damoiseaux, Jessica S

2017-12-01

Subjective memory complaints, the perceived decline in cognitive abilities in the absence of clinical deficits, may precede Alzheimer's disease. Individuals with subjective memory complaints show differential brain activation during memory encoding; however, whether such differences contribute to successful memory formation remains unclear. Here, we investigated how subsequent memory effects, activation which is greater for hits than misses during an encoding task, differed between healthy older adults aged 50 to 85 years with (n = 23) and without (n = 41) memory complaints. Older adults with memory complaints, compared to those without, showed lower subsequent memory effects in the occipital lobe, superior parietal lobe, and posterior cingulate cortex. In addition, older adults with more memory complaints showed a more negative subsequent memory effects in areas of the default mode network, including the posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Our findings suggest that for successful memory formation, older adults with subjective memory complaints rely on distinct neural mechanisms which may reflect an overall decreased task-directed attention. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neurobiological correlates of cognitions in fear and anxiety: a cognitive-neurobiological information-processing model.

PubMed

Hofmann, Stefan G; Ellard, Kristen K; Siegle, Greg J

2012-01-01

We review likely neurobiological substrates of cognitions related to fear and anxiety. Cognitive processes are linked to abnormal early activity reflecting hypervigilance in subcortical networks involving the amygdala, hippocampus, and insular cortex, and later recruitment of cortical regulatory resources, including activation of the anterior cingulate cortex and prefrontal cortex to implement avoidant response strategies. Based on this evidence, we present a cognitive-neurobiological information-processing model of fear and anxiety, linking distinct brain structures to specific stages of information processing of perceived threat.

Aberrant temporal and spatial brain activity during rest in patients with chronic pain

PubMed Central

Malinen, Sanna; Vartiainen, Nuutti; Hlushchuk, Yevhen; Koskinen, Miika; Ramkumar, Pavan; Forss, Nina; Kalso, Eija; Hari, Riitta

2010-01-01

In the absence of external stimuli, human hemodynamic brain activity displays slow intrinsic variations. To find out whether such fluctuations would be altered by persistent pain, we asked 10 patients with unrelenting chronic pain of different etiologies and 10 sex- and age-matched control subjects to rest with eyes open during 3-T functional MRI. Independent component analysis was used to identify functionally coupled brain networks. Time courses of an independent component comprising the insular cortices of both hemispheres showed stronger spectral power at 0.12 to 0.25 Hz in patients than in control subjects, with the largest difference at 0.16 Hz. A similar but weaker effect was seen in the anterior cingulate cortex, whereas activity of the precuneus and early visual cortex, used as a control site, did not differ between the groups. In the patient group, seed point-based correlation analysis revealed altered spatial connectivity between insulae and anterior cingulate cortex. The results imply both temporally and spatially aberrant activity of the affective pain-processing areas in patients suffering from chronic pain. The accentuated 0.12- to 0.25-Hz fluctuations in the patient group might be related to altered activity of the autonomic nervous system. PMID:20308545

Immunological and neuroimaging biomarkers of complicated grief

PubMed Central

O'Connor, Mary-Frances

2012-01-01

Complicated grief (CG) is a disorder marked by intense and persistent yearning for the deceased, in addition to other criteria. The present article reviews what is known about the immunologic and neuroimaging biomarkers of both acute grief and CG, Attachment theory and cognitive stress theory are reviewed as they pertain to bereavement, as is the biopsychosocial model of CG. Reduced immune cell function has been replicated in a variety of bereaved populations. The regional brain activation to grief cues frequently includes the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and insula, and also the posterior cingulate cortex. Using theory to point to future research directions, we may eventually learn which biomarkers are helpful in predicting CG, and its treatment. PMID:22754286

Neural correlates of the classic color and emotional stroop in women with abuse-related posttraumatic stress disorder.

PubMed

Bremner, J Douglas; Vermetten, Eric; Vythilingam, Meena; Afzal, Nadeem; Schmahl, Christian; Elzinga, Bernet; Charney, Dennis S

2004-03-15

The anterior cingulate and medial prefrontal cortex play an important role in the inhibition of responses, as measured by the Stroop task, as well as in emotional regulation. Dysfunction of the anterior cingulate/medial prefrontal cortex has been implicated in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The purpose of this study was to use the Stroop task as a probe of anterior cingulate function in PTSD. Women with early childhood sexual abuse-related PTSD (n = 12) and women with abuse but without PTSD (n = 9) underwent positron emission tomographic measurement of cerebral blood flow during exposure to control, color Stroop, and emotional Stroop conditions. Women with abuse with PTSD (but not abused non-PTSD women) had a relative decrease in anterior cingulate blood flow during exposure to the emotional (but not color) classic Stroop task. During the color Stroop there were also relatively greater increases in blood flow in non-PTSD compared with PTSD women in right visual association cortex, cuneus, and right inferior parietal lobule. These findings add further evidence for dysfunction of a network of brain regions, including anterior cingulate and visual and parietal cortex, in abuse-related PTSD.

Theta–gamma coordination between anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortex indexes correct attention shifts

PubMed Central

Voloh, Benjamin; Valiante, Taufik A.; Everling, Stefan; Womelsdorf, Thilo

2015-01-01

Anterior cingulate and lateral prefrontal cortex (ACC/PFC) are believed to coordinate activity to flexibly prioritize the processing of goal-relevant over irrelevant information. This between-area coordination may be realized by common low-frequency excitability changes synchronizing segregated high-frequency activations. We tested this coordination hypothesis by recording in macaque ACC/PFC during the covert utilization of attention cues. We found robust increases of 5–10 Hz (theta) to 35–55 Hz (gamma) phase–amplitude correlation between ACC and PFC during successful attention shifts but not before errors. Cortical sites providing theta phases (i) showed a prominent cue-induced phase reset, (ii) were more likely in ACC than PFC, and (iii) hosted neurons with burst firing events that synchronized to distant gamma activity. These findings suggest that interareal theta–gamma correlations could follow mechanistically from a cue-triggered reactivation of rule memory that synchronizes theta across ACC/PFC. PMID:26100868

Neural activity associated with self-reflection.

PubMed

Herwig, Uwe; Kaffenberger, Tina; Schell, Caroline; Jäncke, Lutz; Brühl, Annette B

2012-05-24

Self-referential cognitions are important for self-monitoring and self-regulation. Previous studies have addressed the neural correlates of self-referential processes in response to or related to external stimuli. We here investigated brain activity associated with a short, exclusively mental process of self-reflection in the absence of external stimuli or behavioural requirements. Healthy subjects reflected either on themselves, a personally known or an unknown person during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The reflection period was initialized by a cue and followed by photographs of the respective persons (perception of pictures of oneself or the other person). Self-reflection, compared with reflecting on the other persons and to a major part also compared with perceiving photographs of one-self, was associated with more prominent dorsomedial and lateral prefrontal, insular, anterior and posterior cingulate activations. Whereas some of these areas showed activity in the "other"-conditions as well, self-selective characteristics were revealed in right dorsolateral prefrontal and posterior cingulate cortex for self-reflection; in anterior cingulate cortex for self-perception and in the left inferior parietal lobe for self-reflection and -perception. Altogether, cingulate, medial and lateral prefrontal, insular and inferior parietal regions show relevance for self-related cognitions, with in part self-specificity in terms of comparison with the known-, unknown- and perception-conditions. Notably, the results are obtained here without behavioural response supporting the reliability of this methodological approach of applying a solely mental intervention. We suggest considering the reported structures when investigating psychopathologically affected self-related processing.

You and your kin: Neural signatures of family-based group perception in the subgenual cortex.

PubMed

Rüsch, Nicolas; Bado, Patricia; Zahn, Roland; Bramati, Ivanei E; de Oliveira-Souza, Ricardo; Moll, Jorge

2014-01-01

Attachment to one's kin as an in-group emerges from a fundamental human motivation and is vital for human survival. Despite important recent advances in the field of social neuroscience, the neural mechanisms underlying family-related in-group perception remain obscure. To examine the neural basis of perceiving family-related in-group boundaries in response to written kinship scenarios, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging in 27 healthy adults and obtained self-report ratings of family-related entitativity, which measures to what degree participants perceive their family as a coherent and distinct group in society. We expected that activity in the subgenual cingulate cortex and septo-hypothalamic region would track individual differences in entitativity. Perceiving one's family as a distinct and cohesive group (high entitativity) was associated with increased subgenual cortex response to kinship scenarios. The subgenual cingulate cortex may represent a key link between kin-related emotional attachment and group perception, providing a neurobiological basis for group belongingness.

An Anterior-to-Posterior Shift in Midline Cortical Activity in Schizophrenia During Self-Reflection

PubMed Central

Holt, Daphne J.; Cassidy, Brittany S.; Andrews-Hanna, Jessica R.; Lee, Su Mei; Coombs, Garth; Goff, Donald C.; Gabrieli, John D.; Moran, Joseph M.

2013-01-01

Background Deficits in social cognition, including impairments in self-awareness, contribute to the overall functional disability associated with schizophrenia. Studies in healthy subjects have shown that social cognitive functions, including self-reflection, rely on the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and posterior cingulate gyrus, and these regions exhibit highly correlated activity during “resting” states. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that patients with schizophrenia show dysfunction of this network during self-reflection and that this abnormal activity is associated with changes in the strength of resting-state correlations between these regions. Methods Activation during self-reflection and control tasks was measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging in 19 patients with schizophrenia and 20 demographically matched control subjects. In addition, the resting-state functional connectivity of midline cortical areas showing abnormal self-reflection-related activation in schizophrenia was measured. Results Compared with control subjects, the schizophrenia patients demonstrated lower activation of the right ventral mPFC and greater activation of the mid/posterior cingulate gyri bilaterally during self-reflection, relative to a control task. A similar pattern was seen during overall social reflection. In addition, functional connectivity between the portion of the left mid/posterior cingulate gyrus showing abnormally elevated activity during self-reflection in schizophrenia, and the dorsal anterior cingulate gyrus was lower in the schizophrenia patients compared with control subjects. Conclusions Schizophrenia is associated with an anterior-to-posterior shift in introspection-related activation, as well as changes in functional connectivity, of the midline cortex. These findings provide support for the hypothesis that aberrant midline cortical function contributes to social cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. PMID:21144498

An anterior-to-posterior shift in midline cortical activity in schizophrenia during self-reflection.

PubMed

Holt, Daphne J; Cassidy, Brittany S; Andrews-Hanna, Jessica R; Lee, Su Mei; Coombs, Garth; Goff, Donald C; Gabrieli, John D; Moran, Joseph M

2011-03-01

Deficits in social cognition, including impairments in self-awareness, contribute to the overall functional disability associated with schizophrenia. Studies in healthy subjects have shown that social cognitive functions, including self-reflection, rely on the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and posterior cingulate gyrus, and these regions exhibit highly correlated activity during "resting" states. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that patients with schizophrenia show dysfunction of this network during self-reflection and that this abnormal activity is associated with changes in the strength of resting-state correlations between these regions. Activation during self-reflection and control tasks was measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging in 19 patients with schizophrenia and 20 demographically matched control subjects. In addition, the resting-state functional connectivity of midline cortical areas showing abnormal self-reflection-related activation in schizophrenia was measured. Compared with control subjects, the schizophrenia patients demonstrated lower activation of the right ventral mPFC and greater activation of the mid/posterior cingulate gyri bilaterally during self-reflection, relative to a control task. A similar pattern was seen during overall social reflection. In addition, functional connectivity between the portion of the left mid/posterior cingulate gyrus showing abnormally elevated activity during self-reflection in schizophrenia, and the dorsal anterior cingulate gyrus was lower in the schizophrenia patients compared with control subjects. Schizophrenia is associated with an anterior-to-posterior shift in introspection-related activation, as well as changes in functional connectivity, of the midline cortex. These findings provide support for the hypothesis that aberrant midline cortical function contributes to social cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. Copyright © 2011 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Altered brain activation in a reversal learning task unmasks adaptive changes in cognitive control in writer's cramp.

PubMed

Zeuner, Kirsten E; Knutzen, Arne; Granert, Oliver; Sablowsky, Simone; Götz, Julia; Wolff, Stephan; Jansen, Olav; Dressler, Dirk; Schneider, Susanne A; Klein, Christine; Deuschl, Günther; van Eimeren, Thilo; Witt, Karsten

2016-01-01

Previous receptor binding studies suggest dopamine function is altered in the basal ganglia circuitry in task-specific dystonia, a condition characterized by contraction of agonist and antagonist muscles while performing specific tasks. Dopamine plays a role in reward-based learning. Using fMRI, this study compared 31 right-handed writer's cramp patients to 35 controls in reward-based learning of a probabilistic reversal-learning task. All subjects chose between two stimuli and indicated their response with their left or right index finger. One stimulus response was rewarded 80%, the other 20%. After contingencies reversal, the second stimulus response was rewarded in 80%. We further linked the DRD2/ANKK1-TaqIa polymorphism, which is associated with 30% reduction of the striatal dopamine receptor density with reward-based learning and assumed impaired reversal learning in A + subjects. Feedback learning in patients was normal. Blood-oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal in controls increased with negative feedback in the insula, rostral cingulate cortex, middle frontal gyrus and parietal cortex (pFWE < 0.05). In comparison to controls, patients showed greater increase in BOLD activity following negative feedback in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (BA32). The genetic status was not correlated with the BOLD activity. The Brodmann area 32 (BA32) is part of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) that plays an important role in coordinating and integrating information to guide behavior and in reward-based learning. The dACC is connected with the basal ganglia-thalamo-loop modulated by dopaminergic signaling. This finding suggests disturbed integration of reinforcement history in decision making and implicate that the reward system might contribute to the pathogenesis in writer's cramp.

Working memory activation of neural networks in the elderly as a function of information processing phase and task complexity.

PubMed

Charroud, Céline; Steffener, Jason; Le Bars, Emmanuelle; Deverdun, Jérémy; Bonafe, Alain; Abdennour, Meriem; Portet, Florence; Molino, François; Stern, Yaakov; Ritchie, Karen; Menjot de Champfleur, Nicolas; Akbaraly, Tasnime N

2015-11-01

Changes in working memory are sensitive indicators of both normal and pathological brain aging and associated disability. The present study aims to further understanding of working memory in normal aging using a large cohort of healthy elderly in order to examine three separate phases of information processing in relation to changes in task load activation. Using covariance analysis, increasing and decreasing neural activation was observed on fMRI in response to a delayed item recognition task in 337 cognitively healthy elderly persons as part of the CRESCENDO (Cognitive REServe and Clinical ENDOphenotypes) study. During three phases of the task (stimulation, retention, probe), increased activation was observed with increasing task load in bilateral regions of the prefrontal cortex, parietal lobule, cingulate gyrus, insula and in deep gray matter nuclei, suggesting an involvement of central executive and salience networks. Decreased activation associated with increasing task load was observed during the stimulation phase, in bilateral temporal cortex, parietal lobule, cingulate gyrus and prefrontal cortex. This spatial distribution of decreased activation is suggestive of the default mode network. These findings support the hypothesis of an increased activation in salience and central executive networks and a decreased activation in default mode network concomitant to increasing task load. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neural activity predicts attitude change in cognitive dissonance.

PubMed

van Veen, Vincent; Krug, Marie K; Schooler, Jonathan W; Carter, Cameron S

2009-11-01

When our actions conflict with our prior attitudes, we often change our attitudes to be more consistent with our actions. This phenomenon, known as cognitive dissonance, is considered to be one of the most influential theories in psychology. However, the neural basis of this phenomenon is unknown. Using a Solomon four-group design, we scanned participants with functional MRI while they argued that the uncomfortable scanner environment was nevertheless a pleasant experience. We found that cognitive dissonance engaged the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and anterior insula; furthermore, we found that the activation of these regions tightly predicted participants' subsequent attitude change. These effects were not observed in a control group. Our findings elucidate the neural representation of cognitive dissonance, and support the role of the anterior cingulate cortex in detecting cognitive conflict and the neural prediction of attitude change.

Neuropathic Pain Causes Pyramidal Neuronal Hyperactivity in the Anterior Cingulate Cortex.

PubMed

Zhao, Ruohe; Zhou, Hang; Huang, Lianyan; Xie, Zhongcong; Wang, Jing; Gan, Wen-Biao; Yang, Guang

2018-01-01

The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is thought to be important for acute pain perception as well as the development of chronic pain after peripheral nerve injury. Nevertheless, how ACC neurons respond to sensory stimulation under chronic pain states is not well understood. Here, we used an in vivo two-photon imaging technique to monitor the activity of individual neurons in the ACC of awake, head restrained mice. Calcium imaging in the dorsal ACC revealed robust somatic activity in layer 5 (L5) pyramidal neurons in response to peripheral noxious stimuli, and the degree of evoked activity was correlated with the intensity of noxious stimulation. Furthermore, the activation of ACC neurons occurred bilaterally upon noxious stimulation to either contralateral or ipsilateral hind paws. Notably, with nerve injury-induced neuropathic pain in one limb, L5 pyramidal neurons in both sides of the ACC showed enhanced activity in the absence or presence of pain stimuli. These results reveal hyperactivity of L5 pyramidal neurons in the bilateral ACC during the development of neuropathic pain.

Spatio-temporal brain dynamics in a combined stimulus-stimulus and stimulus-response conflict task.

PubMed

Frühholz, Sascha; Godde, Ben; Finke, Mareike; Herrmann, Manfred

2011-01-01

It is yet not well known whether different types of conflicts share common or rely on distinct brain mechanisms of conflict processing. We used a combined Flanker (stimulus-stimulus; S-S) and Simon (stimulus-response; S-R) conflict paradigm both in an fMRI and an EEG study. S-S conflicts induced stronger behavioral interference effects compared to S-R conflicts and the latter decayed with increasing response latencies. Besides some similar medial frontal activity across all conflict trials, which was, however, not statically consistent across trials, we especially found distinct activations depending on the type of conflict. S-S conflicts activated the anterior cingulate cortex and modulated the N2 and early P3 component with underlying source activity in inferior frontal cortex. S-R conflicts produced distinct activations in the posterior cingulate cortex and modulated the late P3b component with underlying source activity in superior parietal cortex. Double conflict trials containing both S-S and S-R conflicts revealed, first, distinct anterior frontal activity representing a meta-processing unit and, second, a sequential modulation of the N2 and the P3b component. The N2 modulation during double conflict trials was accompanied by increased source activity in the medial frontal gyrus (MeFG). In summary, S-S and S-R conflict processing mostly rely on distinct mechanisms of conflict processing and these conflicts differentially modulate the temporal stages of stimulus processing. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Anterior Cingulate Cortex in Schema Assimilation and Expression

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Szu-Han; Tse, Dorothy; Morris, Richard G. M.

2012-01-01

In humans and in animals, mental schemas can store information within an associative framework that enables rapid and efficient assimilation of new information. Using a hippocampal-dependent paired-associate task, we now report that the anterior cingulate cortex is part of a neocortical network of schema storage with NMDA receptor-mediated…

Are batterers different from other criminals? An fMRI study

PubMed Central

Verdejo-Román, Juan; Contreras-Rodríguez, Oren; Carmona-Perera, Martina; Pérez-García, Miguel; Hidalgo-Ruzzante, Natalia

2016-01-01

Abstract Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a complex and global phenomenon that requires a multi-perspective analysis. Nevertheless, the number of neuroscientific studies conducted on this issue is scarce as compared with studies of other types of violence, and no neuroimaging studies comparing batterers to other criminals have been conducted. Thus, the main aim of this study was to compare the brain functioning of batterers to that of other criminals when they are exposed to IPV or general violence pictures. An fMRI study was conducted in 21 batterers and 20 other criminals while they observed IPV images (IPVI), general violence images (GVI) and neutral images (NI). Results demonstrated that batterers, compared with other criminals, exhibited a higher activation in the anterior and posterior cingulate cortex and in the middle prefrontal cortex and a decreased activation in the superior prefrontal cortex to IPVI compared to NI. The paired t-test comparison between IPVI and GVI for each group showed engagement of the medial prefrontal cortex, the posterior cingulate and the left angular cortices to IPVI in the batterer group only. These results could have important implications for a better understanding of the IPV phenomenon. PMID:26884544

Functional heterogeneity of conflict, error, task-switching, and unexpectedness effects within medial prefrontal cortex.

PubMed

Nee, Derek Evan; Kastner, Sabine; Brown, Joshua W

2011-01-01

The last decade has seen considerable discussion regarding a theoretical account of medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) function with particular focus on the anterior cingulate cortex. The proposed theories have included conflict detection, error likelihood prediction, volatility monitoring, and several distinct theories of error detection. Arguments for and against particular theories often treat mPFC as functionally homogeneous, or at least nearly so, despite some evidence for distinct functional subregions. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to simultaneously contrast multiple effects of error, conflict, and task-switching that have been individually construed in support of various theories. We found overlapping yet functionally distinct subregions of mPFC, with activations related to dominant error, conflict, and task-switching effects successively found along a rostral-ventral to caudal-dorsal gradient within medial prefrontal cortex. Activations in the rostral cingulate zone (RCZ) were strongly correlated with the unexpectedness of outcomes suggesting a role in outcome prediction and preparing control systems to deal with anticipated outcomes. The results as a whole support a resolution of some ongoing debates in that distinct theories may each pertain to corresponding distinct yet overlapping subregions of mPFC. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neural correlates of mindfulness meditation-related anxiety relief

PubMed Central

Martucci, Katherine T.; Kraft, Robert A.; McHaffie, John G.; Coghill, Robert C.

2014-01-01

Anxiety is the cognitive state related to the inability to control emotional responses to perceived threats. Anxiety is inversely related to brain activity associated with the cognitive regulation of emotions. Mindfulness meditation has been found to regulate anxiety. However, the brain mechanisms involved in meditation-related anxiety relief are largely unknown. We employed pulsed arterial spin labeling MRI to compare the effects of distraction in the form of attending to the breath (ATB; before meditation training) to mindfulness meditation (after meditation training) on state anxiety across the same subjects. Fifteen healthy subjects, with no prior meditation experience, participated in 4 d of mindfulness meditation training. ATB did not reduce state anxiety, but state anxiety was significantly reduced in every session that subjects meditated. Meditation-related anxiety relief was associated with activation of the anterior cingulate cortex, ventromedial prefrontal cortex and anterior insula. Meditation-related activation in these regions exhibited a strong relationship to anxiety relief when compared to ATB. During meditation, those who exhibited greater default-related activity (i.e. posterior cingulate cortex) reported greater anxiety, possibly reflecting an inability to control self-referential thoughts. These findings provide evidence that mindfulness meditation attenuates anxiety through mechanisms involved in the regulation of self-referential thought processes. PMID:23615765

Brain regions concerned with the identification of deceptive soccer moves by higher-skilled and lower-skilled players

PubMed Central

Wright, Michael J.; Bishop, Daniel T.; Jackson, Robin C.; Abernethy, Bruce

2013-01-01

Expert soccer players are able to utilize their opponents' early body kinematics to predict the direction in which the opponent will move. We have previously demonstrated enhanced fMRI activation in experts in the motor components of an action observation network (AON) during sports anticipation tasks. Soccer players often need to prevent opponents from successfully predicting their line of attack, and consequently may try to deceive them; for example, by performing a step-over. We examined how AON activations and expertise effects are modified by the presence of deception. Three groups of participants; higher-skilled males, lower-skilled males, and lower-skilled females, viewed video clips in point-light format, from a defender's perspective, of a player approaching and turning with the ball. The observer's task in the scanner was to determine whether the move was normal or deceptive (involving a step-over), while whole-brain functional images were acquired. In a second counterbalanced block with identical stimuli the task was to predict the direction of the ball. Activations of AON for identification of deception overlapped with activations from the direction identification task. Higher-skilled players showed significantly greater activation than lower-skilled players in a subset of AON areas; and lower-skilled males in turn showed greater activation than lower-skilled females, but females showed more activation in visual cortex. Activation was greater for deception identification than for direction identification in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, medial frontal cortex, anterior insula, cingulate gyrus, and premotor cortex. Conversely, greater activation for direction than deception identification was found in anterior cingulate cortex and caudate nucleus. Results are consistent with the view that explicit identification of deceptive moves entails cognitive effort and also activates limbic structures associated with social cognition and affective responses. PMID:24381549

Resting State Functional Connectivity within the Cingulate Cortex Jointly Predicts Agreeableness and Stressor-Evoked Cardiovascular Reactivity

PubMed Central

Ryan, John P.; Sheu, Lei K.; Gianaros, Peter J.

2010-01-01

Exaggerated cardiovascular reactivity to stress confers risk for cardiovascular disease. Further, individual differences in stressor-evoked cardiovascular reactivity covary with the functionality of cortical and limbic brain areas, particularly within the cingulate cortex. What remains unclear, however, is how individual differences in personality traits interact with cingulate functionality in the prediction of stressor-evoked cardiovascular reactivity. Accordingly, we tested the associations between (i) a particular personality trait, Agreeableness, which is associated with emotional reactions to conflict, (ii) resting state functional connectivity within the cingulate cortex, and (iii) stressor-evoked blood pressure (BP) reactivity. Participants (N=39, 19 men, aged 20–37 yrs) completed a resting functional connectivity MRI protocol, followed by two standardized stressor tasks that engaged conflict processing and evoked BP reactivity. Agreeableness covaried positively with BP reactivity across individuals. Moreover, connectivity analyses demonstrated that a more positive functional connectivity between the posterior cingulate (BA31) and the perigenual anterior cingulate (BA32) covaried positively with Agreeableness and with BP reactivity. Finally, statistical mediation analyses demonstrated that BA31–BA32 connectivity mediated the covariation between Agreeableness and BP reactivity. Functional connectivity within the cingulate appears to link Agreeableness and a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, stressor-evoked BP reactivity. PMID:21130172

Effects of cue focality on the neural mechanisms of prospective memory: A meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies.

PubMed

Cona, Giorgia; Bisiacchi, Patrizia Silvia; Sartori, Giuseppe; Scarpazza, Cristina

2016-05-17

Remembering to execute pre-defined intentions at the appropriate time in the future is typically referred to as Prospective Memory (PM). Studies of PM showed that distinct cognitive processes underlie the execution of delayed intentions depending on whether the cue associated with such intentions is focal to ongoing activity processing or not (i.e., cue focality). The present activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis revealed several differences in brain activity as a function of focality of the PM cue. The retrieval of intention is supported mainly by left anterior prefrontal cortex (Brodmann Area, BA 10) in nonfocal tasks, and by cerebellum and ventral parietal regions in focal tasks. Furthermore, the precuneus showed increased activation during the maintenance phase of intentions compared to the retrieval phase in nonfocal tasks, whereas the inferior parietal lobule showed increased activation during the retrieval of intention compared to maintenance phase in the focal tasks. Finally, the retrieval of intention relies more on the activity in anterior cingulate cortex for nonfocal tasks, and on posterior cingulate cortex for focal tasks. Such focality-related pattern of activations suggests that prospective remembering is mediated mainly by top-down and stimulus-independent processes in nonfocal tasks, whereas by more automatic, bottom-up, processes in focal tasks.

Effects of cue focality on the neural mechanisms of prospective memory: A meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies

PubMed Central

Cona, Giorgia; Bisiacchi, Patrizia Silvia; Sartori, Giuseppe; Scarpazza, Cristina

2016-01-01

Remembering to execute pre-defined intentions at the appropriate time in the future is typically referred to as Prospective Memory (PM). Studies of PM showed that distinct cognitive processes underlie the execution of delayed intentions depending on whether the cue associated with such intentions is focal to ongoing activity processing or not (i.e., cue focality). The present activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis revealed several differences in brain activity as a function of focality of the PM cue. The retrieval of intention is supported mainly by left anterior prefrontal cortex (Brodmann Area, BA 10) in nonfocal tasks, and by cerebellum and ventral parietal regions in focal tasks. Furthermore, the precuneus showed increased activation during the maintenance phase of intentions compared to the retrieval phase in nonfocal tasks, whereas the inferior parietal lobule showed increased activation during the retrieval of intention compared to maintenance phase in the focal tasks. Finally, the retrieval of intention relies more on the activity in anterior cingulate cortex for nonfocal tasks, and on posterior cingulate cortex for focal tasks. Such focality-related pattern of activations suggests that prospective remembering is mediated mainly by top-down and stimulus-independent processes in nonfocal tasks, whereas by more automatic, bottom-up, processes in focal tasks. PMID:27185531

Neural substrates of treatment response to cognitive-behavioral therapy in panic disorder with agoraphobia.

PubMed

Lueken, Ulrike; Straube, Benjamin; Konrad, Carsten; Wittchen, Hans-Ulrich; Ströhle, Andreas; Wittmann, André; Pfleiderer, Bettina; Uhlmann, Christina; Arolt, Volker; Jansen, Andreas; Kircher, Tilo

2013-11-01

Although exposure-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment option for panic disorder with agoraphobia, the neural substrates of treatment response remain unknown. Evidence suggests that panic disorder with agoraphobia is characterized by dysfunctional safety signal processing. Using fear conditioning as a neurofunctional probe, the authors investigated neural baseline characteristics and neuroplastic changes after CBT that were associated with treatment outcome in patients with panic disorder with agoraphobia. Neural correlates of fear conditioning and extinction were measured using functional MRI before and after a manualized CBT program focusing on behavioral exposure in 49 medication-free patients with a primary diagnosis of panic disorder with agoraphobia. Treatment response was defined as a reduction exceeding 50% in Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale scores. At baseline, nonresponders exhibited enhanced activation in the right pregenual anterior cingulate cortex, the hippocampus, and the amygdala in response to a safety signal. While this activation pattern partly resolved in nonresponders after CBT, successful treatment was characterized by increased right hippocampal activation when processing stimulus contingencies. Treatment response was associated with an inhibitory functional coupling between the anterior cingulate cortex and the amygdala that did not change over time. This study identified brain activation patterns associated with treatment response in patients with panic disorder with agoraphobia. Altered safety signal processing and anterior cingulate cortex-amygdala coupling may indicate individual differences among these patients that determine the effectiveness of exposure-based CBT and associated neuroplastic changes. Findings point to brain networks by which successful CBT in this patient population is mediated.

Nicotine-induced activation of caudate and anterior cingulate cortex in response to errors in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Moran, Lauren V; Stoeckel, Luke E; Wang, Kristina; Caine, Carolyn E; Villafuerte, Rosemond; Calderon, Vanessa; Baker, Justin T; Ongur, Dost; Janes, Amy C; Evins, A Eden; Pizzagalli, Diego A

2018-03-01

Nicotine improves attention and processing speed in individuals with schizophrenia. Few studies have investigated the effects of nicotine on cognitive control. Prior functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research demonstrates blunted activation of dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) in response to error and decreased post-error slowing in schizophrenia. Participants with schizophrenia (n = 13) and healthy controls (n = 12) participated in a randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover study of the effects of transdermal nicotine on cognitive control. For each drug condition, participants underwent fMRI while performing the stop signal task where participants attempt to inhibit prepotent responses to "go (motor activation)" signals when an occasional "stop (motor inhibition)" signal appears. Error processing was evaluated by comparing "stop error" trials (failed response inhibition) to "go" trials. Resting-state fMRI data were collected prior to the task. Participants with schizophrenia had increased nicotine-induced activation of right caudate in response to errors compared to controls (DRUG × GROUP effect: p corrected  < 0.05). Both groups had significant nicotine-induced activation of dACC and rACC in response to errors. Using right caudate activation to errors as a seed for resting-state functional connectivity analysis, relative to controls, participants with schizophrenia had significantly decreased connectivity between the right caudate and dACC/bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortices. In sum, we replicated prior findings of decreased post-error slowing in schizophrenia and found that nicotine was associated with more adaptive (i.e., increased) post-error reaction time (RT). This proof-of-concept pilot study suggests a role for nicotinic agents in targeting cognitive control deficits in schizophrenia.

Alterations of brain activity in fibromyalgia patients.

PubMed

Sawaddiruk, Passakorn; Paiboonworachat, Sahattaya; Chattipakorn, Nipon; Chattipakorn, Siriporn C

2017-04-01

Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain syndrome, characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain with diffuse tenderness at multiple tender points. Despite intense investigations, the pathophysiology of fibromyalgia remains elusive. Evidence shows that it could be due to changes in either the peripheral or central nervous system (CNS). For the CNS changes, alterations in the high brain area of fibromyalgia patients have been investigated but the definite mechanisms are still unclear. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Functional Magnetic Resonance (fMRI) have been used to gather evidence regarding the changes of brain morphologies and activities in fibromyalgia patients. Nevertheless, due to few studies, limited knowledge for alterations in brain activities in fibromyalgia is currently available. In this review, the changes in brain activity in various brain areas obtained from reports in fibromyalgia patients are comprehensively summarized. Changes of the grey matter in multiple regions such as the superior temporal gyrus, posterior thalamus, amygdala, basal ganglia, cerebellum, cingulate cortex, SII, caudate and putamen from the MRI as well as the increase of brain activities in the cerebellum, prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, thalamus, somatosensory cortex, insula in fMRI studies are presented and discussed. Moreover, evidence from pharmacological interventions offering benefits for fibromyalgia patients by reducing brain activity is presented. Because of limited knowledge regarding the roles of brain activity alterations in fibromyalgia, this summarized review will encourage more future studies to elucidate the underlying mechanisms involved in the brains of these patients. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ventromedial prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex adopt choice and default reference frames during sequential multialternative choice

PubMed Central

Boorman, Erie D; Rushworth, Matthew F; Behrens, Tim E

2013-01-01

Although damage to medial frontal cortex causes profound decision-making impairments, it has been difficult to pinpoint the relative contributions of key anatomical subdivisions. Here we use fMRI to examine the contributions of human ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) during sequential choices between multiple alternatives – two key features of choices made in ecological settings. By carefully constructing options whose current value at any given decision was dissociable from their longer-term value, we were able to examine choices in current and long-term frames of reference. We present evidence showing that activity at choice and feedback in vmPFC and dACC was tied to the current choice and the best long-term option, respectively. vmPFC, mid-cingulate, and PCC encoded the relative value between the chosen and next-best option at each sequential decision, whereas dACC encoded the relative value of adapting choices from the option with the highest value in the longer-term. Furthermore, at feedback we identify temporally dissociable effects that predict repetition of the current choice and adaptation away from the long-term best option in vmPFC and dACC, respectively. These functional dissociations at choice and feedback suggest that sequential choices are subject to competing cortical mechanisms. PMID:23392656

The Responsive Amygdala: Treatment-induced Alterations in Functional Connectivity in Pediatric Complex Regional Pain Syndrome

PubMed Central

Simons, LE; Pielech, M; Erpelding, N; Linnman, C; Moulton, E; Sava, S; Lebel, A; Serrano, P; Sethna, N; Berde, C; Becerra, L; Borsook, D

2014-01-01

The amygdala is a key brain region with efferent and afferent neural connections that involve complex behaviors such as pain, reward, fear and anxiety. This study evaluated resting state functional connectivity of the amygdala with cortical and subcortical regions in a group of chronic pain patients (pediatric complex regional pain syndrome) with age-gender matched controls before and after intensive physical-biobehavioral pain treatment. Our main findings include (1) enhanced functional connectivity from the amygdala to multiple cortical, subcortical, and cerebellar regions in patients compared to controls, with differences predominantly in the left amygdala in the pre-treated condition (disease state); (2) dampened hyperconnectivity from the left amygdala to the motor cortex, parietal lobe, and cingulate cortex after intensive pain rehabilitation treatment within patients with nominal differences observed among healthy controls from Time 1 to Time 2 (treatment effects); (3) functional connectivity to several regions key to fear circuitry (prefrontal cortex, bilateral middle temporal lobe, bilateral cingulate, hippocampus) correlated with higher pain-related fear scores and (4) decreases in pain-related fear associated with decreased connectivity between the amygdala and the motor and somatosensory cortex, cingulate, and frontal areas. Our data suggest that there are rapid changes in amygdala connectivity following an aggressive treatment program in children with chronic pain and intrinsic amygdala functional connectivity activity serving as a potential indicator of treatment response. PMID:24861582

Amygdala-cingulate intrinsic connectivity is associated with degree of social inhibition

PubMed Central

Blackford, Jennifer Urbano; Clauss, Jacqueline A.; Avery, Suzanne N.; Cowan, Ronald L.; Benningfield, Margaret M.; VanDerKlok, Ross M.

2014-01-01

The tendency to approach or avoid novel people is a fundamental human behavior and is a core dimension of social anxiety. Resting state fMRI was used to test for an association between social inhibition and intrinsic connectivity in 40 young adults ranging from low to high in social inhibition. Higher levels of social inhibition were associated with specific patterns of reduced amygdala-cingulate cortex connectivity. Connectivity was reduced between the superficial amygdala and the rostral cingulate cortex and between the centromedial amygdala and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. Social inhibition also modulated connectivity in several well-established intrinsic networks; higher social inhibition correlated with reduced connectivity with default mode and dorsal attention networks and enhanced connectivity in salience and executive control networks. These findings provide important preliminary evidence that social inhibition reflects differences in the underlying intrinsic connectivity of the brain in the absence of social stimuli or stressors. PMID:24534162

Cascade of neural processing orchestrates cognitive control in human frontal cortex

PubMed Central

Tang, Hanlin; Yu, Hsiang-Yu; Chou, Chien-Chen; Crone, Nathan E; Madsen, Joseph R; Anderson, William S; Kreiman, Gabriel

2016-01-01

Rapid and flexible interpretation of conflicting sensory inputs in the context of current goals is a critical component of cognitive control that is orchestrated by frontal cortex. The relative roles of distinct subregions within frontal cortex are poorly understood. To examine the dynamics underlying cognitive control across frontal regions, we took advantage of the spatiotemporal resolution of intracranial recordings in epilepsy patients while subjects resolved color-word conflict. We observed differential activity preceding the behavioral responses to conflict trials throughout frontal cortex; this activity was correlated with behavioral reaction times. These signals emerged first in anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) before dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), followed by medial frontal cortex (mFC) and then by orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). These results disassociate the frontal subregions based on their dynamics, and suggest a temporal hierarchy for cognitive control in human cortex. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.12352.001 PMID:26888070

Amygdala Reactivity and Anterior Cingulate Habituation Predict Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptom Maintenance After Acute Civilian Trauma.

PubMed

Stevens, Jennifer S; Kim, Ye Ji; Galatzer-Levy, Isaac R; Reddy, Renuka; Ely, Timothy D; Nemeroff, Charles B; Hudak, Lauren A; Jovanovic, Tanja; Rothbaum, Barbara O; Ressler, Kerry J

2017-06-15

Studies suggest that exaggerated amygdala reactivity is a vulnerability factor for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); however, our understanding is limited by a paucity of prospective, longitudinal studies. Recent studies in healthy samples indicate that, relative to reactivity, habituation is a more reliable biomarker of individual differences in amygdala function. We investigated reactivity of the amygdala and cortical areas to repeated threat presentations in a prospective study of PTSD. Participants were recruited from the emergency department of a large level I trauma center within 24 hours of trauma. PTSD symptoms were assessed at baseline and approximately 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after trauma. Growth curve modeling was used to estimate symptom recovery trajectories. Thirty-one individuals participated in functional magnetic resonance imaging around the 1-month assessment, passively viewing fearful and neutral face stimuli. Reactivity (fearful > neutral) and habituation to fearful faces was examined. Amygdala reactivity, but not habituation, 5 to 12 weeks after trauma was positively associated with the PTSD symptom intercept and predicted symptoms at 12 months after trauma. Habituation in the ventral anterior cingulate cortex was positively associated with the slope of PTSD symptoms, such that decreases in ventral anterior cingulate cortex activation over repeated presentations of fearful stimuli predicted increasing symptoms. Findings point to neural signatures of risk for maintaining PTSD symptoms after trauma exposure. Specifically, chronic symptoms were predicted by amygdala hyperreactivity, and poor recovery was predicted by a failure to maintain ventral anterior cingulate cortex activation in response to fearful stimuli. The importance of identifying patients at risk after trauma exposure is discussed. Copyright © 2017 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Alternative mechanisms for regulating racial responses according to internal vs external cues.

PubMed

Amodio, David M; Kubota, Jennifer T; Harmon-Jones, Eddie; Devine, Patricia G

2006-06-01

Personal (internal) and normative (external) impetuses for regulating racially biased behaviour are well-documented, yet the extent to which internally and externally driven regulatory processes arise from the same mechanism is unknown. Whereas the regulation of race bias according to internal cues has been associated with conflict-monitoring processes and activation of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), we proposed that responses regulated according to external cues to respond without prejudice involves mechanisms of error-perception, a process associated with rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) activity. We recruited low-prejudice participants who reported high or low sensitivity to non-prejudiced norms, and participants completed a stereotype inhibition task in private or public while electroencephalography was recorded. Analysis of event-related potentials revealed that the error-related negativity component, linked to dACC activity, predicted behavioural control of bias across conditions, whereas the error-perception component, linked to rACC activity, predicted control only in public among participants sensitive to external pressures to respond without prejudice.

Mood disturbances and regional cerebral metabolic abnormalities in recently abstinent methamphetamine abusers.

PubMed

London, Edythe D; Simon, Sara L; Berman, Steven M; Mandelkern, Mark A; Lichtman, Aaron M; Bramen, Jennifer; Shinn, Ann K; Miotto, Karen; Learn, Jennifer; Dong, Yun; Matochik, John A; Kurian, Varughese; Newton, Thomas; Woods, Roger; Rawson, Richard; Ling, Walter

2004-01-01

Mood disturbances in methamphetamine (MA) abusers likely influence drug use, but the neurobiological bases for these problems are poorly understood. To assess regional brain function and its possible relationships with negative affect in newly abstinent MA abusers. Two groups were compared by measures of mood and cerebral glucose metabolism ([18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography) during performance of a vigilance task. Participants were recruited from the general community to a research center. Seventeen abstaining (4-7 days) MA abusers (6 women) were compared with 18 control subjects (8 women). Self-reports of depressive symptoms and anxiety were measured, as were global and relative glucose metabolism in the orbitofrontal, cingulate, lateral prefrontal, and insular cortices and the amygdala, striatum, and cerebellum. Abusers of MA provided higher self-ratings of depression and anxiety than control subjects and differed significantly in relative regional glucose metabolism: lower in the anterior cingulate and insula and higher in the lateral orbitofrontal area, middle and posterior cingulate, amygdala, ventral striatum, and cerebellum. In MA abusers, self-reports of depressive symptoms covaried positively with relative glucose metabolism in limbic regions (eg, perigenual anterior cingulate gyrus and amygdala) and ratings of state and trait anxiety covaried negatively with relative activity in the anterior cingulate cortex and left insula. Trait anxiety also covaried negatively with relative activity in the orbitofrontal cortex and positively with amygdala activity. Abusers of MA have abnormalities in brain regions implicated in mood disorders. Relationships between relative glucose metabolism in limbic and paralimbic regions and self-reports of depression and anxiety in MA abusers suggest that these regions are involved in affective dysregulation and may be an important target of intervention for MA dependence.

Response to learned threat: An FMRI study in adolescent and adult anxiety.

PubMed

Britton, Jennifer C; Grillon, Christian; Lissek, Shmuel; Norcross, Maxine A; Szuhany, Kristin L; Chen, Gang; Ernst, Monique; Nelson, Eric E; Leibenluft, Ellen; Shechner, Tomer; Pine, Daniel S

2013-10-01

Poor threat-safety discrimination reflects prefrontal cortex dysfunction in adult anxiety disorders. While adolescent anxiety disorders are impairing and predict high risk for adult anxiety disorders, the neural correlates of threat-safety discrimination have not been investigated in this population. The authors compared prefrontal cortex function in anxious and healthy adolescents and adults following conditioning and extinction, processes requiring threat-safety learning. Anxious and healthy adolescents and adults (N=114) completed fear conditioning and extinction in the clinic. The conditioned stimuli (CS+) were neutral faces, paired with an aversive scream. Physiological and subjective data were acquired. Three weeks later, 82 participants viewed the CS+ and morphed images resembling the CS+ in an MRI scanner. During scanning, participants made difficult threat-safety discriminations while appraising threat and explicit memory of the CS+. During conditioning and extinction, the anxious groups reported more fear than the healthy groups, but the anxious adolescent and adult groups did not differ on physiological measures. During imaging, both anxious adolescents and adults exhibited lower activation in the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex than their healthy counterparts, specifically when appraising threat. Compared with their age-matched counterpart groups, anxious adults exhibited reduced activation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex when appraising threat, whereas anxious adolescents exhibited a U-shaped pattern of activation, with greater activation in response to the most extreme CS+ and CS-. Two regions of the prefrontal cortex are involved in anxiety disorders. Reduced subgenual anterior cingulate cortex engagement is a shared feature in adult and adolescent anxiety disorders, but ventromedial prefrontal cortex dysfunction is age-specific. The unique U-shaped pattern of activation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex in many anxious adolescents may reflect heightened sensitivity to threat and safety conditions. How variations in the pattern relate to later risk for adult illness remains to be determined.

The neural basis for novel semantic categorization.

PubMed

Koenig, Phyllis; Smith, Edward E; Glosser, Guila; DeVita, Chris; Moore, Peachie; McMillan, Corey; Gee, Jim; Grossman, Murray

2005-01-15

We monitored regional cerebral activity with BOLD fMRI during acquisition of a novel semantic category and subsequent categorization of test stimuli by a rule-based strategy or a similarity-based strategy. We observed different patterns of activation in direct comparisons of rule- and similarity-based categorization. During rule-based category acquisition, subjects recruited anterior cingulate, thalamic, and parietal regions to support selective attention to perceptual features, and left inferior frontal cortex to helps maintain rules in working memory. Subsequent rule-based categorization revealed anterior cingulate and parietal activation while judging stimuli whose conformity with the rules was readily apparent, and left inferior frontal recruitment during judgments of stimuli whose conformity was less apparent. By comparison, similarity-based category acquisition showed recruitment of anterior prefrontal and posterior cingulate regions, presumably to support successful retrieval of previously encountered exemplars from long-term memory, and bilateral temporal-parietal activation for perceptual feature integration. Subsequent similarity-based categorization revealed temporal-parietal, posterior cingulate, and anterior prefrontal activation. These findings suggest that large-scale networks support relatively distinct categorization processes during the acquisition and judgment of semantic category knowledge.

Sequential inhibitory control processes assessed through simultaneous EEG-fMRI.

PubMed

Baumeister, Sarah; Hohmann, Sarah; Wolf, Isabella; Plichta, Michael M; Rechtsteiner, Stefanie; Zangl, Maria; Ruf, Matthias; Holz, Nathalie; Boecker, Regina; Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas; Holtmann, Martin; Laucht, Manfred; Banaschewski, Tobias; Brandeis, Daniel

2014-07-01

Inhibitory response control has been extensively investigated in both electrophysiological (ERP) and hemodynamic (fMRI) studies. However, very few multimodal results address the coupling of these inhibition markers. In fMRI, response inhibition has been most consistently linked to activation of the anterior insula and inferior frontal cortex (IFC), often also the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). ERP work has established increased N2 and P3 amplitudes during NoGo compared to Go conditions in most studies. Previous simultaneous EEG-fMRI imaging reported association of the N2/P3 complex with activation of areas like the anterior midcingulate cortex (aMCC) and anterior insula. In this study we investigated inhibitory control in 23 healthy young adults (mean age=24.7, n=17 for EEG during fMRI) using a combined Flanker/NoGo task during simultaneous EEG and fMRI recording. Separate fMRI and ERP analysis yielded higher activation in the anterior insula, IFG and ACC as well as increased N2 and P3 amplitudes during NoGo trials in accordance with the literature. Combined analysis modelling sequential N2 and P3 effects through joint parametric modulation revealed correlation of higher N2 amplitude with deactivation in parts of the default mode network (DMN) and the cingulate motor area (CMA) as well as correlation of higher central P3 amplitude with activation of the left anterior insula, IFG and posterior cingulate. The EEG-fMRI results resolve the localizations of these sequential activations. They suggest a general role for allocation of attentional resources and motor inhibition for N2 and link memory recollection and internal reflection to P3 amplitude, in addition to previously described response inhibition as reflected by the anterior insula. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor signaling and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex dysfunction in major depressive disorder.

PubMed

Tripp, Adam; Oh, Hyunjung; Guilloux, Jean-Philippe; Martinowich, Keri; Lewis, David A; Sibille, Etienne

2012-11-01

The subgenual anterior cingulate cortex is implicated in the pathology and treatment response of major depressive disorder. Low levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and reduced markers for GABA function, including in the amygdala, are reported in major depression, but their contribution to subgenual anterior cingulate cortex dysfunction is not known. Using polymerase chain reaction, we first assessed the degree to which BDNF controls mRNA expression (defined as BDNF dependency) of 15 genes relating to GABA and neuropeptide functions in the cingulate cortex of mice with reduced BDNF function (BDNF-heterozygous [Bdnf(+/-)] mice and BDNF exon-IV knockout [Bdnf(KIV)] mice). Gene expression was then quantified in the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex of 51 postmortem subjects with major depressive disorder and comparison subjects (total subjects, N=102; 49% were women) and compared with previous amygdala results. Based on the results in Bdnf(+/-) and Bdnf(KIV) mice, genes were sorted into high, intermediate, and no BDNF dependency sets. In postmortem human subjects with major depression, BDNF receptor (TRKB) expression, but not BDNF, was reduced. Postmortem depressed subjects exhibited down-regulation in genes with high and intermediate BDNF dependency, including markers of dendritic targeting interneurons (SST, NPY, and CORT) and a GABA synthesizing enzyme (GAD2). Changes extended to BDNF-independent genes (PVALB and GAD1). Changes were greater in men (potentially because of low baseline expression in women), displayed notable differences from prior amygdala results, and were not explained by demographic or clinical factors other than sex. These parallel human/mouse analyses provide direct (low TRKB) and indirect (low expression of BDNF-dependent genes) evidence in support of decreased BDNF signaling in the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex in individuals with major depressive disorder, implicate dendritic targeting GABA neurons and GABA synthesis, and, together, suggest a common BDNF-/GABA-related pathology in major depression with sex- and brain region-specific features.

Neural activity associated with self-reflection

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Self-referential cognitions are important for self-monitoring and self-regulation. Previous studies have addressed the neural correlates of self-referential processes in response to or related to external stimuli. We here investigated brain activity associated with a short, exclusively mental process of self-reflection in the absence of external stimuli or behavioural requirements. Healthy subjects reflected either on themselves, a personally known or an unknown person during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The reflection period was initialized by a cue and followed by photographs of the respective persons (perception of pictures of oneself or the other person). Results Self-reflection, compared with reflecting on the other persons and to a major part also compared with perceiving photographs of one-self, was associated with more prominent dorsomedial and lateral prefrontal, insular, anterior and posterior cingulate activations. Whereas some of these areas showed activity in the “other”-conditions as well, self-selective characteristics were revealed in right dorsolateral prefrontal and posterior cingulate cortex for self-reflection; in anterior cingulate cortex for self-perception and in the left inferior parietal lobe for self-reflection and -perception. Conclusions Altogether, cingulate, medial and lateral prefrontal, insular and inferior parietal regions show relevance for self-related cognitions, with in part self-specificity in terms of comparison with the known-, unknown- and perception-conditions. Notably, the results are obtained here without behavioural response supporting the reliability of this methodological approach of applying a solely mental intervention. We suggest considering the reported structures when investigating psychopathologically affected self-related processing. PMID:22624857

A General Role for Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Event Prediction

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-07-11

anterior cingulate cortex modulates attentional response: combined fMRI and ERP evidence. J. Cogn . Neurosci . 18, 766–780. doi: 10.1162/jocn.2006.18.5.766...losses in the anterior cingulate cortex. Cogn . Affect. Behav. Neurosci . 7, 327–336. doi: 10.3758/cabn.7.4.327 Shima, K., and Tanji, J. (1998). Role of...COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE published: 11 July 2014 doi: 10.3389/fncom.2014.00069 A general role for medial prefrontal

Neural Signatures of Value Comparison in Human Cingulate Cortex during Decisions Requiring an Effort-Reward Trade-off

PubMed Central

Kennerley, Steven W.; Friston, Karl; Bestmann, Sven

2016-01-01

Integrating costs and benefits is crucial for optimal decision-making. Although much is known about decisions that involve outcome-related costs (e.g., delay, risk), many of our choices are attached to actions and require an evaluation of the associated motor costs. Yet how the brain incorporates motor costs into choices remains largely unclear. We used human fMRI during choices involving monetary reward and physical effort to identify brain regions that serve as a choice comparator for effort-reward trade-offs. By independently varying both options' effort and reward levels, we were able to identify the neural signature of a comparator mechanism. A network involving supplementary motor area and the caudal portion of dorsal anterior cingulate cortex encoded the difference in reward (positively) and effort levels (negatively) between chosen and unchosen choice options. We next modeled effort-discounted subjective values using a novel behavioral model. This revealed that the same network of regions involving dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and supplementary motor area encoded the difference between the chosen and unchosen options' subjective values, and that activity was best described using a concave model of effort-discounting. In addition, this signal reflected how precisely value determined participants' choices. By contrast, separate signals in supplementary motor area and ventromedial prefrontal cortex correlated with participants' tendency to avoid effort and seek reward, respectively. This suggests that the critical neural signature of decision-making for choices involving motor costs is found in human cingulate cortex and not ventromedial prefrontal cortex as typically reported for outcome-based choice. Furthermore, distinct frontal circuits seem to drive behavior toward reward maximization and effort minimization. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The neural processes that govern the trade-off between expected benefits and motor costs remain largely unknown. This is striking because energetic requirements play an integral role in our day-to-day choices and instrumental behavior, and a diminished willingness to exert effort is a characteristic feature of a range of neurological disorders. We use a new behavioral characterization of how humans trade off reward maximization with effort minimization to examine the neural signatures that underpin such choices, using BOLD MRI neuroimaging data. We find the critical neural signature of decision-making, a signal that reflects the comparison of value between choice options, in human cingulate cortex, whereas two distinct brain circuits drive behavior toward reward maximization or effort minimization. PMID:27683898

Neural Signatures of Value Comparison in Human Cingulate Cortex during Decisions Requiring an Effort-Reward Trade-off.

PubMed

Klein-Flügge, Miriam C; Kennerley, Steven W; Friston, Karl; Bestmann, Sven

2016-09-28

Integrating costs and benefits is crucial for optimal decision-making. Although much is known about decisions that involve outcome-related costs (e.g., delay, risk), many of our choices are attached to actions and require an evaluation of the associated motor costs. Yet how the brain incorporates motor costs into choices remains largely unclear. We used human fMRI during choices involving monetary reward and physical effort to identify brain regions that serve as a choice comparator for effort-reward trade-offs. By independently varying both options' effort and reward levels, we were able to identify the neural signature of a comparator mechanism. A network involving supplementary motor area and the caudal portion of dorsal anterior cingulate cortex encoded the difference in reward (positively) and effort levels (negatively) between chosen and unchosen choice options. We next modeled effort-discounted subjective values using a novel behavioral model. This revealed that the same network of regions involving dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and supplementary motor area encoded the difference between the chosen and unchosen options' subjective values, and that activity was best described using a concave model of effort-discounting. In addition, this signal reflected how precisely value determined participants' choices. By contrast, separate signals in supplementary motor area and ventromedial prefrontal cortex correlated with participants' tendency to avoid effort and seek reward, respectively. This suggests that the critical neural signature of decision-making for choices involving motor costs is found in human cingulate cortex and not ventromedial prefrontal cortex as typically reported for outcome-based choice. Furthermore, distinct frontal circuits seem to drive behavior toward reward maximization and effort minimization. The neural processes that govern the trade-off between expected benefits and motor costs remain largely unknown. This is striking because energetic requirements play an integral role in our day-to-day choices and instrumental behavior, and a diminished willingness to exert effort is a characteristic feature of a range of neurological disorders. We use a new behavioral characterization of how humans trade off reward maximization with effort minimization to examine the neural signatures that underpin such choices, using BOLD MRI neuroimaging data. We find the critical neural signature of decision-making, a signal that reflects the comparison of value between choice options, in human cingulate cortex, whereas two distinct brain circuits drive behavior toward reward maximization or effort minimization. Copyright © 2016 Klein-Flügge et al.

Neuroimaging and Neuromodulation: Complementary Approaches for Identifying the Neuronal Correlates of Tinnitus

PubMed Central

Langguth, Berthold; Schecklmann, Martin; Lehner, Astrid; Landgrebe, Michael; Poeppl, Timm Benjamin; Kreuzer, Peter Michal; Schlee, Winfried; Weisz, Nathan; Vanneste, Sven; De Ridder, Dirk

2012-01-01

An inherent limitation of functional imaging studies is their correlational approach. More information about critical contributions of specific brain regions can be gained by focal transient perturbation of neural activity in specific regions with non-invasive focal brain stimulation methods. Functional imaging studies have revealed that tinnitus is related to alterations in neuronal activity of central auditory pathways. Modulation of neuronal activity in auditory cortical areas by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) can reduce tinnitus loudness and, if applied repeatedly, exerts therapeutic effects, confirming the relevance of auditory cortex activation for tinnitus generation and persistence. Measurements of oscillatory brain activity before and after rTMS demonstrate that the same stimulation protocol has different effects on brain activity in different patients, presumably related to interindividual differences in baseline activity in the clinically heterogeneous study cohort. In addition to alterations in auditory pathways, imaging techniques also indicate the involvement of non-auditory brain areas, such as the fronto-parietal “awareness” network and the non-tinnitus-specific distress network consisting of the anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula, and amygdale. Involvement of the hippocampus and the parahippocampal region putatively reflects the relevance of memory mechanisms in the persistence of the phantom percept and the associated distress. Preliminary studies targeting the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and the parietal cortex with rTMS and with transcranial direct current stimulation confirm the relevance of the mentioned non-auditory networks. Available data indicate the important value added by brain stimulation as a complementary approach to neuroimaging for identifying the neuronal correlates of the various clinical aspects of tinnitus. PMID:22509155

The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex is selective for pain: Results from large-scale reverse inference

PubMed Central

Lieberman, Matthew D.; Eisenberger, Naomi I.

2015-01-01

Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) activation is commonly observed in studies of pain, executive control, conflict monitoring, and salience processing, making it difficult to interpret the dACC’s specific psychological function. Using Neurosynth, an automated brainmapping database [of over 10,000 functional MRI (fMRI) studies], we performed quantitative reverse inference analyses to explore the best general psychological account of the dACC function P(Ψ process|dACC activity). Results clearly indicated that the best psychological description of dACC function was related to pain processing—not executive, conflict, or salience processing. We conclude by considering that physical pain may be an instance of a broader class of survival-relevant goals monitored by the dACC, in contrast to more arbitrary temporary goals, which may be monitored by the supplementary motor area. PMID:26582792

Bilingualism tunes the anterior cingulate cortex for conflict monitoring.

PubMed

Abutalebi, Jubin; Della Rosa, Pasquale Anthony; Green, David W; Hernandez, Mireia; Scifo, Paola; Keim, Roland; Cappa, Stefano F; Costa, Albert

2012-09-01

Monitoring and controlling 2 language systems is fundamental to language use in bilinguals. Here, we reveal in a combined functional (event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging) and structural neuroimaging (voxel-based morphometry) study that dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a structure tightly bound to domain-general executive control functions, is a common locus for language control and resolving nonverbal conflict. We also show an experience-dependent effect in the same region: Bilinguals use this structure more efficiently than monolinguals to monitor nonlinguistic cognitive conflicts. They adapted better to conflicting situations showing less ACC activity while outperforming monolinguals. Importantly, for bilinguals, brain activity in the ACC, as well as behavioral measures, also correlated positively with local gray matter volume. These results suggest that early learning and lifelong practice of 2 languages exert a strong impact upon human neocortical development. The bilingual brain adapts better to resolve cognitive conflicts in domain-general cognitive tasks.

Neural correlates of cognitive and affective processing in maltreated youth with posttraumatic stress symptoms: Does gender matter?

PubMed Central

Crozier, Joseph C.; Wang, Lihong; Huettel, Scott A.; De Bellis, Michael D.

2014-01-01

We investigated the relationship of gender to cognitive and affective processing in maltreated youth with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Maltreated (N=29; n=13 females, n=16 males) and non-maltreated participants (N=45; n=26 females, n=19 males) performed an emotional oddball task that involved detection of targets with fear or scrambled face distractors. Results were moderated by gender. During the executive component of this task, left precuneus/posterior middle cingulate hypoactivation to fear versus calm or scrambled face targets were seen in maltreated versus control males and may represent dysfunction and less resilience in attentional networks. Maltreated males also showed decreased activation in the inferior frontal gyrus compared to control males. No differences were found in females. Posterior cingulate activations positively correlated with PTSD symptoms. While viewing fear faces, maltreated females exhibited decreased activity in dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and cerebellum I–VI; whereas maltreated males exhibited increased activity in left hippocampus, fusiform cortex, right cerebellar crus I, and visual cortex compared to their same gender controls. Gender by maltreatment effects were not attributable to demographic, clinical, or maltreatment parameters. Maltreated girls and boys exhibited distinct patterns of neural activations during executive and affective processing, a new finding in the maltreatment literature. PMID:24621958

Neural correlates of cognitive and affective processing in maltreated youth with posttraumatic stress symptoms: does gender matter?

PubMed

Crozier, Joseph C; Wang, Lihong; Huettel, Scott A; De Bellis, Michael D

2014-05-01

We investigated the relationship of gender to cognitive and affective processing in maltreated youth with posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Maltreated (N = 29, 13 females, 16 males) and nonmaltreated participants (N = 45, 26 females, 19 males) performed an emotional oddball task that involved detection of targets with fear or scrambled face distractors. Results were moderated by gender. During the executive component of this task, left precuneus/posterior middle cingulate hypoactivation to fear versus calm or scrambled face targets were seen in maltreated versus control males and may represent dysfunction and less resilience in attentional networks. Maltreated males also showed decreased activation in the inferior frontal gyrus compared to control males. No differences were found in females. Posterior cingulate activations positively correlated with posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. While viewing fear faces, maltreated females exhibited decreased activity in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and cerebellum I-VI, whereas maltreated males exhibited increased activity in the left hippocampus, fusiform cortex, right cerebellar crus I, and visual cortex compared to their same-gender controls. Gender by maltreatment effects were not attributable to demographic, clinical, or maltreatment parameters. Maltreated girls and boys exhibited distinct patterns of neural activations during executive and affective processing, a new finding in the maltreatment literature.

Color-word matching stroop task: separating interference and response conflict.

PubMed

Zysset, S; Müller, K; Lohmann, G; von Cramon , D Y

2001-01-01

The Stroop interference task requires a person to respond to a specific dimension of a stimulus while suppressing a competing stimulus dimension. Previous PET and fMRI studies using the Color Stroop paradigm have shown increased activity in the "cognitive division" of the cingulate cortex. In our fMRI study with nine subjects, we used a Color-Word Matching Stroop task. A frontoparietal network, including structures in the lateral prefrontal cortex, the frontopolar region, the intraparietal sulcus, as well as the lateral occipitotemporal gyrus, was activated when contrasting the incongruent vs the neutral condition. However, no substantial activation in either the right or left hemisphere of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) was detected. In accordance with a series of recent articles, we argue that the ACC is not specifically involved in interference processes. The ACC seems rather involved in motor preparation processes which were controlled in the present Color-Word Matching Stroop task. We argue that the region around the banks of the inferior frontal sulcus is required to solve interference problems, a concept which can also be seen as a component of task set management. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

Gender Differences in Behavioral and Neural Responses to Unfairness Under Social Pressure.

PubMed

Zheng, Li; Ning, Reipeng; Li, Lin; Wei, Chunli; Cheng, Xuemei; Zhou, Chu; Guo, Xiuyan

2017-10-18

Numerous studies have revealed the key role of social pressure on individuals' decision-making processes. However, the impact of social pressure on unfairness-related decision-making processes remains unclear. In the present study, we investigated how social pressure modulated men's and women's responses in an ultimatum game. Twenty women and eighteen men played the ultimatum game as responders in the scanner, where fair and unfair offers were tendered by proposers acting alone (low pressure) or by proposers endorsed by three supporters (high pressure). Results showed that men rejected more, whereas women accepted more unfair offers in the high versus low pressure context. Neurally, pregenual anterior cingulate cortex activation in women positively predicted their acceptance rate difference between contexts. In men, stronger right anterior insula activation and increased connectivity between right anterior insula and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex were observed when they receiving unfair offers in the high than low pressure context. Furthermore, more bilateral anterior insula and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activations were found when men rejected (relative to accepted) unfair offers in the high than low pressure context. These findings highlighted gender differences in the modulation of behavioral and neural responses to unfairness by social pressure.

Neurophysiological correlates of anhedonia in feedback processing

PubMed Central

Mies, Gabry W.; Van den Berg, Ivo; Franken, Ingmar H. A.; Smits, Marion; Van der Molen, Maurits W.; Van der Veen, Frederik M.

2013-01-01

Disturbances in feedback processing and a dysregulation of the neural circuit in which the cingulate cortex plays a key role have been frequently observed in depression. Since depression is a heterogeneous disease, instead of focusing on the depressive state in general, this study investigated the relations between the two core symptoms of depression, i.e., depressed mood and anhedonia, and the neural correlates of feedback processing using fMRI. The focus was on the different subdivisions of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Undergraduates with varying levels of depressed mood and anhedonia performed a time-estimation task in which they received positive and negative feedback that was either valid or invalid (i.e., related vs. unrelated to actual performance). The rostral cingulate zone (RCZ), corresponding to the dorsal part of the ACC, was less active in response to feedback in more anhedonic individuals, after correcting for the influence of depressed mood, whereas the subgenual ACC was more active in these individuals. Task performance was not affected by anhedonia, however. No statistically significant effects were found for depressed mood above and beyond the effects of anhedonia. This study therefore implies that increasing levels of anhedonia involve changes in the neural circuitry underlying feedback processing. PMID:23532800

Involvement of the Rat Anterior Cingulate Cortex in Control of Instrumental Responses Guided by Reward Expectancy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schweimer, Judith; Hauber, Wolfgang

2005-01-01

The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) plays a critical role in stimulus-reinforcement learning and reward-guided selection of actions. Here we conducted a series of experiments to further elucidate the role of the ACC in instrumental behavior involving effort-based decision-making and instrumental learning guided by reward-predictive stimuli. In…

Errors without Conflict: Implications for Performance Monitoring Theories of Anterior Cingulate Cortex

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Veen, V.; Holroyd, C.B.; Cohen, J.D.; Stenger, V.A.; Carter, C.S.

2004-01-01

Recent theories of the neural basis of performance monitoring have emphasized a central role for the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Replicating an earlier event-related potential (ERP) study, which showed an error feedback negativity that was modeled as having an ACC generator, we used event-related fMRI to investigate whether the ACC would…

Cognitive Functioning after Medial Frontal Lobe Damage Including the Anterior Cingulate Cortex: A Preliminary Investigation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baird, Amee; Dewar, Bonnie-Kate; Critchley, Hugo; Gilbert, Sam J.; Dolan, Raymond J.; Cipolotti, Lisa

2006-01-01

Two patients with medial frontal lobe damage involving the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) performed a range of cognitive tasks, including tests of executive function and anterior attention. Both patients lesions extended beyond the ACC, therefore caution needs to be exerted in ascribing observed deficits to the ACC alone. Patient performance was…

Increased Task Demand during Spatial Memory Testing Recruits the Anterior Cingulate Cortex

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carr, Joshua K.; Fournier, Neil M.; Lehmann, Hugo

2016-01-01

We examined whether increasing retrieval difficulty in a spatial memory task would promote the recruitment of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) similar to what is typically observed during remote memory retrieval. Rats were trained on the hidden platform version of the Morris Water Task and tested three or 30 d later. Retrieval difficulty was…

Role of the Anterior Cingulate Cortex in the Retrieval of Novel Object Recognition Memory after a Long Delay

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pezze, Marie A.; Marshall, Hayley J.; Fone, Kevin C. F.; Cassaday, Helen J.

2017-01-01

Previous in vivo electrophysiological studies suggest that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACgx) is an important substrate of novel object recognition (NOR) memory. However, intervention studies are needed to confirm this conclusion and permanent lesion studies cannot distinguish effects on encoding and retrieval. The interval between encoding and…

Abnormal Concentration of GABA and Glutamate in The Prefrontal Cortex in Schizophrenia.-An in Vivo 1H-MRS Study.

PubMed

Chen, Tianyi; Wang, Yingchan; Zhang, Jianye; Wang, Zuowei; Xu, Jiale; Li, Yao; Yang, Zhilei; Liu, Dengtang

2017-10-25

The etiology and pathomechanism of schizophrenia are unknown. The traditional dopamine (DA) hypothesis is unable to fully explain its pathology and therapeutics. The glutamate (Glu) and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) hypotheses suggest Glu or GABA concentrations are abnormal in the brains of patients with schizophrenia. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) show glutamate level increases in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) including the anterior cingulated cortex (ACC) in those with schizophrenia. To investigate the function of the glutamate system (glutamate and γ-aminobutyric acid) in the etiology and pathomechanism of schizophrenia. 24 drug naïve patients with schizophrenia and 24 healthy volunteers were matched by gender, age, and educational level. The Siemens 3T MRI system was used to collect the magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) data of the subjects. The regions of interest included the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (IDLPFC), ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). LCModel software was used to analyze the concentrations of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamate (Glu), glutamine (Gln), N-acetylaspartate (NAA), and N-acetylaspartylglutamate (NAAG) in the region of interest. Meanwhile, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI) were used to assess the mental symptoms and severity of the disease. The median GABA concentrations in the anterior cingulate cortex of the schizophrenia group and the healthy control group were 1.90 (Q1=1.55, Q3=2.09) and 2.16 (Q1=1.87, Q3=2.59) respectively; the mean (sd) Glu concentrations were 6.07 (2.48) and 6.54 (1.99); the median Gln concentrations were 0.36 (Q1=0.00, Q3=0.74) and 0.29 (Q1=0.00, Q3=0.59); the between-group difference of the GABA concentrations was statistically significant ( Z =-2.95, p =0.003); the between-group difference of the GABA/(NAA+NAAG) was statistically significant ( Z =-2.72, p =0.012); the between-group difference of Glu and Gln was not statistically significant. The age of the schizophrenia group was negatively correlated with the GABA concentration in the anterior cingulate ( R =-0.494, p =0.014), and negatively correlated with GABA/ (NAA+NAAG) ( R =-0.473, p =0.020). Yet there was no such correlation in the control group. After calibration, no significant correlation was found between the clinical symptoms and the concentrations of the metabolites. The concentration of glutamate in the vemtromedial prefrontal cortex of patients with schizophrenia was abnormal, whereas the concentration of GABA in the anterior cingulate cortex decreased, supporting the hypothesis of abnormal glutamate -GABA in the brains of those individuals with schizophrenia. In patients with schizophrenia, the GABA in the anterior cingulate cortex had an accelerated decline with age. The clinical symptoms may be correlated to the metabolite concentration of the anterior cingulate cortex.

Storage and executive processes in the frontal lobes.

PubMed

Smith, E E; Jonides, J

1999-03-12

The human frontal cortex helps mediate working memory, a system that is used for temporary storage and manipulation of information and that is involved in many higher cognitive functions. Working memory includes two components: short-term storage (on the order of seconds) and executive processes that operate on the contents of storage. Recently, these two components have been investigated in functional neuroimaging studies. Studies of storage indicate that different frontal regions are activated for different kinds of information: storage for verbal materials activates Broca's area and left-hemisphere supplementary and premotor areas; storage of spatial information activates the right-hemisphere premotor cortex; and storage of object information activates other areas of the prefrontal cortex. Two of the fundamental executive processes are selective attention and task management. Both processes activate the anterior cingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

Decreased ventral anterior cingulate cortex activity is associated with reduced social pain during emotional support.

PubMed

Onoda, Keiichi; Okamoto, Yasumasa; Nakashima, Ken'ichiro; Nittono, Hiroshi; Ura, Mitsuhiro; Yamawaki, Shigeto

2009-01-01

People feel psychological pain when they are excluded, and this pain is often attenuated when emotional support is received. It is therefore likely that a specific neural mechanism underlies the detection of social exclusion. Similarly, specific neural mechanisms may underlie the beneficial effects of emotional support. Although neuroimaging researchers have recently examined the neural basis of social pain, there is presently no agreement as to which part of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is involved in the perception and modulation of social pain. We hypothesized that activity in those brain regions that are associated with social pain would be correlated with decrements in social pain induced by emotional support. To examine the effects of emotional support on social pain caused by exclusion, we conducted an fMRI study in which participants played a virtual ball-tossing game. Participants were initially included and later excluded from the game. In the latter half of the session from which participants were excluded, participants received emotionally supportive text messages. We found that emotional support led to increased activity in the left lateral/medial prefrontal cortices and some temporal regions. Those individuals who experienced greater attenuation of social pain exhibited lower ventral ACC and higher left lateral prefrontal cortex activation. These results suggest that the ventral ACC underlies social pain, and that emotional support enhances prefrontal cortex activity, which in turn may lead to a weakened affective response.

Classical hallucinogens and neuroimaging: A systematic review of human studies: Hallucinogens and neuroimaging.

PubMed

Dos Santos, Rafael G; Osório, Flávia L; Crippa, José Alexandre S; Hallak, Jaime E C

2016-12-01

Serotonergic hallucinogens produce alterations of perceptions, mood, and cognition, and have anxiolytic, antidepressant, and antiaddictive properties. These drugs act as agonists of frontocortical 5-HT 2A receptors, but the neural basis of their effects are not well understood. Thus, we conducted a systematic review of neuroimaging studies analyzing the effects of serotonergic hallucinogens in man. Studies published in the PubMed, Lilacs, and SciELO databases until 12 April 2016 were included using the following keywords: "ayahuasca", "DMT", "psilocybin", "LSD", "mescaline" crossed one by one with the terms "mri", "fmri", "pet", "spect", "imaging" and "neuroimaging". Of 279 studies identified, 25 were included. Acute effects included excitation of frontolateral/frontomedial cortex, medial temporal lobe, and occipital cortex, and inhibition of the default mode network. Long-term use was associated with thinning of the posterior cingulate cortex, thickening of the anterior cingulate cortex, and decreased neocortical 5-HT 2A receptor binding. Despite the high methodological heterogeneity and the small sample sizes, the results suggest that hallucinogens increase introspection and positive mood by modulating brain activity in the fronto-temporo-parieto-occipital cortex. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neuronal encoding of subjective value in dorsal and ventral anterior cingulate cortex

PubMed Central

Cai, Xinying; Padoa-Schioppa, Camillo

2012-01-01

We examined the activity of individual cells in the primate anterior cingulate cortex during an economic choice task. In the experiments, monkeys chose between different juices offered in variables amounts and subjective values were inferred from the animals’ choices. We analyzed neuronal firing rates in relation to a large number of behaviorally relevant variables. We report three main results. First, there were robust differences between the dorsal bank (ACCd) and the ventral bank (ACCv) of the cingulate sulcus. Specifically, neurons in ACCd but not in ACCv were modulated by the movement direction. Furthermore, neurons in ACCd were most active prior to movement initiation whereas neurons in ACCv were most active after juice delivery. Second, neurons in both areas encoded the identity and the subjective value of the juice chosen by the animal. In contrast, neither region encoded the value of individual offers. Third, the population of value-encoding neurons in both ACCd and ACCv underwent range adaptation. With respect to economic choice, it is interesting to compare these areas with the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), previously examined. While neurons in OFC encoded both pre-decision and post-decision variables, neurons in ACCd and ACCv only encoded post-decision variables. Moreover, the encoding of chosen value in ACCd and ACCv trailed that found in OFC. These observations indicate that economic decisions (value comparisons) take place upstream of ACCd and ACCv. The coexistence of choice outcome and movement signals in ACCd suggests that this area constitutes a getaway through which the choice system informs motor systems. PMID:22423100

Lasting impact of regret and gratification on resting brain activity and its relation to depressive traits.

PubMed

Eryilmaz, Hamdi; Van De Ville, Dimitri; Schwartz, Sophie; Vuilleumier, Patrik

2014-06-04

Obtaining lower gains than rejected alternatives during decision making evokes feelings of regret, whereas higher gains elicit gratification. Although decision-related emotions produce lingering effects on mental state, neuroscience research has generally focused on transient brain responses to positive or negative events, but ignored more sustained consequences of emotional episodes on subsequent brain states. We investigated how spontaneous brain activity and functional connectivity at rest are modulated by postdecision regret and gratification in 18 healthy human subjects using a gambling task in fMRI. Differences between obtained and unobtained outcomes were manipulated parametrically to evoke different levels of regret or gratification. We investigated how individual personality traits related to depression and rumination affected these responses. Medial and ventral prefrontal areas differentially responded to favorable and unfavorable outcomes during the gambling period. More critically, during subsequent rest, rostral anterior and posterior cingulate cortex, ventral striatum, and insula showed parametric response to the gratification level of preceding outcomes. Functional coupling of posterior cingulate with striatum and amygdala was also enhanced during rest after high gratification. Regret produced distinct changes in connectivity of subgenual cingulate with orbitofrontal cortex and thalamus. Interestingly, individual differences in depressive traits and ruminations correlated with activity of the striatum after gratification and orbitofrontal cortex after regret, respectively. By revealing lingering effects of decision-related emotions on key nodes of resting state networks, our findings illuminate how such emotions may influence self-reflective processing and subsequent behavioral adjustment, but also highlight the malleability of resting networks in emotional contexts. Copyright © 2014 the authors 0270-6474/14/347825-11$15.00/0.

Salience network integrity predicts default mode network function after traumatic brain injury

PubMed Central

Bonnelle, Valerie; Ham, Timothy E.; Leech, Robert; Kinnunen, Kirsi M.; Mehta, Mitul A.; Greenwood, Richard J.; Sharp, David J.

2012-01-01

Efficient behavior involves the coordinated activity of large-scale brain networks, but the way in which these networks interact is uncertain. One theory is that the salience network (SN)—which includes the anterior cingulate cortex, presupplementary motor area, and anterior insulae—regulates dynamic changes in other networks. If this is the case, then damage to the structural connectivity of the SN should disrupt the regulation of associated networks. To investigate this hypothesis, we studied a group of 57 patients with cognitive impairments following traumatic brain injury (TBI) and 25 control subjects using the stop-signal task. The pattern of brain activity associated with stop-signal task performance was studied by using functional MRI, and the structural integrity of network connections was quantified by using diffusion tensor imaging. Efficient inhibitory control was associated with rapid deactivation within parts of the default mode network (DMN), including the precuneus and posterior cingulate cortex. TBI patients showed a failure of DMN deactivation, which was associated with an impairment of inhibitory control. TBI frequently results in traumatic axonal injury, which can disconnect brain networks by damaging white matter tracts. The abnormality of DMN function was specifically predicted by the amount of white matter damage in the SN tract connecting the right anterior insulae to the presupplementary motor area and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. The results provide evidence that structural integrity of the SN is necessary for the efficient regulation of activity in the DMN, and that a failure of this regulation leads to inefficient cognitive control. PMID:22393019

8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction induces brain changes similar to traditional long-term meditation practice - A systematic review.

PubMed

Gotink, Rinske A; Meijboom, Rozanna; Vernooij, Meike W; Smits, Marion; Hunink, M G Myriam

2016-10-01

The objective of the current study was to systematically review the evidence of the effect of secular mindfulness techniques on function and structure of the brain. Based on areas known from traditional meditation neuroimaging results, we aimed to explore a neuronal explanation of the stress-reducing effects of the 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) program. We assessed the effect of MBSR and MBCT (N=11, all MBSR), components of the programs (N=15), and dispositional mindfulness (N=4) on brain function and/or structure as assessed by (functional) magnetic resonance imaging. 21 fMRI studies and seven MRI studies were included (two studies performed both). The prefrontal cortex, the cingulate cortex, the insula and the hippocampus showed increased activity, connectivity and volume in stressed, anxious and healthy participants. Additionally, the amygdala showed decreased functional activity, improved functional connectivity with the prefrontal cortex, and earlier deactivation after exposure to emotional stimuli. Demonstrable functional and structural changes in the prefrontal cortex, cingulate cortex, insula and hippocampus are similar to changes described in studies on traditional meditation practice. In addition, MBSR led to changes in the amygdala consistent with improved emotion regulation. These findings indicate that MBSR-induced emotional and behavioral changes are related to functional and structural changes in the brain. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neural bases of motivated reasoning: an FMRI study of emotional constraints on partisan political judgment in the 2004 U.S. Presidential election.

PubMed

Westen, Drew; Blagov, Pavel S; Harenski, Keith; Kilts, Clint; Hamann, Stephan

2006-11-01

Research on political judgment and decision-making has converged with decades of research in clinical and social psychology suggesting the ubiquity of emotion-biased motivated reasoning. Motivated reasoning is a form of implicit emotion regulation in which the brain converges on judgments that minimize negative and maximize positive affect states associated with threat to or attainment of motives. To what extent motivated reasoning engages neural circuits involved in "cold" reasoning and conscious emotion regulation (e.g., suppression) is, however, unknown. We used functional neuroimaging to study the neural responses of 30 committed partisans during the U.S. Presidential election of 2004. We presented subjects with reasoning tasks involving judgments about information threatening to their own candidate, the opposing candidate, or neutral control targets. Motivated reasoning was associated with activations of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, insular cortex, and lateral orbital cortex. As predicted, motivated reasoning was not associated with neural activity in regions previously linked to cold reasoning tasks and conscious (explicit) emotion regulation. The findings provide the first neuroimaging evidence for phenomena variously described as motivated reasoning, implicit emotion regulation, and psychological defense. They suggest that motivated reasoning is qualitatively distinct from reasoning when people do not have a strong emotional stake in the conclusions reached.

Caloric Deprivation Increases Responsivity of Attention and Reward Brain Regions to Intake, Anticipated Intake, and Images of Palatable Foods

PubMed Central

Stice, Eric; Burger, Kyle; Yokum, Sonja

2013-01-01

Dietary restraint theoretically increases risk for binge eating, but prospective and experimental studies have produced contradictory findings, apparently because dietary restraint scales do not identify individuals who are reducing caloric intake. Yet, experimentally manipulated caloric deprivation increases responsivity of brain regions implicated in attention and reward to food images, which may contribute to binge eating. We tested whether self-imposed acute and longer-term caloric restriction increases responsivity of attention and reward regions to images, anticipated receipt, and receipt of palatable food using functional magnetic resonance imaging among female and male adolescents (Study 1 N = 34; Study 2 N = 51/81). Duration of acute caloric deprivation correlated positively with activation in regions implicated in attention, reward, and motivation in response to images, anticipated receipt, and receipt of palatable food (e.g., anterior cingulate cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, putamen, and precentral gyrus respectively). Youth in a longer-term negative energy balance likewise showed greater activation in attention (anterior cingulate cortex, ventral medial prefrontal cortex), visual processing (superior visual cortex), reward (caudate) and memory (hippocampus) regions in response to receipt and anticipated receipt of palatable food relative to those in neutral or positive energy balance. Results confirm that self-imposed caloric deprivation increases responsivity of attention, reward, and motivation regions to food, which may explain why caloric deprivation weight loss diets typically do not produce lasting weight loss. PMID:23201365

Changes in Neural Connectivity and Memory Following a Yoga Intervention for Older Adults: A Pilot Study.

PubMed

Eyre, Harris A; Acevedo, Bianca; Yang, Hongyu; Siddarth, Prabha; Van Dyk, Kathleen; Ercoli, Linda; Leaver, Amber M; Cyr, Natalie St; Narr, Katherine; Baune, Bernhard T; Khalsa, Dharma S; Lavretsky, Helen

2016-01-01

No study has explored the effect of yoga on cognitive decline and resting-state functional connectivity. This study explored the relationship between performance on memory tests and resting-state functional connectivity before and after a yoga intervention versus active control for subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Participants ( ≥ 55 y) with MCI were randomized to receive a yoga intervention or active "gold-standard" control (i.e., memory enhancement training (MET)) for 12 weeks. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to map correlations between brain networks and memory performance changes over time. Default mode networks (DMN), language and superior parietal networks were chosen as networks of interest to analyze the association with changes in verbal and visuospatial memory performance. Fourteen yoga and 11 MET participants completed the study. The yoga group demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in depression and visuospatial memory. We observed improved verbal memory performance correlated with increased connectivity between the DMN and frontal medial cortex, pregenual anterior cingulate cortex, right middle frontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, and left lateral occipital cortex. Improved verbal memory performance positively correlated with increased connectivity between the language processing network and the left inferior frontal gyrus. Improved visuospatial memory performance correlated inversely with connectivity between the superior parietal network and the medial parietal cortex. Yoga may be as effective as MET in improving functional connectivity in relation to verbal memory performance. These findings should be confirmed in larger prospective studies.

Sex differences in brain activation during stress imagery in abstinent cocaine users: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

PubMed

Li, Chiang-Shan Ray; Kosten, Thomas R; Sinha, Rajita

2005-03-01

Because stress mediates drug seeking and relapse, and sex differences have been observed in stress and in the development of cocaine addiction, in this study we used functional neuroimaging to examine the effect of sex on stress responses in abstinent cocaine users. In a functional magnetic resonance imaging session, 17 male and 10 female cocaine-dependent subjects participated in script-guided imagery of neutral or stress situations. Subjects rated imagery vividness, anxiety, and cocaine craving for each trial. Brain activation during the stress and neutral imagery periods relative to their own baseline was examined in individual subjects. Sex contrast was obtained in second-level group analysis. Female subjects demonstrated more activation, compared with male subjects, in left middle frontal, anterior cingulate, and inferior frontal cortices and insula, and right cingulate cortex during stress imagery. Region of interest analysis showed that the change of activity in left anterior cingulate and right posterior cingulate cortices both correlated inversely with the change of craving rating during stress imagery. The greater left frontolimbic activity in women suggests that women might use more verbal coping strategies than do men while experiencing stress. The results also suggest a distinct role of the cingulate cortices in modulating stress-induced cocaine craving.

Emotion triggers executive attention: anterior cingulate cortex and amygdala responses to emotional words in a conflict task.

PubMed

Kanske, Philipp; Kotz, Sonja A

2011-02-01

Coherent behavior depends on attentional control that detects and resolves conflict between opposing actions. The current functional magnetic resonance imaging study tested the hypothesis that emotion triggers attentional control to speed up conflict processing in particularly salient situations. Therefore, we presented emotionally negative and neutral words in a version of the flanker task. In response to conflict, we found activation of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and of the amygdala for emotional stimuli. When emotion and conflict coincided, a region in the ventral ACC was activated, which resulted in faster conflict processing in reaction times. Emotion also increased functional connectivity between the ventral ACC and activation of the dorsal ACC and the amygdala in conflict trials. These data suggest that the ventral ACC integrates emotion and conflict and prioritizes the processing of conflict in emotional trials. This adaptive mechanism ensures rapid detection and resolution of conflict in potentially threatening situations signaled by emotional stimuli. Copyright © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Activation of Premotor Vocal Areas during Musical Discrimination

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Steven; Martinez, Michael J.

2007-01-01

Two same/different discrimination tasks were performed by amateur-musician subjects in this functional magnetic resonance imaging study: Melody Discrimination and Harmony Discrimination. Both tasks led to activations not only in classic working memory areas--such as the cingulate gyrus and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex--but in a series of…

Lower Activation in Frontal Cortex and Posterior Cingulate Cortex Observed during Sex Determination Test in Early-Stage Dementia of the Alzheimer Type

PubMed Central

Rajmohan, Ravi; Anderson, Ronald C.; Fang, Dan; Meyer, Austin G.; Laengvejkal, Pavis; Julayanont, Parunyou; Hannabas, Greg; Linton, Kitten; Culberson, John; Khan, Hafiz; De Toledo, John; Reddy, P. Hemachandra; O’Boyle, Michael W.

2017-01-01

Face-labeling refers to the ability to classify faces into social categories. This plays a critical role in human interaction as it serves to define concepts of socially acceptable interpersonal behavior. The purpose of the current study was to characterize, what, if any, impairments in face-labeling are detectable in participants with early-stage clinically diagnosed dementia of the Alzheimer type (CDDAT) through the use of the sex determination test (SDT). In the current study, four (1 female, 3 males) CDDAT and nine (4 females, 5 males) age-matched neurotypicals (NT) completed the SDT using chimeric faces while undergoing BOLD fMRI. It was expected that CDDAT participants would have poor verbal fluency, which would correspond to poor performance on the SDT. This could be explained by decreased activation and connectivity patterns within the fusiform face area (FFA) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). DTI was also performed to test the association of pathological deterioration of connectivity in the uncinate fasciculus (UF) and verbally-mediated performance. CDDAT showed lower verbal fluency test (VFT) performance, but VFT was not significantly correlated to SDT and no significant difference was seen between CDDAT and NT for SDT performance as half of the CDDAT performed substantially worse than NT while the other half performed similarly. BOLD fMRI of SDT displayed differences in the left superior frontal gyrus and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), but not the FFA or ACC. Furthermore, although DTI showed deterioration of the right inferior and superior longitudinal fasciculi, as well as the PCC, it did not demonstrate significant deterioration of UF tracts. Taken together, early-stage CDDAT may represent a common emerging point for the loss of face labeling ability. PMID:28588478

Lower Activation in Frontal Cortex and Posterior Cingulate Cortex Observed during Sex Determination Test in Early-Stage Dementia of the Alzheimer Type.

PubMed

Rajmohan, Ravi; Anderson, Ronald C; Fang, Dan; Meyer, Austin G; Laengvejkal, Pavis; Julayanont, Parunyou; Hannabas, Greg; Linton, Kitten; Culberson, John; Khan, Hafiz; De Toledo, John; Reddy, P Hemachandra; O'Boyle, Michael W

2017-01-01

Face-labeling refers to the ability to classify faces into social categories. This plays a critical role in human interaction as it serves to define concepts of socially acceptable interpersonal behavior. The purpose of the current study was to characterize, what, if any, impairments in face-labeling are detectable in participants with early-stage clinically diagnosed dementia of the Alzheimer type (CDDAT) through the use of the sex determination test (SDT). In the current study, four (1 female, 3 males) CDDAT and nine (4 females, 5 males) age-matched neurotypicals (NT) completed the SDT using chimeric faces while undergoing BOLD fMRI. It was expected that CDDAT participants would have poor verbal fluency, which would correspond to poor performance on the SDT. This could be explained by decreased activation and connectivity patterns within the fusiform face area (FFA) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). DTI was also performed to test the association of pathological deterioration of connectivity in the uncinate fasciculus (UF) and verbally-mediated performance. CDDAT showed lower verbal fluency test (VFT) performance, but VFT was not significantly correlated to SDT and no significant difference was seen between CDDAT and NT for SDT performance as half of the CDDAT performed substantially worse than NT while the other half performed similarly. BOLD fMRI of SDT displayed differences in the left superior frontal gyrus and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), but not the FFA or ACC. Furthermore, although DTI showed deterioration of the right inferior and superior longitudinal fasciculi, as well as the PCC, it did not demonstrate significant deterioration of UF tracts. Taken together, early-stage CDDAT may represent a common emerging point for the loss of face labeling ability.

Functional and structural changes in the brain associated with the increase in muscle sympathetic nerve activity in obstructive sleep apnoea.

PubMed

Fatouleh, Rania H; Hammam, Elie; Lundblad, Linda C; Macey, Paul M; McKenzie, David K; Henderson, Luke A; Macefield, Vaughan G

2014-01-01

Muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) is greatly elevated in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) during daytime wakefulness, leading to hypertension, but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. By recording MSNA concurrently with functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) of the brain we aimed to identify the central processes responsible for the sympathoexcitation. Spontaneous fluctuations in MSNA were recorded via tungsten microelectrodes inserted percutaneously into the common peroneal nerve in 17 OSA patients and 15 healthy controls lying in a 3 T MRI scanner. Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) contrast gradient echo, echo-planar images were continuously collected in a 4 s ON, 4 s OFF (200 volumes) sampling protocol. Fluctuations in BOLD signal intensity covaried with the intensity of the concurrently recorded bursts of MSNA. In both groups there was a positive correlation between MSNA and signal intensity in the left and right insulae, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), dorsal precuneus, sensorimotor cortex and posterior temporal cortex, and the right mid-cingulate cortex and hypothalamus. In OSA the left and right dlPFC, medial PFC (mPFC), dorsal precuneus, anterior cingulate cortex, retrosplenial cortex and caudate nucleus showed augmented signal changes compared with controls, while the right hippocampus/parahippocampus signal intensity decreased in controls but did not change in the OSA subjects. In addition, there were significant increases in grey matter volume in the left mid-insula, the right insula, left and right primary motor cortices, left premotor cortex, left hippocampus and within the brainstem and cerebellum, and significant decreases in the mPFC, occipital lobe, right posterior cingulate cortex, left cerebellar cortex and the left and right amygdala in OSA, but there was no overlap between these structural changes and the functional changes in OSA. These data suggest that the elevated muscle vasoconstrictor drive in OSA may result from functional changes within these brain regions, which are known to be directly or indirectly involved in the modulation of sympathetic outflow via the brainstem. That there was no overlap in the structural and functional changes suggests that asphyxic damage due to repeated episodes of nocturnal obstructive apnoea is not the main cause of the sympathoexcitation.

Effects of generation mode in fMRI adaptations of semantic fluency: Paced production and overt speech

PubMed Central

Basho, Surina; Palmer, Erica D.; Rubio, Miguel A.; Wulfeck, Beverly; Müller, Ralph-Axel

2007-01-01

Verbal fluency is a widely used neuropsychological paradigm. In fMRI implementations, conventional unpaced (self-paced) versions are suboptimal due to uncontrolled timing of responses, and overt responses carry the risk of motion artifact. We investigated the behavioral and neurofunctional effects of response pacing and overt speech in semantic category-driven word generation. Twelve right-handed adults (8 female) ages 21–37 were scanned in four conditions each: Paced-Overt, Paced-Covert, Unpaced-Overt, and Unpaced-Covert. There was no significant difference in the number of exemplars generated between overt versions of the paced and unpaced conditions. Imaging results for category-driven word generation overall showed left-hemispheric activation in inferior frontal cortex, premotor cortex, cingulate gyrus, thalamus, and basal ganglia. Direct comparison of generation modes revealed significantly greater activation for the paced compared to unpaced conditions in right superior temporal, bilateral middle frontal, and bilateral anterior cingulate cortex, including regions associated with sustained attention, motor planning, and response inhibition. Covert (compared to overt) conditions showed significantly greater effects in right parietal and anterior cingulate, as well as left middle temporal and superior frontal regions. We conclude that paced overt paradigms are useful adaptations of conventional semantic fluency in fMRI, given their superiority with regard to control over and monitoring of behavioral responses. However, response pacing is associated with additional non-linguistic effects related to response inhibition, motor preparation, and sustained attention. PMID:17292926

Tasting calories differentially affects brain activation during hunger and satiety.

PubMed

van Rijn, Inge; de Graaf, Cees; Smeets, Paul A M

2015-02-15

An important function of eating is ingesting energy. Our objectives were to assess whether oral exposure to caloric and non-caloric stimuli elicits discriminable responses in the brain and to determine in how far these responses are modulated by hunger state and sweetness. Thirty women tasted three stimuli in two motivational states (hunger and satiety) while their brain responses were measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging in a randomized crossover design. Stimuli were solutions of sucralose (sweet, no energy), maltodextrin (non-sweet, energy) and sucralose+maltodextrin (sweet, energy). We found no main effect of energy content and no interaction between energy content and sweetness. However, there was an interaction between hunger state and energy content in the median cingulate (bilaterally), ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior insula and thalamus. This indicates that the anterior insula and thalamus, areas in which hunger state and taste of a stimulus are integrated, also integrate hunger state with caloric content of a taste stimulus. Furthermore, in the median cingulate and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, tasting energy resulted in more activation during satiety compared to hunger. This finding indicates that these areas, which are known to be involved in processes that require approach and avoidance, are also involved in guiding ingestive behavior. In conclusion, our results suggest that energy sensing is a hunger state dependent process, in which the median cingulate, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior insula and thalamus play a central role by integrating hunger state with stimulus relevance. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Grey matter alterations in patients with Pantothenate Kinase-Associated Neurodegeneration (PKAN).

PubMed

Rodriguez-Raecke, Rea; Roa-Sanchez, Pedro; Speckter, Herwin; Fermin-Delgado, Rafael; Perez-Then, Eddy; Oviedo, Jairo; Stoeter, Peter

2014-09-01

Pantothenate Kinase-Associated Neurodegeneration (PKAN) is a rare heritable disease marked by dystonia and loss of movement control. In contrast to the well-known "Eye-of-the-Tiger" sign affecting the globus pallidus, little is known about other deviations of brain morphology, especially about grey matter changes. We investigated 29 patients with PKAN and 29 age-matched healthy controls using Magnet Resonance Imaging and Voxel-Based Morphometry. As compared to controls, children with PKAN showed increased grey matter density in the putamen and nucleus caudatus and adults with PKAN showed increased grey matter density in the ventral part of the anterior cingulate cortex. A multiple regression analysis with dystonia score as predictor showed grey matter reduction in the cerebellum, posterior cingulate cortex, superior parietal lobule, pars triangularis and small frontal and temporal areas and an analysis with age as predictor showed grey matter decreases in the putamen, nucleus caudatus, supplementary motor area and anterior cingulate cortex. The grey matter increases may be regarded as a secondary phenomenon compensating the increased activity of the motor system due to a reduced inhibitory output of the globus pallidus. With increasing age, the grey matter reduction of cortical midline structures however might contribute to the progression of dystonic symptoms due to loss of this compensatory control. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Are batterers different from other criminals? An fMRI study.

PubMed

Bueso-Izquierdo, Natalia; Verdejo-Román, Juan; Contreras-Rodríguez, Oren; Carmona-Perera, Martina; Pérez-García, Miguel; Hidalgo-Ruzzante, Natalia

2016-05-01

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a complex and global phenomenon that requires a multi-perspective analysis. Nevertheless, the number of neuroscientific studies conducted on this issue is scarce as compared with studies of other types of violence, and no neuroimaging studies comparing batterers to other criminals have been conducted. Thus, the main aim of this study was to compare the brain functioning of batterers to that of other criminals when they are exposed to IPV or general violence pictures. An fMRI study was conducted in 21 batterers and 20 other criminals while they observed IPV images (IPVI), general violence images (GVI) and neutral images (NI). Results demonstrated that batterers, compared with other criminals, exhibited a higher activation in the anterior and posterior cingulate cortex and in the middle prefrontal cortex and a decreased activation in the superior prefrontal cortex to IPVI compared to NI. The paired t-test comparison between IPVI and GVI for each group showed engagement of the medial prefrontal cortex, the posterior cingulate and the left angular cortices to IPVI in the batterer group only. These results could have important implications for a better understanding of the IPV phenomenon. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Thinking about thinking: Neural mechanisms and effects on memory.

PubMed

Bonhage, Corinna; Weber, Friederike; Exner, Cornelia; Kanske, Philipp

2016-02-15

It is a well-established finding that memory encoding is impaired if an external secondary task (e.g. tone discrimination) is performed simultaneously. Yet, while studying we are also often engaged in internal secondary tasks such as planning, ruminating, or daydreaming. It remains unclear whether such a secondary internal task has similar effects on memory and what the neural mechanisms underlying such an influence are. We therefore measured participants' blood oxygenation level dependent responses while they learned word-pairs and simultaneously performed different types of secondary tasks (i.e., internal, external, and control). Memory performance decreased in both internal and external secondary tasks compared to the easy control condition. However, while the external task reduced activity in memory-encoding related regions (hippocampus), the internal task increased neural activity in brain regions associated with self-reflection (anterior medial prefrontal cortex), as well as in regions associated with performance monitoring and the perception of salience (anterior insula, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex). Resting-state functional connectivity analyses confirmed that anterior medial prefrontal cortex and anterior insula/dorsal anterior cingulate cortex are part of the default mode network and salience network, respectively. In sum, a secondary internal task impairs memory performance just as a secondary external task, but operates through different neural mechanisms. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Self-identification and empathy modulate error-related brain activity during the observation of penalty shots between friend and foe

PubMed Central

Ganesh, Shanti; van Schie, Hein T.; De Bruijn, Ellen R. A.; Bekkering, Harold

2009-01-01

The ability to detect and process errors made by others plays an important role is many social contexts. The capacity to process errors is typically found to rely on sites in the medial frontal cortex. However, it remains to be determined whether responses at these sites are driven primarily by action errors themselves or by the affective consequences normally associated with their commission. Using an experimental paradigm that disentangles action errors and the valence of their affective consequences, we demonstrate that sites in the medial frontal cortex (MFC), including the ventral anterior cingulate cortex (vACC) and pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA), respond to action errors independent of the valence of their consequences. The strength of this response was negatively correlated with the empathic concern subscale of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index. We also demonstrate a main effect of self-identification by showing that errors committed by friends and foes elicited significantly different BOLD responses in a separate region of the middle anterior cingulate cortex (mACC). These results suggest that the way we look at others plays a critical role in determining patterns of brain activation during error observation. These findings may have important implications for general theories of error processing. PMID:19015079

Paralimbic system and striatum are involved in motivational behavior.

PubMed

Nishimura, Masahiko; Yoshii, Yoshihiko; Watanabe, Jobu; Ishiuchi, Shogo

2009-10-28

Goal-directed rewarded behavior and goal-directed non-rewarded behavior are concerned with motivation. However, the neural substrates involved in goal-directed non-rewarded behaviors are unknown. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated the brain activities of healthy individuals during a novel tool use (turning a screwdriver) to elucidate the relationship between the brain mechanism relevant to goal-directed non-rewarded behavior and motivation. We found that our designed behavioral task evoked activities in the orbitofrontal cortex, striatum, anterior insula, lateral prefrontal cortex, and anterior cingulate cortex compared with a meaningless task. These results suggest that activation in these cerebral regions play important roles in motivational behavior without tangible rewards.

Neural correlates of mindfulness meditation-related anxiety relief.

PubMed

Zeidan, Fadel; Martucci, Katherine T; Kraft, Robert A; McHaffie, John G; Coghill, Robert C

2014-06-01

Anxiety is the cognitive state related to the inability to control emotional responses to perceived threats. Anxiety is inversely related to brain activity associated with the cognitive regulation of emotions. Mindfulness meditation has been found to regulate anxiety. However, the brain mechanisms involved in meditation-related anxiety relief are largely unknown. We employed pulsed arterial spin labeling MRI to compare the effects of distraction in the form of attending to the breath (ATB; before meditation training) to mindfulness meditation (after meditation training) on state anxiety across the same subjects. Fifteen healthy subjects, with no prior meditation experience, participated in 4 d of mindfulness meditation training. ATB did not reduce state anxiety, but state anxiety was significantly reduced in every session that subjects meditated. Meditation-related anxiety relief was associated with activation of the anterior cingulate cortex, ventromedial prefrontal cortex and anterior insula. Meditation-related activation in these regions exhibited a strong relationship to anxiety relief when compared to ATB. During meditation, those who exhibited greater default-related activity (i.e. posterior cingulate cortex) reported greater anxiety, possibly reflecting an inability to control self-referential thoughts. These findings provide evidence that mindfulness meditation attenuates anxiety through mechanisms involved in the regulation of self-referential thought processes. © The Author (2013). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Motivation of extended behaviors by anterior cingulate cortex.

PubMed

Holroyd, Clay B; Yeung, Nick

2012-02-01

Intense research interest over the past decade has yielded diverse and often discrepant theories about the function of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). In particular, a dichotomy has emerged between neuropsychological theories suggesting a primary role for ACC in motivating or 'energizing' behavior, and neuroimaging-inspired theories emphasizing its contribution to cognitive control and reinforcement learning. To reconcile these views, we propose that ACC supports the selection and maintenance of 'options' - extended, context-specific sequences of behavior directed toward particular goals - that are learned through a process of hierarchical reinforcement learning. This theory accounts for ACC activity in relation to learning and control while simultaneously explaining the effects of ACC damage as disrupting the motivational context supporting the production of goal-directed action sequences. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Kainate-induced network activity in the anterior cingulate cortex.

PubMed

Shinozaki, R; Hojo, Y; Mukai, H; Hashizume, M; Murakoshi, T

2016-06-14

Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) plays a pivotal role in higher order processing of cognition, attention and emotion. The network oscillation is considered an essential means for integration of these CNS functions. The oscillation power and coherence among related areas are often dis-regulated in several psychiatric and pathological conditions with a hemispheric asymmetric manner. Here we describe the network-based activity of field potentials recorded from the superficial layer of the mouse ACC in vitro using submerged type recordings. A short activation by kainic acid administration to the preparation induced populational activities ranging over several frequency bands including theta (3-8Hz), alpha (8-12Hz), beta (13-30Hz), low gamma (30-50Hz) and high gamma (50-80Hz). These responses were repeatable and totally abolished by tetrodotoxin, and greatly diminished by inhibitors of ionotropic and metabotropic glutamate receptors, GABAA receptor or gap-junctions. These observations suggest that the kainate-induced network activity can be a useful model of the network oscillation in the ACC circuit. Copyright © 2016 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Involvement of the Anterior Cingulate Cortex in Formation, Consolidation, and Reconsolidation of Recent and Remote Contextual Fear Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Einarsson, Einar O.; Nader, Karim

2012-01-01

It has been suggested that memories become more stable and less susceptible to the disruption of reconsolidation over weeks after learning. Here, we test this by targeting the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and test its involvement in the formation, consolidation, and reconsolidation of recent and remote contextual fear memory. We found that…

Environmental heat stress enhances mental fatigue during sustained attention task performing: evidence from an ASL perfusion study.

PubMed

Qian, Shaowen; Li, Min; Li, Guoying; Liu, Kai; Li, Bo; Jiang, Qingjun; Li, Li; Yang, Zhen; Sun, Gang

2015-03-01

This study was to investigate the potential enhancing effect of heat stress on mental fatigue progression during sustained attention task using arterial spin labeling (ASL) imaging. Twenty participants underwent two thermal exposures in an environmental chamber: normothermic (NT) condition (25°C, 1h) and hyperthermic (HT) condition (50°C, 1h). After thermal exposure, they performed a twenty-minute psychomotor vigilance test (PVT) in the scanner. Behavioral analysis revealed progressively increasing subjective fatigue ratings and reaction time as PVT progressed. Moreover, heat stress caused worse performance. Perfusion imaging analyses showed significant resting-state cerebral blood flow (CBF) alterations after heat exposure. Specifically, increased CBF mainly gathered in thalamic-brainstem area while decreased CBF predominantly located in fronto-parietal areas, anterior cingulate cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, and medial frontal cortex. More importantly, diverse CBF distributions and trend of changes between both conditions were observed as the fatigue level progressed during subsequent PVT task. Specifically, higher CBF and enhanced rising trend were presented in superior parietal lobe, precuneus, posterior cingulate cortex and anterior cingulate cortex, while lower CBF or inhibited rising trend was found in dorsolateral frontal cortex, medial frontal cortex, inferior parietal lobe and thalamic-brainstem areas. Furthermore, the decrease of post-heat resting-state CBF in fronto-parietal cortex was correlated with subsequent slower reaction time, suggesting prior disturbed resting-state CBF might be indicator of performance potential and fatigue level in following task. These findings may provide proof for such a view: heat stress has a potential fatigue-enhancing effect when individual is performing highly cognition-demanding attention task. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Role of Medial Frontal Cortex in Action Anticipation in Professional Badminton Players.

PubMed

Xu, Huan; Wang, Pin; Ye, Zhuo'er; Di, Xin; Xu, Guiping; Mo, Lei; Lin, Huiyan; Rao, Hengyi; Jin, Hua

2016-01-01

Some studies show that the medial frontal cortex is associated with more skilled action anticipation, while similar findings are not observed in some other studies, possibly due to the stimuli employed and the participants used as the control group. In addition, no studies have investigated whether there is any functional connectivity between the medial frontal cortex and other brain regions in more skilled action anticipation. Therefore, the present study aimed to re-investigate how the medial frontal cortex is involved in more skilled action anticipation by circumventing the limitations of previous research and to investigate that the medial frontal cortex functionally connected with other brain regions involved in action processing in more skilled action anticipation. To this end, professional badminton players and novices were asked to anticipate the landing position of the shuttlecock while watching badminton match videos or to judge the gender of the players in the matches. The video clips ended right at the point that the shuttlecock and the racket came into contact to reduce the effect of information about the trajectory of the shuttlecock. Novices who lacked training and watching experience were recruited for the control group to reduce the effect of sport-related experience on the medial frontal cortex. Blood oxygenation level-dependent activation was assessed by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging. Compared to novices, badminton players exhibited stronger activation in the left medial frontal cortex during action anticipation and greater functional connectivity between left medial frontal cortex and some other brain regions (e.g., right posterior cingulate cortex). Therefore, the present study supports the position that the medial frontal cortex plays a role in more skilled action anticipation and that there is a specific brain network for more skilled action anticipation that involves right posterior cingulate cortex, right fusiform gyrus, right inferior parietal lobule, left insula and particularly, and left medial frontal cortex.

The Role of Medial Frontal Cortex in Action Anticipation in Professional Badminton Players

PubMed Central

Xu, Huan; Wang, Pin; Ye, Zhuo’er; Di, Xin; Xu, Guiping; Mo, Lei; Lin, Huiyan; Rao, Hengyi; Jin, Hua

2016-01-01

Some studies show that the medial frontal cortex is associated with more skilled action anticipation, while similar findings are not observed in some other studies, possibly due to the stimuli employed and the participants used as the control group. In addition, no studies have investigated whether there is any functional connectivity between the medial frontal cortex and other brain regions in more skilled action anticipation. Therefore, the present study aimed to re-investigate how the medial frontal cortex is involved in more skilled action anticipation by circumventing the limitations of previous research and to investigate that the medial frontal cortex functionally connected with other brain regions involved in action processing in more skilled action anticipation. To this end, professional badminton players and novices were asked to anticipate the landing position of the shuttlecock while watching badminton match videos or to judge the gender of the players in the matches. The video clips ended right at the point that the shuttlecock and the racket came into contact to reduce the effect of information about the trajectory of the shuttlecock. Novices who lacked training and watching experience were recruited for the control group to reduce the effect of sport-related experience on the medial frontal cortex. Blood oxygenation level-dependent activation was assessed by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging. Compared to novices, badminton players exhibited stronger activation in the left medial frontal cortex during action anticipation and greater functional connectivity between left medial frontal cortex and some other brain regions (e.g., right posterior cingulate cortex). Therefore, the present study supports the position that the medial frontal cortex plays a role in more skilled action anticipation and that there is a specific brain network for more skilled action anticipation that involves right posterior cingulate cortex, right fusiform gyrus, right inferior parietal lobule, left insula and particularly, and left medial frontal cortex. PMID:27909422

The neural processing of moral sensitivity to issues of justice and care.

PubMed

Robertson, Diana; Snarey, John; Ousley, Opal; Harenski, Keith; DuBois Bowman, F; Gilkey, Rick; Kilts, Clinton

2007-03-02

The empirical and theoretical consideration of ethical decision making has focused on the process of moral judgment; however, a precondition to judgment is moral sensitivity, the ability to detect and evaluate moral issues [Rest, J. R. (1984). The major components of morality. In W. Kurtines & J. Gewirtz (Eds.), Morality, moral behaviour, and moral development (pp. 24-38). New York, NY: Wiley]. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and contextually standardized, real life moral issues, we demonstrate that sensitivity to moral issues is associated with activation of the polar medial prefrontal cortex, dorsal posterior cingulate cortex, and posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS). These activations suggest that moral sensitivity is related to access to knowledge unique to one's self, supported by autobiographical memory retrieval and social perspective taking. We also assessed whether sensitivity to rule-based or "justice" moral issues versus social situational or "care" moral issues is associated with dissociable neural processing events. Sensitivity to justice issues was associated with greater activation of the left intraparietal sulcus, whereas sensitivity to care issues was associated with greater activation of the ventral posterior cingulate cortex, ventromedial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and thalamus. These results suggest a role for access to self histories and identities and social perspectives in sensitivity to moral issues, provide neural representations of the subcomponent process of moral sensitivity originally proposed by Rest, and support differing neural information processing for the interpretive recognition of justice and care moral issues.

Cognitive Reserve in Healthy Aging and Alzheimer's Disease: A Meta-Analysis of fMRI Studies.

PubMed

Colangeli, Stefano; Boccia, Maddalena; Verde, Paola; Guariglia, Paola; Bianchini, Filippo; Piccardi, Laura

2016-08-01

Cognitive reserve (CR) has been defined as the ability to optimize or maximize performance through differential recruitment of brain networks. In the present study, we aimed at providing evidence for a consistent brain network underpinning CR in healthy and pathological aging. To pursue this aim, we performed a coordinate-based meta-analysis of 17 functional magnetic resonance imaging studies on CR proxies in healthy aging, Alzheimer's disease (AD), and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We found that different brain areas were associated with CR proxies in healthy and pathological aging. A wide network of areas, including medial and lateral frontal areas, that is, anterior cingulate cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, as well as precuneus, was associated with proxies of CR in healthy elderly patients. The CR proxies in patients with AD and amnesic-MCI were associated with activation in the anterior cingulate cortex. These results were discussed hypothesizing the existence of possible compensatory mechanisms in healthy and pathological aging. © The Author(s) 2016.

The role of prefrontal cortex in psychopathy

PubMed Central

Koenigs, Michael

2014-01-01

Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by remorseless and impulsive antisocial behavior. Given the significant societal costs of the recidivistic criminal activity associated with the disorder, there is a pressing need for more effective treatment strategies, and hence, a better understanding of the psychobiological mechanisms underlying the disorder. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is likely to play an important role in psychopathy. In particular, the ventromedial and anterior cingulate sectors of PFC are theorized to mediate a number of social and affective decision-making functions that appear to be disrupted in psychopathy. This article provides a critical summary of human neuroimaging data implicating prefrontal dysfunction in psychopathy. A growing body of evidence associates psychopathy with structural and functional abnormalities in ventromedial PFC and anterior cingulate cortex. Although this burgeoning field still faces a number of methodological challenges and outstanding questions that will need to be resolved by future studies, the research to date has established a link between psychopathy and PFC. PMID:22752782

Striatal-Limbic Activation is Associated with Intensity of Anticipatory Anxiety

PubMed Central

Yang, Hongyu; Spence, Jeffrey S.; Devous, Michael D.; Briggs, Richard W.; Goyal, Aman; Xiao, Hong; Yadav, Hardik; Adinoff, Bryon

2013-01-01

Anxiety experienced in anticipation of impending aversive events induces striatal-limbic activation. However, previous functional magnetic imaging (fMRI) studies of anticipatory anxiety have utilized post-test measures of anxiety, making a direct association between neural activation and distress problematic. This paradigm was designed to assess the BOLD response to an aversive conditioned stimulus while simultaneously measuring subjective anxiety. Fifteen male healthy subjects (45.5±8.5 years old) were studied. A high threat conditioned stimulus (CS) was paired with either an unpredictable, highly aversive (painful) or a non-aversive (non-painful) unconditioned stimulus and compared to a low threat CS paired with a predictable, non-aversive stimulus. Neural response was assessed with fMRI, and subjective anxiety (1 to 4) was recorded upon the presentation of each CS. High subjective ratings of real-time anticipatory anxiety (2, 3, and 4), relative to low anticipatory anxiety (1), elicited increased activation in the bilateral striatum, bilateral orbital frontal cortex, left anterior insula, and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and decreased activation in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). The amplitude of BOLD signal change generally paralleled the subjective rating of anxiety. Real-time measures of anticipatory anxiety confirm previous reports, using post-test measures of anxiety, of striatal-limbic activation during anticipatory anxiety while simultaneously demonstrating an increase in BOLD response in parallel with heightened anxiety. PMID:23137803

Effects of CPAP-therapy on brain electrical activity in obstructive sleep apneic patients: a combined EEG study using LORETA and Omega complexity : reversible alterations of brain activity in OSAS.

PubMed

Toth, Marton; Faludi, Bela; Kondakor, Istvan

2012-10-01

Effects of initiation of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy on EEG background activity were investigated in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS, N = 25) to test possible reversibility of alterations of brain electrical activity caused by chronic hypoxia. Normal control group (N = 14) was also examined. Two EEG examinations were done in each groups: at night and in the next morning. Global and regional (left vs. right, anterior vs. posterior) measures of spatial complexity (Omega complexity) were used to characterize the degree of spatial synchrony of EEG. Low resolution electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) was used to localize generators of EEG activity in separate frequency bands. Before CPAP-treatment, a significantly lower Omega complexity was found globally and over the right hemisphere. Due to CPAP-treatment, these significant differences vanished. Significantly decreased Omega complexity was found in the anterior region after treatment. LORETA showed a decreased activity in all of the beta bands after therapy in the right hippocampus, premotor and temporo-parietal cortex, and bilaterally in the precuneus, paracentral and posterior cingulate cortex. No significant changes were seen in control group. Comparing controls and patients before sleep, an increased alpha2 band activity was seen bilaterally in the precuneus, paracentral and posterior cingulate cortex, while in the morning an increased beta3 band activity in the left precentral and bilateral premotor cortex and a decreased delta band activity in the right temporo-parietal cortex and insula were observed. These findings indicate that effect of sleep on EEG background activity is different in OSAS patients and normal controls. In OSAS patients, significant changes lead to a more normal EEG after a night under CPAP-treatment. Compensatory alterations of brain electrical activity in regions associated with influencing sympathetic outflow, visuospatial abilities, long-term memory and motor performances caused by chronic hypoxia could be reversed by CPAP-therapy.

Amygdala functional disconnection with the prefrontal-cingulate-temporal circuit in chronic tinnitus patients with depressive mood.

PubMed

Chen, Yu-Chen; Bo, Fan; Xia, Wenqing; Liu, Shenghua; Wang, Peng; Su, Wen; Xu, Jin-Jing; Xiong, Zhenyu; Yin, Xindao

2017-10-03

Chronic tinnitus is often accompanied with depressive symptom, which may arise from aberrant functional coupling between the amygdala and cerebral cortex. To explore this hypothesis, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to investigate the disrupted amygdala-cortical functional connectivity (FC) in chronic tinnitus patients with depressive mood. Chronic tinnitus patients with depressive mood (n=20), without depressive mood (n=20), and well-matched healthy controls (n=23) underwent resting-state fMRI scanning. Amygdala-cortical FC was characterized using a seed-based whole-brain correlation method. The bilateral amygdala FC was compared among the three groups. Compared to non-depressed patients, depressive tinnitus patients showed decreased amygdala FC with the prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex as well as increased amygdala FC with the postcentral gyrus and lingual gyrus. Relative to healthy controls, depressive tinnitus patients revealed decreased amygdala FC with the superior and middle temporal gyrus, anterior and posterior cingulate cortex, and prefrontal cortex, as well as increased amygdala FC with the postcentral gyrus and lingual gyrus. The current study identified for the first time abnormal resting-state amygdala-cortical FC with the prefrontal-cingulate-temporal circuit in chronic tinnitus patients with depressive mood, which will provide novel insight into the underlying neuropathological mechanisms of tinnitus-induced depressive disorder. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Dopamine D1 Receptors in the Anterior Cingulate Cortex Regulate Effort-Based Decision Making

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schweimer, Judith; Hauber, Wolfgang

2006-01-01

The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) has been implicated in encoding whether or not an action is worth performing in view of the expected benefit and the cost of performing the action. Dopamine input to the ACC may be critical for this form of effort-based decision making; however, the role of distinct ACC dopamine receptors is yet unknown.…

Post-Learning Infusion of Anisomycin into the Anterior Cingulate Cortex Impairs Instrumental Acquisition through an Effect on Reinforcer Valuation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jonkman, Sietse; Everitt, Barry J.

2009-01-01

The integrity of the rodent anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is essential for various aspects of instrumental behavior, but it is not clear if the ACC is important for the acquisition of a simple instrumental response. Here, it was demonstrated that post-session infusions of anisomycin into the rat ACC completely prevented the acquisition of…

Task-Dependent Modulations of Prefrontal and Hippocampal Activity during Intrinsic Word Production

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitney, Carin; Weis, Susanne; Krings, Timo; Huber, Walter; Grossman, Murray; Kircher, Tilo

2009-01-01

Functional imaging studies of single word production have consistently reported activation of the lateral prefrontal and cingulate cortex. Its contribution has been shown to be sensitive to task demands, which can be manipulated by the degree of response specification. Compared with classical verbal fluency, free word association relies less on…

HIV, Vascular and Aging Injuries in the Brain of Clinically Stable HIV-Infected Adults: A 1H MRS Study

PubMed Central

Cysique, Lucette A.; Moffat, Kirsten; Moore, Danielle M.; Lane, Tammy A.; Davies, Nicholas W. S.; Carr, Andrew; Brew, Bruce J.; Rae, Caroline

2013-01-01

Background Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and premature aging have been hypothesized as new risk factors for HIV associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) in adults with virally-suppressed HIV infection. Moreover, their significance and relation to more classical HAND biomarkers remain unclear. Methods 92 HIV− infected (HIV+) adults stable on combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) and 30 age-comparable HIV-negative (HIV−) subjects underwent 1H Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) of the frontal white matter (targeting HIV, normal aging or CVD-related neurochemical injury), caudate nucleus (targeting HIV neurochemical injury), and posterior cingulate cortex (targeting normal/pathological aging, CVD-related neurochemical changes). All also underwent standard neuropsychological (NP) testing. CVD risk scores were calculated. HIV disease biomarkers were collected and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) neuroinflammation biomarkers were obtained in 38 HIV+ individuals. Results Relative to HIV− individuals, HIV+ individuals presented mild MRS alterations: in the frontal white matter: lower N-Acetyl-Aspartate (NAA) (p<.04) and higher myo-inositol (mIo) (p<.04); in the caudate: lower NAA (p = .01); and in the posterior cingulate cortex: higher mIo (p<.008– also significant when Holm-Sidak corrected) and higher Choline/NAA (p<.04). Regression models showed that an HIV*age interaction was associated with lower frontal white matter NAA. CVD risk factors were associated with lower posterior cingulate cortex and caudate NAA in both groups. Past acute CVD events in the HIV+ group were associated with increased mIo in the posterior cingulate cortex. HIV duration was associated with lower caudate NAA; greater CNS cART penetration was associated with lower mIo in the posterior cingulate cortex and the degree of immune recovery on cART was associated with higher NAA in the frontal white matter. CSF neopterin was associated with higher mIo in the posterior cingulate cortex and frontal white matter. Conclusions In chronically HIV+ adults with long-term viral suppression, current CVD risk, past CVD and age are independent factors for neuronal injury and inflammation. This suggests a tripartite model of HIV, CVD and age likely driven by chronic inflammation. PMID:23620788

An Herbal Nasal Drop Enhanced Frontal and Anterior Cingulate Cortex Activity

PubMed Central

Chan, Agnes S.; Cheung, Mei-chun; Sze, Sophia L.; Leung, Winnie W.; Shi, Dejian

2011-01-01

The present study examined the neuro-electrophysiological activity of the brain associated with the application of a herbal remedy developed by a Shaolin monk based upon the Chan healing principle of clearing the orifices (i.e., the nasal cavities). A repeated-measures design was used. Fourteen normal adults were administered herbal remedy and saline solution intranasally on separate sessions. Two intervals of eyes-closed resting EEG data were obtained individually before and after each administration. Results showed that only the herbal remedy but not the saline solution induced elevation in cordance, an index correlated with cerebral perfusion, in the anterior brain region. In addition, the activity of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), as examined by the LORETA analysis, was also increased after the application of the herbal remedy but not saline solution. The present study provided some preliminary evidence suggesting that the herbal nasal drop enhanced the activity of the frontal lobe and ACC. Implications for the potential clinical application of the herbal remedy to treat patients with frontal lobe disorders were discussed. PMID:19996154

Behavioral and neural markers of cigarette-craving regulation in young-adult smokers during abstinence and after smoking.

PubMed

Ghahremani, Dara G; Faulkner, Paul; M Cox, Chelsea; London, Edythe D

2018-06-01

Cigarette craving contributes substantially to the maintenance of tobacco use disorder. Behavioral strategies to regulate craving may facilitate smoking cessation but remain underexplored. We adapted an emotion-regulation strategy, using proximal/distal self-positioning, to the context of cigarette craving to examine craving regulation in 42, daily smokers (18-25 years old). After overnight abstinence from smoking, before and after smoking their first cigarette of the day, participants viewed videos of natural scenes presenting young adults who were either smoking cigarettes ("smoke") or not ("non-smoke"). Before each video, participants were instructed to imagine themselves either immersed in the scene ("close") or distanced from it ("far"). They rated their craving after each video. Task-based fMRI data are presented for a subsample of participants (N = 21). We found main effects of smoking, instruction, and video type on craving-lower ratings after smoking than before, following the "far" vs. "close" instructions, and when viewing non-smoke vs. smoke videos. Before smoking, "smoke" vs. "non-smoke" videos elicited activation in, orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate, lateral parietal cortex, mid-occipital cortex, ventral striatum, dorsal caudate, and midbrain. Smoking reduced activation in anterior cingulate, left inferior frontal gyrus, and bilateral temporal poles. Activation was reduced in the ventral striatum and medial prefrontal cortex after the "far" vs. the "close" instruction, suggesting less engagement with the stimuli during distancing. The results indicate that proximal/distal regulation strategies impact cue-elicited craving, potentially via downregulation of the ventral striatum and medial prefrontal cortex, and that smoking during abstinence may increase cognitive control capacity during craving regulation.

Roman Catholic beliefs produce characteristic neural responses to moral dilemmas

PubMed Central

Flexas, Albert; de Miguel, Pedro; Cela-Conde, Camilo J.; Munar, Enric

2014-01-01

This study provides exploratory evidence about how behavioral and neural responses to standard moral dilemmas are influenced by religious belief. Eleven Catholics and 13 Atheists (all female) judged 48 moral dilemmas. Differential neural activity between the two groups was found in precuneus and in prefrontal, frontal and temporal regions. Furthermore, a double dissociation showed that Catholics recruited different areas for deontological (precuneus; temporoparietal junction) and utilitarian moral judgments [dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC); temporal poles], whereas Atheists did not (superior parietal gyrus for both types of judgment). Finally, we tested how both groups responded to personal and impersonal moral dilemmas: Catholics showed enhanced activity in DLPFC and posterior cingulate cortex during utilitarian moral judgments to impersonal moral dilemmas and enhanced responses in anterior cingulate cortex and superior temporal sulcus during deontological moral judgments to personal moral dilemmas. Our results indicate that moral judgment can be influenced by an acquired set of norms and conventions transmitted through religious indoctrination and practice. Catholic individuals may hold enhanced awareness of the incommensurability between two unequivocal doctrines of the Catholic belief set, triggered explicitly in a moral dilemma: help and care in all circumstances—but thou shalt not kill. PMID:23160812

Roman Catholic beliefs produce characteristic neural responses to moral dilemmas.

PubMed

Christensen, Julia F; Flexas, Albert; de Miguel, Pedro; Cela-Conde, Camilo J; Munar, Enric

2014-02-01

This study provides exploratory evidence about how behavioral and neural responses to standard moral dilemmas are influenced by religious belief. Eleven Catholics and 13 Atheists (all female) judged 48 moral dilemmas. Differential neural activity between the two groups was found in precuneus and in prefrontal, frontal and temporal regions. Furthermore, a double dissociation showed that Catholics recruited different areas for deontological (precuneus; temporoparietal junction) and utilitarian moral judgments [dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC); temporal poles], whereas Atheists did not (superior parietal gyrus for both types of judgment). Finally, we tested how both groups responded to personal and impersonal moral dilemmas: Catholics showed enhanced activity in DLPFC and posterior cingulate cortex during utilitarian moral judgments to impersonal moral dilemmas and enhanced responses in anterior cingulate cortex and superior temporal sulcus during deontological moral judgments to personal moral dilemmas. Our results indicate that moral judgment can be influenced by an acquired set of norms and conventions transmitted through religious indoctrination and practice. Catholic individuals may hold enhanced awareness of the incommensurability between two unequivocal doctrines of the Catholic belief set, triggered explicitly in a moral dilemma: help and care in all circumstances-but thou shalt not kill.

Different cerebral connectivity of obese and lean children studied with fMRI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anaya Moreno, Maryan A.; Hernández López, Javier M.; Hidalgo Tobón, Silvia; Dies Suarez, Pilar; Barragán Pérez, Eduardo; De Celis Alonso, Benito

2014-11-01

In this work we studied the different fMRI brain activations and connections between normal weighted (NW) and obese (OB) infants for different types of food odours. A total of 30 right handed volunteers (infants 8.4±2 years) of both sexes were studied. Infants were divided in two group, one with BMI between 19 and 24 kg/m2 and the other with BMI over 30 kg/m2. The first part of this project consisted of a study in which fMRI BOLD activations to pleasant, neutral and healthy food was performed on both groups. Cerebellum regions were found to be more active in the NW group over the OB when presented with odour cues. OB volunteers in contrast showed larger activations in cingulate cortex structures than their NW counterparts when presented with food odours. The second part of this study performed connectivity studies (ROI to ROI) comparing both groups for each smell. The NW group presented for the onion smell a strong reward anticipation connection between the gustatory cortex and the cingulate cortex which the OB group did not have. In contrast the OB group presented strong orbitofrontal connections (decision making) with gustatory and somatosensory cortex when stimulated with the chocolate odour which the NW did not present. We can conclude that clear differences in fMRI BOLD activation as well as connectivity between the OB and NW groups were found. This points at a very different processing mechanisms of odour cues in infants. To our knowledge this study has never been performed before on infants.

Neural responses to maternal criticism in healthy youth

PubMed Central

Siegle, Greg J.; Dahl, Ronald E.; Hooley, Jill M.; Silk, Jennifer S.

2015-01-01

Parental criticism can have positive and negative effects on children’s and adolescents’ behavior; yet, it is unclear how youth react to, understand and process parental criticism. We proposed that youth would engage three sets of neural processes in response to parental criticism including the following: (i) activating emotional reactions, (ii) regulating those reactions and (iii) social cognitive processing (e.g. understanding the parent’s mental state). To examine neural processes associated with both emotional and social processing of parental criticism in personally relevant and ecologically valid social contexts, typically developing youth were scanned while they listened to their mother providing critical, praising and neutral statements. In response to maternal criticism, youth showed increased brain activity in affective networks (e.g. subcortical–limbic regions including lentiform nucleus and posterior insula), but decreased activity in cognitive control networks (e.g. dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and caudal anterior cingulate cortex) and social cognitive networks (e.g. temporoparietal junction and posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus). These results suggest that youth may respond to maternal criticism with increased emotional reactivity but decreased cognitive control and social cognitive processing. A better understanding of children’s responses to parental criticism may provide insights into the ways that parental feedback can be modified to be more helpful to behavior and development in youth. PMID:25338632

A magnetoencephalography study of visual processing of pain anticipation.

PubMed

Machado, Andre G; Gopalakrishnan, Raghavan; Plow, Ela B; Burgess, Richard C; Mosher, John C

2014-07-15

Anticipating pain is important for avoiding injury; however, in chronic pain patients, anticipatory behavior can become maladaptive, leading to sensitization and limiting function. Knowledge of networks involved in pain anticipation and conditioning over time could help devise novel, better-targeted therapies. With the use of magnetoencephalography, we evaluated in 10 healthy subjects the neural processing of pain anticipation. Anticipatory cortical activity elicited by consecutive visual cues that signified imminent painful stimulus was compared with cues signifying nonpainful and no stimulus. We found that the neural processing of visually evoked pain anticipation involves the primary visual cortex along with cingulate and frontal regions. Visual cortex could quickly and independently encode and discriminate between visual cues associated with pain anticipation and no pain during preconscious phases following object presentation. When evaluating the effect of task repetition on participating cortical areas, we found that activity of prefrontal and cingulate regions was mostly prominent early on when subjects were still naive to a cue's contextual meaning. Visual cortical activity was significant throughout later phases. Although visual cortex may precisely and time efficiently decode cues anticipating pain or no pain, prefrontal areas establish the context associated with each cue. These findings have important implications toward processes involved in pain anticipation and maladaptive pain conditioning. Copyright © 2014 the American Physiological Society.

Neural correlates of experienced moral emotion: an fMRI investigation of emotion in response to prejudice feedback.

PubMed

Fourie, Melike M; Thomas, Kevin G F; Amodio, David M; Warton, Christopher M R; Meintjes, Ernesta M

2014-01-01

Guilt, shame, and embarrassment are quintessential moral emotions with important regulatory functions for the individual and society. Moral emotions are, however, difficult to study with neuroimaging methods because their elicitation is more intricate than that of basic emotions. Here, using functional MRI (fMRI), we employed a novel social prejudice paradigm to examine specific brain regions associated with real-time moral emotion, focusing on guilt and related moral-negative emotions. The paradigm induced intense moral-negative emotion (primarily guilt) in 22 low-prejudice individuals through preprogrammed feedback indicating implicit prejudice against Black and disabled people. fMRI data indicated that this experience of moral-negative emotion was associated with increased activity in anterior paralimbic structures, including the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and anterior insula, in addition to areas associated with mentalizing, including the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, and precuneus. Of significance was prominent conflict-related activity in the supragenual ACC, which is consistent with theories proposing an association between acute guilt and behavioral inhibition. Finally, a significant negative association between self-reported guilt and neural activity in the pregenual ACC suggested a role of self-regulatory processes in response to moral-negative affect. These findings are consistent with the multifaceted self-regulatory functions of moral-negative emotions in social behavior.

Further evidence for the impact of a genome-wide-supported psychosis risk variant in ZNF804A on the Theory of Mind Network.

PubMed

Mohnke, Sebastian; Erk, Susanne; Schnell, Knut; Schütz, Claudia; Romanczuk-Seiferth, Nina; Grimm, Oliver; Haddad, Leila; Pöhland, Lydia; Garbusow, Maria; Schmitgen, Mike M; Kirsch, Peter; Esslinger, Christine; Rietschel, Marcella; Witt, Stephanie H; Nöthen, Markus M; Cichon, Sven; Mattheisen, Manuel; Mühleisen, Thomas; Jensen, Jimmy; Schott, Björn H; Maier, Wolfgang; Heinz, Andreas; Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas; Walter, Henrik

2014-04-01

The single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs1344706 in ZNF804A is one of the best-supported risk variants for psychosis. We hypothesized that this SNP contributes to the development of schizophrenia by affecting the ability to understand other people's mental states. This skill, commonly referred to as Theory of Mind (ToM), has consistently been found to be impaired in schizophrenia. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we previously showed that in healthy individuals rs1344706 impacted on activity and connectivity of key areas of the ToM network, including the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, temporo-parietal junction, and the posterior cingulate cortex, which show aberrant activity in schizophrenia patients, too. We aimed to replicate these results in an independent sample of 188 healthy German volunteers. In order to assess the reliability of brain activity elicited by the ToM task, 25 participants performed the task twice with an interval of 14 days showing excellent accordance in recruitment of key ToM areas. Confirming our previous results, we observed decreasing activity of the left temporo-parietal junction, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, and the posterior cingulate cortex with increasing number of risk alleles during ToM. Complementing our replication sample with the discovery sample, analyzed in a previous report (total N=297), further revealed negative genotype effects in the left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex as well as in the temporal and parietal regions. In addition, as shown previously, rs1344706 risk allele dose positively predicted increased frontal-temporo-parietal connectivity. These findings confirm the effects of the psychosis risk variant in ZNF804A on the dysfunction of the ToM network.

Further Evidence for the Impact of a Genome-Wide-Supported Psychosis Risk Variant in ZNF804A on the Theory of Mind Network

PubMed Central

Mohnke, Sebastian; Erk, Susanne; Schnell, Knut; Schütz, Claudia; Romanczuk-Seiferth, Nina; Grimm, Oliver; Haddad, Leila; Pöhland, Lydia; Garbusow, Maria; Schmitgen, Mike M; Kirsch, Peter; Esslinger, Christine; Rietschel, Marcella; Witt, Stephanie H; Nöthen, Markus M; Cichon, Sven; Mattheisen, Manuel; Mühleisen, Thomas; Jensen, Jimmy; Schott, Björn H; Maier, Wolfgang; Heinz, Andreas; Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas; Walter, Henrik

2014-01-01

The single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs1344706 in ZNF804A is one of the best-supported risk variants for psychosis. We hypothesized that this SNP contributes to the development of schizophrenia by affecting the ability to understand other people's mental states. This skill, commonly referred to as Theory of Mind (ToM), has consistently been found to be impaired in schizophrenia. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we previously showed that in healthy individuals rs1344706 impacted on activity and connectivity of key areas of the ToM network, including the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, temporo-parietal junction, and the posterior cingulate cortex, which show aberrant activity in schizophrenia patients, too. We aimed to replicate these results in an independent sample of 188 healthy German volunteers. In order to assess the reliability of brain activity elicited by the ToM task, 25 participants performed the task twice with an interval of 14 days showing excellent accordance in recruitment of key ToM areas. Confirming our previous results, we observed decreasing activity of the left temporo-parietal junction, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, and the posterior cingulate cortex with increasing number of risk alleles during ToM. Complementing our replication sample with the discovery sample, analyzed in a previous report (total N=297), further revealed negative genotype effects in the left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex as well as in the temporal and parietal regions. In addition, as shown previously, rs1344706 risk allele dose positively predicted increased frontal–temporo-parietal connectivity. These findings confirm the effects of the psychosis risk variant in ZNF804A on the dysfunction of the ToM network. PMID:24247043

Transcranial magnetic stimulation potentiates glutamatergic neurotransmission in depressed adolescents.

PubMed

Croarkin, Paul E; Nakonezny, Paul A; Wall, Christopher A; Murphy, Lauren L; Sampson, Shirlene M; Frye, Mark A; Port, John D

2016-01-30

Abnormalities in glutamate neurotransmission may have a role in the pathophysiology of adolescent depression. The present pilot study examined changes in cortical glutamine/glutamate ratios in depressed adolescents receiving high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. Ten adolescents with treatment-refractory major depressive disorder received up to 30 sessions of 10-Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation at 120% motor threshold with 3000 pulses per session applied to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Baseline, posttreatment, and 6-month follow-up proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy scans of the anterior cingulate cortex and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex were collected at 3T with 8-cm(3) voxels. Glutamate metabolites were quantified with 2 distinct proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy sequences in each brain region. After repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and at 6 months of follow-up, glutamine/glutamate ratios increased in the anterior cingulate cortex and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex with both measurements. The increase in the glutamine/glutamate ratio reached statistical significance with the TE-optimized PRESS sequence in the anterior cingulate cortex. Glutamine/glutamate ratios increased in conjunction with depressive symptom improvement. This reached statistical significance with the TE-optimized PRESS sequence in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. High-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation applied to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex may modulate glutamate neurochemistry in depressed adolescents. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modulation of thermal pain-related brain activity with virtual reality: evidence from fMRI.

PubMed

Hoffman, Hunter G; Richards, Todd L; Coda, Barbara; Bills, Aric R; Blough, David; Richards, Anne L; Sharar, Sam R

2004-06-07

This study investigated the neural correlates of virtual reality analgesia. Virtual reality significantly reduced subjective pain ratings (i.e. analgesia). Using fMRI, pain-related brain activity was measured for each participant during conditions of no virtual reality and during virtual reality (order randomized). As predicted, virtual reality significantly reduced pain-related brain activity in all five regions of interest; the anterior cingulate cortex, primary and secondary somatosensory cortex, insula, and thalamus (p<0.002, corrected). Results showed direct modulation of human brain pain responses by virtual reality distraction. Copyright 2004 Lippincott Williams and Wilkins

Changes in Neural Connectivity and Memory Following a Yoga Intervention for Older Adults: A Pilot Study

PubMed Central

Eyre, Harris A.; Acevedo, Bianca; Yang, Hongyu; Siddarth, Prabha; Van Dyk, Kathleen; Ercoli, Linda; Leaver, Amber M.; Cyr, Natalie St.; Narr, Katherine; Baune, Bernhard T.; Khalsa, Dharma S.; Lavretsky, Helen

2016-01-01

Background: No study has explored the effect of yoga on cognitive decline and resting-state functional connectivity. Objectives: This study explored the relationship between performance on memory tests and resting-state functional connectivity before and after a yoga intervention versus active control for subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: Participants ( ≥ 55 y) with MCI were randomized to receive a yoga intervention or active “gold-standard” control (i.e., memory enhancement training (MET)) for 12 weeks. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to map correlations between brain networks and memory performance changes over time. Default mode networks (DMN), language and superior parietal networks were chosen as networks of interest to analyze the association with changes in verbal and visuospatial memory performance. Results: Fourteen yoga and 11 MET participants completed the study. The yoga group demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in depression and visuospatial memory. We observed improved verbal memory performance correlated with increased connectivity between the DMN and frontal medial cortex, pregenual anterior cingulate cortex, right middle frontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, and left lateral occipital cortex. Improved verbal memory performance positively correlated with increased connectivity between the language processing network and the left inferior frontal gyrus. Improved visuospatial memory performance correlated inversely with connectivity between the superior parietal network and the medial parietal cortex. Conclusion:Yoga may be as effective as MET in improving functional connectivity in relation to verbal memory performance. These findings should be confirmed in larger prospective studies. PMID:27060939

Functional neuroimaging of sex differences in autobiographical memory recall in depression.

PubMed

Young, K D; Bodurka, J; Drevets, W C

2017-11-01

Females are more likely than males to develop major depressive disorder (MDD). The current study used fMRI to compare the neural correlates of autobiographical memory (AM) recall between males and females diagnosed with MDD. AM overgenerality is a persistent cognitive deficit in MDD, the magnitude of which is correlated with depressive severity only in females. Delineating the neurobiological correlates of this deficit may elucidate the nature of sex-differences in the diathesis for developing MDD. Participants included unmedicated males and females diagnosed with MDD (n = 20/group), and an age and sex matched healthy control group. AM recall in response to positive, negative, and neutral cue words was compared with a semantic memory task. The behavioral properties of AMs did not differ between MDD males and females. In contrast, main effects of sex on cerebral hemodynamic activity were observed in left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and parahippocampal gyrus during recall of positive specific memories, and middle prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and precuneus during recall of negative specific memories. Moreover, main effects of diagnosis on regional hemodynamic activity were observed in left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and mPFC during positive specific memory recall, and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex during negative specific memory recall. Sex × diagnosis interactions were evident in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, caudate, and precuneus during positive memory recall, and in the posterior cingulate cortex, insula, precuneus and thalamus during negative specific memory recall. The differential hemodynamic changes conceivably may reflect sex-specific cognitive strategies during recall of AMs irrespective of the phenomenological properties of those memories.

Altered olfactory processing of stress-related body odors and artificial odors in patients with panic disorder.

PubMed

Wintermann, Gloria-Beatrice; Donix, Markus; Joraschky, Peter; Gerber, Johannes; Petrowski, Katja

2013-01-01

Patients with Panic Disorder (PD) direct their attention towards potential threat, followed by panic attacks, and increased sweat production. Onés own anxiety sweat odor influences the attentional focus, and discrimination of threat or non-threat. Since olfactory projection areas overlap with neuronal areas of a panic-specific fear network, the present study investigated the neuronal processing of odors in general and of stress-related sweat odors in particular in patients with PD. A sample of 13 patients with PD with/ without agoraphobia and 13 age- and gender-matched healthy controls underwent an fMRI investigation during olfactory stimulation with their stress-related sweat odors (TSST, ergometry) as well as artificial odors (peach, artificial sweat) as non-fearful non-body odors. The two groups did not differ with respect to their olfactory identification ability. Independent of the kind of odor, the patients with PD showed activations in fronto-cortical areas in contrast to the healthy controls who showed activations in olfaction-related areas such as the amygdalae and the hippocampus. For artificial odors, the patients with PD showed a decreased neuronal activation of the thalamus, the posterior cingulate cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex. Under the presentation of sweat odor caused by ergometric exercise, the patients with PD showed an increased activation in the superior temporal gyrus, the supramarginal gyrus, and the cingulate cortex which was positively correlated with the severity of the psychopathology. For the sweat odor from the anxiety condition, the patients with PD showed an increased activation in the gyrus frontalis inferior, which was positively correlated with the severity of the psychopathology. The results suggest altered neuronal processing of olfactory stimuli in PD. Both artificial odors and stress-related body odors activate specific parts of a fear-network which is associated with an increased severity of the psychopathology.

Combat veterans with comorbid PTSD and mild TBI exhibit a greater inhibitory processing ERP from the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex.

PubMed

Shu, I-Wei; Onton, Julie A; O'Connell, Ryan M; Simmons, Alan N; Matthews, Scott C

2014-10-30

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is common among combat personnel with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). While patients with either PTSD or mTBI share abnormal activation of multiple frontal brain areas, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) activity during inhibitory processing may be particularly affected by PTSD. To further test this hypothesis, we recorded electroencephalography from 32 combat veterans with mTBI-17 of whom were also comorbid for PTSD (mTBI+PTSD) and 15 without PTSD (mTBI-only). Subjects performed the Stop Task, a validated inhibitory control task requiring inhibition of initiated motor responses. We observed a larger inhibitory processing eventrelated potential (ERP) in veterans with mTBI+PTSD, including greater N200 negativity. Furthermore, greater N200 negativity correlated with greater PTSD severity. This correlation was most dependent on contributions from the dorsal ACC. Support vector machine analysis demonstrated that N200 and P300 amplitudes objectively classified veterans into mTBI-only or mTBI+PTSD groups with 79.4% accuracy. Our results support a model where, in combat veterans with mTBI, larger ERPs from cingulate areas are associated with greater PTSD severity and likely related to difficulty controlling ongoing brain processes, including trauma-related thoughts and feelings. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Why humans deviate from rational choice.

PubMed

Hewig, Johannes; Kretschmer, Nora; Trippe, Ralf H; Hecht, Holger; Coles, Michael G H; Holroyd, Clay B; Miltner, Wolfgang H R

2011-04-01

Rational choice theory predicts that humans always optimize the expected utility of options when making decisions. However, in decision-making games, humans often punish their opponents even when doing so reduces their own reward. We used the Ultimatum and Dictator games to examine the affective correlates of decision-making. We show that the feedback negativity, an event-related brain potential that originates in the anterior cingulate cortex that has been related to reinforcement learning, predicts the decision to reject unfair offers in the Ultimatum game. Furthermore, the decision to reject is positively related to more negative emotional reactions and to increased autonomic nervous system activity. These findings support the idea that subjective emotional markers guide decision-making and that the anterior cingulate cortex integrates instances of reinforcement and punishment to provide such affective markers. Copyright © 2010 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Evidence of a dissociation pattern in resting-state default mode network connectivity in first-episode, treatment-naive major depression patients.

PubMed

Zhu, Xueling; Wang, Xiang; Xiao, Jin; Liao, Jian; Zhong, Mingtian; Wang, Wei; Yao, Shuqiao

2012-04-01

Imaging studies have shown that major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with altered activity patterns of the default mode network (DMN). However, the neural correlates of the resting-state DMN and MDD-related pathopsychological characteristics, such as depressive rumination and overgeneral autobiographical memory (OGM) phenomena, still remain unclear. Using independent component analysis, we analyzed resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data obtained from 35 first-episode, treatment-naive young adults with MDD and from 35 matched healthy control subjects. Patients with MDD exhibited higher levels of rumination and OGM than did the control subjects. We observed increased functional connectivity in the anterior medial cortex regions (especially the medial prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex) and decreased functional connectivity in the posterior medial cortex regions (especially the posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus) in MDD patients compared with control subjects. In the depressed group, the increased functional connectivity in the anterior medial cortex correlated positively with rumination score, while the decreased functional connectivity in the posterior medial cortex correlated negatively with OGM score. We report dissociation between anterior and posterior functional connectivity in resting-state DMNs of first-episode, treatment-naive young adults with MDD. Increased functional connectivity in anterior medial regions of the resting-state DMN was associated with rumination, whereas decreased functional connectivity in posterior medial regions was associated with OGM. These results provide new evidence for the importance of the DMN in the pathophysiology of MDD and suggest that abnormal DMN activity may be an MDD trait. Copyright © 2012 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Meditation reduces pain-related neural activity in the anterior cingulate cortex, insula, secondary somatosensory cortex, and thalamus

PubMed Central

Nakata, Hiroki; Sakamoto, Kiwako; Kakigi, Ryusuke

2014-01-01

Recent studies have shown that meditation inhibits or relieves pain perception. To clarify the underlying mechanisms for this phenomenon, neuroimaging methods, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, and neurophysiological methods, such as magnetoencephalography and electroencephalography, have been used. However, it has been difficult to interpret the results, because there is some paradoxical evidence. For example, some studies reported increased neural responses to pain stimulation during meditation in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and insula, whereas others showed a decrease in these regions. There have been inconsistent findings to date. Moreover, in general, since the activities of the ACC and insula are correlated with pain perception, the increase in neural activities during meditation would be related to the enhancement of pain perception rather than its reduction. These contradictions might directly contribute to the ‘mystery of meditation.’ In this review, we presented previous findings for brain regions during meditation and the anatomical changes that occurred in the brain with long-term meditation training. We then discussed the findings of previous studies that examined pain-related neural activity during meditation. We also described the brain mechanisms responsible for pain relief during meditation, and possible reasons for paradoxical evidence among previous studies. By thoroughly overviewing previous findings, we hypothesized that meditation reduces pain-related neural activity in the ACC, insula, secondary somatosensory cortex, and thalamus. We suggest that the characteristics of the modulation of this activity may depend on the kind of meditation and/or number of years of experience of meditation, which were associated with paradoxical findings among previous studies that investigated pain-related neural activities during meditation. PMID:25566158

Cocaine users with comorbid Cluster B personality disorders show dysfunctional brain activation and connectivity in the emotional regulation networks during negative emotion maintenance and reappraisal.

PubMed

Albein-Urios, Natalia; Verdejo-Román, Juan; Soriano-Mas, Carles; Asensio, Samuel; Martínez-González, José Miguel; Verdejo-García, Antonio

2013-12-01

Cocaine dependence often co-occurs with Cluster B personality disorders. Since both disorders are characterized by emotion regulation deficits, we predicted that cocaine comorbid patients would exhibit dysfunctional patterns of brain activation and connectivity during reappraisal of negative emotions. We recruited 18 cocaine users with comorbid Cluster B personality disorders, 17 cocaine users without comorbidities and 21 controls to be scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during performance on a reappraisal task in which they had to maintain or suppress the emotions induced by negative affective stimuli. We followed region of interest (ROI) and whole-brain approaches to investigate brain activations and connectivity associated with negative emotion experience and reappraisal. Results showed that cocaine users with comorbid personality disorders had reduced activation of the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex during negative emotion maintenance and increased activation of the lateral orbitofrontal cortex and the amygdala during reappraisal. Amygdala activation correlated with impulsivity and antisocial beliefs in the comorbid group. Connectivity analyses showed that in the cocaine comorbid group the subgenual cingulate was less efficiently connected with the amygdala and the fusiform gyri and more efficiently connected with the anterior insula during maintenance, whereas during reappraisal the left orbitofrontal cortex was more efficiently connected with the amygdala and the right orbitofrontal cortex was less efficiently connected with the dorsal striatum. We conclude that cocaine users with comorbid Cluster B personality disorders have distinctive patterns of brain activation and connectivity during maintenance and reappraisal of negative emotions, which correlate with impulsivity and dysfunctional beliefs. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. and ECNP. All rights reserved.

Glutamine and Glutamate Levels in Children and Adolescents with Bipolar Disorder: A 4.0-T Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Study of the Anterior Cingulate Cortex

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Constance M.; Frazier, Jean A.; Glod, Carol A.; Breeze, Janis L.; Dieterich, Megan; Finn, Chelsea T.; deB. Frederick, Blaise; Renshaw, Perry F.

2007-01-01

Objective: The purpose of this study was to use proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy, at 4.0 T, to explore the glutamine and glutamate levels in the anterior cingulate cortex of children and adolescents with bipolar disorder (BPD; medicated and unmedicated) and healthy comparison subjects (HCSs). We hypothesized that unmedicated children with…

Nonlinear response of the anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia as a function of variable attentional control.

PubMed

Blasi, Giuseppe; Taurisano, Paolo; Papazacharias, Apostolos; Caforio, Grazia; Romano, Raffaella; Lobianco, Luciana; Fazio, Leonardo; Di Giorgio, Annabella; Latorre, Valeria; Sambataro, Fabio; Popolizio, Teresa; Nardini, Marcello; Mattay, Venkata S; Weinberger, Daniel R; Bertolino, Alessandro

2010-04-01

Previous studies have reported abnormal prefrontal and cingulate activity during attentional control processing in schizophrenia. However, it is not clear how variation in attentional control load modulates activity within these brain regions in this brain disorder. The aim of this study in schizophrenia is to investigate the impact of increasing levels of attentional control processing on prefrontal and cingulate activity. Blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) responses of 16 outpatients with schizophrenia were compared with those of 21 healthy subjects while performing a task eliciting increasing levels of attentional control during event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging at 3 T. Results showed reduced behavioral performance in patients at greater attentional control levels. Imaging data indicated greater prefrontal activity at intermediate attentional control levels in patients but greater prefrontal and cingulate responses at high attentional control demands in controls. The BOLD activity profile of these regions in controls increased linearly with increasing cognitive loads, whereas in patients, it was nonlinear. Correlation analysis consistently showed differential region and load-specific relationships between brain activity and behavior in the 2 groups. These results indicate that varying attentional control load is associated in schizophrenia with load- and region-specific modification of the relationship between behavior and brain activity, possibly suggesting earlier saturation of cognitive capacity.

Medial prefrontal cortex acetylcholine injection-induced hypotension: the role of hindlimb vasodilation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crippa, G. E.; Lewis, S. J.; Johnson, A. K.; Correa, F. M.

2000-01-01

The injection of acetylcholine (ACh) into the cingulate region of the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) causes a marked fall in arterial blood pressure which is not accompanied by changes in heart rate. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the hemodynamic basis for this stimulus-induced hypotension in Sprague-Dawley rats. The study was designed to determine whether a change in the vascular resistance of hindlimb, renal or mesenteric vascular beds contributes to the fall in arterial pressure in response to ACh injection into the cingulate cortex. Miniature pulsed-Doppler flow probes were used to measure changes in regional blood flow and vascular resistance. The results indicated that the hypotensive response was largely due to a consistent and marked vasodilation in the hindlimb vascular bed. On this basis, an additional experiment was then undertaken to determine the mechanisms that contribute to hindlimb vasodilation. The effect of interrupting the autonomic innervation of one leg on the hindlimb vasodilator response was tested. Unilateral transection of the lumbar sympathetic chain attenuated the cingulate ACh-induced vasodilation in the ipsilateral, but not in the contralateral hindlimb. These results suggest that the hypotensive response to cingulate cortex-ACh injection is caused by skeletal muscle vasodilation mediated by a sympathetic chain-related vasodilator system.

The Cerebellum and Emotional Experience

PubMed Central

Turner, Beth M.; Paradiso, Sergio; Marvel, Cherie L.; Pierson, Ronald; Boles Ponto, Laura L.; Hichwa, Richard D.; Robinson, Robert G.

2007-01-01

Summary While the role of the cerebellum in motor coordination is widely accepted, the notion that it is involved in emotion has only recently gained popularity. To date, functional neuroimaging has not been used in combination with lesion studies to elucidate the role of the cerebellum in the processing of emotional material. We examined six participants with cerebellar stroke and nine age and education matched healthy volunteers. In addition to a complete neuropsychological, neurologic, and psychiatric examination, participants underwent [15O]water positron emission tomography (PET) while responding to emotion-evoking visual stimuli. Cerebellar lesions were associated with reduced pleasant experience in response to happiness-evoking stimuli. Stroke patients reported an unpleasant experience to frightening stimuli similar to healthy controls, yet showed significantly lower activity in the right ventral lateral and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, amygdala, thalamus, and retrosplenial cingulate gyrus. Frightening stimuli led to increased activity in the ventral medial prefrontal, anterior cingulate, pulvinar, and insular cortex. This suggests that alternate neural circuitry became responsible for maintaining the evolutionarily critical fear response after cerebellar damage. PMID:17123557

Dissociated roles of the anterior cingulate cortex in reward and conflict processing as revealed by the feedback error-related negativity and N200.

PubMed

Baker, Travis E; Holroyd, Clay B

2011-04-01

The reinforcement learning theory of the error-related negativity (ERN) holds that the impact of reward signals carried by the midbrain dopamine system modulates activity of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), alternatively disinhibiting and inhibiting the ACC following unpredicted error and reward events, respectively. According to a recent formulation of the theory, activity that is intrinsic to the ACC produces a component of the event-related brain potential (ERP) called the N200, and following unpredicted rewards, the N200 is suppressed by extrinsically applied positive dopamine reward signals, resulting in an ERP component called the feedback-ERN (fERN). Here we demonstrate that, despite extensive spatial and temporal overlap between the two ERP components, the functional processes indexed by the N200 (conflict) and the fERN (reward) are dissociable. These results point toward avenues for future investigation. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Visual target modulation of functional connectivity networks revealed by self-organizing group ICA.

PubMed

van de Ven, Vincent; Bledowski, Christoph; Prvulovic, David; Goebel, Rainer; Formisano, Elia; Di Salle, Francesco; Linden, David E J; Esposito, Fabrizio

2008-12-01

We applied a data-driven analysis based on self-organizing group independent component analysis (sogICA) to fMRI data from a three-stimulus visual oddball task. SogICA is particularly suited to the investigation of the underlying functional connectivity and does not rely on a predefined model of the experiment, which overcomes some of the limitations of hypothesis-driven analysis. Unlike most previous applications of ICA in functional imaging, our approach allows the analysis of the data at the group level, which is of particular interest in high order cognitive studies. SogICA is based on the hierarchical clustering of spatially similar independent components, derived from single subject decompositions. We identified four main clusters of components, centered on the posterior cingulate, bilateral insula, bilateral prefrontal cortex, and right posterior parietal and prefrontal cortex, consistently across all participants. Post hoc comparison of time courses revealed that insula, prefrontal cortex and right fronto-parietal components showed higher activity for targets than for distractors. Activation for distractors was higher in the posterior cingulate cortex, where deactivation was observed for targets. While our results conform to previous neuroimaging studies, they also complement conventional results by showing functional connectivity networks with unique contributions to the task that were consistent across subjects. SogICA can thus be used to probe functional networks of active cognitive tasks at the group-level and can provide additional insights to generate new hypotheses for further study. Copyright 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Changes in Regional Brain Homogeneity Induced by Electro-Acupuncture Stimulation at the Baihui Acupoint in Healthy Subjects: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study.

PubMed

Deng, Demao; Duan, Gaoxiong; Liao, Hai; Liu, Yanfei; Wang, Geliang; Liu, Huimei; Tang, Lijun; Pang, Yong; Tao, Jien; He, Xin; Yuan, Wenzhao; Liu, Peng

2016-10-01

According to the Traditional Chinese Medicine theory of acupuncture, Baihui (GV20) is applied to treat neurological and psychiatric disorders. However, the relationships between neural responses and GV20 remain unknown. Thus, the main aim of this study was to examine the brain responses induced by electro-acupuncture stimulation (EAS) at GV20. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed in 33 healthy subjects. Based on the non-repeated event-related (NRER) paradigm, group differences were examined between GV20 and a sham acupoint using the regional homogeneity (ReHo) method. Compared with the sham acupoint, EAS at GV20 induced increased ReHo in regions including the orbital frontal cortex (OFC), middle cingulate cortex (MCC), precentral cortex, and precuneus (preCUN). Decreased ReHo was found in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), supplementary motor area (SMA), thalamus, putamen, and cerebellum. The current findings provide preliminary neuroimaging evidence to indicate that EAS at GV20 could induce a specific pattern of neural responses by analysis of ReHo of brain activity. These findings might improve the understanding of mechanisms of acupuncture stimulation at GV20.

Is there a functional neural correlate of individual differences in cardiovascular reactivity?

PubMed

Gianaros, Peter J; May, J Christopher; Siegle, Greg J; Jennings, J Richard

2005-01-01

The present study tested whether individuals who differ in the magnitude of their blood pressure reactions to a behavioral stressor also differ in their stressor-induced patterns of functional neural activation. Sixteen participants (7 men, 9 women aged 47 to 72 years) were classified as high (n = 8) or low (n = 8) blood pressure reactors by the magnitude and temporal consistency of their systolic blood pressure (SBP) reaction to a Stroop color-word interference stressor. Both high and low SBP reactors completed this Stroop stressor while their task-related changes in blood pressure and functional neural activity were assessed in a blocked functional magnetic resonance imaging design. In both high and low SBP reactors, the Stroop-stressor engaged the anterior cingulate, orbitofrontal, insular, posterior parietal, and the dorsolateral prefrontal regions of the cortex, the thalamus, and the cerebellum. Compared with low reactors, however, high reactors not only showed a larger magnitude increase in SBP to the Stroop stressor, but also an increased activation of the posterior cingulate cortex. A behavioral stressor that is used widely in cardiovascular reactivity research, the Stroop stressor, engages brain systems that are thought to support both stressor processing and cardiovascular reactivity. Increased activation of the posterior cingulate, a brain region implicated in vigilance to the environment and evaluative emotional processes, may be a functional neural correlate of an individual's tendency to show large-magnitude (exaggerated) blood pressure reactions to behavioral stressors.

Anatomical segregation of representations of personally familiar and famous people in the temporal and parietal cortices.

PubMed

Sugiura, Motoaki; Sassa, Yuko; Watanabe, Jobu; Akitsuki, Yuko; Maeda, Yasuhiro; Matsue, Yoshihiko; Kawashima, Ryuta

2009-10-01

Person recognition has been assumed to entail many types of person-specific cognitive responses, including retrieval of knowledge, episodic recollection, and emotional responses. To demonstrate the cortical correlates of this modular structure of multimodal person representation, we investigated neural responses preferential to personally familiar people and responses dependent on familiarity with famous people in the temporal and parietal cortices. During functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) measurements, normal subjects recognized personally familiar names (personal) or famous names with high or low degrees of familiarity (high or low, respectively). Effects of familiarity with famous people (i.e., high-low) were identified in the bilateral angular gyri, the left supramarginal gyrus, the middle part of the bilateral posterior cingulate cortices, and the left precuneus. Activation preferentially relevant to personally familiar people (i.e., personal-high) was identified in the bilateral temporo-parietal junctions, the right anterolateral temporal cortices, posterior middle temporal gyrus, posterior cingulate cortex (with a peak in the posterodorsal part), and the left precuneus; these activation foci exhibited varying degrees of activation for high and low names. An equivalent extent of activation was observed for all familiar names in the bilateral temporal poles, the left orbito-insular junction, the middle temporal gyrus, and the anterior part of the posterior cingulate cortex. The results demonstrated that distinct cortical areas supported different types of cognitive responses, induced to different degrees during recognition of famous and personally familiar people, providing neuroscientific evidence for the modularity of multimodal person representation.

Heritability of neural reactions to social exclusion and prosocial compensation in middle childhood.

PubMed

van der Meulen, Mara; Steinbeis, Nikolaus; Achterberg, Michelle; van IJzendoorn, Marinus H; Crone, Eveline A

2018-06-07

Experiencing and observing social exclusion and inclusion, as well as prosocial behavior, are important aspects of social relationships in childhood. However, it is currently unknown to what extent these processes and their neural correlates differ in heritability. We investigated influences of genetics and environment on experiencing social exclusion and compensating for social exclusion of others with the Prosocial Cyberball Game using fMRI in a twin sample (aged 7-9; N = 500). Neuroimaging analyses (N = 283) revealed that experiencing possible self-exclusion resulted in activity in inferior frontal gyrus and medial prefrontal cortex, which was influenced by genetics and unique environment. Experiencing self-inclusion was associated with activity in anterior cingulate cortex, insula and striatum, but this was not significantly explained by genetics or shared environment. We found that children show prosocial compensating behavior when observing social exclusion. Prosocial compensating behavior was associated with activity in posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus, and showed unique environmental effects or measurement error at both behavioral and neural level. Together, these findings show that in children neural activation for experiencing possible self-exclusion and self-inclusion, and for displaying prosocial compensating behavior, is accounted for by unique environmental factors and measurement error, with a small genetic effect on possible self-exclusion. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Brain Metabolism Correlates of the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test in Mild Cognitive Impairment.

PubMed

Caffarra, Paolo; Ghetti, Caterina; Ruffini, Livia; Spallazzi, Marco; Spotti, Annamaria; Barocco, Federica; Guzzo, Caterina; Marchi, Massimo; Gardini, Simona

2016-01-01

Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test (FCSRT) measures immediate and delayed episodic memory and cueing sensitivity and is suitable to detect prodromal Alzheimer's disease (AD). The present study aimed at investigating the segregation effect of FCSRT scores on brain metabolism of memory-related structures, usually affected by AD pathology, in the Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) stage. A cohort of forty-eight MCI patients underwent FCSRT and 18F-FDG-PET. Multiple regression analysis showed that Immediate Free Recall correlated with brain metabolism in the bilateral anterior cingulate and delayed free recall with the left anterior cingulate and medial frontal gyrus, whereas semantic cueing sensitivity with the left posterior cingulate. FCSRT in MCI is associated with neuro-functional activity of specific regions of memory-related structures connected to hippocampal formation, such as the cingulate cortex, usually damaged in AD.

Different brain activation under left and right ventricular stimulation: an fMRI study in anesthetized rats.

PubMed

Suzuki, Hideaki; Sumiyoshi, Akira; Kawashima, Ryuta; Shimokawa, Hiroaki

2013-01-01

Myocardial ischemia in the anterior wall of the left ventricule (LV) and in the inferior wall and/or right ventricle (RV) shows different manifestations that can be explained by the different innervations of cardiac afferent nerves. However, it remains unclear whether information from different areas of the heart, such as the LV and RV, are differently processed in the brain. In this study, we investigated the brain regions that process information from the LV or RV using cardiac electrical stimulation and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in anesthetized rats because the combination of these two approaches cannot be used in humans. An electrical stimulation catheter was inserted into the LV or RV (n = 12 each). Brain fMRI scans were recorded during LV or RV stimulation (9 Hz and 0.3 ms width) over 10 blocks consisting of alternating periods of 2 mA for 30 sec followed by 0.2 mA for 60 sec. The validity of fMRI signals was confirmed by first and second-level analyses and temporal profiles. Increases in fMRI signals were observed in the anterior cingulate cortex and the right somatosensory cortex under LV stimulation. In contrast, RV stimulation activated the right somatosensory cortex, which was identified more anteriorly compared with LV stimulation but did not activate the anterior cingulate cortex. This study provides the first evidence for differences in brain activation under LV and RV stimulation. These different brain processes may be associated with different clinical manifestations between anterior wall and inferoposterior wall and/or RV myocardial ischemia.

Activation of cannabinoid system in anterior cingulate cortex and orbitofrontal cortex modulates cost-benefit decision making.

PubMed

Khani, Abbas; Kermani, Mojtaba; Hesam, Soghra; Haghparast, Abbas; Argandoña, Enrike G; Rainer, Gregor

2015-06-01

Despite the evidence for altered decision making in cannabis abusers, the role of the cannabinoid system in decision-making circuits has not been studied. Here, we examined the effects of cannabinoid modulation during cost-benefit decision making in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), key brain areas involved in decision making. We trained different groups of rats in a delay-based and an effort-based form of cost-benefit T-maze decision-making task. During test days, the rats received local injections of either vehicle or ACEA, a cannabinoid type-1 receptor (CB1R) agonist in the ACC or OFC. We measured spontaneous locomotor activity following the same treatments and characterized CB1Rs localization on different neuronal populations within these regions using immunohistochemistry. We showed that CB1R activation in the ACC impaired decision making such that rats were less willing to invest physical effort to gain high reward. Similarly, CB1R activation in the OFC induced impulsive pattern of choice such that rats preferred small immediate rewards to large delayed rewards. Control tasks ensured that the effects were specific for differential cost-benefit tasks. Furthermore, we characterized widespread colocalizations of CB1Rs on GABAergic axonal ends but few colocalizations on glutamatergic, dopaminergic, and serotonergic neuronal ends. These results provide first direct evidence that the cannabinoid system plays a critical role in regulating cost-benefit decision making in the ACC and OFC and implicate cannabinoid modulation of synaptic ends of predominantly interneurons and to a lesser degree other neuronal populations in these two frontal regions.

[A role of the autonomic nervous system in cerebro-cardiac disorders].

PubMed

Basantsova, N Yu; Tibekina, L M; Shishkin, A N

The authors consider anatomical/physiological characteristics and a role of different autonomic CNS regions, including insula cortex, amygdala complex, anterior cingulate cortex, ventral medial prefrontal cortex, hypothalamus and epiphysis, involved in the regulation of cardiovascular activity. The damage of these structures, e.g., due to the acute disturbance of cerebral blood circulation, led to arrhythmia, including fatal arrhythmia, in previously intact myocardium; systolic and diastolic dysfunction, ischemic changes considered in the frames of cerebro-cardial syndrome. On the cellular level, the disturbance of autonomic regulation resulted in catechol amine excitotoxicity, oxidative stress and free radical myocardium injury.

Inhibition of mammalian target of rapamycin activation in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex attenuates pain-related aversion in rats.

PubMed

Lu, Bo; Jiang, Jingyan; Sun, Jianliang; Xiao, Chun; Meng, Bo; Zheng, Jinwei; Li, Xiaoyu; Wang, Ruichun; Wu, Guorong; Chen, Junping

2016-09-01

Pain is a complex experience that comprises both sensory and affective dimensions. Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) plays an important role in the modulation of neuronal plasticity associated with the pathogenesis of pain sensation. However, the role of mTOR in pain affect is unclear. Using a formalin-induced conditioned place avoidance (F-CPA) test, the current study investigated the effects of the mTOR specific inhibitor rapamycin on noxious stimulation induced aversion in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC). Intraplantar injection of 5% formalin was associated with significant activation of mTOR, as well as p70 ribosomal S6 protein (p70S6K), its downstream effector, in the rACC. The inhibition of mTOR activation with rapamycin disrupted pain-related aversion; however, this inhibition did not affect formalin-induced spontaneous nociceptive behaviors in rats. These findings demonstrated for the first time that mTOR and its downstream pathway in the rACC contribute to the induction of pain-related negative emotion. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Midbrain dopamine neurons regulate preprotachykinin-A mRNA expression in the rat forebrain during development.

PubMed

Brené, S; Lindefors, N; Persson, H

1992-06-01

Intracerebroventricular 6-hydroxydopamine injections were performed at postnatal days 3 and 6 in animals pretreated with the norepinephrine uptakeblocker desimipramine in order to generate a selective lesion of dopamine neurons. In situ hybridization was then used to analyze preprotachykinin-A (PPT-A) mRNA expression in the lesioned as well as in saline-injected control animals. The midbrain dopaminergic lesion caused a 22-25% increase in the level of PPT-A mRNA in cingulate cortex and frontoparietal cortex when analysed at 2 weeks of age, compared to saline-injected control animals. In contrast, the lesion caused no change in PPT-A mRNA expression in the neonatal caudate-putamen. These results indicate that dopamine neurons downregulate the expression of PPT-A mRNA specifically in cingulate cortex and frontoparietal cortex during early postnatal brain development. In the adult rat forebrain, lesioned at P3 and P6, no change in the level of PPT-A mRNA was seen in cingulate cortex and frontoparietal cortex. However, a 29% decrease in PPT-A mRNA was seen in the lateral caudate-putamen with no significant change in neurons of medial caudate-putamen. Thus, dopamine neurons appears to exert a region specific influence on PPT-A mRNA expression during brain development.

Hyperlexia and ambient echolalia in a case of cerebral infarction of the left anterior cingulate cortex and corpus callosum.

PubMed

Suzuki, Tadashi; Itoh, Shouichi; Hayashi, Mototaka; Kouno, Masako; Takeda, Katsuhiko

2009-10-01

We report the case of a 69-year-old woman with cerebral infarction in the left anterior cingulate cortex and corpus callosum. She showed hyperlexia, which was a distinctive reading phenomenon, as well as ambient echolalia. Clinical features also included complex disorders such as visual groping, compulsive manipulation of tools, and callosal disconnection syndrome. She read words written on the cover of a book and repeated words emanating from unrelated conversations around her or from hospital announcements. The combination of these two features due to a focal lesion has never been reported previously. The supplementary motor area may control the execution of established subroutines according to external and internal inputs. Hyperlexia as well as the compulsive manipulation of tools could be interpreted as faulty inhibition of preexisting essentially intact motor subroutines by damage to the anterior cingulate cortex reciprocally interconnected with the supplementary motor area.

Illusory Obesity Triggers Body Dissatisfaction Responses in the Insula and Anterior Cingulate Cortex

PubMed Central

Preston, Catherine; Ehrsson, H. Henrik

2016-01-01

In today's Western society, concerns regarding body size and negative feelings toward one's body are all too common. However, little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying negative feelings toward the body and how they relate to body perception and eating-disorder pathology. Here, we used multisensory illusions to elicit illusory ownership of obese and slim bodies during functional magnetic resonance imaging. The results implicate the anterior insula and the anterior cingulate cortex in the development of negative feelings toward the body through functional interactions with the posterior parietal cortex, which mediates perceived obesity. Moreover, cingulate neural responses were modulated by nonclinical eating-disorder psychopathology and were attenuated in females. These results reveal how perceptual and affective body representations interact in the human brain and may help explain the neurobiological underpinnings of eating-disorder vulnerability in women. PMID:27733537

Development of cognitive and affective control networks and decision making.

PubMed

Kar, Bhoomika R; Vijay, Nivita; Mishra, Shreyasi

2013-01-01

Cognitive control and decision making are two important research areas in the realm of higher-order cognition. Control processes such as interference control and monitoring in cognitive and affective contexts have been found to influence the process of decision making. Development of control processes follows a gradual growth pattern associated with the prolonged maturation of underlying neural circuits including the lateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate, and the medial prefrontal cortex. These circuits are also involved in the control of processes that influences decision making, particularly with respect to choice behavior. Developmental studies on affective control have shown distinct patterns of brain activity with adolescents showing greater activation of amygdala whereas adults showing greater activity in ventral prefrontal cortex. Conflict detection, monitoring, and adaptation involve anticipation and subsequent performance adjustments which are also critical to complex decision making. We discuss the gradual developmental patterns observed in two of our studies on conflict monitoring and adaptation in affective and nonaffective contexts. Findings of these studies indicate the need to look at the differences in the effects of the development of cognitive and affective control on decision making in children and particularly adolescents. Neuroimaging studies have shown the involvement of separable neural networks for cognitive (medial prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate) and affective control (amygdala, ventral medial prefrontal cortex) shows that one system can affect the other also at the neural level. Hence, an understanding of the interaction and balance between the cognitive and affective brain networks may be crucial for self-regulation and decision making during the developmental period, particularly late childhood and adolescence. The chapter highlights the need for empirical investigation on the interaction between the different aspects of cognitive control and decision making from a developmental perspective. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Altered neural responses to heat pain in drug-naive patients with Parkinson disease.

PubMed

Forkmann, Katarina; Grashorn, Wiebke; Schmidt, Katharina; Fründt, Odette; Buhmann, Carsten; Bingel, Ulrike

2017-08-01

Pain is a frequent but still neglected nonmotor symptom of Parkinson disease (PD). However, neural mechanisms underlying pain in PD are poorly understood. Here, we explored whether the high prevalence of pain in PD might be related to dysfunctional descending pain control. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging we explored neural responses during the anticipation and processing of heat pain in 21 PD patients (Hoehn and Yahr I-III) and 23 healthy controls (HC). Parkinson disease patients were naive to dopaminergic medication to avoid confounding drug effects. Fifteen heat pain stimuli were applied to the participants' forearm. Intensity and unpleasantness ratings were provided for each stimulus. Subjective pain perception was comparable for PD patients and HC. Neural processing, however, differed between groups: PD patients showed lower activity in several descending pain modulation regions (dorsal anterior cingulate cortex [dACC], subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex [DLPFC]) and lower functional connectivity between dACC and DLPFC during pain anticipation. Parkinson disease symptom severity was negatively correlated with dACC-DLPFC connectivity indicating impaired functional coupling of pain modulatory regions with disease progression. During pain perception PD patients showed higher midcingulate cortex activity compared with HC, which also scaled with PD severity. Interestingly, dACC-DLPFC connectivity during pain anticipation was negatively associated with midcingulate cortex activity during the receipt of pain in PD patients. This study indicates altered neural processing during the anticipation and receipt of experimental pain in drug-naive PD patients. It provides first evidence for a progressive decline in descending pain modulation in PD, which might be related to the high prevalence of pain in later stages of PD.

Deciding where to attend: Large-scale network mechanisms underlying attention and intention revealed by graph-theoretic analysis.

PubMed

Liu, Yuelu; Hong, Xiangfei; Bengson, Jesse J; Kelley, Todd A; Ding, Mingzhou; Mangun, George R

2017-08-15

The neural mechanisms by which intentions are transformed into actions remain poorly understood. We investigated the network mechanisms underlying spontaneous voluntary decisions about where to focus visual-spatial attention (willed attention). Graph-theoretic analysis of two independent datasets revealed that regions activated during willed attention form a set of functionally-distinct networks corresponding to the frontoparietal network, the cingulo-opercular network, and the dorsal attention network. Contrasting willed attention with instructed attention (where attention is directed by external cues), we observed that the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex was allied with the dorsal attention network in instructed attention, but shifted connectivity during willed attention to interact with the cingulo-opercular network, which then mediated communications between the frontoparietal network and the dorsal attention network. Behaviorally, greater connectivity in network hubs, including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and the inferior parietal lobule, was associated with faster reaction times. These results, shown to be consistent across the two independent datasets, uncover the dynamic organization of functionally-distinct networks engaged to support intentional acts. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A functional dissociation of conflict processing within anterior cingulate cortex.

PubMed

Kim, Chobok; Kroger, James K; Kim, Jeounghoon

2011-02-01

Goal-directed behavior requires cognitive control to regulate the occurrence of conflict. The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) has been suggested in detecting response conflict during various conflict tasks. Recent findings, however, have indicated not only that two distinct subregions of dACC are involved in conflict processing but also that the conflict occurs at both perceptual and response levels. In this study, we sought to examine whether perceptual and response conflicts are functionally dissociated in dACC. Thirteen healthy subjects performed a version of the Stroop task during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning. We identified a functional dissociation of the caudal dACC (cdACC) and the rostral dACC (rdACC) in their responses to different sources of conflict. The cdACC was selectively engaged in perceptual conflict whereas the rdACC was more active in response conflict. Further, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) was coactivated not with cdACC but with rdACC. We suggest that cdACC plays an important role in regulative processing of perceptual conflict whereas rdACC is involved in detecting response conflict. Copyright © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Neurons in Anterior Cingulate Cortex Multiplex Information about Reward and Action

PubMed Central

Hayden, Benjamin Y.; Platt, Michael L.

2010-01-01

The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) is thought to play a critical role in forming associations between rewards and actions. Currently available physiological data, however, remain inconclusive regarding the question of whether dACC neurons carry information linking particular actions to reward or, instead, encode abstract reward information independent of specific actions. Here we show that firing rates of a majority of dACC neurons in a population studied in an eight-option variably rewarded choice task were sensitive to both saccade direction and reward value. Furthermore, the influences of reward and saccade direction on neuronal activity were roughly equal in magnitude over the range of rewards tested and were statistically independent. Our results indicate that dACC neurons multiplex information about both reward and action, endorsing the idea that this area links motivational outcomes to behavior and undermining the notion that its neurons solely contribute to reward processing in the abstract. PMID:20203193

Posterior cingulate cortex mediates outcome-contingent allocation of behavior

PubMed Central

Hayden, Benjamin Y.; Nair, Amrita C.; McCoy, Allison N.; Platt, Michael L.

2008-01-01

SUMMARY Adaptive decision making requires selecting an action and then monitoring its consequences to improve future decisions. The neuronal mechanisms supporting action evaluation and subsequent behavioral modification, however, remain poorly understood. To investigate the contribution of posterior cingulate cortex (CGp) to these processes, we recorded activity of single neurons in monkeys performing a gambling task in which the reward outcome of each choice strongly influenced subsequent choices. We found that CGp neurons signaled reward outcomes in a nonlinear fashion, and that outcome-contingent modulations in firing rate persisted into subsequent trials. Moreover, firing rate on any one trial predicted switching to the alternative option on the next trial. Finally, microstimulation in CGp following risky choices promoted a preference reversal for the safe option on the following trial. Collectively, these results demonstrate that CGp directly contributes to the evaluative processes that support dynamic changes in decision making in volatile environments. PMID:18940585

Posterior Orbitofrontal and Anterior Cingulate Pathways to the Amygdala Target Inhibitory and Excitatory Systems with Opposite Functions.

PubMed

Zikopoulos, Basilis; Höistad, Malin; John, Yohan; Barbas, Helen

2017-05-17

The bidirectional dialogue of the primate posterior orbitofrontal cortex (pOFC) with the amygdala is essential in cognitive-emotional functions. The pOFC also sends a uniquely one-way excitatory pathway to the amygdalar inhibitory intercalated masses (IM), which inhibit the medial part of the central amygdalar nucleus (CeM). Inhibition of IM has the opposite effect, allowing amygdalar activation of autonomic structures and emotional arousal. Using multiple labeling approaches to identify pathways and their postsynaptic sites in the amygdala in rhesus monkeys, we found that the anterior cingulate cortex innervated mostly the basolateral and CeM amygdalar nuclei, poised to activate CeM for autonomic arousal. By contrast, a pathway from pOFC to IM exceeded all other pathways to the amygdala by density and size and proportion of large and efficient terminals. Moreover, whereas pOFC terminals in IM innervated each of the three distinct classes of inhibitory neurons, most targeted neurons expressing dopamine- and cAMP-regulated phosphoprotein (DARPP-32+), known to be modulated by dopamine. The predominant pOFC innervation of DARPP-32+ neurons suggests activation of IM and inhibition of CeM, resulting in modulated autonomic function. By contrast, inhibition of DARPP-32 neurons in IM by high dopamine levels disinhibits CeM and triggers autonomic arousal. The findings provide a mechanism to help explain how a strong pOFC pathway, which is poised to moderate activity of CeM, through IM, can be undermined by the high level of dopamine during stress, resulting in collapse of potent inhibitory mechanisms in the amygdala and heightened autonomic drive, as seen in chronic anxiety disorders. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The dialogue between prefrontal cortex and amygdala allows thoughts and emotions to influence actions. The posterior orbitofrontal cortex sends a powerful pathway that targets a special class of amygdalar intercalated mass (IM) inhibitory neurons, whose wiring may help modulate autonomic function. By contrast, the anterior cingulate cortex innervates other amygdalar parts, activating circuits to help avoid danger. Most IM neurons in primates label for the protein DARPP-32, known to be activated or inhibited based on the level of dopamine. Stress markedly increases dopamine release and inhibits IM neurons, compromises prefrontal control of the amygdala, and sets off a general alarm system as seen in affective disorders, such as chronic anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. Copyright © 2017 the authors 0270-6474/17/375051-14$15.00/0.

A causal role for the anterior mid-cingulate cortex in negative affect and cognitive control.

PubMed

Tolomeo, Serenella; Christmas, David; Jentzsch, Ines; Johnston, Blair; Sprengelmeyer, Reiner; Matthews, Keith; Douglas Steele, J

2016-06-01

Converging evidence has linked the anterior mid-cingulate cortex to negative affect, pain and cognitive control. It has previously been proposed that this region uses information about punishment to control aversively motivated actions. Studies on the effects of lesions allow causal inferences about brain function; however, naturally occurring lesions in the anterior mid-cingulate cortex are rare. In two studies we therefore recruited 94 volunteers, comprising 15 patients with treatment-resistant depression who had received bilateral anterior cingulotomy, which consists of lesions made within the anterior mid-cingulate cortex, 20 patients with treatment-resistant depression who had not received surgery and 59 healthy control subjects. Using the Ekman 60 faces paradigm and two Stroop paradigms, we tested the hypothesis that patients who received anterior cingulotomy were impaired in recognizing negative facial affect expressions but not positive or neutral facial expressions, and impaired in Stroop cognitive control, with larger lesions being associated with more impairment. Consistent with this hypothesis, we found that larger volume lesions predicted more impairment in recognizing fear, disgust and anger, and no impairment in recognizing facial expressions of surprise or happiness. However, we found no impairment in recognizing expressions of sadness. Also consistent with the hypothesis, we found that larger volume lesions predicted impaired Stroop cognitive control. Notably, this relationship was only present when anterior mid-cingulate cortex lesion volume was defined as the overlap between cingulotomy lesion volume and Shackman's meta-analysis-derived binary masks for negative affect and cognitive control. Given substantial evidence from healthy subjects that the anterior mid-cingulate cortex is part of a network associated with the experience of negative affect and pain, engaging cognitive control processes for optimizing behaviour in the presence of such stimuli, our findings support the assertion that this region has a causal role in these processes. While the clinical justification for cingulotomy is empirical and not theoretical, it is plausible that lesions within a brain region associated with the subjective experience of negative affect and pain may be therapeutic for patients with otherwise intractable mood, anxiety and pain syndromes. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Decreased prefrontal Myo-inositol in major depressive disorder.

PubMed

Coupland, Nick J; Ogilvie, Catherine J; Hegadoren, Kathleen M; Seres, Peter; Hanstock, Chris C; Allen, Peter S

2005-06-15

Postmortem studies have shown robust prefrontal cortex glial losses and more subtle neuronal changes in major depressive disorder (MDD). Earlier proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) studies of the glial marker myo-inositol in MDD were subject to potential confounds. The primary hypothesis of this study was that MDD patients would show reduced prefrontal/anterior cingulate cortex levels of myo-inositol. Thirteen nonmedicated moderate-severe MDD patients and 13 matched control subjects were studied (six male, seven female per group). Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy stimulated echo acquisition mode spectra (3.0 T; echo time=168 msec; mixing time=28 msec; repetition time=3000 msec) were obtained from prefrontal/anterior cingulate cortex. Metabolite data were adjusted for tissue composition. Patients with MDD showed significantly lower myo-inositol/creatine ratios (.94+/-.23) than control subjects (1.32+/-.37) [F(1,23)=6.9; p=.016]. These data suggest a reduction of myo-inositol in prefrontal/anterior cingulate cortex in MDD, which could be a consequence of glial loss or altered glial metabolism. Additional in vivo studies of glial markers could add to the understanding of the pathophysiology of MDD.

Conflict detection and resolution rely on a combination of common and distinct cognitive control networks.

PubMed

Li, Qi; Yang, Guochun; Li, Zhenghan; Qi, Yanyan; Cole, Michael W; Liu, Xun

2017-12-01

Cognitive control can be activated by stimulus-stimulus (S-S) and stimulus-response (S-R) conflicts. However, whether cognitive control is domain-general or domain-specific remains unclear. To deepen the understanding of the functional organization of cognitive control networks, we conducted activation likelihood estimation (ALE) from 111 neuroimaging studies to examine brain activation in conflict-related tasks. We observed that fronto-parietal and cingulo-opercular networks were commonly engaged by S-S and S-R conflicts, showing a domain-general pattern. In addition, S-S conflicts specifically activated distinct brain regions to a greater degree. These regions were implicated in the processing of the semantic-relevant attribute, including the inferior frontal cortex (IFC), superior parietal cortex (SPC), superior occipital cortex (SOC), and right anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). By contrast, S-R conflicts specifically activated the left thalamus, middle frontal cortex (MFC), and right SPC, which were associated with detecting response conflict and orienting spatial attention. These findings suggest that conflict detection and resolution involve a combination of domain-general and domain-specific cognitive control mechanisms. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Increased premotor cortex activation in high functioning autism during action observation.

PubMed

Perkins, Tom J; Bittar, Richard G; McGillivray, Jane A; Cox, Ivanna I; Stokes, Mark A

2015-04-01

The mirror neuron (MN) hypothesis of autism has received considerable attention, but to date has produced inconsistent findings. Using functional MRI, participants with high functioning autism or Asperger's syndrome were compared to typically developing individuals (n=12 in each group). Participants passively observed hand gestures that included waving, pointing, and grasping. Concerning the MN network, both groups activated similar regions including prefrontal, inferior parietal and superior temporal regions, with the autism group demonstrating significantly greater activation in the dorsal premotor cortex. Concerning other regions, participants with autism demonstrated increased activity in the anterior cingulate and medial frontal gyrus, and reduced activation in calcarine, cuneus, and middle temporal gyrus. These results suggest that during observation of hand gestures, frontal cortex activation is affected in autism, which we suggest may be linked to abnormal functioning of the MN system. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Steroid hormones and maternal experience interact to induce glial plasticity in the cingulate cortex.

PubMed

Salmaso, N; Nadeau, J; Woodside, B

2009-02-01

Neocortical plasticity is not usually associated with changes in reproductive function. However, we have shown a six to 10-fold increase in the number of astrocytes labeled with glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and astrocytic basic fibroblast growth factor or FGF-2 (bFGF) in the cingulate cortex area 2 (Cg2) in postpartum rats, indicative of changes in connectivity in this area. In the present studies, we investigated the necessary and sufficient stimuli for these changes to occur. We show that 3 h of maternal experience combined with a hormonal treatment that mimics late pregnancy induces the astrocytic changes in Cg2 in virgin rats. The extent of these changes was similar to those of postpartum females. Sensitized virgin females did not show any astrocytic changes after 3 h of maternal behavior, suggesting that a similar amount of maternal experience alone is not sufficient to increase astrocytic bFGF- and GFAP-immunoreactivity in Cg2. Consistent with these data, eliminating early maternal experience by removing pups immediately postpartum abolishes the increased bFGF and GFAP protein expression in the cingulate cortex. These results suggest that maternal experience and hormonal state interact to produce astrocytic remodeling in the Cg2. The current results are consistent with a role for the cingulate cortex in maternal responsivity as suggested by early lesion studies in rats and more recent imaging studies in humans.

Abrupt changes in the patterns and complexity of anterior cingulate cortex activity when food is introduced into an environment

PubMed Central

Caracheo, Barak F.; Emberly, Eldon; Hadizadeh, Shirin; Hyman, James M.; Seamans, Jeremy K.

2013-01-01

Foraging typically involves two distinct phases, an exploration phase where an organism explores its local environment in search of needed resources and an exploitation phase where a discovered resource is consumed. The behavior and cognitive requirements of exploration and exploitation are quite different and yet organisms can quickly and efficiently switch between them many times during a foraging bout. The present study investigated neural activity state dynamics in the anterior cingulate sub-region of the rat medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) when a reliable food source was introduced into an environment. Distinct and largely independent states were detected using a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) when food was present or absent in the environment. Measures of neural entropy or complexity decreased when rats went from exploring the environment to exploiting a reliable food source. Exploration in the absence of food was associated with many weak activity states, while bouts of food consumption were characterized by fewer stronger states. Widespread activity state changes in the mPFC may help to inform foraging decisions and focus behavior on what is currently most prominent or valuable in the environment. PMID:23745102

Functional MRI study of specific animal phobia using an event-related emotional counting stroop paradigm.

PubMed

Britton, Jennifer C; Gold, Andrea L; Deckersbach, Thilo; Rauch, Scott L

2009-01-01

Emotional interference tasks may be useful in probing anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) function to understand abnormal attentional study in individuals with specific phobia. In a 3 T functional MRI study, individuals with specific phobias of the animal subtype (SAP, n=12) and healthy comparison (HC) adults (n=12) completed an event-related emotional counting Stroop task. Individuals were presented phobia-related, negative, and neutral words and were instructed to report via button press the number of words displayed on each trial. Compared to the HC group, the SAP group exhibited greater rostral ACC activation (i.e., greater response to phobia-related words than neutral words). In this same contrast, HCs exhibited greater right amygdala and posterior insula activations as well as greater thalamic deactivation than the SAP group. Both groups exhibited anterior cingulate, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, inferior frontal gyrus/insula, and amygdala activations as well as thalamic deactivation. Psychophysiological interaction analysis highlighted a network of activation in these regions in response to phobia-related words in the SAP group. Taken together, these findings implicate a circuit of dysfunction, which is linked to attention abnormalities in individuals with SAP.

[Pain information pathways from the periphery to the cerebral cortex].

PubMed

Kuroda, Ryotaro; Kawabata, Atsufumi

2003-07-01

A recent PET study revealed that the first and second somatosensory cortices (SI, SII), and the anterior cingulate cortex are activated by painful peripheral stimulation in humans. It has become clear that painful signals (nociceptive information) evoked at the periphery are transmitted via various circuits to the multiple cerebral cortices where pain signals are processed and perceived. Human or clinical pain is not merely a modality of somatic sensation, but associated with the affect that accompanies sensation. Consequently, pain has a somatosensory-discriminative aspect and an affective-cognitive aspect that are processed in different but correlated brain structures in the ascending circuits. Considering the physiologic characteristics and fiber connections, the SI and SII cortices appear to be involved in somatosensory-discriminative pain, and the anterior cingulate cortex (area 24) in the affective-cognitive aspect of pain. This paper deals with the ascending pain pathways from the periphery to these cortices and their interconnections. Our recent findings on the protease-activated receptors 1 and 2 (PAR-1, and -2), which are confirmed to exist in the dorsal root ganglion cells, are also described. Activation of PAR-2 during inflammation or tissue injury at the periphery is pronociceptive, while PAR-1 appears to be antinociceptive. Based on the these findings, PAR-1 and PAR-2 are attracting interest as target molecules for new drug development.

Dissociable Brain Signatures of Choice Conflict and Immediate Reward Preferences in Alcohol Use Disorders

PubMed Central

Amlung, Michael; Sweet, Lawrence H.; Acker, John; Brown, Courtney L.; MacKillop, James

2013-01-01

Impulsive delayed reward discounting (DRD) is an important behavioral process in alcohol use disorders (AUDs), reflecting incapacity to delay gratification. Recent work in neuroeconomics has begun to unravel the neural mechanisms supporting DRD, but applications of neuroeconomics in relation to AUDs have been limited. This study examined the neural mechanisms of DRD preferences in AUDs, with emphasis on dissociating activation patterns based on DRD choice type and level of cognitive conflict. Heavy drinking adult males with (n = 13) and without (n = 12) a diagnosis of an AUD completed a monetary DRD task during a functional magnetic resonance imaging scan. Participant responses were coded based on choice type (impulsive vs. restrained) and level of cognitive conflict (easy vs. hard). AUD+ participants exhibited significantly more impulsive DRD decision-making. Significant activation during DRD was found in several decision-making regions, including dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), insula, posterior parietal cortex (PPC), and posterior cingulate. An axis of cognitive conflict was also observed, with hard choices associated with anterior cingulate cortex and easy choices associated with activation in supplementary motor area. AUD+ individuals exhibited significant hyperactivity in regions associated with cognitive control (DLPFC) and prospective thought (PPC) and exhibited less task-related deactivation of areas associated with the brain's default network during DRD decisions. This study provides further clarification of the brain systems supporting DRD in general and in relation to AUDs. PMID:23231650

Transient alcohol craving suppression by rTMS of dorsal anterior cingulate: an fMRI and LORETA EEG study.

PubMed

De Ridder, Dirk; Vanneste, Sven; Kovacs, Silvia; Sunaert, Stefan; Dom, Geert

2011-05-27

It has recently become clear that alcohol addiction might be related to a brain dysfunction, in which a genetic background and environmental factors shape brain mechanisms involved with alcohol consumption. Craving, a major component determining relapses in alcohol abuse has been linked to abnormal activity in the orbitofrontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulated cortex (dACC) and amygdala. We report the results of a patient who underwent rTMS targeting the dACC using a double cone coil in an attempt to suppress very severe intractable alcohol craving. Functional imaging studies consisting of fMRI and resting state EEG were performed before rTMS, after successful rTMS and after unsuccessful rTMS with relapse. Craving was associated with EEG beta activity and connectivity between the dACC and PCC in the patient in comparison to a healthy population, which disappeared after successful rTMS. Cue induced worsening of craving pre-rTMS activated the ACC-vmPFC and PCC on fMRI, as well as the nucleus accumbens area, and lateral frontoparietal areas. The nucleus accumbens, ACC-vmPFC and PCC activation disappeared on fMRI following successful rTMS. Relapse was associated with recurrence of ACC and PCC EEG activity, but in gamma band, in comparison to a healthy population. On fMRI nucleus accumbens, ACC and PCC activation returned to the initial activation pattern. A pathophysiological approach is described to suppress alcohol craving temporarily by rTMS directed at the anterior cingulate. Linking functional imaging changes to craving intensity suggests this approach warrants further exploration. Crown Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Integrating automatic and controlled processes into neurocognitive models of social cognition.

PubMed

Satpute, Ajay B; Lieberman, Matthew D

2006-03-24

Interest in the neural systems underlying social perception has expanded tremendously over the past few decades. However, gaps between behavioral literatures in social perception and neuroscience are still abundant. In this article, we apply the concept of dual-process models to neural systems in an effort to bridge the gap between many of these behavioral studies and neural systems underlying social perception. We describe and provide support for a neural division between reflexive and reflective systems. Reflexive systems correspond to automatic processes and include the amygdala, basal ganglia, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and lateral temporal cortex. Reflective systems correspond to controlled processes and include lateral prefrontal cortex, posterior parietal cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, rostral anterior cingulate cortex, and the hippocampus and surrounding medial temporal lobe region. This framework is considered to be a working model rather than a finished product. Finally, the utility of this model and its application to other social cognitive domains such as Theory of Mind are discussed.

A Psychological and Neuroanatomical Model of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

PubMed Central

Huey, Edward D.; Zahn, Roland; Krueger, Frank; Moll, Jorge; Kapogiannis, Dimitrios; Wassermann, Eric M.; Grafman, Jordan

2009-01-01

Imaging, surgical, and lesion studies suggest that the prefrontal cortex (orbitofrontal and anterior cingulate cortexes), basal ganglia, and thalamus are involved in the pathogenesis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). On the basis of these findings several models of OCD have been developed, but have had difficulty fully integrating the psychological and neuroanatomical findings of OCD. Recent research in the field of cognitive neuroscience on the normal function of these brain areas demonstrates the role of the orbitofrontal cortex in reward, the anterior cingulate cortex in error detection, the basal ganglia in affecting the threshold for activation of motor and behavioral programs, and the prefrontal cortex in storing memories of behavioral sequences (called “structured event complexes” or SECs). The authors propose that the initiation of these SECs can be accompanied by anxiety that is relieved with completion of the SEC, and that a deficit in this process could be responsible for many of the symptoms of OCD. Specifically, the anxiety can form the basis of an obsession, and a compulsion can be an attempt to receive relief from the anxiety by repeating parts of, or an entire, SEC. The authors discuss empiric support for, and specific experimental predictions of, this model. The authors believe that this model explains the specific symptoms, and integrates the psychology and neuroanatomy of OCD better than previous models. PMID:19196924

How task demands shape brain responses to visual food cues.

PubMed

Pohl, Tanja Maria; Tempelmann, Claus; Noesselt, Toemme

2017-06-01

Several previous imaging studies have aimed at identifying the neural basis of visual food cue processing in humans. However, there is little consistency of the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) results across studies. Here, we tested the hypothesis that this variability across studies might - at least in part - be caused by the different tasks employed. In particular, we assessed directly the influence of task set on brain responses to food stimuli with fMRI using two tasks (colour vs. edibility judgement, between-subjects design). When participants judged colour, the left insula, the left inferior parietal lobule, occipital areas, the left orbitofrontal cortex and other frontal areas expressed enhanced fMRI responses to food relative to non-food pictures. However, when judging edibility, enhanced fMRI responses to food pictures were observed in the superior and middle frontal gyrus and in medial frontal areas including the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. This pattern of results indicates that task sets can significantly alter the neural underpinnings of food cue processing. We propose that judging low-level visual stimulus characteristics - such as colour - triggers stimulus-related representations in the visual and even in gustatory cortex (insula), whereas discriminating abstract stimulus categories activates higher order representations in both the anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortex. Hum Brain Mapp 38:2897-2912, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Alpha7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors Modulate Motivation to Self-Administer Nicotine: Implications for Smoking and Schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Brunzell, Darlene H; McIntosh, J Michael

2012-01-01

Individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia have an exceptionally high risk for tobacco dependence. Postmortem studies show that these individuals have significant reductions in α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in several brain areas. Decreased α7-mediated function might not only be linked to schizophrenia but also to increased tobacco consumption. The purpose of this study was to determine whether pharmacological blockade of α7 nAChRs would increase motivation of rats to intravenously self-administer nicotine (NIC) during a progressive ratio schedule of reinforcement (PR). Before PR, rats received local infusions of 0, 10, or 20 pmol of a selective α7 nAChR antagonist, α-conotoxin ArIB [V11L,V16D] (ArIB) into the nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell or the anterior cingulate cortex, brain areas that contribute to motivation for drug reward. We additionally sought to determine whether local infusion of 0, 10, or 40 nmol of a selective α7 nAChR agonist, PNU 282987, into these brain areas would decrease motivation for NIC use. Infusion of ArIB into the NAc shell and anterior cingulate cortex resulted in a significant increase in active lever pressing, breakpoints, and NIC intake, suggesting that a decrease in α7 nAChR function increases motivation to work for NIC. In contrast, PNU 282987 infusion resulted in reductions in these measures when administered into the NAc shell, but had no effect after administration into the anterior cingulate cortex. These data identify reduction of α7 nAChR function as a potential mechanism for elevated tobacco use in schizophrenia and also identify activation of α7 nAChRs as a potential strategy for tobacco cessation therapy. PMID:22169946

Effects of pramipexole on the processing of rewarding and aversive taste stimuli.

PubMed

McCabe, Ciara; Harwood, James; Brouwer, Sietske; Harmer, Catherine J; Cowen, Philip J

2013-07-01

Pramipexole, a D2/D3 dopamine receptor agonist, has been implicated in the development of impulse control disorders in patients with Parkinson's disease. Investigation of single doses of pramipexole in healthy participants in reward-based learning tasks has shown inhibition of the neural processing of reward, presumptively through stimulation of dopamine autoreceptors. This study aims to examine the effects of pramipexole on the neural response to the passive receipt of rewarding and aversive sight and taste stimuli. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine the neural responses to the sight and taste of pleasant (chocolate) and aversive (mouldy strawberry) stimuli in 16 healthy volunteers who received a single dose of pramipexole (0.25 mg) and placebo in a double-blind, within-subject, design. Relative to placebo, pramipexole treatment reduced blood oxygen level-dependent activation to the chocolate stimuli in the areas known to play a key role in reward, including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, the orbitofrontal cortex, striatum, thalamus and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. Pramipexole also reduced activation to the aversive condition in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. There were no effects of pramipexole on the subjective ratings of the stimuli. Our results are consistent with an ability of acute, low-dose pramipexole to diminish dopamine-mediated responses to both rewarding and aversive taste stimuli, perhaps through an inhibitory action of D2/3 autoreceptors on phasic burst activity of midbrain dopamine neurones. The ability of pramipexole to inhibit aversive processing might potentiate its adverse behavioural effects and could also play a role in its proposed efficacy in treatment-resistant depression.

Dissociable effects of surprise and model update in parietal and anterior cingulate cortex

PubMed Central

O’Reilly, Jill X.; Schüffelgen, Urs; Cuell, Steven F.; Behrens, Timothy E. J.; Mars, Rogier B.; Rushworth, Matthew F. S.

2013-01-01

Brains use predictive models to facilitate the processing of expected stimuli or planned actions. Under a predictive model, surprising (low probability) stimuli or actions necessitate the immediate reallocation of processing resources, but they can also signal the need to update the underlying predictive model to reflect changes in the environment. Surprise and updating are often correlated in experimental paradigms but are, in fact, distinct constructs that can be formally defined as the Shannon information (IS) and Kullback–Leibler divergence (DKL) associated with an observation. In a saccadic planning task, we observed that distinct behaviors and brain regions are associated with surprise/IS and updating/DKL. Although surprise/IS was associated with behavioral reprogramming as indexed by slower reaction times, as well as with activity in the posterior parietal cortex [human lateral intraparietal area (LIP)], the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) was specifically activated during updating of the predictive model (DKL). A second saccade-sensitive region in the inferior posterior parietal cortex (human 7a), which has connections to both LIP and ACC, was activated by surprise and modulated by updating. Pupillometry revealed a further dissociation between surprise and updating with an early positive effect of surprise and late negative effect of updating on pupil area. These results give a computational account of the roles of the ACC and two parietal saccade regions, LIP and 7a, by which their involvement in diverse tasks can be understood mechanistically. The dissociation of functional roles between regions within the reorienting/reprogramming network may also inform models of neurological phenomena, such as extinction and Balint syndrome, and neglect. PMID:23986499

Anterior Cingulate Cortex γ-Aminobutyric Acid in Depressed Adolescents

PubMed Central

Gabbay, Vilma; Mao, Xiangling; Klein, Rachel G.; Ely, Benjamin A.; Babb, James S.; Panzer, Aviva M.; Alonso, Carmen M.; Shungu, Dikoma C.

2013-01-01

Context Anhedonia, a core symptom of major depressive disorder (MDD) and highly variable among adolescents with MDD, may involve alterations in the major inhibitory amino acid neurotransmitter system of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Objective To test whether anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) GABA levels, measured by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy, are decreased in adolescents with MDD. The associations of GABA alterations with the presence and severity of anhedonia were explored. Design Case-control, cross-sectional study using single-voxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy at 3 T. Setting Two clinical research divisions at 2 teaching hospitals. Participants Twenty psychotropic medication-free adolescents with MDD (10 anhedonic, 12 female, aged 12–19 years) with episode duration of 8 weeks or more and 21 control subjects group matched for sex and age. Main Outcome Measures Anterior cingulate cortex GABA levels expressed as ratios relative to unsuppressed voxel tissue water (w) and anhedonia scores expressed as a continuous variable. Results Compared with control subjects, adolescents with MDD had significantly decreased ACC GABA/w (t= 3.2; P<.003). When subjects with MDD were categorized based on the presence of anhedonia, only anhedonic patients had decreased GABA/w levels compared with control subjects (t=4.08; P<.001; PTukey<.001). Anterior cingulate cortex GABA/w levels were negatively correlated with anhedonia scores for the whole MDD group (r = −0.50; P = .02), as well as for the entire participant sample including the control subjects (r=−0.54; P<.001). Anterior cingulate cortex white matter was also significantly decreased in adolescents with MDD compared with controls (P=.04). Conclusions These findings suggest that GABA, the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain, may be implicated in adolescent MDD and, more specifically, in those with anhedonia. In addition, use of a continuous rather than categorical scale of anhedonia, as in the present study, may permit greater specificity in evaluating this important clinical feature. PMID:21969419

Monitoring glutamate levels in the posterior cingulate cortex of thyroid dysfunction patients with TE-averaged PRESS at 3T.

PubMed

Zhang, Qiujuan; Bai, Zhilan; Gong, Yan; Liu, Xinxin; Dai, Xiaoqing; Wang, Shejiao; Liu, Feng

2015-07-01

Patients with thyroid dysfunction frequently have neuropsychiatric complaints such as lack of concentration, poor memory, depression, anxiety and mania, which suggest brain dysfunction. However, the underlying process of this dysfunction remains unclear. Recent studies of the glutamatergic system have offered important insight into the neuropsychiatric process. Thus, this study investigates changes in glutamate concentration in patients with thyroid dysfunction. It also clarifies whether Glu levels are related to thyroid hormones via proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. 36 untreated patients with thyroid dysfunction (18 hyperthyroidism patients and 18 hypothyroidism patients) and 18 age- and gender-matched controls were included in this study. The posterior cingulate cortex was examined by MRS with TE-averaged PRESS at 3T. The intensity of glutamate, choline, N-acetylaspartate, and creatine was assessed using jMRUI v4.0 software. We found a significant difference among hyper-/hypo- and control groups in Glu (P=0.003) and Cho (P=0.015). The concentrations of glutamate increased (P=0.006) in the posterior cingulate cortex in patients with hypothyroidism and significantly decreased (P=0.002) in hyperthyroidism patients relative to controls. There were no difference in the concentrations of choline between hyperthyroidism patients and controls (P=0.679). Versus the hyperthyroidism group, the hypothyroidism group showed increased glutamate (P=0.018) and choline (P=0.001) in the posterior cingulate cortex. There was no significant difference in the concentrations of NAA or creatine across the three groups (P>0.05). The Glu level correlates with TT3 (P=0.000) and FT3 (P=0.022). The signal intensity of glutamate shows significant differences in the region of the posterior cingulate cortex in patients with thyroid dysfunction. This change indicates a potential role of glutamate in the brain dysfunction experience by patients with thyroid hormone disorders. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Anticipatory activity in anterior cingulate cortex can be independent of conflict and error likelihood.

PubMed

Aarts, Esther; Roelofs, Ardi; van Turennout, Miranda

2008-04-30

Previous studies have found no agreement on whether anticipatory activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) reflects upcoming conflict, error likelihood, or actual control adjustments. Using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated the nature of preparatory activity in the ACC. Informative cues told the participants whether an upcoming target would or would not involve conflict in a Stroop-like task. Uninformative cues provided no such information. Behavioral responses were faster after informative than after uninformative cues, indicating cue-based adjustments in control. ACC activity was larger after informative than uninformative cues, as would be expected if the ACC is involved in anticipatory control. Importantly, this activation in the ACC was observed for informative cues even when the information conveyed by the cue was that the upcoming target evokes no response conflict and has low error likelihood. This finding demonstrates that the ACC is involved in anticipatory control processes independent of upcoming response conflict or error likelihood. Moreover, the response of the ACC to the target stimuli was critically dependent on whether the cue was informative or not. ACC activity differed among target conditions after uninformative cues only, indicating ACC involvement in actual control adjustments. Together, these findings argue strongly for a role of the ACC in anticipatory control independent of anticipated conflict and error likelihood, and also show that such control can eliminate conflict-related ACC activity during target processing. Models of frontal cortex conflict-detection and conflict-resolution mechanisms require modification to include consideration of these anticipatory control properties of the ACC.

Emotional Processing in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of 25 Functional Neuroimaging Studies.

PubMed

Thorsen, Anders Lillevik; Hagland, Pernille; Radua, Joaquim; Mataix-Cols, David; Kvale, Gerd; Hansen, Bjarne; van den Heuvel, Odile A

2018-06-01

Patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) experience aversive emotions in response to obsessions, motivating avoidance and compulsive behaviors. However, there is considerable ambiguity regarding the brain circuitry involved in emotional processing in OCD, especially whether activation is altered in the amygdala. We conducted a systematic literature review and performed a meta-analysis-seed-based d mapping-of 25 whole-brain neuroimaging studies (including 571 patients and 564 healthy control subjects) using functional magnetic resonance imaging or positron emission tomography, comparing brain activation of patients with OCD and healthy control subjects during presentation of emotionally valenced versus neutral stimuli. Meta-regressions were employed to investigate possible moderators. Patients with OCD, compared with healthy control subjects, showed increased activation in the bilateral amygdala, right putamen, orbitofrontal cortex extending into the anterior cingulate and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and middle temporal and left inferior occipital cortices during emotional processing. Right amygdala hyperactivation was most pronounced in unmedicated patients. Symptom severity was related to increased activation in the orbitofrontal and anterior cingulate cortices and precuneus. Greater comorbidity with mood and anxiety disorders was associated with higher activation in the right amygdala, putamen, and insula as well as with lower activation in the left amygdala and right ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Patients with OCD show increased emotional processing-related activation in limbic, frontal, and temporal regions. Previous mixed evidence regarding the role of the amygdala in OCD has likely been influenced by patient characteristics (such as medication status) and low statistical power. Copyright © 2018 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Disrupted directed connectivity along the cingulate cortex determines vigilance after sleep deprivation

PubMed Central

Piantoni, Giovanni; Cheung, Bing Leung P.; Van Veen, Barry D.; Romeijn, Nico; Riedner, Brady A.; Tononi, Giulio; Van Der Werf, Ysbrand D.; Van Someren, Eus J.W.

2013-01-01

The cingulate cortex is regarded as the backbone of structural and functional connectivity of the brain. While its functional connectivity has been intensively studied, little is known about its effective connectivity, its modulation by behavioral states, and its involvement in cognitive performance. Given their previously reported effects on cingulate functional connectivity, we investigated how eye-closure and sleep deprivation changed cingulate effective connectivity, estimated from resting-state high-density electroencephalography (EEG) using a novel method to calculate Granger Causality directly in source space. Effective connectivity along the cingulate cortex was dominant in the forward direction. Eyes-open connectivity in the forward direction was greater compared to eyes-closed, in well-rested participants. The difference between eyes-open and eyes-closed connectivity was attenuated and no longer significant after sleep deprivation. Individual variability in the forward connectivity after sleep deprivation predicted subsequent task performance, such that those subjects who showed a greater increase in forward connectivity between the eyes-open and the eyes-closed periods also performed better on a sustained attention task. Effective connectivity in the opposite, backward, direction was not affected by whether the eyes were open or closed or by sleep deprivation. These findings indicate that the effective connectivity from posterior to anterior cingulate regions is enhanced when a well-rested subject has his eyes open compared to when they are closed. Sleep deprivation impairs this directed information flow, proportional to its deleterious effect on vigilance. Therefore, sleep may play a role in the maintenance of waking effective connectivity. PMID:23643925

Default Mode and Executive Networks Areas: Association with the Serial Order in Divergent Thinking

PubMed Central

Heinonen, Jarmo; Numminen, Jussi; Hlushchuk, Yevhen; Antell, Henrik; Taatila, Vesa; Suomala, Jyrki

2016-01-01

Scientific findings have suggested a two-fold structure of the cognitive process. By using the heuristic thinking mode, people automatically process information that tends to be invariant across days, whereas by using the explicit thinking mode people explicitly process information that tends to be variant compared to typical previously learned information patterns. Previous studies on creativity found an association between creativity and the brain regions in the prefrontal cortex, the anterior cingulate cortex, the default mode network and the executive network. However, which neural networks contribute to the explicit mode of thinking during idea generation remains an open question. We employed an fMRI paradigm to examine which brain regions were activated when participants (n = 16) mentally generated alternative uses for everyday objects. Most previous creativity studies required participants to verbalize responses during idea generation, whereas in this study participants produced mental alternatives without verbalizing. This study found activation in the left anterior insula when contrasting idea generation and object identification. This finding suggests that the insula (part of the brain’s salience network) plays a role in facilitating both the central executive and default mode networks to activate idea generation. We also investigated closely the effect of the serial order of idea being generated on brain responses: The amplitude of fMRI responses correlated positively with the serial order of idea being generated in the anterior cingulate cortex, which is part of the central executive network. Positive correlation with the serial order was also observed in the regions typically assigned to the default mode network: the precuneus/cuneus, inferior parietal lobule and posterior cingulate cortex. These networks support the explicit mode of thinking and help the individual to convert conventional mental models to new ones. The serial order correlated negatively with the BOLD responses in the posterior presupplementary motor area, left premotor cortex, right cerebellum and left inferior frontal gyrus. This finding might imply that idea generation without a verbal processing demand reflecting lack of need for new object identification in idea generation events. The results of the study are consistent with recent creativity studies, which emphasize that the creativity process involves working memory capacity to spontaneously shift between different kinds of thinking modes according to the context. PMID:27627760

Brain Mechanisms Underlying Urge Incontinence and its Response to Pelvic Floor Muscle Training.

PubMed

Griffiths, Derek; Clarkson, Becky; Tadic, Stasa D; Resnick, Neil M

2015-09-01

Urge urinary incontinence is a major problem, especially in the elderly, and to our knowledge the underlying mechanisms of disease and therapy are unknown. We used biofeedback assisted pelvic floor muscle training and functional brain imaging (functional magnetic resonance imaging) to investigate cerebral mechanisms, aiming to improve the understanding of brain-bladder control and therapy. Before receiving biofeedback assisted pelvic floor muscle training functionally intact, older community dwelling women with urge urinary incontinence as well as normal controls underwent comprehensive clinical and bladder diary evaluation, urodynamic testing and brain functional magnetic resonance imaging. Evaluation was repeated after pelvic floor muscle training in those with urge urinary incontinence. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was done to determine the brain reaction to rapid bladder filling with urgency. Of 65 subjects with urge urinary incontinence 28 responded to biofeedback assisted pelvic floor muscle training with 50% or greater improvement of urge urinary incontinence frequency on diary. However, responders and nonresponders displayed 2 patterns of brain reaction. In pattern 1 in responders before pelvic floor muscle training the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and the adjacent supplementary motor area were activated as well as the insula. After the training dorsal anterior cingulate cortex/supplementary motor area activation diminished and there was a trend toward medial prefrontal cortex deactivation. In pattern 2 in nonresponders before pelvic floor muscle training the medial prefrontal cortex was deactivated, which changed little after the training. In older women with urge urinary incontinence there appears to be 2 patterns of brain reaction to bladder filling and they seem to predict the response and nonresponse to biofeedback assisted pelvic floor muscle training. Moreover, decreased cingulate activation appears to be a consequence of the improvement in urge urinary incontinence induced by training while prefrontal deactivation may be a mechanism contributing to the success of training. In nonresponders the latter mechanism is unavailable, which may explain why another form of therapy is required. Copyright © 2015 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Impact of Family History of Alcoholism on Glutamine/Glutamate Ratio in Anterior Cingulate Cortex in Substance-Naïve Adolescents

PubMed Central

Cohen-Gilbert, Julia E.; Sneider, Jennifer T.; Crowley, David J.; Rosso, Isabelle M.; Jensen, J. Eric; Silveri, Marisa M.

2015-01-01

Neuroimaging studies of individuals with family histories of alcoholism provide evidence suggesting neurobiological risk factors for alcoholism. Youth family history positive (FH+) for alcoholism exhibit increased impulsivity compared to family history negative (FH−) peers, in conjunction with altered functional activation in prefrontal cortex, including anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). This study examined glutamate (Glu) and glutamine (Gln), amino acids vital to protein synthesis, cellular metabolism and neurotransmission, acquired from ACC and parieto-occipital cortex (POC) using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) at 4T. Participants were 28 adolescents (13 male, 12–14yrs) and 31 emerging adults (16 male, 18–25yrs), stratified into FH− and FH+ groups. Significantly higher ACC Gln/Glu was observed in emerging adults versus adolescents in FH− but not FH+ groups. In FH− adolescents, higher impulsivity was significantly associated with higher ACC Gln/Glu. In FH+ emerging adults, higher impulsivity was negatively associated with ACC Gln/Glu. No differences or associations were observed for POC. These findings provide preliminary evidence that family history of alcoholism is associated with a neurochemical profile that may influence normative age differences in glutamatergic metabolites and their association with impulse control, which together could confer greater genetic risk of addiction later in life. PMID:26025607

Brain activation during dual-task processing is associated with cardiorespiratory fitness and performance in older adults

PubMed Central

Wong, Chelsea N.; Chaddock-Heyman, Laura; Voss, Michelle W.; Burzynska, Agnieszka Z.; Basak, Chandramallika; Erickson, Kirk I.; Prakash, Ruchika S.; Szabo-Reed, Amanda N.; Phillips, Siobhan M.; Wojcicki, Thomas; Mailey, Emily L.; McAuley, Edward; Kramer, Arthur F.

2015-01-01

Higher cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with better cognitive performance and enhanced brain activation. Yet, the extent to which cardiorespiratory fitness-related brain activation is associated with better cognitive performance is not well understood. In this cross-sectional study, we examined whether the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and executive function was mediated by greater prefrontal cortex activation in healthy older adults. Brain activation was measured during dual-task performance with functional magnetic resonance imaging in a sample of 128 healthy older adults (59–80 years). Higher cardiorespiratory fitness was associated with greater activation during dual-task processing in several brain areas including the anterior cingulate and supplementary motor cortex (ACC/SMA), thalamus and basal ganglia, right motor/somatosensory cortex and middle frontal gyrus, and left somatosensory cortex, controlling for age, sex, education, and gray matter volume. Of these regions, greater ACC/SMA activation mediated the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and dual-task performance. We provide novel evidence that cardiorespiratory fitness may support cognitive performance by facilitating brain activation in a core region critical for executive function. PMID:26321949

Perfusion functional MRI reveals cerebral blood flow pattern under psychological stress

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jiongjiong; Rao, Hengyi; Wetmore, Gabriel S.; Furlan, Patricia M.; Korczykowski, Marc; Dinges, David F.; Detre, John A.

2005-12-01

Despite the prevalence of stress in everyday life and its impact on happiness, health, and cognition, little is known about the neural substrate of the experience of everyday stress in humans. We use a quantitative and noninvasive neuroimaging technique, arterial spin-labeling perfusion MRI, to measure cerebral blood flow (CBF) changes associated with mild to moderate stress induced by a mental arithmetic task with performance monitoring. Elicitation of stress was verified by self-report of stress and emotional state and measures of heart rate and salivary-cortisol level. The change in CBF induced by the stress task was positively correlated with subjective stress rating in the ventral right prefrontal cortex (RPFC) and left insula/putamen area. The ventral RPFC along with right insula/putamen and anterior cingulate showed sustained activation after task completion in subjects reporting a high stress level during arithmetic tasks. Additionally, variations of baseline CBF in the ventral RPFC and right orbitofrontal cortex were found to correlate with changes in salivary-cortisol level and heart rate caused by undergoing stress tasks. We further demonstrated that the observed right prefrontal activation could not be attributed to increased cognitive demand accompanying stress tasks and extended beyond neural pathways associated with negative emotions. Our results provide neuroimaging evidence that psychological stress induces negative emotion and vigilance and that the ventral RPFC plays a key role in the central stress response. anterior cingulate cortex | arterial spin labeling | right prefrontal cortex

Emotional bias of cognitive control in adults with childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

PubMed Central

Schulz, Kurt P.; Bédard, Anne-Claude V.; Fan, Jin; Clerkin, Suzanne M.; Dima, Danai; Newcorn, Jeffrey H.; Halperin, Jeffrey M.

2014-01-01

Affect recognition deficits found in individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) across the lifespan may bias the development of cognitive control processes implicated in the pathophysiology of the disorder. This study aimed to determine the mechanism through which facial expressions influence cognitive control in young adults diagnosed with ADHD in childhood. Fourteen probands with childhood ADHD and 14 comparison subjects with no history of ADHD were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a face emotion go/no-go task. Event-related analyses contrasted activation and functional connectivity for cognitive control collapsed over face valence and tested for variations in activation for response execution and inhibition as a function of face valence. Probands with childhood ADHD made fewer correct responses and inhibitions overall than comparison subjects, but demonstrated comparable effects of face emotion on response execution and inhibition. The two groups showed similar frontotemporal activation for cognitive control collapsed across face valence, but differed in the functional connectivity of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, with fewer interactions with the subgenual cingulate cortex, inferior frontal gyrus, and putamen in probands than in comparison subjects. Further, valence-dependent activation for response execution was seen in the amygdala, ventral striatum, subgenual cingulate cortex, and orbitofrontal cortex in comparison subjects but not in probands. The findings point to functional anomalies in limbic networks for both the valence-dependent biasing of cognitive control and the valence-independent cognitive control of face emotion processing in probands with childhood ADHD. This limbic dysfunction could impact cognitive control in emotional contexts and may contribute to the social and emotional problems associated with ADHD. PMID:24918067

Emotional bias of cognitive control in adults with childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

PubMed

Schulz, Kurt P; Bédard, Anne-Claude V; Fan, Jin; Clerkin, Suzanne M; Dima, Danai; Newcorn, Jeffrey H; Halperin, Jeffrey M

2014-01-01

Affect recognition deficits found in individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) across the lifespan may bias the development of cognitive control processes implicated in the pathophysiology of the disorder. This study aimed to determine the mechanism through which facial expressions influence cognitive control in young adults diagnosed with ADHD in childhood. Fourteen probands with childhood ADHD and 14 comparison subjects with no history of ADHD were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a face emotion go/no-go task. Event-related analyses contrasted activation and functional connectivity for cognitive control collapsed over face valence and tested for variations in activation for response execution and inhibition as a function of face valence. Probands with childhood ADHD made fewer correct responses and inhibitions overall than comparison subjects, but demonstrated comparable effects of face emotion on response execution and inhibition. The two groups showed similar frontotemporal activation for cognitive control collapsed across face valence, but differed in the functional connectivity of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, with fewer interactions with the subgenual cingulate cortex, inferior frontal gyrus, and putamen in probands than in comparison subjects. Further, valence-dependent activation for response execution was seen in the amygdala, ventral striatum, subgenual cingulate cortex, and orbitofrontal cortex in comparison subjects but not in probands. The findings point to functional anomalies in limbic networks for both the valence-dependent biasing of cognitive control and the valence-independent cognitive control of face emotion processing in probands with childhood ADHD. This limbic dysfunction could impact cognitive control in emotional contexts and may contribute to the social and emotional problems associated with ADHD.

Brain Mechanisms Supporting Discrimination of Sensory Features of Pain: A New Model

PubMed Central

Oshiro, Yoshitetsu; Quevedo, Alexandre S.; McHaffie, John G.; Kraft, Robert A.; Coghill, Robert C.

2010-01-01

Pain can be very intense or only mild, and can be well localized or diffuse. To date, little is known as to how such distinct sensory aspects of noxious stimuli are processed by the human brain. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging and a delayed match-to-sample task, we show that discrimination of pain intensity, a non-spatial aspect of pain, activates a ventrally directed pathway extending bilaterally from the insular cortex to the prefrontal cortex. This activation is distinct from the dorsally-directed activation of the posterior parietal cortex and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex that occurs during spatial discrimination of pain. Both intensity and spatial discrimination tasks activate highly similar aspects of the anterior cingulate cortex, suggesting that this structure contributes to common elements of the discrimination task such as the monitoring of sensory comparisons and response selection. Taken together, these results provide the foundation for a new model of pain in which bidirectional dorsal and ventral streams preferentially amplify and process distinct sensory features of noxious stimuli according to top-down task demands. PMID:19940188

Distracted and down: neural mechanisms of affective interference in subclinical depression

PubMed Central

Andrews-Hanna, Jessica R.; Spielberg, Jeffrey M.; Warren, Stacie L.; Sutton, Bradley P.; Miller, Gregory A.; Heller, Wendy; Banich, Marie T.

2015-01-01

Previous studies have shown that depressed individuals have difficulty directing attention away from negative distractors, a phenomenon known as affective interference. However, findings are mixed regarding the neural mechanisms and network dynamics of affective interference. The present study addressed these issues by comparing neural activation during emotion-word and color-word Stroop tasks in participants with varying levels of (primarily subclinical) depression. Depressive symptoms predicted increased activation to negative distractors in areas of dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), regions implicated in cognitive control and internally directed attention, respectively. Increased dACC activity was also observed in the group-average response to incongruent distractors, suggesting that dACC activity during affective interference is related to overtaxed cognitive control. In contrast, regions of PCC were deactivated across the group in response to incongruent distractors, suggesting that PCC activity during affective interference represents task-independent processing. A psychophysiological interaction emerged in which higher depression predicted more positively correlated activity between dACC and PCC during affective interference, i.e. greater connectivity between cognitive control and internal-attention systems. These findings suggest that, when individuals high in depression are confronted by negative material, increased attention to internal thoughts and difficulty shifting resources to the external world interfere with goal-directed behavior. PMID:25062838

Ageing diminishes the modulation of human brain responses to visual food cues by meal ingestion.

PubMed

Cheah, Y S; Lee, S; Ashoor, G; Nathan, Y; Reed, L J; Zelaya, F O; Brammer, M J; Amiel, S A

2014-09-01

Rates of obesity are greatest in middle age. Obesity is associated with altered activity of brain networks sensing food-related stimuli and internal signals of energy balance, which modulate eating behaviour. The impact of healthy mid-life ageing on these processes has not been characterised. We therefore aimed to investigate changes in brain responses to food cues, and the modulatory effect of meal ingestion on such evoked neural activity, from young adulthood to middle age. Twenty-four healthy, right-handed subjects, aged 19.5-52.6 years, were studied on separate days after an overnight fast, randomly receiving 50 ml water or 554 kcal mixed meal before functional brain magnetic resonance imaging while viewing visual food cues. Across the group, meal ingestion reduced food cue-evoked activity of amygdala, putamen, insula and thalamus, and increased activity in precuneus and bilateral parietal cortex. Corrected for body mass index, ageing was associated with decreasing food cue-evoked activation of right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and precuneus, and increasing activation of left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), bilateral temporal lobe and posterior cingulate in the fasted state. Ageing was also positively associated with the difference in food cue-evoked activation between fed and fasted states in the right DLPFC, bilateral amygdala and striatum, and negatively associated with that of the left orbitofrontal cortex and VLPFC, superior frontal gyrus, left middle and temporal gyri, posterior cingulate and precuneus. There was an overall tendency towards decreasing modulatory effects of prior meal ingestion on food cue-evoked regional brain activity with increasing age. Healthy ageing to middle age is associated with diminishing sensitivity to meal ingestion of visual food cue-evoked activity in brain regions that represent the salience of food and direct food-associated behaviour. Reduced satiety sensing may have a role in the greater risk of obesity in middle age.

Aberrant Neural Function during Emotion Attribution in Female Subjects with Fragile X Syndrome

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hagan, Cindy C.; Hoeft, Fumiko; Mackey, Allyson; Mobbs, Dean; Reiss, Allan L.

2008-01-01

The neurobiological systems which underlie emotion attribution among female patients with Fragile X (FraX) syndrome are examined. Results show that the emotion circuit which regulates responses to facial stimuli is potentially disrupted among female subjects with FraX syndrome. Anterior cingulate cortex activity in female subjects with FraX…

Dissociated emergent-response system and fine-processing system in human neural network and a heuristic neural architecture for autonomous humanoid robots.

PubMed

Yan, Xiaodan

2010-01-01

The current study investigated the functional connectivity of the primary sensory system with resting state fMRI and applied such knowledge into the design of the neural architecture of autonomous humanoid robots. Correlation and Granger causality analyses were utilized to reveal the functional connectivity patterns. Dissociation was within the primary sensory system, in that the olfactory cortex and the somatosensory cortex were strongly connected to the amygdala whereas the visual cortex and the auditory cortex were strongly connected with the frontal cortex. The posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) were found to maintain constant communication with the primary sensory system, the frontal cortex, and the amygdala. Such neural architecture inspired the design of dissociated emergent-response system and fine-processing system in autonomous humanoid robots, with separate processing units and another consolidation center to coordinate the two systems. Such design can help autonomous robots to detect and respond quickly to danger, so as to maintain their sustainability and independence.

Exposure to GSM 900 MHz electromagnetic fields affects cerebral cytochrome c oxidase activity.

PubMed

Ammari, Mohamed; Lecomte, Anthony; Sakly, Mohsen; Abdelmelek, Hafedh; de-Seze, René

2008-08-19

The world-wide and rapidly growing use of mobile phones has raised serious concerns about the biological and health-related effects of radio frequency (RF) radiation, particularly concerns about the effects of RFs upon the nervous system. The goal of this study was conducted to measure cytochrome oxidase (CO) levels using histochemical methods in order to evaluate regional brain metabolic activity in rat brain after exposure to a GSM 900 MHz signal for 45 min/day at a brain-averaged specific absorption rate (SAR) of 1.5 W/Kg or for 15 min/day at a SAR of 6 W/Kg over seven days. Compared to the sham and control cage groups, rats exposed to a GSM signal at 6 W/Kg showed decreased CO activity in some areas of the prefrontal and frontal cortex (infralimbic cortex, prelimbic cortex, primary motor cortex, secondary motor cortex, anterior cingulate cortex areas 1 and 2 (Cg1 and Cg2)), the septum (dorsal and ventral parts of the lateral septal nucleus), the hippocampus (dorsal field CA1, CA2 and CA3 of the hippocampus and dental gyrus) and the posterior cortex (retrosplenial agranular cortex, primary and secondary visual cortex, perirhinal cortex and lateral entorhinal cortex). However, the exposure to GSM at 1.5 W/Kg did not affect brain activity. Our results indicate that 6 W/Kg GSM 900 MHz microwaves may affect brain metabolism and neuronal activity in rats.

Outward current produced by somatostatin (SRIF) in rat anterior cingulate pyramidal cells in vitro

PubMed Central

Hicks, G A; Feniuk, W; Humphrey, P P A

1998-01-01

A high density of receptors for somatostatin (SRIF) exists in the anterior cingulate cortex but their function is unknown. Whole-cell patch clamp recordings were made from visualized deep layer pyramidal cells of the rat anterior cingulate cortex contained in isolated brain slices to investigate the putative effects of SRIF and to identify the receptor subtype(s) involved.SRIF (1–1000 nM) produced a concentration-dependent outward current which was associated with an increased membrane conductance, was sensitive to Ba2+ (300 μM–1 mM), and was absent in the presence of a maximal concentration of the GABAB receptor agonist, baclofen (100 μM). These observations suggest the outward current was carried by K+ ions.SRIF analogues also elicited outward currents with a rank potency order of (EC50, nM): octreotide (1.8)>BIM-23027 (3.7)>SRIF (20)=L-362,855 (20). BIM-23056 was without agonist or antagonist activity. Responses to L-362,855 were unlike those to the other agonists since they were sustained for the duration of the application.The sst2 receptor antagonist, L-Tyr8Cyanamid 154806 (1 μM), had no effect alone but partially reversed responses to submaximal concentrations of SRIF (100 nM, 44±6% reversal) and L-362,855 (100 nM, 70±6% reversal) and fully reversed the response to BIM-23027 (10 nM). In contrast, L-Tyr8Cyanamid 154806 did not antagonize the response to baclofen (10 μM).We conclude that SRIF activates a K+ conductance in anterior cingulate pyramidal neurones via an action predominantly at sst2 receptors. PMID:9630367

Differential neural responses to food images in women with bulimia versus anorexia nervosa.

PubMed

Brooks, Samantha J; O'Daly, Owen G; Uher, Rudolf; Friederich, Hans-Christoph; Giampietro, Vincent; Brammer, Michael; Williams, Steven C R; Schiöth, Helgi B; Treasure, Janet; Campbell, Iain C

2011-01-01

Previous fMRI studies show that women with eating disorders (ED) have differential neural activation to viewing food images. However, despite clinical differences in their responses to food, differential neural activation to thinking about eating food, between women with anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) is not known. We compare 50 women (8 with BN, 18 with AN and 24 age-matched healthy controls [HC]) while they view food images during functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). In response to food (vs non-food) images, women with BN showed greater neural activation in the visual cortex, right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, right insular cortex and precentral gyrus, women with AN showed greater activation in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, cerebellum and right precuneus. HC women activated the cerebellum, right insular cortex, right medial temporal lobe and left caudate. Direct comparisons revealed that compared to HC, the BN group showed relative deactivation in the bilateral superior temporal gyrus/insula, and visual cortex, and compared to AN had relative deactivation in the parietal lobe and dorsal posterior cingulate cortex, but greater activation in the caudate, superior temporal gyrus, right insula and supplementary motor area. Women with AN and BN activate top-down cognitive control in response to food images, yet women with BN have increased activation in reward and somatosensory regions, which might impinge on cognitive control over food consumption and binge eating.

Decreased cerebral blood flow of the right anterior cingulate cortex in long-term and short-term abstinent methamphetamine users.

PubMed

Hwang, Jaeuk; Lyoo, In Kyoon; Kim, Seog Ju; Sung, Young Hoon; Bae, Soojeong; Cho, Sung-Nam; Lee, Ho Young; Lee, Dong Soo; Renshaw, Perry F

2006-04-28

The aim of the current study was to explore changes of relative regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in short-term and long-term abstinent methamphetamine (MA) users. Relative rCBF in 40 abstinent MA users and 23 healthy comparison subjects was compared by the technetium-99m-hexamethyl-propylene amine oxime ((99m)Tc-HMPAO) single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Relative rCBF in areas that were found to differ significantly was also compared in groups of MA users with short-term (<6 months) and long-term (>or=6 months) abstinence. MA users showed decreased relative rCBF in the right anterior cingulate cortex (Brodmann area 32) relative to healthy comparison subjects. Long-term abstinent MA users had significantly greater rCBF than short-term abstinent MA users. We report that abstinent MA users have decreased rCBF in the anterior cingulate cortex with smaller relative decreases in subjects with prolonged abstinence.

Semantic strategy training increases memory performance and brain activity in patients with prefrontal cortex lesions.

PubMed

Miotto, Eliane C; Savage, Cary R; Evans, Jonathan J; Wilson, Barbara A; Martin, Maria G M; Balardin, Joana B; Barros, Fabio G; Garrido, Griselda; Teixeira, Manoel J; Amaro Junior, Edson

2013-03-01

Memory deficit is a frequent cognitive disorder following acquired prefrontal cortex lesions. In the present study, we investigated the brain correlates of a short semantic strategy training and memory performance of patients with distinct prefrontal cortex lesions using fMRI and cognitive tests. Twenty-one adult patients with post-acute prefrontal cortex (PFC) lesions, twelve with left dorsolateral PFC (LPFC) and nine with bilateral orbitofrontal cortex (BOFC) were assessed before and after a short cognitive semantic training using a verbal memory encoding paradigm during scanning and neuropsychological tests outside the scanner. After the semantic strategy training both groups of patients showed significant behavioral improvement in verbal memory recall and use of semantic strategies. In the LPFC group, greater activity in left inferior and medial frontal gyrus, precentral gyrus and insula was found after training. For the BOFC group, a greater activation was found in the left parietal cortex, right cingulated and precuneus after training. The activation of these specific areas in the memory and executive networks following cognitive training was associated to compensatory brain mechanisms and application of the semantic strategy. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Regret and its avoidance: a neuroimaging study of choice behavior.

PubMed

Coricelli, Giorgio; Critchley, Hugo D; Joffily, Mateus; O'Doherty, John P; Sirigu, Angela; Dolan, Raymond J

2005-09-01

Human decisions can be shaped by predictions of emotions that ensue after choosing advantageously or disadvantageously. Indeed, anticipating regret is a powerful predictor of future choices. We measured brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while subjects selected between two gambles wherein regret was induced by providing information about the outcome of the unchosen gamble. Increasing regret enhanced activity in the medial orbitofrontal region, the anterior cingulate cortex and the hippocampus. Notably, across the experiment, subjects became increasingly regret-aversive, a cumulative effect reflected in enhanced activity within medial orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala. This pattern of activity reoccurred just before making a choice, suggesting that the same neural circuitry mediates direct experience of regret and its anticipation. These results demonstrate that medial orbitofrontal cortex modulates the gain of adaptive emotions in a manner that may provide a substrate for the influence of high-level emotions on decision making.

Neural responses to social threat and predictors of cognitive behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy in social anxiety disorder.

PubMed

Burklund, Lisa J; Torre, Jared B; Lieberman, Matthew D; Taylor, Shelley E; Craske, Michelle G

2017-03-30

Previous research has often highlighted hyperactivity in emotion regions to simple, static social threat cues in social anxiety disorder (SAD). Investigation of the neurobiology of SAD using more naturalistic paradigms can further reveal underlying mechanisms and how these relate to clinical outcomes. We used fMRI to investigate responses to novel dynamic rejection stimuli in individuals with SAD (N=70) and healthy controls (HC; N=17), and whether these responses predicted treatment outcomes following cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). Both HC and SAD groups reported greater distress to rejection compared to neutral social stimuli. At the neural level, HCs exhibited greater activations in social pain/rejection regions, including dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and anterior insula, to rejection stimuli. The SAD group evidenced a different pattern, with no differences in these rejection regions and relatively greater activations in the amygdala and other regions to neutral stimuli. Greater responses in anterior cingulate cortex and the amygdala to rejection vs. neutral stimuli predicted better CBT outcomes. In contrast, enhanced activity in sensory-focused posterior insula predicted ACT responses. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Functional neuroanatomy of grief: an FMRI study.

PubMed

Gündel, Harald; O'Connor, Mary-Frances; Littrell, Lindsey; Fort, Carolyn; Lane, Richard D

2003-11-01

In this study the authors examined the functional neuroanatomy of grief, which to their knowledge has not been studied previously in functional neuroimaging research. Grief was elicited in eight bereaved women through photographs of the deceased versus a stranger, combined with words specific to the death event versus neutral words. Use of both pictures and words resulted in a 2x2 factorial design. Three brain regions were independently activated by the picture and word factors: posterior cingulate cortex, medial/superior frontal gyrus, and cerebellum. The two factors also activated distinct regions: for the picture factor, they were the cuneus, superior lingual gyrus, insula, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, inferior temporal gyrus, and fusiform gyrus; and for the word factor, they were the precuneus, precentral gyrus, midbrain, and vermis. The interaction of the two factors showed significant activation in the cerebellar vermis. Grief is mediated by a distributed neural network that subserves affect processing, mentalizing, episodic memory retrieval, processing of familiar faces, visual imagery, autonomic regulation, and modulation/coordination of these functions. This neural network may account for the unique, subjective quality of grief and provide new leads in understanding the health consequences of grief and the neurobiology of attachment.

Opposing neural effects of naltrexone on food reward and aversion: implications for the treatment of obesity.

PubMed

Murray, Elizabeth; Brouwer, Sietske; McCutcheon, Rob; Harmer, Catherine J; Cowen, Philip J; McCabe, Ciara

2014-11-01

Opioid antagonism reduces the consumption of palatable foods in humans but the neural substrates implicated in these effects are less well understood. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of the opioid antagonist, naltrexone, on neural response to rewarding and aversive sight and taste stimuli. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the neural responses to the sight and taste of pleasant (chocolate) and aversive (mouldy strawberry) stimuli in 20 healthy volunteers who received a single oral dose of naltrexone (50 mg) and placebo in a double-blind, repeated-measures cross-over, design. Relative to placebo, naltrexone decreased reward activation to chocolate in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and caudate, and increased aversive-related activation to unpleasant strawberry in the amygdala and anterior insula. These findings suggest that modulation of key brain areas involved in reward processing, cognitive control and habit formation such as the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and caudate might underlie reduction in food intake with opioid antagonism. Furthermore we show for the first time that naltrexone can increase activations related to aversive food stimuli. These results support further investigation of opioid treatments in obesity.

A direct comparison of appetitive and aversive anticipation: Overlapping and distinct neural activation.

PubMed

Sege, Christopher T; Bradley, Margaret M; Weymar, Mathias; Lang, Peter J

2017-05-30

fMRI studies of reward find increased neural activity in ventral striatum and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), whereas other regions, including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and anterior insula, are activated when anticipating aversive exposure. Although these data suggest differential activation during anticipation of pleasant or of unpleasant exposure, they also arise in the context of different paradigms (e.g., preparation for reward vs. threat of shock) and participants. To determine overlapping and unique regions active during emotional anticipation, we compared neural activity during anticipation of pleasant or unpleasant exposure in the same participants. Cues signalled the upcoming presentation of erotic/romantic, violent, or everyday pictures while BOLD activity during the 9-s anticipatory period was measured using fMRI. Ventral striatum and a ventral mPFC subregion were activated when anticipating pleasant, but not unpleasant or neutral, pictures, whereas activation in other regions was enhanced when anticipating appetitive or aversive scenes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Not so bad: avoidance and aversive discounting modulate threat appraisal in anterior cingulate and medial prefrontal cortex

PubMed Central

Schlund, Michael W.; Brewer, Adam T.; Richman, David M.; Magee, Sandy K.; Dymond, Simon

2015-01-01

The dorsal anterior cingulate (adACC) and dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) play a central role in the discrimination and appraisal of threatening stimuli. Yet, little is known about what specific features of threatening situations recruit these regions and how avoidance may modulate appraisal and activation through prevention of aversive events. In this investigation, 30 healthy adults underwent functional neuroimaging while completing an avoidance task in which responses to an Avoidable CS+ threat prevented delivery of an aversive stimulus, but not to an Unavoidable CS+ threat. Extinction testing was also completed where CSs were presented without aversive stimulus delivery and an opportunity to avoid. The Avoidable CS+ relative to the Unavoidable CS+ was associated with reductions in ratings of negative valence, fear, and US expectancy and activation. Greater regional activation was consistently observed to the Unavoidable CS+ during avoidance, which declined during extinction. Individuals exhibiting greater aversive discounting—that is, those more avoidant of immediate monetary loss compared to a larger delayed loss—also displayed greater activation to the Unavoidable CS+, highlighting aversive discounting as a significant individual difference variable. These are the first results linking adACC/dmPFC reactivity to avoidance-based reductions of aversive events and modulation of activation by individual differences in aversive discounting. PMID:26113813

Emotion speeds up conflict resolution: a new role for the ventral anterior cingulate cortex?

PubMed

Kanske, Philipp; Kotz, Sonja A

2011-04-01

It has been hypothesized that processing of conflict is facilitated by emotion. Emotional stimuli signal significance in a situation. Thus, when an emotional stimulus is task relevant, more resources may be devoted to conflict processing to reduce the time that an organism is unable to act. In the present electroencephalography and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies, we employed a conflict task and manipulated the emotional content and prosody of auditory target stimuli. In line with our hypothesis, reaction times revealed faster conflict resolution for emotional stimuli. Early stages of event-related potential conflict processing were modulated by emotion as indexed in an enhanced frontocentral negativity at 420 ms. FMRI yielded conflict activation in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), a crucial part of the executive control network. The right ventral ACC (vACC) was activated for conflict processing in emotional stimuli, suggesting that it is additionally activated for conflict processing in emotional stimuli. The amygdala was also activated by emotion. Furthermore, emotion increased functional connectivity between the vACC and activity in the amygdala and the dACC. The results support the hypothesis that emotion speeds up conflict processing and suggest a new role for the vACC in processing conflict in particularly significant situations signaled by emotion.

Low serotonin1B receptor binding potential in the anterior cingulate cortex in drug-free patients with recurrent major depressive disorder.

PubMed

Tiger, Mikael; Farde, Lars; Rück, Christian; Varrone, Andrea; Forsberg, Anton; Lindefors, Nils; Halldin, Christer; Lundberg, Johan

2016-07-30

The pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD) is not fully understood and the diagnosis is largely based on history and clinical examination. So far, several lines of preclinical data and a single imaging study implicate a role for the serotonin1B (5-HT1B) receptor subtype. We sought to study 5-HT1B receptor binding in brain regions of reported relevance in patients with MDD. Subjects were examined at the Karolinska Institutet PET centre using positron emission tomography (PET) and the 5-HT1B receptor selective radioligand [(11)C]AZ10419369. Ten drug-free patients with recurrent MDD and ten control subjects matched for age and sex were examined. The main outcome measure was [(11)C]AZ10419369 binding in brain regions of reported relevance in the pathophysiology of MDD. The [(11)C]AZ10419369 binding potential was significantly lower in the MDD group compared with the healthy control group in the anterior cingulate cortex (20% between-group difference), the subgenual prefrontal cortex (17% between-group difference), and in the hippocampus (32% between-group difference). The low anterior cingulate [(11)C]AZ10419369 binding potential in patients with recurrent MDD positions 5-HT1B receptor binding in this region as a putative biomarker for MDD and corroborate a role of the anterior cingulate cortex and associated areas in the pathophysiology of recurrent MDD. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Alterations of decision making and underlying neural correlates after resection of a mediofrontal cortical dysplasia: A single case study.

PubMed

Labudda, Kirsten; Brand, Matthias; Mertens, Markus; Ebner, Alois; Markowitsch, Hans J; Woermann, Friedrich G

2010-02-01

We investigated the impact of a congenital prefrontal lesion and its resection on decision making under risk and under ambiguity in a patient with right mediofrontal cortical dysplasia. Both kinds of decision making are normally associated with the medial prefrontal cortex. We additionally studied pre- and postsurgical fMRI activations when processing information relevant for risky decision making. Results indicate selective impairments of ambiguous decision making pre- and postsurgically. Decision making under risk was intact. In contrast to healthy subjects the patient exhibited no activation within the dysplastic anterior cingulate cortex but left-sided orbitofrontal activation on the fMRI task suggesting early reorganization processes.

Mapping the "Depression Switch" During Intraoperative Testing of Subcallosal Cingulate Deep Brain Stimulation.

PubMed

Choi, Ki Sueng; Riva-Posse, Patricio; Gross, Robert E; Mayberg, Helen S

2015-11-01

The clinical utility of monitoring behavioral changes during intraoperative testing of subcallosal cingulate deep brain stimulation is unknown. To characterize the structural connectivity correlates of deep brain stimulation-evoked behavioral effects using probabilistic tractography in depression. Categorization of acute behavioral effects was conducted in 9 adults undergoing deep brain stimulation implantation surgery for chronic treatment-resistant depression in a randomized and blinded testing session at Emory University. Patients were studied from September 1, 2011, through June 30, 2013. Post hoc analyses of the structural tractography patterns mediating distinct categories of evoked behavioral effects were defined, including the best response overall. Data analyses were performed from May 1 through July 1, 2015. Categorization of stimulation-induced transient behavioral effects and delineation of the shared white matter tracts mediating response subtypes. Among the 9 patients, 72 active and 36 sham trials were recorded. The following stereotypical behavior patterns were identified: changes in interoceptive (noted changes in body state in 30 of 72 active and 4 of 36 sham trials) and in exteroceptive (shift in attention from patient to others in 9 of 72 active and 0 sham trials) awareness. The best response was a combination of exteroceptive and interoceptive changes at a single left contact for all 9 patients. Structural connectivity showed that the best response contacts had a pattern of connections to the bilateral ventromedial frontal cortex (via forceps minor and left uncinate fasciculus) and to the cingulate cortex (via left cingulum bundle), whereas behaviorally salient but nonbest contacts had only cingulate involvement. The involvement of the 3 white matter bundles during stimulation of the best contacts suggests a mechanism for the observed transient "depression switch." This analysis of transient behavior changes during intraoperative deep brain stimulation of the subcallosal cingulate and the subsequent identification of unique connectivity patterns may provide a biomarker of a rapid-onset depression switch to guide surgical implantation and to refine and optimize algorithms for the selection of contacts in long-term stimulation for treatment-resistant depression.

Quantitative Electroencephalography Analysis (qEEG) of Neuro-Electro-Adaptive Therapy 12™ [NEAT12] Up-Regulates Cortical Potentials in an Alcoholic during Protracted Abstinence: Putative Anti-Craving Implications

PubMed Central

Waite, Roger L; Oscar-Berman, Marlene; RBraverman, Eric; Barh, Debmalya; Blum, Kenneth

2015-01-01

Introduction Cranial electrotherapy stimulation (CES) is a noninvasive therapy that has been used for decades in the United States to treat anxiety, depression, and insomnia in the general population. The effectiveness of CES has been questioned by many and its use is considered controversial. In this study we are presenting data on one alcoholic patient using a newly engineered device we call Neuro-Electro-Adaptive Therapy 12™ [NEAT12]. This hybrid device utilizes TENS current characteristics yielding CES effects. This device has been found to primarily target the excitation of the Cingulate Gyrus region of the brain. Case presentation This is a 42 year old male who has been abstinent from alcohol for approximately two months. The data presented herein represents the pre to post qEEG differences of an alcoholic in protracted abstinence. This subject was evaluated both before and after using the NEAT-12 device. The pre to post comparisons suggest that the cortical potentials especially at the Cingulate Gyrus are up regulated after using the device. The absolute power changes obtained shows a decrease of more than 2 SD as noted in the delta wave spectrum. Also noted is an overall cortical increase in the alpha spectrum. The resting alert state of a neuro typical population is most prominently marked by a regulation of 7.5-11 Hz alpha throughout the cortex. The decreased in delta and theta suggests an up regulation of the prefrontal cortex and the anterior Cingulate Gyrus a site involved in substance use disorder (SUD). Conclusion A presence of dominant slow waves through the prefrontal cortex and the anterior Cingulate Gyrus is often associated with OCD, anxiety, impulsivity and cravings in addicted populations. It is conceivable that our initial finding of altered electrical activity of the brain using qEEG analysis suggests the NEAT-12 may induce a “normalization” of aberrant electrical activity of the cortical region of the brain known to occur during protracted abstinence of alcoholics. It may have utility as a putative anti-craving CES device and therefore warrants intensive investigation. PMID:25927012

Combined glutamate and glutamine levels in pain-processing brain regions are associated with individual pain sensitivity.

PubMed

Zunhammer, Matthias; Schweizer, Lauren M; Witte, Vanessa; Harris, Richard E; Bingel, Ulrike; Schmidt-Wilcke, Tobias

2016-10-01

The relationship between glutamate and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels in the living human brain and pain sensitivity is unknown. Combined glutamine/glutamate (Glx), as well as GABA levels can be measured in vivo with single-voxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. In this cross-sectional study, we aimed at determining whether Glx and/or GABA levels in pain-related brain regions are associated with individual differences in pain sensitivity. Experimental heat, cold, and mechanical pain thresholds were obtained from 39 healthy, drug-free individuals (25 men) according to the quantitative sensory testing protocol and summarized into 1 composite measure of pain sensitivity. The Glx levels were measured using point-resolved spectroscopy at 3 T, within a network of pain-associated brain regions comprising the insula, the anterior cingulate cortex, the mid-cingulate cortex, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and the thalamus. GABA levels were measured using GABA-edited spectroscopy (Mescher-Garwood point-resolved spectroscopy) within the insula, the anterior cingulate cortex, and the mid-cingulate cortex. Glx and/or GABA levels correlated positively across all brain regions. Gender, weekly alcohol consumption, and depressive symptoms were significantly associated with Glx and/or GABA levels. A linear regression analysis including all these factors indicated that Glx levels pooled across pain-related brain regions were positively associated with pain sensitivity, whereas no appreciable relationship with GABA was found. In sum, we show that the levels of the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate and its precursor glutamine across pain-related brain regions are positively correlated with individual pain sensitivity. Future studies will have to determine whether our findings also apply to clinical populations.

Brain correlates of music-evoked emotions.

PubMed

Koelsch, Stefan

2014-03-01

Music is a universal feature of human societies, partly owing to its power to evoke strong emotions and influence moods. During the past decade, the investigation of the neural correlates of music-evoked emotions has been invaluable for the understanding of human emotion. Functional neuroimaging studies on music and emotion show that music can modulate activity in brain structures that are known to be crucially involved in emotion, such as the amygdala, nucleus accumbens, hypothalamus, hippocampus, insula, cingulate cortex and orbitofrontal cortex. The potential of music to modulate activity in these structures has important implications for the use of music in the treatment of psychiatric and neurological disorders.

Effect of bupropion treatment on brain activation induced by cigarette-related cues in smokers.

PubMed

Culbertson, Christopher S; Bramen, Jennifer; Cohen, Mark S; London, Edythe D; Olmstead, Richard E; Gan, Joanna J; Costello, Matthew R; Shulenberger, Stephanie; Mandelkern, Mark A; Brody, Arthur L

2011-05-01

Nicotine-dependent smokers exhibit craving and brain activation in the prefrontal and limbic regions when presented with cigarette-related cues. Bupropion hydrochloride treatment reduces cue-induced craving in cigarette smokers; however, the mechanism by which bupropion exerts this effect has not yet been described. To assess changes in regional brain activation in response to cigarette-related cues from before to after treatment with bupropion (vs placebo). Randomized, double-blind, before-after controlled trial. Academic brain imaging center. Thirty nicotine-dependent smokers (paid volunteers). Participants were randomly assigned to receive 8 weeks of treatment with either bupropion or a matching placebo pill (double-blind). Subjective cigarette craving ratings and regional brain activations (blood oxygen level-dependent response) in response to viewing cue videos. Bupropion-treated participants reported less craving and exhibited reduced activation in the left ventral striatum, right medial orbitofrontal cortex, and bilateral anterior cingulate cortex from before to after treatment when actively resisting craving compared with placebo-treated participants. When resisting craving, reduction in self-reported craving correlated with reduced regional brain activation in the bilateral medial orbitofrontal and left anterior cingulate cortices in all participants. Treatment with bupropion is associated with improved ability to resist cue-induced craving and a reduction in cue-induced activation of limbic and prefrontal brain regions, while a reduction in craving, regardless of treatment type, is associated with reduced activation in prefrontal brain regions.

Fear Conditioning in an Abdominal Pain Model: Neural Responses during Associative Learning and Extinction in Healthy Subjects

PubMed Central

Kattoor, Joswin; Gizewski, Elke R.; Kotsis, Vassilios; Benson, Sven; Gramsch, Carolin; Theysohn, Nina; Maderwald, Stefan; Forsting, Michael; Schedlowski, Manfred; Elsenbruch, Sigrid

2013-01-01

Fear conditioning is relevant for elucidating the pathophysiology of anxiety, but may also be useful in the context of chronic pain syndromes which often overlap with anxiety. Thus far, no fear conditioning studies have employed aversive visceral stimuli from the lower gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, we implemented a fear conditioning paradigm to analyze the conditioned response to rectal pain stimuli using fMRI during associative learning, extinction and reinstatement. In N = 21 healthy humans, visual conditioned stimuli (CS+) were paired with painful rectal distensions as unconditioned stimuli (US), while different visual stimuli (CS−) were presented without US. During extinction, all CSs were presented without US, whereas during reinstatement, a single, unpaired US was presented. In region-of-interest analyses, conditioned anticipatory neural activation was assessed along with perceived CS-US contingency and CS unpleasantness. Fear conditioning resulted in significant contingency awareness and valence change, i.e., learned unpleasantness of a previously neutral stimulus. This was paralleled by anticipatory activation of the anterior cingulate cortex, the somatosensory cortex and precuneus (all during early acquisition) and the amygdala (late acquisition) in response to the CS+. During extinction, anticipatory activation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex to the CS− was observed. In the reinstatement phase, a tendency for parahippocampal activation was found. Fear conditioning with rectal pain stimuli is feasible and leads to learned unpleasantness of previously neutral stimuli. Within the brain, conditioned anticipatory activations are seen in core areas of the central fear network including the amygdala and the anterior cingulate cortex. During extinction, conditioned responses quickly disappear, and learning of new predictive cue properties is paralleled by prefrontal activation. A tendency for parahippocampal activation during reinstatement could indicate a reactivation of the old memory trace. Together, these findings contribute to our understanding of aversive visceral learning and memory processes relevant to the pathophysiology of chronic abdominal pain. PMID:23468832

Identifying minimal hepatic encephalopathy in cirrhotic patients by measuring spontaneous brain activity.

PubMed

Chen, Hua-Jun; Zhang, Ling; Jiang, Long-Feng; Chen, Qiu-Feng; Li, Jun; Shi, Hai-Bin

2016-08-01

It has been demonstrated that minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) is associated with aberrant regional intrinsic brain activity in cirrhotic patients. However, few studies have investigated whether altered intrinsic brain activity can be used as a biomarker of MHE among cirrhotic patients. In this study, 36 cirrhotic patients (with MHE, n = 16; without MHE [NHE], n = 20) underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Spontaneous brain activity was measured by examining the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) in the fMRI signal. MHE was diagnosed based on the Psychometric Hepatic Encephalopathy Score (PHES). A two-sample t-test was used to determine the regions of interest (ROIs) in which ALFF differed significantly between the two groups; then, ALFF values within ROIs were selected as classification features. A linear discriminative analysis was used to differentiate MHE patients from NHE patients. The leave-one-out cross-validation method was used to estimate the performance of the classifier. The classification analysis was 80.6 % accurate (81.3 % sensitivity and 80.0 % specificity) in terms of distinguishing between the two groups. Six ROIs were identified as the most discriminative features, including the bilateral medial frontal cortex/anterior cingulate cortex, posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus, left precentral and postcentral gyrus, right lingual gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, and inferior/superior parietal lobule. The ALFF values within ROIs were correlated with PHES in cirrhotic patients. Our findings suggest that altered regional brain spontaneous activity is a useful biomarker for MHE detection among cirrhotic patients.

Neural Correlates of Antidepressant Treatment Response in Adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder

PubMed Central

Klimes-Dougan, Bonnie; Vu, Dung Pham; Westlund Schreiner, Melinda; Mueller, Bryon A.; Eberly, Lynn E.; Camchong, Jazmin; Westervelt, Ana; Lim, Kelvin O.

2016-01-01

Abstract Objective: The neural changes underlying response to antidepressant treatment in adolescents are unknown. Identification of neural change correlates of treatment response could (1) aid in understanding mechanisms of depression and its treatment and (2) serve as target biomarkers for future research. Method: Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined changes in brain activation and functional connectivity in 13 unmedicated adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD) before and after receiving treatment with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor medication for 8 weeks. Specifically, we examined brain activation during a negative emotion task and resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC), focusing on the amygdala to capture networks relevant to negative emotion. We conducted whole-brain analyses to identify how symptom improvement was related to change in brain activation during a negative emotion task or amygdala RSFC. Results: After treatment, clinical improvement was associated with decreased task activation in rostral and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex and increased activation in bilateral insula, bilateral middle frontal cortices, right parahippocampus, and left cerebellum. Analysis of change in amygdala RSFC showed that treatment response was associated with increased amygdala RSFC with right frontal cortex, but decreased amygdala RSFC with right precuneus and right posterior cingulate cortex. Conclusion: The findings represent a foothold for advancing understanding of pathophysiology of MDD in adolescents by revealing the critical neural circuitry changes that underlie a positive response to a standard treatment. Although preliminary, the present study provides a research platform for future work needed to confirm these biomarkers at a larger scale before using them in future target engagement studies of novel treatments. PMID:27159204

Differential effects of orthographic and phonological consistency in cortex for children with and without reading impairment

PubMed Central

Bolger, Donald J.; Minas, Jennifer; Burman, Douglas D.; Booth, James R.

2009-01-01

One of the central challenges in mastering English is becoming sensitive to consistency from spelling to sound (i.e. phonological consistency) and from sound to spelling (i.e. orthographic consistency). Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we examined the neural correlates of consistency in 9-15-year-old Normal and Impaired Readers during a rhyming task in the visual modality. In line with our previous study, for Normal Readers, lower phonological and orthographic consistency were associated with greater activation in several regions including bilateral inferior/middle frontal gyri, bilateral anterior cingulate cortex as well as left fusiform gyrus. Impaired Readers activated only bilateral anterior cingulate cortex in response to decreasing consistency. Group comparisons revealed that, relative to Impaired Readers, Normal Readers exhibited a larger response in this network for lower phonological consistency whereas orthographic consistency differences were limited. Lastly, brain-behavior correlations revealed a significant relationship between skill (i.e. Phonological Awareness and non-word decoding) and cortical consistency effects for Impaired Readers in left inferior/middle frontal gyri and left fusiform gyrus. Impaired Readers with higher skill showed greater activation for higher consistency. This relationship was reliably different from that of Normal Readers in which higher skill was associated with greater activation for lower consistency. According to single-route or connectionist models, these results suggest that Impaired Readers with higher skill devote neural resources to representing the mapping between orthography and phonology for higher consistency words, and therefore do not robustly activate this network for lower consistency words. PMID:18725239

Regional brain activity during early visual perception in unaffected siblings of schizophrenia patients.

PubMed

Lee, Junghee; Cohen, Mark S; Engel, Stephen A; Glahn, David; Nuechterlein, Keith H; Wynn, Jonathan K; Green, Michael F

2010-07-01

Visual masking paradigms assess the early part of visual information processing, which may reflect vulnerability measures for schizophrenia. We examined the neural substrates of visual backward performance in unaffected sibling of schizophrenia patients using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Twenty-one unaffected siblings of schizophrenia patients and 19 healthy controls performed a backward masking task and three functional localizer tasks to identify three visual processing regions of interest (ROI): lateral occipital complex (LO), the motion-sensitive area, and retinotopic areas. In the masking task, we systematically manipulated stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs). We analyzed fMRI data in two complementary ways: 1) an ROI approach for three visual areas, and 2) a whole-brain analysis. The groups did not differ in behavioral performance. For ROI analysis, both groups increased activation as SOAs increased in LO. Groups did not differ in activation levels of the three ROIs. For whole-brain analysis, controls increased activation as a function of SOAs, compared with siblings in several regions (i.e., anterior cingulate cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, inferior prefrontal cortex, inferior parietal lobule). The study found: 1) area LO showed sensitivity to the masking effect in both groups; 2) siblings did not differ from controls in activation of LO; and 3) groups differed significantly in several brain regions outside visual processing areas that have been related to attentional or re-entrant processes. These findings suggest that LO dysfunction may be a disease indicator rather than a risk indicator for schizophrenia. Copyright 2010 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Differences of brain electrical activity between moderate and severe obstructive sleep apneic patients: a LORETA study.

PubMed

Toth, Marton; Kondakor, Istvan; Faludi, Bela

2016-10-01

The effects of initiation of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy on electroencephalographic (EEG) background activity were investigated in patients exhibiting both moderate (n = 13) and severe (n = 12) obstructive sleep apnea syndromes in the testing of the potential differences of alterations of brain electrical activity caused by chronic hypoxia between these two groups. A normal control group (n = 14) was also examined. Two EEG examinations were achieved in each group: before and after first-time CPAP therapy. Low-resolution electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) was implemented towards localizing the generators of EEG activity in separate frequency bands. Prior to CPAP treatment, as a common direction of change, analysis with LORETA demonstrated increased activity in comparison with the patient and control groups. In the moderate group, significant changes were detected in the alpha2 band in the posterior cingulate cortex as well as in the beta1 band in the right posterior parietal cortex and the left supramarginal gyrus. In the severe group, significant changes were found in theta and alpha1 bands in the posterior cingulate cortex. Following CPAP treatment, these significant differences vanished in the severe group. In the moderate group, significantly decreased activity was seen in the beta3 band in the right fusiform gyrus. These findings potentially suggest a normalizing effect of CPAP therapy on EEG background activity in both groups of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome patients. Compensatory alterations of brain electrical activity in regions associated with influencing successful memory retrieval, emotional perception, default mode network, anorexia and fear network caused by chronic intermittent hypoxia could possibly be reversed with the use of CPAP therapy. © 2016 European Sleep Research Society.

Reduction of RPT6/S8 (a Proteasome Component) and Proteasome Activity in the Cortex is Associated with Cognitive Impairment in Lewy Body Dementia

PubMed Central

Alghamdi, Amani; Vallortigara, Julie; Howlett, David R.; Broadstock, Martin; Hortobágyi, Tibor; Ballard, Clive; Thomas, Alan J.; O’Brien, John T.; Aarsland, Dag; Attems, Johannes; Francis, Paul T.; Whitfield, David R.

2017-01-01

Lewy body dementia is the second most common neurodegenerative dementia and is pathologically characterized by α-synuclein positive cytoplasmic inclusions, with varying amounts of amyloid-β (Aβ) and hyperphosphorylated tau (tau) aggregates in addition to synaptic loss. A dysfunctional ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS), the major proteolytic pathway responsible for the clearance of short lived proteins, may be a mediating factor of disease progression and of the development of α-synuclein aggregates. In the present study, protein expression of a key component of the UPS, the RPT6 subunit of the 19S regulatory complex was determined. Furthermore, the main proteolytic-like (chymotrypsin- and PGPH-) activities have also been analyzed. The middle frontal (Brodmann, BA9), inferior parietal (BA40), and anterior cingulate (BA24) gyrus’ cortex were selected as regions of interest from Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD, n = 31), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB, n = 44), Alzheimer’s disease (AD, n = 16), and control (n = 24) brains. Clinical and pathological data available included the MMSE score. DLB, PDD, and AD were characterized by significant reductions of RPT6 (one-way ANOVA, p < 0.001; Bonferroni post hoc test) in prefrontal cortex and parietal cortex compared with controls. Strong associations were observed between RPT6 levels in prefrontal, parietal cortex, and anterior cingulate gyrus and cognitive impairment (p = 0.001, p = 0.001, and p = 0.008, respectively). These findings highlight the involvement of the UPS in Lewy body dementia and indicate that targeting the UPS may have the potential to slow down or reduce the progression of cognitive impairment in DLB and PDD. PMID:28269775

The Posterior Medial Cortex in Urologic Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome: Detachment from Default Mode Network. A Resting-State Study from the MAPP Research Network

PubMed Central

Martucci, Katherine T.; Shirer, William R.; Bagarinao, Epifanio; Johnson, Kevin A.; Farmer, Melissa A.; Labus, Jennifer S.; Apkarian, A. Vania; Deutsch, Georg; Harris, Richard E.; Mayer, Emeran A.; Clauw, Daniel J.; Greicius, Michael D.; Mackey, Sean C.

2015-01-01

Altered resting-state brain activity, as a measure of functional connectivity, is commonly observed in chronic pain. Identifying a reliable signature pattern of altered resting-state activity for chronic pain could provide strong mechanistic insights and serve as a highly beneficial neuroimaging-based diagnostic tool. We collected and analyzed resting-state fMRI data from female patients with urologic chronic pelvic pain syndrome (UCPPS, N = 45) and matched healthy participants (N = 45) as part of a NIDDK funded multicenter project (www.mappnetwork.org). Using dual regression and seed-based analyses, we observed significantly decreased functional connectivity of the default mode network (DMN) to two regions in the posterior medial cortex (PMC): the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and left precuneus (TFCE, FWE corrected p<0.05). Further investigation revealed that patients demonstrated increased functional connectivity between the PCC and several brain regions implicated in pain, sensory, motor, and emotion regulation processes (e.g., insular cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, thalamus, globus pallidus, putamen, amygdala, hippocampus). The left precuneus demonstrated decreased functional connectivity to several regions of pain processing, reward, and higher executive functioning within the prefrontal (orbitofrontal, anterior cingulate, ventromedial prefrontal) and parietal cortices (angular gyrus, superior and inferior parietal lobules). The altered PMC connectivity was associated with several phenotype measures, including pain and urologic symptom intensity, depression, anxiety, quality of relationships and self-esteem levels in patients. Collectively, these findings indicate that in UCPPS patients, regions of the PMC are detached from the DMN, while neurological processes of self-referential thought and introspection may be joined to pain and emotion regulatory processes. PMID:26010458

Decision Making in the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART): Anterior Cingulate Cortex Signals Loss-Aversion but not the Infrequency of Risky Choices

PubMed Central

Fukunaga, Rena; Brown, Joshua W.; Bogg, Tim

2012-01-01

The inferior frontal gyrus/anterior insula (IFG/AI) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) are key regions involved in risk appraisal during decision making, but accounts of how these regions contribute to decision-making under risk remain contested. To help clarify the roles of these and other related regions, we used a modified version of the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (Lejuez et al., 2002) to distinguish between decision-making and feedback-related processes when participants decided to pursue a gain as the probability of loss increased parametrically. Specifically, we set out to test whether ACC and IFG/AI regions correspond to loss-aversion at the time of decision making in a way that is not confounded with either reward-seeking or infrequency effects. When participants chose to discontinue inflating the balloon (win option), we observed greater ACC and mainly bilateral IFG/AI activity at the time of decision as the probability of explosion increased, consistent with increased loss-aversion but inconsistent with an infrequency effect. In contrast, we found robust vmPFC activity when participants chose to continue inflating the balloon (risky option), consistent with reward-seeking. However, in the cingulate and mainly bilateral IFG regions, BOLD activation decreased when participants chose to inflate the balloon as the probability of explosion increased, findings consistent with a reduced loss-aversion signal. Our results highlight the existence of distinct reward-seeking and loss-averse signals during decision-making, as well as the importance of distinguishing decision and feedback signals. PMID:22707378

Regional brain responses associated with drinking water during thirst and after its satiation

PubMed Central

Saker, Pascal; Farrell, Michael J.; Adib, Faiz R. M.; Egan, Gary F.; McKinley, Michael J.; Denton, Derek A.

2014-01-01

The instinct of thirst was a cardinal element in the successful colonization by vertebrates of the dry land of the planet, which began in the Ordovician period about 400 million y ago. It is a commonplace experience in humans that drinking water in response to thirst following fluid loss is a pleasant experience. However, continuing to drink water once thirst has been satiated becomes unpleasant and, eventually, quite aversive. Functional MRI experiments reported here show pleasantness of drinking is associated with activation in the anterior cingulate cortex (Brodmann area 32) and the orbitofrontal cortex. The unpleasantness and aversion of overdrinking is associated with activation in the midcingulate cortex, insula, amygdala, and periaqueductal gray. Drinking activations in the putamen and cerebellum also correlated with the unpleasantness of water, and the motor cortex showed increased activation during overdrinking compared with drinking during thirst. These activations in motor regions may possibly reflect volitional effort to conduct compliant drinking in the face of regulatory mechanisms inhibiting intake. The results suggestive of a specific inhibitory system in the control of drinking are unique. PMID:24706817

Regional brain responses associated with drinking water during thirst and after its satiation.

PubMed

Saker, Pascal; Farrell, Michael J; Adib, Faiz R M; Egan, Gary F; McKinley, Michael J; Denton, Derek A

2014-04-08

The instinct of thirst was a cardinal element in the successful colonization by vertebrates of the dry land of the planet, which began in the Ordovician period about 400 million y ago. It is a commonplace experience in humans that drinking water in response to thirst following fluid loss is a pleasant experience. However, continuing to drink water once thirst has been satiated becomes unpleasant and, eventually, quite aversive. Functional MRI experiments reported here show pleasantness of drinking is associated with activation in the anterior cingulate cortex (Brodmann area 32) and the orbitofrontal cortex. The unpleasantness and aversion of overdrinking is associated with activation in the midcingulate cortex, insula, amygdala, and periaqueductal gray. Drinking activations in the putamen and cerebellum also correlated with the unpleasantness of water, and the motor cortex showed increased activation during overdrinking compared with drinking during thirst. These activations in motor regions may possibly reflect volitional effort to conduct compliant drinking in the face of regulatory mechanisms inhibiting intake. The results suggestive of a specific inhibitory system in the control of drinking are unique.

Focal changes in brain energy and phospholipid metabolism in first-episode schizophrenia: 31P-MRS chemical shift imaging study at 4 Tesla.

PubMed

Jensen, J Eric; Miller, Jodi; Williamson, Peter C; Neufeld, Richard W J; Menon, Ravi S; Malla, Ashok; Manchanda, Rahul; Schaefer, Betsy; Densmore, Maria; Drost, Dick J

2004-05-01

Membrane phospholipid and high-energy abnormalities measured with phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((31)P-MRS) have been reported in patients with schizophrenia in several brain regions. Using improved imaging techniques, previously inaccessible brain regions were examined in patients with first-episode schizophrenia and healthy volunteers with 4.0 T (31)P-MRS. Brain spectra were collected in vivo from 15 patients with first-episode schizophrenia and 15 healthy volunteers from 15 cm(3) effective voxels in the thalamus, cerebellum, hippocampus, anterior/posterior cingulate, prefrontal cortex and parieto-occipital cortex. People with first-episode schizophrenia showed increased levels of glycerophosphocholine in the anterior cingulate. Inorganic phosphate, phosphocreatine and adenosine triphosphate concentrations were also increased in the anterior cingulate in this group. The increased phosphodiester and high-energy phosphate levels in the anterior cingulate of brains of people with first-episode schizophrenia may indicate neural overactivity in this region during the early stages of the illness, resulting in increased excitotoxic neural membrane breakdown.

Dissociable brain signatures of choice conflict and immediate reward preferences in alcohol use disorders.

PubMed

Amlung, Michael; Sweet, Lawrence H; Acker, John; Brown, Courtney L; MacKillop, James

2014-07-01

Impulsive delayed reward discounting (DRD) is an important behavioral process in alcohol use disorders (AUDs), reflecting incapacity to delay gratification. Recent work in neuroeconomics has begun to unravel the neural mechanisms supporting DRD, but applications of neuroeconomics in relation to AUDs have been limited. This study examined the neural mechanisms of DRD preferences in AUDs, with emphasis on dissociating activation patterns based on DRD choice type and level of cognitive conflict. Heavy drinking adult men with (n = 13) and without (n = 12) a diagnosis of an AUD completed a monetary DRD task during a functional magnetic resonance imaging scan. Participant responses were coded based on choice type (impulsive versus restrained) and level of cognitive conflict (easy versus hard). AUD+ participants exhibited significantly more impulsive DRD decision-making. Significant activation during DRD was found in several decision-making regions, including dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), insula, posterior parietal cortex (PPC), and posterior cingulate. An axis of cognitive conflict was also observed, with hard choices associated with anterior cingulate cortex and easy choices associated with activation in supplementary motor area. AUD+ individuals exhibited significant hyperactivity in regions associated with cognitive control (DLPFC) and prospective thought (PPC) and exhibited less task-related deactivation of areas associated with the brain's default network during DRD decisions. This study provides further clarification of the brain systems supporting DRD in general and in relation to AUDs. © 2012 The Authors, Addiction Biology © 2012 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Neural substrates of updating the prediction through prediction error during decision making.

PubMed

Wang, Ying; Ma, Ning; He, Xiaosong; Li, Nan; Wei, Zhengde; Yang, Lizhuang; Zha, Rujing; Han, Long; Li, Xiaoming; Zhang, Daren; Liu, Ying; Zhang, Xiaochu

2017-08-15

Learning of prediction error (PE), including reward PE and risk PE, is crucial for updating the prediction in reinforcement learning (RL). Neurobiological and computational models of RL have reported extensive brain activations related to PE. However, the occurrence of PE does not necessarily predict updating the prediction, e.g., in a probability-known event. Therefore, the brain regions specifically engaged in updating the prediction remain unknown. Here, we conducted two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments, the probability-unknown Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and the probability-known risk decision task (RDT). Behavioral analyses confirmed that PEs occurred in both tasks but were only used for updating the prediction in the IGT. By comparing PE-related brain activations between the two tasks, we found that the rostral anterior cingulate cortex/ventral medial prefrontal cortex (rACC/vmPFC) and the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) activated only during the IGT and were related to both reward and risk PE. Moreover, the responses in the rACC/vmPFC and the PCC were modulated by uncertainty and were associated with reward prediction-related brain regions. Electric brain stimulation over these regions lowered the performance in the IGT but not in the RDT. Our findings of a distributed neural circuit of PE processing suggest that the rACC/vmPFC and the PCC play a key role in updating the prediction through PE processing during decision making. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Craving Responses to Methamphetamine and Sexual Visual Cues in Individuals With Methamphetamine Use Disorder After Long-Term Drug Rehabilitation

PubMed Central

Huang, Shucai; Zhang, Zhixue; Dai, Yuanyuan; Zhang, Changcun; Yang, Cheng; Fan, Lidan; Liu, Jun; Hao, Wei; Chen, Hongxian

2018-01-01

Studies utilizing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) cue-reactivity paradigms have demonstrated that short-term abstinent or current methamphetamine (MA) users have increased brain activity in the ventral striatum, caudate nucleus and medial frontal cortex, when exposed to MA-related visual cues. However, patterns of brain activity following cue-reactivity in subjects with long-term MA abstinence, especially long-term compulsory drug rehabilitation, have not been well studied. To enrich knowledge in this field, functional brain imaging was conducted during a cue-reactivity paradigm task in 28 individuals with MA use disorder following long-term compulsory drug rehabilitation, and 27 healthy control subjects. The results showed that, when compared with controls, individuals with MA use disorder displayed elevated activity in the bilateral medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and right lateral posterior cingulate cortex in response to MA-related images. Additionally, the anterior cingulate region of mPFC activation during the MA-related cue-reactivity paradigm was positively correlated with craving alterations and previous frequency of drug use. No significant differences in brain activity in response to pornographic images were found between the two groups. Compared to MA cues, individuals with MA use disorder had increased activation in the occipital lobe when exposed to pornographic cues. In conclusion, the present study indicates that, even after long-term drug rehabilitation, individuals with MA use disorder have unique brain activity when exposed to MA-related cues. Additionally, our results illustrate that the libido brain response might be restored, and that sexual demand might be more robust than drug demand, in individuals with MA use disorder following long-term drug rehabilitation. PMID:29725310

Craving Responses to Methamphetamine and Sexual Visual Cues in Individuals With Methamphetamine Use Disorder After Long-Term Drug Rehabilitation.

PubMed

Huang, Shucai; Zhang, Zhixue; Dai, Yuanyuan; Zhang, Changcun; Yang, Cheng; Fan, Lidan; Liu, Jun; Hao, Wei; Chen, Hongxian

2018-01-01

Studies utilizing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) cue-reactivity paradigms have demonstrated that short-term abstinent or current methamphetamine (MA) users have increased brain activity in the ventral striatum, caudate nucleus and medial frontal cortex, when exposed to MA-related visual cues. However, patterns of brain activity following cue-reactivity in subjects with long-term MA abstinence, especially long-term compulsory drug rehabilitation, have not been well studied. To enrich knowledge in this field, functional brain imaging was conducted during a cue-reactivity paradigm task in 28 individuals with MA use disorder following long-term compulsory drug rehabilitation, and 27 healthy control subjects. The results showed that, when compared with controls, individuals with MA use disorder displayed elevated activity in the bilateral medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and right lateral posterior cingulate cortex in response to MA-related images. Additionally, the anterior cingulate region of mPFC activation during the MA-related cue-reactivity paradigm was positively correlated with craving alterations and previous frequency of drug use. No significant differences in brain activity in response to pornographic images were found between the two groups. Compared to MA cues, individuals with MA use disorder had increased activation in the occipital lobe when exposed to pornographic cues. In conclusion, the present study indicates that, even after long-term drug rehabilitation, individuals with MA use disorder have unique brain activity when exposed to MA-related cues. Additionally, our results illustrate that the libido brain response might be restored, and that sexual demand might be more robust than drug demand, in individuals with MA use disorder following long-term drug rehabilitation.

Dissociable neural systems resolve conflict from emotional versus nonemotional distracters.

PubMed

Egner, Tobias; Etkin, Amit; Gale, Seth; Hirsch, Joy

2008-06-01

The human brain protects the processing of task-relevant stimuli from interference ("conflict") by task-irrelevant stimuli via attentional biasing mechanisms. The lateral prefrontal cortex has been implicated in resolving conflict between competing stimuli by selectively enhancing task-relevant stimulus representations in sensory cortices. Conversely, recent data suggest that conflict from emotional distracters may be resolved by an alternative route, wherein the rostral anterior cingulate cortex inhibits amygdalar responsiveness to task-irrelevant emotional stimuli. Here we tested the proposal of 2 dissociable, distracter-specific conflict resolution mechanisms, by acquiring functional magnetic resonance imaging data during resolution of conflict from either nonemotional or emotional distracters. The results revealed 2 distinct circuits: a lateral prefrontal "cognitive control" system that resolved nonemotional conflict and was associated with enhanced processing of task-relevant stimuli in sensory cortices, and a rostral anterior cingulate "emotional control" system that resolved emotional conflict and was associated with decreased amygdalar responses to emotional distracters. By contrast, activations related to both emotional and nonemotional conflict monitoring were observed in a common region of the dorsal anterior cingulate. These data suggest that the neuroanatomical networks recruited to overcome conflict vary systematically with the nature of the conflict, but that they may share a common conflict-detection mechanism.

Anterior cingulate activation is related to a positivity bias and emotional stability in successful aging.

PubMed

Brassen, Stefanie; Gamer, Matthias; Büchel, Christian

2011-07-15

Behavioral studies consistently reported an increased preference for positive experiences in older adults. The socio-emotional selectivity theory explains this positivity effect with a motivated goal shift in emotion regulation, which probably depends on available cognitive resources. The present study investigates the neurobiological mechanism underlying this hypothesis. Functional magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired in 21 older and 22 young subjects while performing a spatial-cueing paradigm that manipulates attentional load on emotional face distracters. We focused our analyses on the anterior cingulate cortex as a key structure of cognitive control of emotion. Elderly subjects showed a specifically increased distractibility by happy faces when more attentional resources were available for face processing. This effect was paralleled by an increased engagement of the rostral anterior cingulate cortex, and this frontal engagement was significantly correlated with emotional stability. The current study highlights how the brain might mediate the tendency to preferentially engage in positive information processing in healthy aging. The finding of a resource-dependency of this positivity effect suggests demanding self-regulating processes that are related to emotional well-being. These findings are of particular relevance regarding implications for the understanding, treatment, and prevention of nonsuccessful aging like highly prevalent late-life depression. Copyright © 2011 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cold or Calculating? Reduced Activity in the Subgenual Cingulate Cortex Reflects Decreased Emotional Aversion to Harming in Counterintuitive Utilitarian Judgment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wiech, Katja; Kahane, Guy; Shackel, Nicholas; Farias, Miguel; Savulescu, Julian; Tracey, Irene

2013-01-01

Recent research on moral decision-making has suggested that many common moral judgments are based on immediate intuitions. However, some individuals arrive at highly counterintuitive utilitarian conclusions about when it is permissible to harm other individuals. Such utilitarian judgments have been attributed to effortful reasoning that has…

Anterior Cingulate Cortex Activation Is Related to Learning Potential on the WCST in Schizophrenia Patients

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pedersen, Anya; Wilmsmeier, Andreas; Wiedl, Karl H.; Bauer, Jochen; Kueppers, Kerstin; Koelkebeck, Katja; Kohl, Waldemar; Kugel, Harald; Arolt, Volker; Ohrmann, Patricia

2012-01-01

The remediation of executive function in patients with schizophrenia is important in rehabilitation because these skills affect the patient's capacity to function in the community. There is evidence that instructional techniques can improve deficits in the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) in some schizophrenia patients. We used a standard…

A meta-analysis of the anterior cingulate contribution to social pain

PubMed Central

Lemogne, Cedric; Hinfray, Sophie; Huguet, Pascal; Grynszpan, Ouriel; Tartour, Eric; George, Nathalie; Fossati, Philippe

2015-01-01

Many functional magnetic resonance imaging studies have explored the neural correlates of social pain that results from social threat, exclusion, rejection, loss or negative evaluation. Although activations have consistently been reported within the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), it remains unclear which ACC subdivision is particularly involved. To provide a quantitative estimation of the specific involvement of ACC subdivisions in social pain, we conducted a voxel-based meta-analysis. The literature search identified 46 articles that included 940 subjects, the majority of which used the cyberball task. Significant likelihoods of activation were found in both the ventral and dorsal ACC for both social pain elicitation and self-reported distress during social pain. Self-reported distress involved more specifically the subgenual and pregenual ACC than social pain-related contrasts. The cyberball task involved the anterior midcingulate cortex to a lesser extent than other experimental tasks. During social pain, children exhibited subgenual activations to a greater extent than adults. Finally, the ventro-dorsal gradient of ACC activations in cyberball studies was related to the length of exclusion phases. The present meta-analysis contributes to a better understanding of the role of ACC subdivisions in social pain, and it could be of particular importance for guiding future studies of social pain and its neural underpinnings. PMID:25140048

Orofacial Neuropathic Pain Leads to a Hyporesponsive Barrel Cortex with Enhanced Structural Synaptic Plasticity.

PubMed

Thibault, Karine; Rivière, Sébastien; Lenkei, Zsolt; Férézou, Isabelle; Pezet, Sophie

2016-01-01

Chronic pain is a long-lasting debilitating condition that is particularly difficult to treat due to the lack of identified underlying mechanisms. Although several key contributing processes have been described at the level of the spinal cord, very few studies have investigated the supraspinal mechanisms underlying chronic pain. Using a combination of approaches (cortical intrinsic imaging, immunohistochemical and behavioural analysis), our study aimed to decipher the nature of functional and structural changes in a mouse model of orofacial neuropathic pain, focusing on cortical areas involved in various pain components. Our results show that chronic neuropathic orofacial pain is associated with decreased haemodynamic responsiveness to whisker stimulation in the barrel field cortex. This reduced functional activation is likely due to the increased basal neuronal activity (measured indirectly using cFos and phospho-ERK immunoreactivity) observed in several cortical areas, including the contralateral barrel field, motor and cingulate cortices. In the same animals, immunohistochemical analysis of markers for active pre- or postsynaptic elements (Piccolo and phospho-Cofilin, respectively) revealed an increased immunofluorescence in deep cortical layers of the contralateral barrel field, motor and cingulate cortices. These results suggest that long-lasting orofacial neuropathic pain is associated with exacerbated neuronal activity and synaptic plasticity at the cortical level.

Different activation of opercular and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) in patients with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS I) compared with healthy controls during perception of electrically induced pain: a functional MRI study.

PubMed

Freund, Wolfgang; Wunderlich, Arthur P; Stuber, Gregor; Mayer, Florian; Steffen, Peter; Mentzel, Martin; Weber, Frank; Schmitz, Bernd

2010-05-01

Although the etiology of complex regional pain syndrome type 1 (CRPS 1) is still debated, many arguments favor central maladaptive changes in pain processing as an important causative factor. To look for the suspected alterations, 10 patients with CRPS affecting the left hand were explored with functional magnetic resonance imaging during graded electrical painful stimulation of both hands subsequently and compared with healthy participants. Activation of the anterior insula, posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), and caudate nucleus was seen in patients during painful stimulation. Compared with controls, CRPS patients had stronger activation of the PCC during painful stimulation of the symptomatic hand. The comparison of insular/opercular activation between controls and patients with CRPS I during painful stimulation showed stronger (posterior) opercular activation in controls than in patients. Stronger PCC activation during painful stimulation may be interpreted as a correlate of motor inhibition during painful stimuli different from controls. Also, the decreased opercular activation in CRPS patients shows less sensory-discriminative processing of painful stimuli.These results show that changed cerebral pain processing in CRPS patients is less sensory-discriminative but more motor inhibition during painful stimuli. These changes are not limited to the diseased side but show generalized alterations of cerebral pain processing in chronic pain patients.

Treatment effects on insular and anterior cingulate cortex activation during classic and emotional Stroop interference in child abuse-related complex post-traumatic stress disorder.

PubMed

Thomaes, K; Dorrepaal, E; Draijer, N; de Ruiter, M B; Elzinga, B M; van Balkom, A J; Smit, J H; Veltman, D J

2012-11-01

Functional neuroimaging studies have shown increased Stroop interference coupled with altered anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and insula activation in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These brain areas are associated with error detection and emotional arousal. There is some evidence that treatment can normalize these activation patterns. At baseline, we compared classic and emotional Stroop performance and blood oxygenation level-dependent responses (functional magnetic resonance imaging) of 29 child abuse-related complex PTSD patients with 22 non-trauma-exposed healthy controls. In 16 of these patients, we studied treatment effects of psycho-educational and cognitive behavioural stabilizing group treatment (experimental treatment; EXP) added to treatment as usual (TAU) versus TAU only, and correlations with clinical improvement. At baseline, complex PTSD patients showed a trend for increased left anterior insula and dorsal ACC activation in the classic Stroop task. Only EXP patients showed decreased dorsal ACC and left anterior insula activation after treatment. In the emotional Stroop contrasts, clinical improvement was associated with decreased dorsal ACC activation and decreased left anterior insula activation. We found further evidence that successful treatment in child abuse-related complex PTSD is associated with functional changes in the ACC and insula, which may be due to improved selective attention and lower emotional arousal, indicating greater cognitive control over PTSD symptoms.

Effect of Frustration on Brain Activation Pattern in Subjects with Different Temperament

PubMed Central

Bierzynska, Maria; Bielecki, Maksymilian; Marchewka, Artur; Debowska, Weronika; Duszyk, Anna; Zajkowski, Wojciech; Falkiewicz, Marcel; Nowicka, Anna; Strelau, Jan; Kossut, Malgorzata

2016-01-01

In spite of the prevalence of frustration in everyday life, very few neuroimaging studies were focused on this emotional state. In the current study we aimed to examine effects of frustration on brain activity while performing a well-learned task in participants with low and high tolerance for arousal. Prior to the functional magnetic resonance imaging session, the subjects underwent 2 weeks of Braille reading training. Frustration induction was obtained by using a novel highly difficult tactile task based on discrimination of Braille-like raised dots patterns and negative feedback. Effectiveness of this procedure has been confirmed in a pilot study using galvanic skin response and questionnaires. Brain activation pattern during tactile discrimination task before and after frustration were compared directly. Results revealed changes in brain activity in structures mostly reported in acute stress studies: striatum, cingulate cortex, insula, middle frontal gyrus and precuneus and in structures engaged in tactile Braille discrimination: SI and SII. Temperament type affected activation pattern. Subjects with low tolerance for arousal showed higher activation in the posterior cingulate gyrus, precuneus, and inferior parietal lobule than high reactivity group. Even though performance in the discrimination trials following frustration was unaltered, we observed increased activity of primary and secondary somatosensory cortex processing the tactile information. We interpret this effect as an indicator of additional involvement required to counteract the effects of frustration. PMID:26793136

Effect of Frustration on Brain Activation Pattern in Subjects with Different Temperament.

PubMed

Bierzynska, Maria; Bielecki, Maksymilian; Marchewka, Artur; Debowska, Weronika; Duszyk, Anna; Zajkowski, Wojciech; Falkiewicz, Marcel; Nowicka, Anna; Strelau, Jan; Kossut, Malgorzata

2015-01-01

In spite of the prevalence of frustration in everyday life, very few neuroimaging studies were focused on this emotional state. In the current study we aimed to examine effects of frustration on brain activity while performing a well-learned task in participants with low and high tolerance for arousal. Prior to the functional magnetic resonance imaging session, the subjects underwent 2 weeks of Braille reading training. Frustration induction was obtained by using a novel highly difficult tactile task based on discrimination of Braille-like raised dots patterns and negative feedback. Effectiveness of this procedure has been confirmed in a pilot study using galvanic skin response and questionnaires. Brain activation pattern during tactile discrimination task before and after frustration were compared directly. Results revealed changes in brain activity in structures mostly reported in acute stress studies: striatum, cingulate cortex, insula, middle frontal gyrus and precuneus and in structures engaged in tactile Braille discrimination: SI and SII. Temperament type affected activation pattern. Subjects with low tolerance for arousal showed higher activation in the posterior cingulate gyrus, precuneus, and inferior parietal lobule than high reactivity group. Even though performance in the discrimination trials following frustration was unaltered, we observed increased activity of primary and secondary somatosensory cortex processing the tactile information. We interpret this effect as an indicator of additional involvement required to counteract the effects of frustration.

Narcissists’ social pain seen only in the brain

PubMed Central

Konrath, Sara H.; Falk, Emily B.

2015-01-01

Narcissism is a complex phenomenon, involving a level of defensive self-enhancement. Narcissists have avoidant attachment styles, maintain distance in relationships and claim not to need others. However, they are especially sensitive to others’ evaluations, needing positive reflected appraisals to maintain their inflated self-views, and showing extreme responses (e.g. aggression) when rejected. The current study tested the hypothesis that narcissists also show hypersensitivity in brain systems associated with distress during exclusion. We measured individual differences in narcissism (Narcissistic Personality Inventory) and monitored neural responses to social exclusion (Cyberball). Narcissism was significantly associated with activity in an a priori anatomically defined social pain network (anterior insula, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex) during social exclusion. Results suggest hypersensitivity to exclusion in narcissists may be a function of hypersensitivity in brain systems associated with distress, and suggests a potential pathway that connects narcissism to negative consequences for longer-term physical and mental health—findings not apparent with self-report alone. PMID:24860084

Perceptual load modulates anterior cingulate cortex response to threat distractors in generalized social anxiety disorder.

PubMed

Wheaton, Michael G; Fitzgerald, Daniel A; Phan, K Luan; Klumpp, Heide

2014-09-01

Generalized social anxiety disorder (gSAD) is associated with impoverished anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) engagement during attentional control. Attentional Control Theory proposes such deficiencies may be offset when demands on resources are increased to execute goals. To test the hypothesis attentional demands affect ACC response 23 patients with gSAD and 24 matched controls performed an fMRI task involving a target letter in a string of identical targets (low load) or a target letter in a mixed letter string (high load) superimposed on fearful, angry, and neutral face distractors. Regardless of load condition, groups were similar in accuracy and reaction time. Under low load gSAD patients showed deficient rostral ACC recruitment to fearful (vs. neutral) distractors. For high load, increased activation to fearful (vs. neutral) distractors was observed in gSAD suggesting a compensatory function. Results remained after controlling for group differences in depression level. Findings indicate perceptual demand modulates ACC in gSAD. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Neuronal activity in primate dorsal anterior cingulate cortex signals task conflict and predicts adjustments in pupil-linked arousal

PubMed Central

Ebitz, R. Becket; Platt, Michael L.

2014-01-01

Summary Whether driving a car, shopping for food, or paying attention in a classroom of boisterous teenagers, it’s often hard to maintain focus on goals in the face of distraction. Brain imaging studies in humans implicate the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) in regulating the conflict between goals and distractors. Here we show for the first time that single dACC neurons signal conflict between task goals and distractors in the rhesus macaque, particularly for biologically-relevant social stimuli. For some neurons, task conflict signals predicted subsequent changes in pupil size—a peripheral index of arousal linked to noradrenergic tone—associated with reduced distractor interference. dACC neurons also responded to errors and these signals predicted adjustments in pupil size. These findings provide the first neurophysiological endorsement of the hypothesis that dACC regulates conflict, in part, via modulation of pupil-linked processes such as arousal. PMID:25654259

Empathy for social exclusion involves the sensory-discriminative component of pain: a within-subject fMRI study

PubMed Central

Novembre, Giovanni; Zanon, Marco

2015-01-01

Recent research has shown that experiencing events that represent a significant threat to social bonds activates a network of brain areas associated with the sensory-discriminative aspects of pain. In the present study, we investigated whether the same brain areas are involved when witnessing social exclusion threats experienced by others. Using a within-subject design, we show that an ecologically valid experience of social exclusion recruits areas coding the somatosensory components of physical pain (posterior insular cortex and secondary somatosensory cortex). Furthermore, we show that this pattern of activation not only holds for directly experienced social pain, but also during empathy for social pain. Finally, we report that subgenual cingulate cortex is the only brain area conjointly active during empathy for physical and social pain. This supports recent theories that affective processing and homeostatic regulation are at the core of empathic responses. PMID:24563529

The subthalamic nucleus during decision-making with multiple alternatives.

PubMed

Keuken, Max C; Van Maanen, Leendert; Bogacz, Rafal; Schäfer, Andreas; Neumann, Jane; Turner, Robert; Forstmann, Birte U

2015-10-01

Several prominent neurocomputational models predict that an increase of choice alternatives is modulated by increased activity in the subthalamic nucleus (STN). In turn, increased STN activity allows prolonged accumulation of information. At the same time, areas in the medial frontal cortex such as the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the pre-SMA are hypothesized to influence the information processing in the STN. This study set out to test concrete predictions of STN activity in multiple-alternative decision-making using a multimodal combination of 7 Tesla structural and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, and ancestral graph (AG) modeling. The results are in line with the predictions in that increased STN activity was found with an increasing amount of choice alternatives. In addition, our study shows that activity in the ACC is correlated with activity in the STN without directly modulating it. This result sheds new light on the information processing streams between medial frontal cortex and the basal ganglia. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Neural activations are related to body-shape, anxiety, and outcomes in adolescent anorexia nervosa.

PubMed

Xu, Jie; Harper, Jessica A; Van Enkevort, Erin A; Latimer, Kelsey; Kelley, Urszula; McAdams, Carrie J

2017-04-01

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is an illness that frequently begins during adolescence and involves weight loss. Two groups of adolescent girls (AN-A, weight-recovered following AN) and (HC-A, healthy comparison) completed a functional magnetic resonance imaging task involving social evaluations, allowing comparison of neural activations during self-evaluations, friend-evaluations, and perspective-taking self-evaluations. Although the two groups were not different in their whole-brain activations, anxiety and body shape concerns were correlated with neural activity in a priori regions of interest. A cluster in medial prefrontal cortex and the dorsal anterior cingulate correlated with the body shape questionnaire; subjects with more body shape concerns used this area less during self than friend evaluations. A cluster in medial prefrontal cortex and the cingulate also correlated with anxiety such that more anxiety was associated with engagement when disagreeing rather than agreeing with social terms during self-evaluations. This data suggests that differences in the utilization of frontal brain regions during social evaluations may contribute to both anxiety and body shape concerns in adolescents with AN. Clinical follow-up was obtained, allowing exploration of whether brain function early in course of disease relates to illness trajectory. The adolescents successful in recovery used the posterior cingulate and precuneus more for friend than self evaluations than the adolescents that remained ill, suggesting that neural differences related to social evaluations may provide clinical predictive value. Utilization of both MPFC and the precuneus during social and self evaluations may be a key biological component for achieving sustained weight-recovery in adolescents with AN. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Semantic relation vs. surprise: the differential effects of related and unrelated co-verbal gestures on neural encoding and subsequent recognition.

PubMed

Straube, Benjamin; Meyer, Lea; Green, Antonia; Kircher, Tilo

2014-06-03

Speech-associated gesturing leads to memory advantages for spoken sentences. However, unexpected or surprising events are also likely to be remembered. With this study we test the hypothesis that different neural mechanisms (semantic elaboration and surprise) lead to memory advantages for iconic and unrelated gestures. During fMRI-data acquisition participants were presented with video clips of an actor verbalising concrete sentences accompanied by iconic gestures (IG; e.g., circular gesture; sentence: "The man is sitting at the round table"), unrelated free gestures (FG; e.g., unrelated up down movements; same sentence) and no gestures (NG; same sentence). After scanning, recognition performance for the three conditions was tested. Videos were evaluated regarding semantic relation and surprise by a different group of participants. The semantic relationship between speech and gesture was rated higher for IG (IG>FG), whereas surprise was rated higher for FG (FG>IG). Activation of the hippocampus correlated with subsequent memory performance of both gesture conditions (IG+FG>NG). For the IG condition we found activation in the left temporal pole and middle cingulate cortex (MCC; IG>FG). In contrast, for the FG condition posterior thalamic structures (FG>IG) as well as anterior and posterior cingulate cortices were activated (FG>NG). Our behavioral and fMRI-data suggest different mechanisms for processing related and unrelated co-verbal gestures, both of them leading to enhanced memory performance. Whereas activation in MCC and left temporal pole for iconic co-verbal gestures may reflect semantic memory processes, memory enhancement for unrelated gestures relies on the surprise response, mediated by anterior/posterior cingulate cortex and thalamico-hippocampal structures. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The effect of donepezil on increased regional cerebral blood flow in the posterior cingulate cortex of a patient with Parkinson's disease dementia.

PubMed

Imamura, Keiko; Wada-Isoe, Kenji; Kowa, Hisanori; Tanabe, Yoshio; Nakashima, Kenji

2008-01-01

It has been reported that the cholinesterase inhibitor, donepezil, improves cognitive decline in patients with Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD). However, this improvement was dominant for frontal lobe dysfunction, and the increase in the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score was minimal. We report a PDD patient with a decline of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in the posterior cingulate cortex, precunei, and bilateral parietotemporal association cortex, as determined by single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) using the easy Z-scores imaging system (e-ZIS). Upon administration of donepezil, both the rCBF and MMSE score increased. The effectiveness of donepezil may vary based on the rCBF pattern in PDD.

Frontal lobe functioning during a simple response conflict task in first-episode psychosis and its relationship to treatment response.

PubMed

Shafritz, Keith M; Ikuta, Toshikazu; Greene, Allison; Robinson, Delbert G; Gallego, Juan; Lencz, Todd; DeRosse, Pamela; Kingsley, Peter B; Szeszko, Philip R

2018-05-09

Prior functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have investigated the neural mechanisms underlying cognitive control in patients with psychosis with findings of both hypo- and hyperfrontality. One factor that may contribute to inconsistent findings is the use of complex and polyfactorial tasks to investigate frontal lobe functioning. In the current study we employed a simple response conflict task during fMRI to examine differences in brain activation between patients experiencing their first-episode of psychosis (n = 33) and age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers (n = 33). We further investigated whether baseline brain activation among patients predicted changes in symptom severity and treatment response following 12 weeks of controlled antipsychotic treatment. During the task subjects were instructed to press a response button on the same side or opposite side of a circle that appeared on either side of a central fixation point. Imaging data revealed that for the contrast of opposite-side vs. same-side, patients showed significantly greater activation compared with healthy volunteers in the anterior cingulate cortex and intraparietal sulcus. Among patients, greater baseline anterior cingulate cortex, temporal-parietal junction, and superior temporal cortex activation predicted greater symptom reduction and therapeutic response following treatment. All findings remained significant after covarying for task performance. Intact performance on this relatively parsimonious task was associated with frontal hyperactivity suggesting the need for patients to utilize greater neural resources to achieve task performance comparable to healthy individuals. Moreover, frontal hyperactivity observed using a simple fMRI task may provide a biomarker for predicting treatment response in first-episode psychosis.

Structural and functional changes of the cingulate gyrus following traumatic brain injury: relation to attention and executive skills.

PubMed

Merkley, Tricia L; Larson, Michael J; Bigler, Erin D; Good, Daniel A; Perlstein, William M

2013-09-01

Impairments of attention and executive functions are common sequelae of traumatic brain injury (TBI). The anterior cingulate is implicated in conflict-related task performance, such as the Stroop, and is susceptible to TBI-related injury due to its frontal location and proximity to the rough surface of the falx cerebri. We investigated the relationship between cingulate cortex volume and performance on tasks of selective attention and cognitive flexibility (single-trial Stroop and Auditory Consonant Trigrams [ACT]). Participants consisted of 12 adults with severe TBI and 18 controls. T1-weighted volumetric MRI data were analyzed using automated cortical reconstruction, segmentation, parcellation, and volume measurement. Cortical volume reductions were prominent bilaterally in frontal, temporal, and inferior parietal regions.Specific regional reduction of the cingulate cortex was observed only for cortical volume of right caudal anterior cingulate(cACC). The TBI group performed significantly worse than control participants on the Stroop and ACT tasks. Findings suggest that atrophy of the right cACC may contribute to reduced performance on executive function tasks, such as the Stroop and ACT, although this is likely but one node of an extensive brain network involved in these cognitive processes.

Impact of family history of alcoholism on glutamine/glutamate ratio in anterior cingulate cortex in substance-naïve adolescents.

PubMed

Cohen-Gilbert, Julia E; Sneider, Jennifer T; Crowley, David J; Rosso, Isabelle M; Jensen, J Eric; Silveri, Marisa M

2015-12-01

Neuroimaging studies of individuals with family histories of alcoholism provide evidence suggesting neurobiological risk factors for alcoholism. Youth family history positive (FH+) for alcoholism exhibit increased impulsivity compared to family history negative (FH-) peers in conjunction with altered functional activation in prefrontal cortex, including anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). This study examined glutamate (Glu) and glutamine (Gln), amino acids vital to protein synthesis, cellular metabolism and neurotransmission, acquired from ACC and parieto-occipital cortex (POC) using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) at 4T. Participants were 28 adolescents (13 male, 12-14 yrs) and 31 emerging adults (16 male, 18-25 yrs), stratified into FH- and FH+ groups. Significantly higher ACC Gln/Glu was observed in emerging adults versus adolescents in FH- but not FH+ groups. In FH- adolescents, higher impulsivity was significantly associated with higher ACC Gln/Glu. In FH+ emerging adults, higher impulsivity was negatively associated with ACC Gln/Glu. No differences or associations were observed for POC. These findings provide preliminary evidence that family history of alcoholism is associated with a neurochemical profile that may influence normative age differences in glutamatergic metabolites and their association with impulse control, which together could confer greater genetic risk of addiction later in life. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Changes in cortical N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors and post-synaptic density protein 95 in schizophrenia, mood disorders and suicide.

PubMed

Dean, Brian; Gibbons, Andrew S; Boer, Simone; Uezato, Akihito; Meador-Woodruff, James; Scarr, Elizabeth; McCullumsmith, Robert E

2016-03-01

In humans, depending on dose, blocking the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) with ketamine can cause psychomimetic or antidepressant effects. The overall outcome for drugs such as ketamine depends on dose and the number of its available binding sites in the central nervous system, and to understand something of the latter variable we measure NMDAR in the frontal pole, dorsolateral prefrontal, anterior cingulate and parietal cortices from people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorders and age/sex matched controls. We measured levels of NMDARs (using [(3)H]MK-801 binding) and NMDAR sub-unit mRNAs (GRINs: using in situ hybridisation) as well as post-synaptic density protein 95 (anterior cingulate cortex only; not major depressive disorders: an NMDAR post-synaptic associated protein) in bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and controls. Compared to controls, levels of NMDAR were lower in the outer laminae of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (-17%, p = 0.01) in people with schizophrenia. In bipolar disorder, levels of NMDAR binding (laminae IV-VI; -19%, p < 0.01) and GRIN2C mRNA (laminae I-VI; -27%, p < 0.05) were lower in the anterior cingulate cortex and NMDAR binding was lower in the outer lamina IV of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (-19%, p < 0.01). In major depressive disorders, levels of GRIN2D mRNA were higher in frontal pole (+22%, p < 0.05). In suicide completers, levels of GRIN2B mRNA were higher in parietal cortex (+20%, p < 0.01) but lower (-35%, p = 0.02) in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex while post-synaptic density protein 95 was higher (+26%, p < 0.05) in anterior cingulate cortex. These data suggest that differences in cortical NMDAR expression and post-synaptic density protein 95 are present in psychiatric disorders and suicide completion and may contribute to different responses to ketamine. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2015.

Differential Neural Responses to Food Images in Women with Bulimia versus Anorexia Nervosa

PubMed Central

Brooks, Samantha J.; O′Daly, Owen G.; Uher, Rudolf; Friederich, Hans-Christoph; Giampietro, Vincent; Brammer, Michael; Williams, Steven C. R.; Schiöth, Helgi B.; Treasure, Janet; Campbell, Iain C.

2011-01-01

Background Previous fMRI studies show that women with eating disorders (ED) have differential neural activation to viewing food images. However, despite clinical differences in their responses to food, differential neural activation to thinking about eating food, between women with anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) is not known. Methods We compare 50 women (8 with BN, 18 with AN and 24 age-matched healthy controls [HC]) while they view food images during functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). Results In response to food (vs non-food) images, women with BN showed greater neural activation in the visual cortex, right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, right insular cortex and precentral gyrus, women with AN showed greater activation in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, cerebellum and right precuneus. HC women activated the cerebellum, right insular cortex, right medial temporal lobe and left caudate. Direct comparisons revealed that compared to HC, the BN group showed relative deactivation in the bilateral superior temporal gyrus/insula, and visual cortex, and compared to AN had relative deactivation in the parietal lobe and dorsal posterior cingulate cortex, but greater activation in the caudate, superior temporal gyrus, right insula and supplementary motor area. Conclusions Women with AN and BN activate top-down cognitive control in response to food images, yet women with BN have increased activation in reward and somatosensory regions, which might impinge on cognitive control over food consumption and binge eating. PMID:21799807

Acute aerobic exercise increases cortical activity during working memory: a functional MRI study in female college students.

PubMed

Li, Lin; Men, Wei-Wei; Chang, Yu-Kai; Fan, Ming-Xia; Ji, Liu; Wei, Gao-Xia

2014-01-01

There is increasing evidence that acute aerobic exercise is associated with improved cognitive function. However, neural correlates of its cognitive plasticity remain largely unknown. The present study examined the effect of a session of acute aerobic exercise on working memory task-evoked brain activity as well as task performance. A within-subjects design with a counterbalanced order was employed. Fifteen young female participants (M = 19.56, SD = 0.81) were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a working memory task, the N-back task, both following an acute exercise session with 20 minutes of moderate intensity and a control rest session. Although an acute session of exercise did not improve behavioral performance, we observed that it had a significant impact on brain activity during the 2-back condition of the N-back task. Specifically, acute exercise induced increased brain activation in the right middle prefrontal gyrus, the right lingual gyrus, and the left fusiform gyrus as well as deactivations in the anterior cingulate cortexes, the left inferior frontal gyrus, and the right paracentral lobule. Despite the lack of an effect on behavioral measures, significant changes after acute exercise with activation of the prefrontal and occipital cortexes and deactivation of the anterior cingulate cortexes and left frontal hemisphere reflect the improvement of executive control processes, indicating that acute exercise could benefit working memory at a macro-neural level. In addition to its effects on reversing recent obesity and disease trends, our results provide substantial evidence highlighting the importance of promoting physical activity across the lifespan to prevent or reverse cognitive and neural decline.

Internal and external attention and the default mode network.

PubMed

Scheibner, Hannah J; Bogler, Carsten; Gleich, Tobias; Haynes, John-Dylan; Bermpohl, Felix

2017-03-01

Focused attention meditations have been shown to improve psychological health and wellbeing and are nowadays an integral part of many psychotherapies. While research on the neural correlates of focused attention meditation is increasing, findings vary on whether meditations are associated with high or low activity in the default mode network (DMN). To clarify the relationship between focused attention meditation and the activity in DMN regions, it may be helpful to distinguish internal and external attention as well as different phases within one meditation: During focused attention meditation, the practitioner switches between mindful attention, mind-wandering and refocusing. Here, we employed a thought-probe paradigm to study the neural correlates of these different phases. Twenty healthy, meditation naïve participants were introduced to external (mindfulness of sound) and internal (mindfulness of breathing) attention meditation and then practiced the meditation at home for four consecutive days. They then performed the same focused attention meditations during fMRI scanning, in four runs alternating between internal and external attention. At pseudorandom intervals, participants were asked whether they had just been focused on the task (mindful attention) or had been distracted (mind-wandering). During mindful attention, brain regions typically associated with the DMN, such as the medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex and left temporoparietal junction showed significantly less neural activation compared to mind-wandering phases. Reduced activity of the DMN was found during both external and internal attention, with stronger deactivation in the posterior cingulate cortex during internal attention compared to external attention. Moreover, refocusing after mind-wandering was associated with activity in the left inferior frontal gyrus. Our results support the theory that mindful attention is associated with reduced DMN activity compared to mind-wandering, independent of the practitioner's attention focus (i.e., internal vs. external). Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Opposite brain emotion-regulation patterns in identity states of dissociative identity disorder: a PET study and neurobiological model.

PubMed

Reinders, Antje A T S; Willemsen, Antoon T M; den Boer, Johan A; Vos, Herry P J; Veltman, Dick J; Loewenstein, Richard J

2014-09-30

Imaging studies in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have shown differing neural network patterns between hypo-aroused/dissociative and hyper-aroused subtypes. Since dissociative identity disorder (DID) involves different emotional states, this study tests whether DID fits aspects of the differing brain-activation patterns in PTSD. While brain activation was monitored using positron emission tomography, DID individuals (n=11) and matched DID-simulating healthy controls (n=16) underwent an autobiographic script-driven imagery paradigm in a hypo-aroused and a hyper-aroused identity state. Results were consistent with those previously found in the two PTSD subtypes for the rostral/dorsal anterior cingulate, the prefrontal cortex, and the amygdala and insula, respectively. Furthermore, the dissociative identity state uniquely activated the posterior association areas and the parahippocampal gyri, whereas the hyper-aroused identity state uniquely activated the caudate nucleus. Therefore, we proposed an extended PTSD-based neurobiological model for emotion modulation in DID: the hypo-aroused identity state activates the prefrontal cortex, cingulate, posterior association areas and parahippocampal gyri, thereby overmodulating emotion regulation; the hyper-aroused identity state activates the amygdala and insula as well as the dorsal striatum, thereby undermodulating emotion regulation. This confirms the notion that DID is related to PTSD as hypo-aroused and hyper-arousal states in DID and PTSD are similar. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Distracted and down: neural mechanisms of affective interference in subclinical depression.

PubMed

Kaiser, Roselinde H; Andrews-Hanna, Jessica R; Spielberg, Jeffrey M; Warren, Stacie L; Sutton, Bradley P; Miller, Gregory A; Heller, Wendy; Banich, Marie T

2015-05-01

Previous studies have shown that depressed individuals have difficulty directing attention away from negative distractors, a phenomenon known as affective interference. However, findings are mixed regarding the neural mechanisms and network dynamics of affective interference. The present study addressed these issues by comparing neural activation during emotion-word and color-word Stroop tasks in participants with varying levels of (primarily subclinical) depression. Depressive symptoms predicted increased activation to negative distractors in areas of dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), regions implicated in cognitive control and internally directed attention, respectively. Increased dACC activity was also observed in the group-average response to incongruent distractors, suggesting that dACC activity during affective interference is related to overtaxed cognitive control. In contrast, regions of PCC were deactivated across the group in response to incongruent distractors, suggesting that PCC activity during affective interference represents task-independent processing. A psychophysiological interaction emerged in which higher depression predicted more positively correlated activity between dACC and PCC during affective interference, i.e. greater connectivity between cognitive control and internal-attention systems. These findings suggest that, when individuals high in depression are confronted by negative material, increased attention to internal thoughts and difficulty shifting resources to the external world interfere with goal-directed behavior. © The Author (2014). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Neuroimaging self-esteem: a fMRI study of individual differences in women

PubMed Central

Lundberg, Erica; Brimson-Théberge, Melanie; Théberge, Jean

2013-01-01

Although neuroimaging studies strongly implicate the medial prefrontal cortex (ventral and dorsal), cingulate gyrus (anterior and posterior), precuneus and temporoparietal cortex in mediating self-referential processing (SRP), little is known about the neural bases mediating individual differences in valenced SRP, that is, processes intrinsic to self-esteem. This study investigated the neural correlates of experimentally engendered valenced SRP via the Visual–Verbal Self-Other Referential Processing Task in 20 women with fMRI. Participants viewed pictures of themselves or unknown other women during separate trials while covertly rehearsing ‘I am’ or ‘She is’, followed by reading valenced trait adjectives, thus variably associating the self/other with positivity/negativity. Response within dorsal and ventral medial prefrontal cortex, cingulate cortex and left temporoparietal cortex varied with individual differences in both pre-task rated self-descriptiveness of the words, as well as task-induced affective responses. Results are discussed as they relate to a social cognitive and affective neuroscience view of self-esteem. PMID:22403154

The neural bases of cognitive conflict and control in moral judgment.

PubMed

Greene, Joshua D; Nystrom, Leigh E; Engell, Andrew D; Darley, John M; Cohen, Jonathan D

2004-10-14

Traditional theories of moral psychology emphasize reasoning and "higher cognition," while more recent work emphasizes the role of emotion. The present fMRI data support a theory of moral judgment according to which both "cognitive" and emotional processes play crucial and sometimes mutually competitive roles. The present results indicate that brain regions associated with abstract reasoning and cognitive control (including dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex) are recruited to resolve difficult personal moral dilemmas in which utilitarian values require "personal" moral violations, violations that have previously been associated with increased activity in emotion-related brain regions. Several regions of frontal and parietal cortex predict intertrial differences in moral judgment behavior, exhibiting greater activity for utilitarian judgments. We speculate that the controversy surrounding utilitarian moral philosophy reflects an underlying tension between competing subsystems in the brain.

Reward sensitivity modulates brain activity in the prefrontal cortex, ACC and striatum during task switching.

PubMed

Fuentes-Claramonte, Paola; Ávila, César; Rodríguez-Pujadas, Aina; Ventura-Campos, Noelia; Bustamante, Juan C; Costumero, Víctor; Rosell-Negre, Patricia; Barrós-Loscertales, Alfonso

2015-01-01

Current perspectives on cognitive control acknowledge that individual differences in motivational dispositions may modulate cognitive processes in the absence of reward contingencies. This work aimed to study the relationship between individual differences in Behavioral Activation System (BAS) sensitivity and the neural underpinnings involved in processing a switching cue in a task-switching paradigm. BAS sensitivity was hypothesized to modulate brain activity in frontal regions, ACC and the striatum. Twenty-eight healthy participants underwent fMRI while performing a switching task, which elicited activity in fronto-striatal regions during the processing of the switch cue. BAS sensitivity was negatively associated with activity in the lateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex and the ventral striatum. Combined with previous results, our data indicate that BAS sensitivity modulates the neurocognitive processes involved in task switching in a complex manner depending on task demands. Therefore, individual differences in motivational dispositions may influence cognitive processing in the absence of reward contingencies.

Reward Sensitivity Modulates Brain Activity in the Prefrontal Cortex, ACC and Striatum during Task Switching

PubMed Central

Fuentes-Claramonte, Paola; Ávila, César; Rodríguez-Pujadas, Aina; Ventura-Campos, Noelia; Bustamante, Juan C.; Costumero, Víctor; Rosell-Negre, Patricia; Barrós-Loscertales, Alfonso

2015-01-01

Current perspectives on cognitive control acknowledge that individual differences in motivational dispositions may modulate cognitive processes in the absence of reward contingencies. This work aimed to study the relationship between individual differences in Behavioral Activation System (BAS) sensitivity and the neural underpinnings involved in processing a switching cue in a task-switching paradigm. BAS sensitivity was hypothesized to modulate brain activity in frontal regions, ACC and the striatum. Twenty-eight healthy participants underwent fMRI while performing a switching task, which elicited activity in fronto-striatal regions during the processing of the switch cue. BAS sensitivity was negatively associated with activity in the lateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex and the ventral striatum. Combined with previous results, our data indicate that BAS sensitivity modulates the neurocognitive processes involved in task switching in a complex manner depending on task demands. Therefore, individual differences in motivational dispositions may influence cognitive processing in the absence of reward contingencies. PMID:25875640

Midcingulate cortex: Structure, connections, homologies, functions and diseases.

PubMed

Vogt, Brent A

2016-07-01

Midcingulate cortex (MCC) has risen in prominence as human imaging identifies unique structural and functional activity therein and this is the first review of its structure, connections, functions and disease vulnerabilities. The MCC has two divisions (anterior, aMCC and posterior, pMCC) that represent functional units and the cytoarchitecture, connections and neurocytology of each is shown with immunohistochemistry and receptor binding. The MCC is not a division of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the "dorsal ACC" designation is a misnomer as it incorrectly implies that MCC is a division of ACC. Interpretation of findings among species and developing models of human diseases requires detailed comparative studies which is shown here for five species with flat maps and immunohistochemistry (human, monkey, rabbit, rat, mouse). The largest neurons in human cingulate cortex are in layer Vb of area 24 d in pMCC which project to the spinal cord. This area is part of the caudal cingulate premotor area which is involved in multisensory orientation of the head and body in space and neuron responses are tuned for the force and direction of movement. In contrast, the rostral cingulate premotor area in aMCC is involved in action-reinforcement associations and selection based on the amount of reward or aversive properties of a potential movement. The aMCC is activated by nociceptive information from the midline, mediodorsal and intralaminar thalamic nuclei which evoke fear and mediates nocifensive behaviors. This subregion also has high dopaminergic afferents and high dopamine-1 receptor binding and is engaged in reward processes. Opposing pain/avoidance and reward/approach functions are selected by assessment of potential outcomes and error detection according to feedback-mediated, decision making. Parietal afferents differentially terminate in MCC and provide for multisensory control in an eye- and head-centric manner. Finally, MCC vulnerability in human disease confirms the unique organization of MCC and supports the predictive validity of the MCC dichotomy. Vulnerability of aMCC is shown in chronic pain, obsessive-compulsive disorder with checking symptoms and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and methylphenidate and pain medications selectively impact aMCC. In contrast, pMCC vulnerabilities are for progressive supranuclear palsy, unipolar depression and posttraumatic stress disorder. Thus, there is an emerging picture of the organization, functions and diseases of MCC. Future work will take this type of modular analysis to individual areas of which there are at least 10 in MCC. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Attenuation of the neural response to sad faces in major depression by antidepressant treatment: a prospective, event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

PubMed

Fu, Cynthia H Y; Williams, Steven C R; Cleare, Anthony J; Brammer, Michael J; Walsh, Nicholas D; Kim, Jieun; Andrew, Chris M; Pich, Emilio Merlo; Williams, Pauline M; Reed, Laurence J; Mitterschiffthaler, Martina T; Suckling, John; Bullmore, Edward T

2004-09-01

Depression is associated with interpersonal difficulties related to abnormalities in affective facial processing. To map brain systems activated by sad facial affect processing in patients with depression and to identify brain functional correlates of antidepressant treatment and symptomatic response. Two groups underwent scanning twice using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during an 8-week period. The event-related fMRI paradigm entailed incidental affect recognition of facial stimuli morphed to express discriminable intensities of sadness. Participants were recruited by advertisement from the local population; depressed subjects were treated as outpatients. We matched 19 medication-free, acutely symptomatic patients satisfying DSM-IV criteria for unipolar major depressive disorder by age, sex, and IQ with 19 healthy volunteers. Intervention After the baseline assessment, patients received fluoxetine hydrochloride, 20 mg/d, for 8 weeks. Average activation (capacity) and differential response to variable affective intensity (dynamic range) were estimated in each fMRI time series. We used analysis of variance to identify brain regions that demonstrated a main effect of group (depressed vs healthy subjects) and a group x time interaction (attributable to antidepressant treatment). Change in brain activation associated with reduction of depressive symptoms in the patient group was identified by means of regression analysis. Permutation tests were used for inference. Over time, depressed subjects showed reduced capacity for activation in the left amygdala, ventral striatum, and frontoparietal cortex and a negatively correlated increase of dynamic range in the prefrontal cortex. Symptomatic improvement was associated with reduction of dynamic range in the pregenual cingulate cortex, ventral striatum, and cerebellum. Antidepressant treatment reduces left limbic, subcortical, and neocortical capacity for activation in depressed subjects and increases the dynamic range of the left prefrontal cortex. Changes in anterior cingulate function associated with symptomatic improvement indicate that fMRI may be a useful surrogate marker of antidepressant treatment response.

Response Monitoring, Repetitive Behaviour and Anterior Cingulate Abnormalities in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thakkar, Katharine N.; Polli, Frida E.; Joseph, Robert M.; Tuch, David S.; Hadjikhani, Nouchine; Barton, Jason J. S.; Manoach, Dara S.

2008-01-01

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by inflexible and repetitive behaviour. Response monitoring involves evaluating the consequences of behaviour and making adjustments to optimize outcomes. Deficiencies in this function, and abnormalities in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) on which it relies, have been reported as contributing…

Reduced Anterior Cingulate Glutamatergic Concentrations in Childhood Ocd and Major Depression Versus Healthy Controls

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rosenberg, David R.; Mirza, Yousha; Russell, Aileen; Tang, Jennifer; Smith, Janet M.; Banerjee, Preeya S.; Bhandari, Rashmi; Rose, Michelle; Ivey, Jennifer; Boyd, Courtney; Moore, Gregory J.

2004-01-01

Objective: To examine in vivo glutamatergic neurochemical alterations in the anterior cingulate cortex of pediatric patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) without major depressive disorder (MDD) versus pediatric patients with MDD without OCD and healthy controls. Method: Single-voxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic examinations…

Prefrontal cortex based sex differences in tinnitus perception: same tinnitus intensity, same tinnitus distress, different mood.

PubMed

Vanneste, Sven; Joos, Kathleen; De Ridder, Dirk

2012-01-01

Tinnitus refers to auditory phantom sensation. It is estimated that for 2% of the population this auditory phantom percept severely affects the quality of life, due to tinnitus related distress. Although the overall distress levels do not differ between sexes in tinnitus, females are more influenced by distress than males. Typically, pain, sleep, and depression are perceived as significantly more severe by female tinnitus patients. Studies on gender differences in emotional regulation indicate that females with high depressive symptoms show greater attention to emotion, and use less anti-rumination emotional repair strategies than males. The objective of this study was to verify whether the activity and connectivity of the resting brain is different for male and female tinnitus patients using resting-state EEG. Females had a higher mean score than male tinnitus patients on the BDI-II. Female tinnitus patients differ from male tinnitus patients in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) extending to the frontopolar cortex in beta1 and beta2. The OFC is important for emotional processing of sounds. Increased functional alpha connectivity is found between the OFC, insula, subgenual anterior cingulate (sgACC), parahippocampal (PHC) areas and the auditory cortex in females. Our data suggest increased functional connectivity that binds tinnitus-related auditory cortex activity to auditory emotion-related areas via the PHC-sgACC connections resulting in a more depressive state even though the tinnitus intensity and tinnitus-related distress are not different from men. Comparing male tinnitus patients to a control group of males significant differences could be found for beta3 in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). The PCC might be related to cognitive and memory-related aspects of the tinnitus percept. Our results propose that sex influences in tinnitus research cannot be ignored and should be taken into account in functional imaging studies related to tinnitus.

Common medial frontal mechanisms of adaptive control in humans and rodents

PubMed Central

Frank, Michael J.; Laubach, Mark

2013-01-01

In this report, we describe how common brain networks within the medial frontal cortex facilitate adaptive behavioral control in rodents and humans. We demonstrate that low frequency oscillations below 12 Hz are dramatically modulated after errors in humans over mid-frontal cortex and in rats within prelimbic and anterior cingulate regions of medial frontal cortex. These oscillations were phase-locked between medial frontal cortex and motor areas in both rats and humans. In rats, single neurons that encoded prior behavioral outcomes were phase-coherent with low-frequency field oscillations particularly after errors. Inactivating medial frontal regions in rats led to impaired behavioral adjustments after errors, eliminated the differential expression of low frequency oscillations after errors, and increased low-frequency spike-field coupling within motor cortex. Our results describe a novel mechanism for behavioral adaptation via low-frequency oscillations and elucidate how medial frontal networks synchronize brain activity to guide performance. PMID:24141310

Developmental changes in mental arithmetic: evidence for increased functional specialization in the left inferior parietal cortex.

PubMed

Rivera, S M; Reiss, A L; Eckert, M A; Menon, V

2005-11-01

Arithmetic reasoning is arguably one of the most important cognitive skills a child must master. Here we examine neurodevelopmental changes in mental arithmetic. Subjects (ages 8-19 years) viewed arithmetic equations and were asked to judge whether the results were correct or incorrect. During two-operand addition or subtraction trials, for which accuracy was comparable across age, older subjects showed greater activation in the left parietal cortex, along the supramarginal gyrus and adjoining anterior intra-parietal sulcus as well as the left lateral occipital temporal cortex. These age-related changes were not associated with alterations in gray matter density, and provide novel evidence for increased functional maturation with age. By contrast, younger subjects showed greater activation in the prefrontal cortex, including the dorsolateral and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex, suggesting that they require comparatively more working memory and attentional resources to achieve similar levels of mental arithmetic performance. Younger subjects also showed greater activation of the hippocampus and dorsal basal ganglia, reflecting the greater demands placed on both declarative and procedural memory systems. Our findings provide evidence for a process of increased functional specialization of the left inferior parietal cortex in mental arithmetic, a process that is accompanied by decreased dependence on memory and attentional resources with development.

Neuroanatomical correlates of personality in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): Associations between personality and frontal cortex.

PubMed

Latzman, Robert D; Hecht, Lisa K; Freeman, Hani D; Schapiro, Steven J; Hopkins, William D

2015-12-01

Converging empirical data suggests that a set of largely consistent personality traits exist in both human and nonhuman primates; despite these similarities, almost nothing is known concerning the neurobiological basis of these traits in nonhuman primates. The current study examined associations between chimpanzee personality traits and the grey matter volume and asymmetry of various frontal cortex regions in 107 captive chimpanzees. Chimpanzees rated as higher on Openness and Extraversion had greater bilateral grey matter volumes in the anterior cingulate cortex. Further, chimpanzee rated as higher on Dominance had larger grey volumes in the left anterior cingulate cortex and right Prefrontal Cortex (PFC). Finally, apes rated higher on Reactivity/Unpredictability had higher grey matter volumes in the right mesial PFC. All associations survived after applying False Discovery Rate (FDR) thresholds. Results are discussed in terms of current neuroscientific models of personality which suggest that the frontal cortex, and asymmetries in this region, play an important role in the neurobiological foundation of broad dispositional traits. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Gray matter alteration in isolated congenital anosmia patient: a voxel-based morphometry study.

PubMed

Yao, Linyin; Yi, Xiaoli; Wei, Yongxiang

2013-09-01

Decreased volume of gray matter (GM) was observed in olfactory loss in patients with neurodegenerative disorder. However, GM volume has not yet been investigated in isolated congenital anosmia (ICA) people. We herewith investigated the volume change of gray matter of an ICA boy by morphometric analysis of magnetic resonance images (voxel-based morphometry), and compared with that of 20 age-matched healthy controls. ICA boy presented a significant decrease in GM volume in the orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, middle cingulate cortex, thalamus, insular cortex, cerebellum, precuneus, gyrus rectus, subcallosal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, fusiform gyrus and piriform cortex. No significant GM volume increase was detected in other brain areas. The pattern of GM atrophy was similar as previous literature reported. Our results identified similar GM volume alterations regardless of the causes of olfactory impairment. Decreased GM volume was not only shown in olfactory bulbs, olfactory tracts and olfactory sulcus, also in primary olfactory cortex and the secondary cerebral olfactory areas in ICA people. This is the first study to evaluate GM volume alterations in ICA people.

Identifying the Neural Substrates of Procrastination: a Resting-State fMRI Study.

PubMed

Zhang, Wenwen; Wang, Xiangpeng; Feng, Tingyong

2016-09-12

Procrastination is a prevalent problematic behavior that brings serious consequences to individuals who suffer from it. Although this phenomenon has received increasing attention from researchers, the underpinning neural substrates of it is poorly studied. To examine the neural bases subserving procrastination, the present study employed resting-state fMRI. The main results were as follows: (1) the behavioral procrastination was positively correlated with the regional activity of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and the parahippocampal cortex (PHC), while negatively correlated with that of the anterior prefrontal cortex (aPFC). (2) The aPFC-seed connectivity with the anterior medial prefrontal cortex and the posterior cingulate cortex was positively associated with procrastination. (3) The connectivity between vmPFC and several other regions, such as the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, the bilateral inferior prefrontal cortex showed a negative association with procrastination. These results suggested that procrastination could be attributed to, on the one hand, hyper-activity of the default mode network (DMN) that overrides the prefrontal control signal; while on the other hand, the failure of top-down control exerted by the aPFC on the DMN. Therefore, the present study unravels the biomarkers of procrastination and provides treatment targets for procrastination prevention.

Identifying the Neural Substrates of Procrastination: a Resting-State fMRI Study

PubMed Central

Zhang, Wenwen; Wang, Xiangpeng; Feng, Tingyong

2016-01-01

Procrastination is a prevalent problematic behavior that brings serious consequences to individuals who suffer from it. Although this phenomenon has received increasing attention from researchers, the underpinning neural substrates of it is poorly studied. To examine the neural bases subserving procrastination, the present study employed resting-state fMRI. The main results were as follows: (1) the behavioral procrastination was positively correlated with the regional activity of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and the parahippocampal cortex (PHC), while negatively correlated with that of the anterior prefrontal cortex (aPFC). (2) The aPFC-seed connectivity with the anterior medial prefrontal cortex and the posterior cingulate cortex was positively associated with procrastination. (3) The connectivity between vmPFC and several other regions, such as the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, the bilateral inferior prefrontal cortex showed a negative association with procrastination. These results suggested that procrastination could be attributed to, on the one hand, hyper-activity of the default mode network (DMN) that overrides the prefrontal control signal; while on the other hand, the failure of top-down control exerted by the aPFC on the DMN. Therefore, the present study unravels the biomarkers of procrastination and provides treatment targets for procrastination prevention. PMID:27616687

Emotional eating and routine restraint scores are associated with activity in brain regions involved in urge and self-control.

PubMed

Wood, Samantha M W; Schembre, Susan M; He, Qinghua; Engelmann, Jeffrey M; Ames, Susan L; Bechara, Antoine

2016-10-15

Researchers have proposed a variety of behavioral traits that may lead to weight gain and obesity; however, little is known about the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying these weight-related eating behaviors. In this study, we measured activation of reward circuitry during a task requiring response and inhibition to food stimuli. We assessed participants' emotional eating, external eating, and two subscales of dietary restraint-routine restraint and compensatory restraint-using the Weight-Related Eating Questionnaire. For routine restraint, we found positive associations with activation in the insula, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, orbitofrontal cortex and ventromedial prefrontal cortex in response to high-calorie versus low-calorie foods. For emotional eating, we found positive associations with insula and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activation in response to high-calorie versus low-calorie foods. We also found positive associations between emotional eating and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activation in response to approach versus inhibition towards high-calorie foods. Thus, our results demonstrate an increase in activation across brain regions related to self-control and urges in response to high-calorie food associated with both emotional eating and routine restraint. Overall, these results support the construct validity of both emotional eating and routine restraint and provide preliminary evidence that these subscales have similar neural correlates. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Developmental Aspects of Error and High-Conflict-Related Brain Activity in Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A FMRI Study with a Flanker Task before and after CBT

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huyser, Chaim; Veltman, Dick J.; Wolters, Lidewij H.; de Haan, Else; Boer, Frits

2011-01-01

Background: Heightened error and conflict monitoring are considered central mechanisms in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and are associated with anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) function. Pediatric obsessive-compulsive patients provide an opportunity to investigate the development of this area and its associations with psychopathology.…

The neural organization of perception in chess experts.

PubMed

Krawczyk, Daniel C; Boggan, Amy L; McClelland, M Michelle; Bartlett, James C

2011-07-20

The human visual system responds to expertise, and it has been suggested that regions that process faces also process other objects of expertise including chess boards by experts. We tested whether chess and face processing overlap in brain activity using fMRI. Chess experts and novices exhibited face selective areas, but these regions showed no selectivity to chess configurations relative to other stimuli. We next compared neural responses to chess and to scrambled chess displays to isolate areas relevant to expertise. Areas within the posterior cingulate, orbitofrontal cortex, and right temporal cortex were active in this comparison in experts over novices. We also compared chess and face responses within the posterior cingulate and found this area responsive to chess only in experts. These findings indicate that the configurations in chess are not strongly processed by face-selective regions that are selective for faces in individuals who have expertise in both domains. Further, the area most consistently involved in chess did not show overlap with faces. Overall, these results suggest that expert visual processing may be similar at the level of recognition, but need not show the same neural correlates. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abnormal object recall and anterior cingulate overactivation correlate with formal thought disorder in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Assaf, Michal; Rivkin, Paul R; Kuzu, Cheedem H; Calhoun, Vince D; Kraut, Michael A; Groth, Karyn M; Yassa, Michael A; Hart, John; Pearlson, Godfrey D

2006-03-01

The neural basis of formal thought disorder (FTD) is unknown. An influential theory is that FTD results from impaired semantic memory processing. We explored the neural correlates of semantic memory retrieval in schizophrenia using an imaging task assessing semantic object recall. Sixteen healthy control subjects and sixteen schizophrenia patients whose FTD symptoms were measured with the Thought Disorder Index completed a verbal object-recall task during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Participants viewed two words describing object features that either evoked (object recall) or did not evoke a semantic concept. Schizophrenia patients tended to overrecall objects for feature pairs that did not describe the same object. Functionally, rostral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) activation in patients positively correlated with FTD severity during both correct recalled and overrecalled trials. Compared with control subjects, during object recalling, patients overactivated bilateral ACC, temporooccipital junctions, temporal poles and parahippocampi, right inferior frontal gyrus, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, but underactivated inferior parietal lobules. Our results support impaired semantic memory retrieval as underlying FTD pathophysiology. Schizophrenia patients showed abnormal activations of brain areas involved in semantic memory, verbal working memory, and initiation and suppression of conflicting responses, which were associated with semantic overrecall and FTD.

Risk prediction and aversion by anterior cingulate cortex.

PubMed

Brown, Joshua W; Braver, Todd S

2007-12-01

The recently proposed error-likelihood hypothesis suggests that anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and surrounding areas will become active in proportion to the perceived likelihood of an error. The hypothesis was originally derived from a computational model prediction. The same computational model now makes a further prediction that ACC will be sensitive not only to predicted error likelihood, but also to the predicted magnitude of the consequences, should an error occur. The product of error likelihood and predicted error consequence magnitude collectively defines the general "expected risk" of a given behavior in a manner analogous but orthogonal to subjective expected utility theory. New fMRI results from an incentivechange signal task now replicate the error-likelihood effect, validate the further predictions of the computational model, and suggest why some segments of the population may fail to show an error-likelihood effect. In particular, error-likelihood effects and expected risk effects in general indicate greater sensitivity to earlier predictors of errors and are seen in risk-averse but not risk-tolerant individuals. Taken together, the results are consistent with an expected risk model of ACC and suggest that ACC may generally contribute to cognitive control by recruiting brain activity to avoid risk.

Mapping of cingulate motor function by cortical stimulation.

PubMed

Basha, Maysaa M; Fernández-Baca Vaca, Guadalupe; Lüders, Hans O

2013-09-01

An 8-year-old boy with intractable left mesiofrontal lobe epilepsy underwent placement of stereotactic intracerebral depth electrodes to better localise the epileptogenic zone. Co-registration of preoperative MRI and post-electrode implantation CAT allowed for anatomical localisation of electrode contacts. Electrical stimulation of electrodes over the dorsal and ventral banks of the cingulate cortex on the left produced right foot dorsiflexion and right wrist and elbow flexion, respectively, demonstrating detailed representation of cingulate motor function in humans, somatotopically distributed along the banks of the cingulate sulcus, as seen in the non-human primate. [Published with video sequences].

Brain-behavior relationships in source memory: Effects of age and memory ability.

PubMed

Meusel, Liesel-Ann; Grady, Cheryl L; Ebert, Patricia E; Anderson, Nicole D

2017-06-01

There is considerable evidence for age-related decrements in source memory retrieval, but the literature on the neural correlates of these impairments is mixed. In this study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine source memory retrieval-related brain activity, and the monotonic relationship between retrieval-related brain activity and source memory accuracy, as a function of both healthy aging (younger vs older) and memory ability within the older adult group (Hi-Old vs Lo-Old). Participants studied lists of word pairs, half visually, half aurally; these were re-presented visually in a scanned test phase and participants indicated if the pair was 'seen' or 'heard' in the study phase. The Lo-Old, but not the Hi-Old, showed source memory performance decrements compared to the Young. During retrieval of source memories, younger and older adults engaged lateral and medial prefrontal cortex (PFC) and medial posterior parietal (and occipital) cortices. The groups differed in how brain activity related to source memory accuracy in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, precuneus/cuneus, and the inferior parietal cortex; in each of these areas, greater activity was associated with poorer accuracy in the Young, but with higher accuracy in the Hi-Old (anterior cingulate and precuneus/cuneus) and Lo-Old (inferior parietal lobe). Follow-up pairwise group interaction analyses revealed that greater activity in right parahippocampal gyrus was associated with better source memory in the Hi-Old, but not in the Lo-Old. We conclude that older adults recruit additional brain regions to compensate for age-related decline in source memory, but the specific regions involved differ depending on their episodic memory ability. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Brain Functional Networks Associated to Human and Animal Suffering Differ among Omnivores, Vegetarians and Vegans

PubMed Central

Filippi, Massimo; Riccitelli, Gianna; Falini, Andrea; Di Salle, Francesco; Vuilleumier, Patrik; Comi, Giancarlo; Rocca, Maria A.

2010-01-01

Empathy and affective appraisals for conspecifics are among the hallmarks of social interaction. Using functional MRI, we hypothesized that vegetarians and vegans, who made their feeding choice for ethical reasons, might show brain responses to conditions of suffering involving humans or animals different from omnivores. We recruited 20 omnivore subjects, 19 vegetarians, and 21 vegans. The groups were matched for sex and age. Brain activation was investigated using fMRI and an event-related design during observation of negative affective pictures of human beings and animals (showing mutilations, murdered people, human/animal threat, tortures, wounds, etc.). Participants saw negative-valence scenes related to humans and animals, alternating with natural landscapes. During human negative valence scenes, compared with omnivores, vegetarians and vegans had an increased recruitment of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). More critically, during animal negative valence scenes, they had decreased amygdala activation and increased activation of the lingual gyri, the left cuneus, the posterior cingulate cortex and several areas mainly located in the frontal lobes, including the ACC, the IFG and the middle frontal gyrus. Nonetheless, also substantial differences between vegetarians and vegans have been found responding to negative scenes. Vegetarians showed a selective recruitment of the right inferior parietal lobule during human negative scenes, and a prevailing activation of the ACC during animal negative scenes. Conversely, during animal negative scenes an increased activation of the inferior prefrontal cortex was observed in vegans. These results suggest that empathy toward non conspecifics has different neural representation among individuals with different feeding habits, perhaps reflecting different motivational factors and beliefs. PMID:20520767

Anterior Cingulate Glutamate Levels Related to Clinical Status Following Treatment in First-Episode Schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Egerton, Alice; Brugger, Stefan; Raffin, Marie; Barker, Gareth J; Lythgoe, David J; McGuire, Philip K; Stone, James M

2012-01-01

Many patients with schizophrenia show a limited symptomatic response to treatment with dopaminergic antipsychotics. This may reflect the additional involvement of non-dopaminergic neurochemical dysfunction in the pathophysiology of the disorder. We tested the hypothesis that brain glutamate levels would differ between patients with first-episode psychosis who were symptomatic compared with those with minimal symptoms following antipsychotic treatment. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) spectra were acquired at 3 Tesla in the anterior cingulate cortex and left thalamus in 15 patients with first-episode psychosis in symptomatic remission, and 17 patients with first-episode psychosis who were still symptomatic following at least one course of antipsychotic treatment. Metabolite levels were estimated in ratio to creatine (Cr) using LCModel. Levels of glutamate/Cr in the anterior cingulate cortex were significantly higher in patients who were still symptomatic than in those in remission (T(30)=3.02; P=0.005). Across the entire sample, higher levels of glutamate/Cr in the anterior cingulate cortex were associated with a greater severity of negative symptoms (r=0.42; P=0.017) and a lower level of global functioning (r=−0.47; P=0.007). These findings suggest that clinical status following antipsychotic treatment in schizophrenia is linked to glutamate dysfunction. Treatment with compounds acting on the glutamatergic system might therefore be beneficial in patients who respond poorly to dopaminergic antipsychotics. PMID:22763619

Reduced posterior cingulate glutamate measured by magnetic resonance spectroscopy in hyperthyroidism.

PubMed

Liu, Xinxin; Bai, Zhilan; Liu, Feng; Li, Min; Zhang, Qiujuan; Song, Guangyi; Xu, Jing

2012-01-01

Patients with hyperthyroidism frequently have neuropsychiatric complaints such as lack of concentration, poor performance in memory, depression, anxiety and mania. These symptoms suggest the dysfunction of brain. However, the underlying process of this dysfunction is not well understood. At the same time, glutamatergic system has been considered important in neuropsychiatric process by recent studies. Thus, this study is to investigate the change of glutamate concentration in patients with hyperthyroidism using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Fifteen untreated patients with hyperthyroidism and fifteen age- and gender- matched controls participated in the study. The region of the posterior cingulate cortex was examined by magnetic resonance spectroscopy with a technique referred as TE-averaged PRESS at 3T field strength. The concentrations of N-Acetylaspartate, creatine, choline and glutamate were assessed using jMRUI v4.0 software. Hyperthyroid patients, compared with controls, showed a decrease of glutamate concentration (P<0.047) and glutamate/creatine ratios (P<0.009) in the posterior cingulate cortex. The decrease of choline concentration (P<0.004) and choline/creatine ratios (P<0.012) were also discovered. No significant difference was found in the concentrations of N-Acetylaspartate or creatine between patients and controls. Concentration of glutamate decreased in the region of posterior cingulate cortex in patients with hyperthyroidism. This reduction indicated a possible involvement of glutamate in the brain dysfunction in hyperthyroidism.

Normalization of Intrinsic Neural Circuits Governing Tourette's Syndrome Using Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation.

PubMed

Qiao, Jianping; Weng, Shenhong; Wang, Pengwei; Long, Jun; Wang, Zhishun

2015-05-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the normalization of the intrinsic functional activity and connectivity of TS adolescents before and after the cranial electrotherapy stimulation (CES) with alpha stim device. We performed resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging on eight adolescents before and after CES with mean age of about nine-years old who had Tourette's syndrome with moderate to severe tics symptom. Independent component analysis (ICA) with hierarchical partner matching method was used to examine the functional connectivity between regions within cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical (CSTC) circuit. Granger causality was used to investigate effective connectivity among these regions detected by ICA. We then performed pattern classification on independent components with significant group differences that served as endophenotype markers to distinguish the adolescents between TS and the normalized ones after CES. Results showed that TS adolescents after CES treatment had stronger functional activity and connectivity in anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), caudate and posterior cingulate cortex while had weaker activity in supplementary motor area within the motor pathway compared with TS before CES. The results suggest that the functional activity and connectivity in motor pathway was suppressed while activities in the control portions within CSTC loop including ACC and caudate were increased in TS adolescents after CES compared with adolescents before CES. The normalization of the balance between motor and control portions of the CSTC circuit may result in the recovery of TS adolescents.

Altered spontaneous brain activity in patients with hemifacial spasm: a resting-state functional MRI study.

PubMed

Tu, Ye; Wei, Yongxu; Sun, Kun; Zhao, Weiguo; Yu, Buwei

2015-01-01

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been used to detect the alterations of spontaneous neuronal activity in various neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases, but rarely in hemifacial spasm (HFS), a nervous system disorder. We used resting-state fMRI with regional homogeneity (ReHo) analysis to investigate changes in spontaneous brain activity of patients with HFS and to determine the relationship of these functional changes with clinical features. Thirty patients with HFS and 33 age-, sex-, and education-matched healthy controls were included in this study. Compared with controls, HFS patients had significantly decreased ReHo values in left middle frontal gyrus (MFG), left medial cingulate cortex (MCC), left lingual gyrus, right superior temporal gyrus (STG) and right precuneus; and increased ReHo values in left precentral gyrus, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), right brainstem, and right cerebellum. Furthermore, the mean ReHo value in brainstem showed a positive correlation with the spasm severity (r = 0.404, p = 0.027), and the mean ReHo value in MFG was inversely related with spasm severity in HFS group (r = -0.398, p = 0.028). This study reveals that HFS is associated with abnormal spontaneous brain activity in brain regions most involved in motor control and blinking movement. The disturbances of spontaneous brain activity reflected by ReHo measurements may provide insights into the neurological pathophysiology of HFS.

A meta-analysis of neurofunctional imaging studies of emotion and cognition in major depression.

PubMed

Diener, Carsten; Kuehner, Christine; Brusniak, Wencke; Ubl, Bettina; Wessa, Michèle; Flor, Herta

2012-07-02

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by altered emotional and cognitive functioning. We performed a voxel-based whole-brain meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging data on altered emotion and cognition in MDD. Forty peer-reviewed studies in English-language published between 1998 and 2010 were included, which used functional neuroimaging during cognitive-emotional challenge in adult individuals with MDD and healthy controls. All studies reported between-groups differences for whole-brain analyses in standardized neuroanatomical space and were subjected to Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) of brain cluster showing altered responsivity in MDD. ALE resulted in thresholded and false discovery rate corrected hypo- and hyperactive brain regions. Against the background of a complex neural activation pattern, studies converged in predominantly hypoactive cluster in the anterior insular and rostral anterior cingulate cortex linked to affectively biased information processing and poor cognitive control. Frontal areas showed not only similar under- but also over-activation during cognitive-emotional challenge. On the subcortical level, we identified activation alterations in the thalamus and striatum which were involved in biased valence processing of emotional stimuli in MDD. These results for active conditions extend findings from ALE meta-analyses of resting state and antidepressant treatment studies and emphasize the key role of the anterior insular and rostral anterior cingulate cortex for altered emotion and cognition in MDD. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effect of Bupropion Treatment on Brain Activation Induced by Cigarette-Related Cues in Smokers

PubMed Central

Culbertson, Christopher S.; Bramen, Jennifer; Cohen, Mark S.; London, Edythe D.; Olmstead, Richard E.; Gan, Joanna J.; Costello, Matthew R.; Shulenberger, Stephanie; Mandelkern, Mark A.; Brody, Arthur L.

2011-01-01

Context Nicotine-dependent smokers exhibit craving and brain activation in the prefrontal and limbic regions when presented with cigarette-related cues. Bupropion hydrochloride treatment reduces cue-induced craving in cigarette smokers; however, the mechanism by which bupropion exerts this effect has not yet been described. Objective To assess changes in regional brain activation in response to cigarette-related cues from before to after treatment with bupropion (vs placebo). Design Randomized, double-blind, before-after controlled trial. Setting Academic brain imaging center. Participants Thirty nicotine-dependent smokers (paid volunteers). Interventions Participants were randomly assigned to receive 8 weeks of treatment with either bupropion or a matching placebo pill (double-blind). Main Outcome Measures Subjective cigarette craving ratings and regional brain activations (blood oxygen level-dependent response) in response to viewing cue videos. Results Bupropion-treated participants reported less craving and exhibited reduced activation in the left ventral striatum, right medial orbitofrontal cortex, and bilateral anterior cingulate cortex from before to after treatment when actively resisting craving compared with placebo-treated participants. When resisting craving, reduction in self-reported craving correlated with reduced regional brain activation in the bilateral medial orbitofrontal and left anterior cingulate cortices in all participants. Conclusions Treatment with bupropion is associated with improved ability to resist cue-induced craving and a reduction in cue-induced activation of limbic and prefrontal brain regions, while a reduction in craving, regardless of treatment type, is associated with reduced activation in prefrontal brain regions. PMID:21199957

Rostral anterior cingulate cortex activity and early symptom improvement during treatment for major depressive disorder

PubMed Central

Korb, Alexander S.; Hunter, Aimee M.; Cook, Ian A.; Leuchter, Andrew F.

2011-01-01

In treatment trials for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), early symptom improvement is predictive of eventual clinical response. Clinical response may also be predicted by elevated pretreatment theta (4-7 Hz) current density in the rostral anterior cingulate (rACC) and medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC). We investigated the relationship between pretreatment EEG and early improvement in predicting clinical outcome in 72 MDD subjects across three placebo-controlled treatment trials. Subjects were randomized to receive fluoxetine, venlafaxine, or placebo. Theta current density in the rACC and mOFC was computed with Low-Resolution Brain Electromagnetic Tomography (LORETA). An ANCOVA, examining week 8 Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HamD) percent change, showed a significant effect of week-2-HamD-percent-change, and a significant three-way interaction of week-2-HamD-percent-change × Treatment × rACC. Medication subjects with robust early improvement showed almost no relationship between rACC theta current density and final clinical outcome. However, in subjects with little early improvement, rACC activity showed a strong relationship with clinical outcome. The model examining mOFC showed a trend in the three-way interaction. A combination of pretreatment rACC activity and early symptom improvement may be useful for predicting treatment response. PMID:21546222

Evaluating ambivalence: social-cognitive and affective brain regions associated with ambivalent decision-making

PubMed Central

van Harreveld, Frenk; Rotteveel, Mark; Lelieveld, Gert-Jan; Crone, Eveline A.

2014-01-01

Ambivalence is a state of inconsistency that is often experienced as affectively aversive. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we investigated the role of cognitive and social-affective processes in the experience of ambivalence and coping with its negative consequences. We examined participants’ brain activity during the dichotomous evaluation (pro vs contra) of pretested ambivalent (e.g. alcohol), positive (e.g. happiness) and negative (e.g. genocide) word stimuli. We manipulated evaluation relevance by varying the probability of evaluation consequences, under the hypothesis that ambivalence is experienced as more negative when outcomes are relevant. When making ambivalent evaluations, more activity was found in the anterior cingulate cortex, the insula, the temporal parietal junction (TPJ) and the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)/precuneus, for both high and low evaluation relevance. After statistically conservative corrections, activity in the TPJ and PCC/precuneus was negatively correlated with experienced ambivalence after scanning, as measured by Priester and Petty’s felt ambivalence scale (1996). The findings show that cognitive and social-affective brain areas are involved in the experience of ambivalence. However, these networks are differently associated with subsequent reduction of ambivalence, thus highlighting the importance of understanding both cognitive and affective processes involved in ambivalent decision-making. PMID:23685774

Salicylate-Induced Auditory Perceptual Disorders and Plastic Changes in Nonclassical Auditory Centers in Rats

PubMed Central

Chen, Guang-Di; Radziwon, Kelly E.; Manohar, Senthilvelan

2014-01-01

Previous studies have shown that sodium salicylate (SS) activates not only central auditory structures, but also nonauditory regions associated with emotion and memory. To identify electrophysiological changes in the nonauditory regions, we recorded sound-evoked local field potentials and multiunit discharges from the striatum, amygdala, hippocampus, and cingulate cortex after SS-treatment. The SS-treatment produced behavioral evidence of tinnitus and hyperacusis. Physiologically, the treatment significantly enhanced sound-evoked neural activity in the striatum, amygdala, and hippocampus, but not in the cingulate. The enhanced sound evoked response could be linked to the hyperacusis-like behavior. Further analysis showed that the enhancement of sound-evoked activity occurred predominantly at the midfrequencies, likely reflecting shifts of neurons towards the midfrequency range after SS-treatment as observed in our previous studies in the auditory cortex and amygdala. The increased number of midfrequency neurons would lead to a relative higher number of total spontaneous discharges in the midfrequency region, even though the mean discharge rate of each neuron may not increase. The tonotopical overactivity in the midfrequency region in quiet may potentially lead to tonal sensation of midfrequency (the tinnitus). The neural changes in the amygdala and hippocampus may also contribute to the negative effect that patients associate with their tinnitus. PMID:24891959

A biased activation theory of the cognitive and attentional modulation of emotion.

PubMed

Rolls, Edmund T

2013-01-01

Cognition can influence emotion by biasing neural activity in the first cortical region in which the reward value and subjective pleasantness of stimuli is made explicit in the representation, the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). The same effect occurs in a second cortical tier for emotion, the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Similar effects are found for selective attention, to for example the pleasantness vs. the intensity of stimuli, which modulates representations of reward value and affect in the orbitofrontal and anterior cingulate cortices. The mechanisms for the effects of cognition and attention on emotion are top-down biased competition and top-down biased activation. Affective and mood states can in turn influence memory and perception, by backprojected biasing influences. Emotion-related decision systems operate to choose between gene-specified rewards such as taste, touch, and beauty. Reasoning processes capable of planning ahead with multiple steps held in working memory in the explicit system can allow the gene-specified rewards not to be selected, or to be deferred. The stochastic, noisy, dynamics of decision-making systems in the brain may influence whether decisions are made by the selfish-gene-specified reward emotion system, or by the cognitive reasoning system that explicitly calculates reward values that are in the interests of the individual, the phenotype.

Neural activation during imitation with or without performance feedback: An fMRI study.

PubMed

Zhang, Kaihua; Wang, Hui; Dong, Guangheng; Wang, Mengxing; Zhang, Jilei; Zhang, Hui; Meng, Weixia; Du, Xiaoxia

2016-08-26

In our daily lives, we often receive performance feedback (PF) during imitative learning, and we adjust our behaviors accordingly to improve performance. However, little is known regarding the neural mechanisms underlying this learning process. We hypothesized that appropriate PF would enhance neural activation or recruit additional brain areas during subsequent action imitation. Pictures of 20 different finger gestures without any social meaning were shown to participants from the first-person perspective. Imitation with or without PF was investigated by functional magnetic resonance imaging in 30 healthy subjects. The PF was given by a real person or by a computer. PF from a real person induced hyperactivation of the parietal lobe (precuneus and cuneus), cingulate cortex (posterior and anterior), temporal lobe (superior and transverse temporal gyri), and cerebellum (posterior and anterior lobes) during subsequent imitation. The positive PF and negative PF from a real person, induced the activation of more brain areas during the following imitation. The hyperactivation of the cerebellum, posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus, and cuneus suggests that the subjects exhibited enhanced motor control and visual attention during imitation after PF. Additionally, random PF from a computer had a small effect on the next imitation. We suggest that positive and accurate PF may be helpful for imitation learning. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cognitive dissonance induction in everyday life: An fMRI study.

PubMed

de Vries, Jan; Byrne, Mark; Kehoe, Elizabeth

2015-01-01

This functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study explored the neural substrates of cognitive dissonance during dissonance "induction." A novel task was developed based on the results of a separate item selection study (n = 125). Items were designed to generate dissonance by prompting participants to reflect on everyday personal experiences that were inconsistent with values they had expressed support for. One experimental condition (dissonance) and three control conditions (justification, consonance, and non-self-related inconsistency) were used for comparison. Items of all four types were presented to each participant (n = 14) in a randomized design. The fMRI analysis used a whole-brain approach focusing on the moments dissonance was induced. Results showed that in comparison with the control conditions the dissonance experience led to higher levels of activation in several brain regions. Specifically dissonance was associated with increased neural activation in key brain regions including the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), anterior insula, inferior frontal gyrus, and precuneus. This supports current perspectives that emphasize the role of anterior cingulate and insula in dissonance processing. Less extensive activation in the prefrontal cortex than in some previous studies is consistent with this study's emphasis on dissonance induction, rather than reduction. This article also contains a short review and comparison with other fMRI studies of cognitive dissonance.

Reinforcement learning signals in the anterior cingulate cortex code for others' false beliefs.

PubMed

Apps, M A J; Green, R; Ramnani, N

2013-01-01

The ability to recognise that another's belief is false is a hallmark of our capacity to understand others' mental states. It has been suggested that the computational and neural mechanisms that underpin learning about others' mental states may be similar to those that underpin first-person Reinforcement Learning (RL). In RL, unexpected decision-making outcomes constitute prediction errors (PE), which are coded for by neurons in the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC). Does the ACC signal the PEs (false beliefs) of others about the outcomes of their decisions? We scanned subjects using fMRI while they monitored a third-person's decisions and similar responses made by a computer. The outcomes of the trials were manipulated, such that the actual outcome was unexpectedly different from the predicted outcome on 1/3 of trials. We examined activity time-locked to privileged information which indicated the actual outcomes only to subjects. Activity in the gyral ACC was found when the outcomes of the third-person's decisions were unexpectedly positive. Activity in the sulcal ACC was found when the third-person's or computer's outcomes were unexpectedly positive. We suggest that a property of the ACC is that it codes PEs, with a portion of the gyral ACC specialised for processing the PEs of others. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Competition between learned reward and error outcome predictions in anterior cingulate cortex.

PubMed

Alexander, William H; Brown, Joshua W

2010-02-15

The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is implicated in performance monitoring and cognitive control. Non-human primate studies of ACC show prominent reward signals, but these are elusive in human studies, which instead show mainly conflict and error effects. Here we demonstrate distinct appetitive and aversive activity in human ACC. The error likelihood hypothesis suggests that ACC activity increases in proportion to the likelihood of an error, and ACC is also sensitive to the consequence magnitude of the predicted error. Previous work further showed that error likelihood effects reach a ceiling as the potential consequences of an error increase, possibly due to reductions in the average reward. We explored this issue by independently manipulating reward magnitude of task responses and error likelihood while controlling for potential error consequences in an Incentive Change Signal Task. The fMRI results ruled out a modulatory effect of expected reward on error likelihood effects in favor of a competition effect between expected reward and error likelihood. Dynamic causal modeling showed that error likelihood and expected reward signals are intrinsic to the ACC rather than received from elsewhere. These findings agree with interpretations of ACC activity as signaling both perceptions of risk and predicted reward. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Neuroeconomics of Tobacco Demand: An Initial Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Cigarette Cost-Benefit Decision Making in Male Smokers

PubMed Central

Gray, Joshua C.; Amlung, Michael T.; Owens, Max; Acker, John; Brown, Courtney L.; Brody, Gene H.; Sweet, Lawrence H.; MacKillop, James

2017-01-01

How the brain processes cigarette cost-benefit decision making remains largely unknown. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), this study investigated the neural correlates of decisions for cigarettes (0–10 cigarettes) at varying levels of price during a Cigarette Purchase Task (CPT) in male regular smokers (N = 35). Differential neural activity was examined between choices classified as inelastic, elastic, and suppressed demand, operationalized as consumption unaffected by cost, partially suppressed by cost, and entirely suppressed by cost, respectively. Decisions reflecting elastic demand, putatively the most effortful decisions, elicited greater activation in regions associated with inhibition and planning (e.g., middle frontal gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus), craving and interoceptive processing (anterior insula), and conflict monitoring (e.g., anterior cingulate cortex). Exploratory examination in a harmonized dataset of both cigarette and alcohol demand (N = 59) suggested common neural activation patterns across commodities, particularly in the anterior insula, caudate, anterior cingulate, medial frontal gyrus, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Collectively, these findings provide initial validation of a CPT fMRI paradigm; reveal the interplay of brain regions associated with executive functioning, incentive salience, and interoceptive processing in cigarette decision making; and add to the literature implicating the insula as a key brain region in addiction. PMID:28157228

The Neuroeconomics of Tobacco Demand: An Initial Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Cigarette Cost-Benefit Decision Making in Male Smokers.

PubMed

Gray, Joshua C; Amlung, Michael T; Owens, Max; Acker, John; Brown, Courtney L; Brody, Gene H; Sweet, Lawrence H; MacKillop, James

2017-02-03

How the brain processes cigarette cost-benefit decision making remains largely unknown. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), this study investigated the neural correlates of decisions for cigarettes (0-10 cigarettes) at varying levels of price during a Cigarette Purchase Task (CPT) in male regular smokers (N = 35). Differential neural activity was examined between choices classified as inelastic, elastic, and suppressed demand, operationalized as consumption unaffected by cost, partially suppressed by cost, and entirely suppressed by cost, respectively. Decisions reflecting elastic demand, putatively the most effortful decisions, elicited greater activation in regions associated with inhibition and planning (e.g., middle frontal gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus), craving and interoceptive processing (anterior insula), and conflict monitoring (e.g., anterior cingulate cortex). Exploratory examination in a harmonized dataset of both cigarette and alcohol demand (N = 59) suggested common neural activation patterns across commodities, particularly in the anterior insula, caudate, anterior cingulate, medial frontal gyrus, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Collectively, these findings provide initial validation of a CPT fMRI paradigm; reveal the interplay of brain regions associated with executive functioning, incentive salience, and interoceptive processing in cigarette decision making; and add to the literature implicating the insula as a key brain region in addiction.

The role of the anterior cingulate cortex in the affective evaluation of conflict

PubMed Central

Braem, Senne; King, Joseph A.; Korb, Franziska M.; Krebs, Ruth M.; Notebaert, Wim; Egner, Tobias

2017-01-01

An influential theory of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) function argues that this brain region plays a crucial role in the affective evaluation of performance monitoring and control demands. Specifically, control-demanding processes such as response conflict, are thought to be registered as aversive signals by the ACC, which in turn triggers processing adjustments to support avoidance-learning. In support of conflict being treated as an aversive event, recent behavioural studies demonstrated that incongruent (i.e., conflict-inducing) relative to congruent stimuli can speed up subsequent negative relative to positive affective picture processing. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate directly whether ACC activity in response to negative versus positive pictures is modulated by preceding control demands, consisting of conflict and task-switching conditions. The results show that negative relative to positive pictures elicited higher ACC activation following congruent relative to incongruent trials, suggesting that the ACC’s response to negative (positive) pictures was indeed affectively primed by incongruent (congruent) trials. Interestingly, this pattern of results was observed on task repetitions, but disappeared on task alternations. Our findings support the proposal that conflict induces negative affect, and are the first to show that this affective signal is reflected in ACC activation. PMID:27575278

Abnormal Frontostriatal Activity During Unexpected Reward Receipt in Depression and Schizophrenia: Relationship to Anhedonia.

PubMed

Segarra, Nuria; Metastasio, Antonio; Ziauddeen, Hisham; Spencer, Jennifer; Reinders, Niels R; Dudas, Robert B; Arrondo, Gonzalo; Robbins, Trevor W; Clark, Luke; Fletcher, Paul C; Murray, Graham K

2016-07-01

Alterations in reward processes may underlie motivational and anhedonic symptoms in depression and schizophrenia. However it remains unclear whether these alterations are disorder-specific or shared, and whether they clearly relate to symptom generation or not. We studied brain responses to unexpected rewards during a simulated slot-machine game in 24 patients with depression, 21 patients with schizophrenia, and 21 healthy controls using functional magnetic resonance imaging. We investigated relationships between brain activation, task-related motivation, and questionnaire rated anhedonia. There was reduced activation in the orbitofrontal cortex, ventral striatum, inferior temporal gyrus, and occipital cortex in both depression and schizophrenia in comparison with healthy participants during receipt of unexpected reward. In the medial prefrontal cortex both patient groups showed reduced activation, with activation significantly more abnormal in schizophrenia than depression. Anterior cingulate and medial frontal cortical activation predicted task-related motivation, which in turn predicted anhedonia severity in schizophrenia. Our findings provide evidence for overlapping hypofunction in ventral striatal and orbitofrontal regions in depression and schizophrenia during unexpected reward receipt, and for a relationship between unexpected reward processing in the medial prefrontal cortex and the generation of motivational states.

Visioning in the brain: an fMRI study of inspirational coaching and mentoring.

PubMed

Jack, Anthony I; Boyatzis, Richard E; Khawaja, Masud S; Passarelli, Angela M; Leckie, Regina L

2013-01-01

Effective coaching and mentoring is crucial to the success of individuals and organizations, yet relatively little is known about its neural underpinnings. Coaching and mentoring to the Positive Emotional Attractor (PEA) emphasizes compassion for the individual's hopes and dreams and has been shown to enhance a behavioral change. In contrast, coaching to the Negative Emotional Attractor (NEA), by focusing on externally defined criteria for success and the individual's weaknesses in relation to them, does not show sustained change. We used fMRI to measure BOLD responses associated with these two coaching styles. We hypothesized that PEA coaching would be associated with increased global visual processing and with engagement of the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), while the NEA coaching would involve greater engagement of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). Regions showing more activity in PEA conditions included the lateral occipital cortex, superior temporal cortex, medial parietal, subgenual cingulate, nucleus accumbens, and left lateral prefrontal cortex. We relate these activations to visioning, PNS activity, and positive affect. Regions showing more activity in NEA conditions included medial prefrontal regions and right lateral prefrontal cortex. We relate these activations to SNS activity, self-trait attribution and negative affect.

Abnormal Frontostriatal Activity During Unexpected Reward Receipt in Depression and Schizophrenia: Relationship to Anhedonia

PubMed Central

Segarra, Nuria; Metastasio, Antonio; Ziauddeen, Hisham; Spencer, Jennifer; Reinders, Niels R; Dudas, Robert B; Arrondo, Gonzalo; Robbins, Trevor W; Clark, Luke; Fletcher, Paul C; Murray, Graham K

2016-01-01

Alterations in reward processes may underlie motivational and anhedonic symptoms in depression and schizophrenia. However it remains unclear whether these alterations are disorder-specific or shared, and whether they clearly relate to symptom generation or not. We studied brain responses to unexpected rewards during a simulated slot-machine game in 24 patients with depression, 21 patients with schizophrenia, and 21 healthy controls using functional magnetic resonance imaging. We investigated relationships between brain activation, task-related motivation, and questionnaire rated anhedonia. There was reduced activation in the orbitofrontal cortex, ventral striatum, inferior temporal gyrus, and occipital cortex in both depression and schizophrenia in comparison with healthy participants during receipt of unexpected reward. In the medial prefrontal cortex both patient groups showed reduced activation, with activation significantly more abnormal in schizophrenia than depression. Anterior cingulate and medial frontal cortical activation predicted task-related motivation, which in turn predicted anhedonia severity in schizophrenia. Our findings provide evidence for overlapping hypofunction in ventral striatal and orbitofrontal regions in depression and schizophrenia during unexpected reward receipt, and for a relationship between unexpected reward processing in the medial prefrontal cortex and the generation of motivational states. PMID:26708106

Cultural differences in human brain activity: a quantitative meta-analysis.

PubMed

Han, Shihui; Ma, Yina

2014-10-01

Psychologists have been trying to understand differences in cognition and behavior between East Asian and Western cultures within a single cognitive framework such as holistic versus analytic or interdependent versus independent processes. However, it remains unclear whether cultural differences in multiple psychological processes correspond to the same or different neural networks. We conducted a quantitative meta-analysis of 35 functional MRI studies to examine cultural differences in brain activity engaged in social and non-social processes. We showed that social cognitive processes are characterized by stronger activity in the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex, lateral frontal cortex and temporoparietal junction in East Asians but stronger activity in the anterior cingulate, ventral medial prefrontal cortex and bilateral insula in Westerners. Social affective processes are associated with stronger activity in the right dorsal lateral frontal cortex in East Asians but greater activity in the left insula and right temporal pole in Westerners. Non-social processes induce stronger activity in the left inferior parietal cortex, left middle occipital and left superior parietal cortex in East Asians but greater activations in the right lingual gyrus, right inferior parietal cortex and precuneus in Westerners. The results suggest that cultural differences in social and non-social processes are mediated by distinct neural networks. Moreover, East Asian cultures are associated with increased neural activity in the brain regions related to inference of others' mind and emotion regulation whereas Western cultures are associated with enhanced neural activity in the brain areas related to self-relevance encoding and emotional responses during social cognitive/affective processes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Altered functional connectivity between the insula and the cingulate cortex in patients with temporomandibular disorder: a pilot study.

PubMed

Ichesco, Eric; Quintero, Andres; Clauw, Daniel J; Peltier, Scott; Sundgren, Pia M; Gerstner, Geoffrey E; Schmidt-Wilcke, Tobias

2012-03-01

Among the most common chronic pain conditions, yet poorly understood, are temporomandibular disorders (TMDs), with a prevalence estimate of 3-15% for Western populations. Although it is increasingly acknowledged that central nervous system mechanisms contribute to pain amplification and chronicity in TMDs, further research is needed to unravel neural correlates that might abet the development of chronic pain. The insular cortex (IC) and cingulate cortex (CC) are both critically involved in the experience of pain. The current study sought specifically to investigate IC-CC functional connectivity in TMD patients and healthy controls (HCs), both during resting state and during the application of a painful stimulus. Eight patients with TMD, and 8 age- and sex-matched HCs were enrolled in the present study. Functional magnetic resonance imaging data during resting state and during the performance of a pressure pain stimulus to the temple were acquired. Predefined seed regions were placed in the IC (anterior and posterior insular cortices) and the extracted signal was correlated with brain activity throughout the whole brain. Specifically, we were interested whether TMD patients and HCs would show differences in IC-CC connectivity, both during resting state and during the application of a painful stimulus to the face. As a main finding, functional connectivity analyses revealed an increased functional connectivity between the left anterior IC and pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in TMD patients, during both resting state and applied pressure pain. Within the patient group, there was a negative correlation between the anterior IC-ACC connectivity and clinical pain intensity as measured by a visual analog scale. Since the pregenual region of the ACC is critically involved in antinociception, we hypothesize that an increase in anterior IC-ACC connectivity is indicative of an adaptation of the pain modulatory system early in the chronification process. © 2011 American Headache Society.

The Essential Role of Primate Orbitofrontal Cortex in Conflict-Induced Executive Control Adjustment

PubMed Central

Buckley, Mark J.; Tanaka, Keiji

2014-01-01

Conflict in information processing evokes trial-by-trial behavioral modulations. Influential models suggest that adaptive tuning of executive control, mediated by mid-dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (mdlPFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), underlies these modulations. However, mdlPFC and ACC are parts of distributed brain networks including orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), and superior-dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (sdlPFC). Contributions of these latter areas in adaptive tuning of executive control are unknown. We trained monkeys to perform a matching task in which they had to resolve the conflict between two behavior-guiding rules. Here, we report that bilateral lesions in OFC, but not in PCC or sdlPFC, impaired selection between these competing rules. In addition, the behavioral adaptation that is normally induced by experiencing conflict disappeared in OFC-lesioned, but remained normal in PCC-lesioned or sdlPFC-lesioned monkeys. Exploring underlying neuronal processes, we found that the activity of neurons in OFC represented the conflict between behavioral options independent from the other aspects of the task. Responses of OFC neurons to rewards also conveyed information of the conflict level that the monkey had experienced along the course to obtain the reward. Our findings indicate dissociable functions for five closely interconnected cortical areas suggesting that OFC and mdlPFC, but not PCC or sdlPFC or ACC, play indispensable roles in conflict-dependent executive control of on-going behavior. Both mdlPFC and OFC support detection of conflict and its integration with the task goal, but in contrast to mdlPFC, OFC does not retain the necessary information for conflict-induced modulation of future decisions. PMID:25122901

Uniformity and nonuniformity of neural activities correlated to different insight problem solving.

PubMed

Zhao, Q; Li, Y; Shang, X; Zhou, Z; Han, L

2014-06-13

Previous studies on the neural basis of insight reflected weak consistency except for the anterior cingulate cortex. The present work adopted the semantic and homophonic punny riddle to explore the uniformity and nonuniformity of neural activities correlated to different insight problem solving. Results showed that in the early period of insight solving, the semantic and homophonic punny riddles induced a common N350-500 over the central scalp. However, during -400 to 0 ms before the riddles were solved, the semantic punny riddles induced a positive event-related potential (ERP) deflection over the temporal cortex for retrieving the extensive semantic information, while the homophonic punny riddles induced a positive ERP deflection over the temporal cortex and a negative one in the left frontal cortex which might reflect the semantic and phonological information processing respectively. Our study indicated that different insight problem solving should have the same cognitive process of detecting cognitive conflicts, but have different ways to solve the conflicts. Copyright © 2014 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Capturing the temporal evolution of choice across prefrontal cortex

PubMed Central

Hunt, Laurence T; Behrens, Timothy EJ; Hosokawa, Takayuki; Wallis, Jonathan D; Kennerley, Steven W

2015-01-01

Activity in prefrontal cortex (PFC) has been richly described using economic models of choice. Yet such descriptions fail to capture the dynamics of decision formation. Describing dynamic neural processes has proven challenging due to the problem of indexing the internal state of PFC and its trial-by-trial variation. Using primate neurophysiology and human magnetoencephalography, we here recover a single-trial index of PFC internal states from multiple simultaneously recorded PFC subregions. This index can explain the origins of neural representations of economic variables in PFC. It describes the relationship between neural dynamics and behaviour in both human and monkey PFC, directly bridging between human neuroimaging data and underlying neuronal activity. Moreover, it reveals a functionally dissociable interaction between orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex and dorsolateral PFC in guiding cost-benefit decisions. We cast our observations in terms of a recurrent neural network model of choice, providing formal links to mechanistic dynamical accounts of decision-making. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.11945.001 PMID:26653139

Emotional expressions in voice and music: same code, same effect?

PubMed

Escoffier, Nicolas; Zhong, Jidan; Schirmer, Annett; Qiu, Anqi

2013-08-01

Scholars have documented similarities in the way voice and music convey emotions. By using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) we explored whether these similarities imply overlapping processing substrates. We asked participants to trace changes in either the emotion or pitch of vocalizations and music using a joystick. Compared to music, vocalizations more strongly activated superior and middle temporal cortex, cuneus, and precuneus. However, despite these differences, overlapping rather than differing regions emerged when comparing emotion with pitch tracing for music and vocalizations, respectively. Relative to pitch tracing, emotion tracing activated medial superior frontal and anterior cingulate cortex regardless of stimulus type. Additionally, we observed emotion specific effects in primary and secondary auditory cortex as well as in medial frontal cortex that were comparable for voice and music. Together these results indicate that similar mechanisms support emotional inferences from vocalizations and music and that these mechanisms tap on a general system involved in social cognition. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Decision making in the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART): anterior cingulate cortex signals loss aversion but not the infrequency of risky choices.

PubMed

Fukunaga, Rena; Brown, Joshua W; Bogg, Tim

2012-09-01

The inferior frontal gyrus/anterior insula (IFG/AI) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) are key regions involved in risk appraisal during decision making, but accounts of how these regions contribute to decision making under risk remain contested. To help clarify the roles of these and other related regions, we used a modified version of the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (Lejuez et al., Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 8, 75-84, 2002) to distinguish between decision-making and feedback-related processes when participants decided to pursue a gain as the probability of loss increased parametrically. Specifically, we set out to test whether the ACC and IFG/AI regions correspond to loss aversion at the time of decision making in a way that is not confounded with either reward-seeking or infrequency effects. When participants chose to discontinue inflating the balloon (win option), we observed greater ACC and mainly bilateral IFG/AI activity at the time of decision as the probability of explosion increased, consistent with increased loss aversion but inconsistent with an infrequency effect. In contrast, we found robust vmPFC activity when participants chose to continue inflating the balloon (risky option), consistent with reward seeking. However, in the cingulate and in mainly bilateral IFG regions, blood-oxygenation-level-dependent activation decreased when participants chose to inflate the balloon as the probability of explosion increased, findings that are consistent with a reduced loss aversion signal. Our results highlight the existence of distinct reward-seeking and loss-averse signals during decision making, as well as the importance of distinguishing between decision and feedback signals.

Neural correlates of atomoxetine improving inhibitory control and visual processing in Drug-naïve adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

PubMed

Fan, Li-Ying; Chou, Tai-Li; Gau, Susan Shur-Fen

2017-10-01

Atomoxetine improves inhibitory control and visual processing in healthy volunteers and adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, little is known about the neural correlates of these two functions after chronic treatment with atomoxetine. This study aimed to use the counting Stroop task with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) to investigate the changes related to inhibitory control and visual processing in adults with ADHD. This study is an 8-week, placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized clinical trial of atomoxetine in 24 drug-naïve adults with ADHD. We investigated the changes of treatment with atomoxetine compared to placebo-treated counterparts using the counting Stroop fMRI and two CANTAB tests: rapid visual information processing (RVP) for inhibitory control and delayed matching to sample (DMS) for visual processing. Atomoxetine decreased activations in the right inferior frontal gyrus and anterior cingulate cortex, which were correlated with the improvement in inhibitory control assessed by the RVP. Also, atomoxetine increased activation in the left precuneus, which was correlated with the improvement in the mean latency of correct responses assessed by the DMS. Moreover, anterior cingulate activation in the pre-treatment was able to predict the improvements of clinical symptoms. Treatment with atomoxetine may improve inhibitory control to suppress interference and may enhance the visual processing to process numbers. In addition, the anterior cingulate cortex might play an important role as a biological marker for the treatment effectiveness of atomoxetine. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4850-4864, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Olfactory memory and maternal behaviour-induced changes in c-fos and zif/268 mRNA expression in the sheep brain.

PubMed

Da Costa, A P; Broad, K D; Kendrick, K M

1997-06-01

In sheep maternal behaviour and the formation of the selective olfactory, ewe/lamb bond are induced by feedback to the brain from stimulation of the vagina and cervix during parturition. In the present study, we have used in situ hybridization histochemistry to quantify changes in cellular expression of two immediately-early genes, c-fos and zif/268, in order to identify activated brain regions during the induction of maternal behaviour and olfactory bonding as well as regions where plastic changes are occurring during with the formation of the olfactory memory associated with bonding. Three different treatment groups were used. One group gave birth normally, became maternal and were allowed to interact with their lambs for 30 min. A second group received exogenous treatment with oestradiol and progesterone to induce lactation and then received a 5-min period of artificial stimulation of the vagina and cervix (VCS) which reliably induces maternal behaviour but could not interact with lambs. A final control group received exogenous hormone treatment but no VCS or interaction with lambs. Compared to the control group, post-partum animals and animals that had received VCS showed increased c-fos expression in a number of cortical regions (cingulate, entorhinal and somatosensory), the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus and the lateral habenula, the limbic system (bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, lateral septum, medial arnygdala, dentate gyrus and the CA3 region of the hippocampus) and the hypothalamus (medial preoptic area, mediobasal hypothalamus, paraventricular nucleus, supraoptic nucleus and periventricular complex). The group that gave birth and had contact with their lambs for 30 min had significantly enhanced c-fos mRNA expression in the cingulate cortex compared to those receiving VCS and additionally showed significantly increased c-fos mRNA expression in olfactory processing regions (olfactory bulb, piriform cortex and orbitofrontal cortex). Expression of zif/268 was significantly increased in the entorhinal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex and dentate gyrus of the parturition group compared to either the control or the VCS alone groups. These results show a clear differentiation between neural substrates controlling the expression of maternal behaviour and those involved in the olfactory memory process associated with selective recognition of offspring although at the level of the hippocampus and cingulate cortex there may be some degree of overlap. Alterations in zif/268 at tertiary processing sites for olfactory information (orbitofrontal cortex) and the entorhinal cortex and dentate gyrus may reflect plastic changes occurring during the early stages of olfactory memory formation.

Alterations of the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation in healthy subjects with theta-burst stimulation of the cortex of the suprahyoid muscles.

PubMed

Ruan, Xiuhang; Xu, Guangqing; Gao, Cuihua; Liu, Lingling; Liu, Yanli; Jiang, Lisheng; Chen, Xin; Yu, Shaode; Jiang, Xinqing; Lan, Yue; Wei, Xinhua

2017-12-04

Theta burst stimulation (TBS) has emerged as a promising tool for the treatment of swallowing disorders; however, the short-term after-effects of brain activation induced by TBS remain unknown. Here, we measured the changes in spontaneous brain activation using the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) approach in subjects who underwent different TBS protocols. Sixty right-handed healthy participants (male, n=30; female, n=30; mean age=23.5y) were recruited in this study and randomly assigned to three groups that underwent three different TBS protocols. In group 1, continuous TBS (cTBS) was positioned on the left hemisphere of the suprahyoid muscle cortex. For group 2, intermittent TBS (iTBS) was placed on the left hemisphere of the suprahyoid muscle cortex. Group 3 underwent combined cTBS/iTBS protocols in which iTBS on the right hemisphere was performed immediately after completing cTBS on the left suprahyoid muscle cortex. Compared to pre-TBS, post-cTBS showed decreased ALFF in the anterior cingulate gyrus (BA 32); post-iTBS induced an increase in ALFF in the bilateral precuneus (BA 7); and post-cTBS/iTBS induced a decrease in ALFF in the brainstem, and resulted in increased ALFF in the middle cingulate gyrus (BA 24) as well as the left precentral gyrus (BA 6). Compared the effect of post-TBS protocols, increased ALFF was found in left posterior cerebellum lobe and left inferior parietal lobule (BA 40) (post-cTBS vs post-iTBS), and decreased ALFF exhibited in paracentral lobule (BA 4) (post-iTBS vs post-cTBS/iTBS). These findings indicate that multiple brain areas involved in swallowing regulation after stimulation of TBS over the suprahyoid muscles. cTBS induces decreased after-effects while iTBS results in increased after-effects on spontaneous brain activation. Moreover, iTBS can eliminate the after-effects of cTBS applied on the contralateral swallowing cortex and alter the activity of contralateral motor cortex and brainstem. Our findings provide a novel evidence for the short-term effect of TBS on spontaneous brain activation. Copyright © 2017 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cognitive and affective theory of mind share the same local patterns of activity in posterior temporal but not medial prefrontal cortex

PubMed Central

Hofstetter, Christoph; Vuilleumier, Patrik

2014-01-01

Understanding emotions in others engages specific brain regions in temporal and medial prefrontal cortices. These activations are often attributed to more general cognitive ‘mentalizing’ functions, associated with theory of mind and also necessary to represent people’s non-emotional mental states, such as beliefs or intentions. Here, we directly investigated whether understanding emotional feelings recruit similar or specific brain systems, relative to other non-emotional mental states. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging with multivoxel pattern analysis in 46 volunteers to compare activation patterns in theory-of-mind tasks for emotions, relative to beliefs or somatic states accompanied with pain. We found a striking dissociation between the temporoparietal cortex, that exhibited a remarkable voxel-by-voxel pattern overlap between emotions and beliefs (but not pain), and the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, that exhibited distinct (and yet nearby) patterns of activity during the judgment of beliefs and emotions in others. Pain judgment was instead associated with activity in the supramarginal gyrus, middle cingulate cortex and middle insular cortex. Our data reveal for the first time a functional dissociation within brain networks sub-serving theory of mind for different mental contents, with a common recruitment for cognitive and affective states in temporal regions, and distinct recruitment in prefrontal areas. PMID:23770622

Feasibility of using fMRI to study mothers responding to infant cries.

PubMed

Lorberbaum, J P; Newman, J D; Dubno, J R; Horwitz, A R; Nahas, Z; Teneback, C C; Bloomer, C W; Bohning, D E; Vincent, D; Johnson, M R; Emmanuel, N; Brawman-Mintzer, O; Book, S W; Lydiard, R B; Ballenger, J C; George, M S

1999-01-01

While parenting is a universal human behavior, its neuroanatomic basis is currently unknown. Animal data suggest that the cingulate may play an important function in mammalian parenting behavior. For example, in rodents cingulate lesions impair maternal behavior. Here, in an attempt to understand the brain basis of human maternal behavior, we had mothers listen to recorded infant cries and white noise control sounds while they underwent functional MRI (fMRI) of the brain. We hypothesized that mothers would show significantly greater cingulate activity during the cries compared to the control sounds. Of 7 subjects scanned, 4 had fMRI data suitable for analysis. When fMRI data were averaged for these 4 subjects, the anterior cingulate and right medial prefrontal cortex were the only brain regions showing statistically increased activity with the cries compared to white noise control sounds (cluster analysis with one-tailed z-map threshold of P < 0.001 and spatial extent threshold of P < 0.05). These results demonstrate the feasibility of using fMRI to study brain activity in mothers listening to infant cries and that the anterior cingulate may be involved in mothers listening to crying babies. We are currently replicating this study in a larger group of mothers. Future work in this area may help (1) unravel the functional neuroanatomy of the parent-infant bond and (2) examine whether markers of this bond, such as maternal brain response to infant crying, can predict maternal style (i.e., child neglect), offspring temperament, or offspring depression or anxiety.

Effects of gamma-aminobutyric acid-modulating drugs on working memory and brain function in patients with schizophrenia.

PubMed

Menzies, Lara; Ooi, Cinly; Kamath, Shri; Suckling, John; McKenna, Peter; Fletcher, Paul; Bullmore, Ed; Stephenson, Caroline

2007-02-01

Cognitive impairment causes morbidity in schizophrenia and could be due to abnormalities of cortical interneurons using the inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). To test the predictions that cognitive and brain functional responses to GABA-modulating drugs are correlated and abnormal in schizophrenia. Pharmacological functional magnetic resonance imaging study of 2 groups, each undergoing scanning 3 times, using an N-back working memory task, after placebo, lorazepam, or flumazenil administration. Eleven patients with chronic schizophrenia were recruited from a rehabilitation service, and 11 healthy volunteers matched for age, sex, and premorbid IQ were recruited from the local community. Intervention Participants received 2 mg of oral lorazepam, a 0.9-mg intravenous flumazenil bolus followed by a flumazenil infusion of 0.0102 mg/min, or oral and intravenous placebo. Working memory performance was summarized by the target discrimination index at several levels of difficulty. Increasing (or decreasing) brain functional activation in response to increasing task difficulty was summarized by the positive (or negative) load response. Lorazepam impaired performance and flumazenil enhanced it; these cognitive effects were more salient in schizophrenic patients. Functional magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated positive load response in a frontoparietal system and negative load response in the temporal and posterior cingulate regions; activation of the frontoparietal cortex was positively correlated with deactivation of the temporocingulate cortex. After placebo administration, schizophrenic patients had abnormally attenuated activation of the frontoparietal cortex and deactivation of the temporocingulate cortex; this pattern was mimicked in healthy volunteers and exacerbated in schizophrenic patients by lorazepam. However, in schizophrenic patients, flumazenil enhanced deactivation of the temporocingulate and activation of the anterior cingulate cortices. The GABA-modulating drugs differentially affect working memory performance and brain function in schizophrenia. Cognitive impairment in schizophrenia may reflect abnormal inhibitory function and could be treated by drugs targeting GABA neurotransmission.

A New Semantic List Learning Task to Probe Functioning of the Papez Circuit

PubMed Central

Schallmo, Michael-Paul; Kassel, Michelle T.; Weisenbach, Sara L.; Walker, Sara J.; Guidotti-Breting, Leslie M.; Rao, Julia A.; Hazlett, Kathleen E.; Considine, Ciaran M.; Sethi, Gurpriya; Vats, Naalti; Pecina, Marta; Welsh, Robert C.; Starkman, Monica N.; Giordani, Bruno; Langenecker, Scott A.

2016-01-01

Introduction List learning tasks are powerful clinical tools for studying memory, yet have been relatively underutilized within the functional imaging literature. This limits understanding of regions such as the Papez circuit which support memory performance in healthy, non-demented adults. Method The current study characterized list learning performance in 40 adults who completed a Semantic List Learning Task (SLLT) with a Brown-Peterson manipulation during functional MRI (fMRI). Cued recall with semantic cues, and recognition memory were assessed after imaging. Internal reliability and convergent and discriminant validity were evaluated. Results Subjects averaged 38% accuracy in recall (62% for recognition), with primacy but no recency effects observed. Validity and reliability were demonstrated by showing that the SLLT was correlated with the California Verbal Learning test (CVLT), but not with executive functioning tests, and high intraclass correlation coefficient across lists for recall (.91). fMRI measurements during Encoding (vs. Silent Rehearsal) revealed significant activation in bilateral hippocampus, parahippocampus, and bilateral anterior and posterior cingulate cortex. Post-hoc analyses showed increased activation in anterior and middle hippocampus, subgenual cingulate, and mammillary bodies specific to Encoding. In addition, increasing age was positively associated with increased activation in a diffuse network, particularly frontal cortex and specific Papez regions for correctly recalled words. Gender differences were specific to left inferior and superior frontal cortex. Conclusions This is a clinically relevant list learning task that can be used in studies of groups for which the Papez circuit is damaged or disrupted, in mixed or crossover studies at imaging and clinical sites. PMID:26313512

The subcortical role of language processing. High level linguistic features such as ambiguity-resolution and the human brain; an fMRI study.

PubMed

Ketteler, Daniel; Kastrau, Frank; Vohn, Rene; Huber, Walter

2008-02-15

In the present study, we were interested in the neurofunctional representations of ambiguity processing by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Twelve right-handed, healthy adults aged between 21 and 29 years (6 male, 6 female) underwent an ambiguity resolution task with 4 different conditions (dominant vs. non-dominant; dominant vs. distractor; non-dominant vs. distractor; distractor vs. distractor). After subtraction of the corresponding control task (distractor vs. distractor) we found significant activation especially in the thalamus and some parts of the basal ganglia (caudate nucleus, putamen). Our findings implicate a participation of the thalamus and other basal ganglia circuits in high level linguistic functions and match with theoretical considerations on this highly controversial topic. Subcortical neural circuits probably become activated when the language processing system cannot rely entirely on automatic mechanisms but has to recruit controlled processes as well. Furthermore, we found broad activation in the inferior parietal lobule, the prefrontal gyrus, pre-SMA and SMA and the cingulate cortex. This might reflect a strategic semantic search mechanism which probably can be illustrated with connectionist models of language processing. According to this, we hypothesize a neuroregulatory role for the thalamus and basal ganglia in regulating and monitoring the release of preformulated language segments for motor programming and semantic verification. According to our findings there is strong evidence, that especially the thalamus, the caudate nucleus, the cingulate cortex, the inferior parietal lobule and the prefrontal cortex are responsible for an accurate ambiguity resolution in the human brain.

Neural dissociations between meaningful and mere inconsistency in impression updating

PubMed Central

Todorov, Alexander

2016-01-01

Recent neuroimaging work has identified a network of regions that work in concert to update impressions of other people, particularly in response to inconsistent behavior. However, the specific functional contributions of these regions to the updating process remain unclear. Using fMRI, we tested whether increases in activity triggered by inconsistent behavior reflect changes in the stored representations of other people in response to behavioral inconsistency, or merely a response to the inconsistency itself. Participants encountered a series of individuals whose behavior either changed in an attributionally meaningful fashion or was merely inconsistent with the immediately preceding behavior. We observed that left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC) and left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) were preferentially recruited in response to unexpected, immoral behavior, whereas a separate set of regions (including dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, posterior cingulate cortex and temporoparietal junction/inferior parietal lobule) was preferentially recruited in response to more mundane inconsistencies in behavior. These results shed light on the distributed systems supporting impression updating. Specifically, while many regions supporting updating may primarily respond to moment-to-moment changes in behavior, a subset of regions (e.g. vlPFC and IFG) may contribute to updating person representations in response to trait-relevant changes in behavior. PMID:27217118

Relationship between Brain Age-Related Reduction in Gray Matter and Educational Attainment

PubMed Central

Rzezak, Patricia; Squarzoni, Paula; Duran, Fabio L.; de Toledo Ferraz Alves, Tania; Tamashiro-Duran, Jaqueline; Bottino, Cassio M.; Ribeiz, Salma; Lotufo, Paulo A.; Menezes, Paulo R.; Scazufca, Marcia; Busatto, Geraldo F.

2015-01-01

Inter-subject variability in age-related brain changes may relate to educational attainment, as suggested by cognitive reserve theories. This voxel-based morphometry study investigated the impact of very low educational level on the relationship between regional gray matter (rGM) volumes and age in healthy elders. Magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired in elders with low educational attainment (less than 4 years) (n = 122) and high educational level (n = 66), pulling together individuals examined using either of three MRI scanners/acquisition protocols. Voxelwise group comparisons showed no rGM differences (p<0.05, family-wise error corrected for multiple comparisons). When within-group voxelwise patterns of linear correlation were compared between high and low education groups, there was one cluster of greater rGM loss with aging in low versus high education elders in the left anterior cingulate cortex (p<0.05, FWE-corrected), as well as a trend in the left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (p<0.10). These results provide preliminary indication that education might exert subtle protective effects against age-related brain changes in healthy subjects. The anterior cingulate cortex, critical to inhibitory control processes, may be particularly sensitive to such effects, possibly given its involvement in cognitive stimulating activities at school or later throughout life. PMID:26474472

Neural correlates of somatoform disorders from a meta-analytic perspective on neuroimaging studies.

PubMed

Boeckle, Markus; Schrimpf, Marlene; Liegl, Gregor; Pieh, Christoph

2016-01-01

Somatoform disorders (SD) are common medical disorders with prevalence rates between 3.5% and 18.4%, depending on country and medical setting. SD as outlined in the ICD-10 exhibits various biological, social, and psychological pathogenic factors. Little is known about the neural correlates of SD. The aims of this meta-analysis are to identify neuronal areas that are involved in SD and consistently differ between patients and healthy controls. We conducted a systematic literature research on neuroimaging studies of SD. Ten out of 686 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were analyzed using activation likelihood estimation. Five neuronal areas differ between patients with SD and healthy controls namely the premotor and supplementary motor cortexes, the middle frontal gyrus, the anterior cingulate cortex, the insula, and the posterior cingulate cortex. These areas seem to have a particular importance for the occurrence of SD. Out of the ten studies two did not contribute to any of the clusters. Our results seem to largely overlap with the circuit network model of somatosensory amplification for SD. It is conceivable that functional disorders, independent of the clinical impression, show similar neurobiological processes. While overlaps do occur it is necessary to understand single functional somatic syndromes and their aetiology for future research, terminology, and treatment guidelines.

Neural substrates of self-referential processing in Chinese Buddhists

PubMed Central

Gu, Xiaosi; Mao, Lihua; Ge, Jianqiao; Wang, Gang; Ma, Yina

2010-01-01

Our recent work showed that self-trait judgment is associated with increased activity in the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) in non-religious Chinese, but in the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) in Chinese Christians. The current work further investigated neural substrates of self-referential processing in Chinese Buddhists. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we scanned 14 Chinese Buddhists, while they conducted trait judgments of the self, Zhu Rongji (the former Chinese premier), Sakyamuni (the Buddhist leader) and Jesus (the Christian leader). We found that, relative to Zhu Rongji judgment, self-judgment in Buddhist participants failed to generate increased activation in the VMPFC but induced increased activations in the DMPFC/rostral anterior cingulate cortex, midcingulate and the left frontal/insular cortex. Self-judgment was also associated with decreased functional connectivity between the DMPFC and posterior parietal cortex compared with Zhu Rongji judgment. The results suggest that Buddhist doctrine of No-self results in weakened neural coding of stimulus self-relatedness in the VMPFC, but enhanced evaluative processes of self-referential stimuli in the DMPFC. Moreover, self-referential processing in Buddhists is characterized by monitoring the conflict between the doctrine of No-self and self-focus thinking during self-trait judgment. PMID:19620181

Multiple forebrain systems converge on motor neurons innervating the thyroarytenoid muscle

PubMed Central

Van Daele, Douglas J.; Cassell, Martin D.

2009-01-01

The present study investigated the central connections of motor neurons innervating the thyroarytenoid laryngeal muscle that is active in swallowing, respiration and vocalization. In both intact and sympathectomized rats, the pseudorabies virus (PRV) was inoculated into the muscle. After initial infection of laryngomotor neurons in the ipsilateral loose division of the nucleus ambiguous (NA) by 3 days post-inoculation., PRV spread to the ipsilateral compact portion of the NA, the central and intermediate divisions of the nucleus tractus solitarii (NTS), the Botzinger complex, and the parvocellular reticular formation by 4 days. Infection was subsequently expanded to include the ipsilateral granular and dysgranular parietal insular cortex, the ipsilateral medial division of the central nucleus of the amygdala, the lateral, paraventricular, ventrolateral and medial preoptic nuclei of the hypothalamus (generally bilaterally), the lateral periaqueductal gray, the A7 and oral and caudal pontine nuclei. At the latest time points sampled post-inoculation (5 days), infected neurons were identified in the ipsilateral agranular insular cortex, the caudal parietal insular cortex, the anterior cingulate cortex, and the contralateral motor cortex. In the amygdala, infection had spread to the lateral central nucleus and the parvocellular portion of the basolateral nucleus. Hypothalamic infection was largely characterized by an increase in the number of infected cells in earlier infected regions though the posterior, dorsomedial, tuberomammillary and mammillary nuclei contained infected cells. Comparison with previous connectional data suggest PRV followed three interconnected systems originating in the forebrain; a bilateral system including the ventral anterior cingulate cortex, periaqueductal gray and ventral respiratory group; an ipsilateral system involving the parietal insular cortex, central nucleus of the amygdala and parvicellular reticular formation, and a minor contralateral system originating in motor cortex. Hypothalamic innervation involved several functionally specific nuclei. Overall, the data imply complex central nervous system control over the multi-functional thyroarytenoid muscle.[297 words] PMID:19426785

Co-occurring anxiety influences patterns of brain activity in depression.

PubMed

Engels, Anna S; Heller, Wendy; Spielberg, Jeffrey M; Warren, Stacie L; Sutton, Bradley P; Banich, Marie T; Miller, Gregory A

2010-03-01

Brain activation associated with anhedonic depression and co-occurring anxious arousal and anxious apprehension was measured by fMRI during performance of an emotion word Stroop task. Consistent with EEG findings, depression was associated with rightward frontal lateralization in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), but only when anxious arousal was elevated and anxious apprehension was low. Activity in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) was also reduced for depression under the same conditions. In contrast, depression was associated with more activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (dorsal ACC and rostral ACC) and the bilateral amygdala. Results imply that depression, particularly when accompanied by anxious arousal, may result in a failure to implement top-down processing by appropriate brain regions (left DLPFC, right IFG) due to increased activation in regions associated with responding to emotionally salient information (right DLPFC, amygdala).

Co-occurring Anxiety Influences Patterns of Brain Activity in Depression

PubMed Central

Engels, Anna S.; Heller, Wendy; Spielberg, Jeffrey M.; Warren, Stacie L.; Sutton, Bradley P.; Banich, Marie T.; Miller, Gregory A.

2011-01-01

Brain activation associated with anhedonic depression and co-occurring anxious arousal and anxious apprehension was measured by fMRI during performance of an emotion-word Stroop task. Consistent with EEG findings, depression was associated with rightward frontal lateralization in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), but only when anxious arousal was elevated and anxious apprehension was low. Activity in right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) was also reduced for depression under the same conditions. In contrast, depression was associated with more activity in anterior cingulate cortex (dACC and rACC) and bilateral amygdala. Results imply that depression, particularly when accompanied by anxious arousal, may result in a failure to implement top-down processing by appropriate brain regions (left DLPFC, right IFG) due to increased activation in regions associated with responding to emotionally salient information (right DLPFC, amygdala). PMID:20233962

The pathology of social phobia is independent of developmental changes in face processing.

PubMed

Blair, Karina S; Geraci, Marilla; Korelitz, Katherine; Otero, Marcela; Towbin, Ken; Ernst, Monique; Leibenluft, Ellen; Blair, R J R; Pine, Daniel S

2011-11-01

While social phobia in adolescence predicts the illness in adulthood, no study has directly compared the neural responses in social phobia in adults and adolescents. The authors examined neural responses to facial expressions in adults and adolescents with social phobia to determine whether the neural correlates of adult social phobia during face processing also manifest in adolescent social phobia. Blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) responses were compared in 39 medication-free participants with social phobia (25 adults and 14 adolescents) and 39 healthy comparison subjects (23 adults and 16 adolescents) matched on age, IQ, and gender. During fMRI scans, participants saw angry, fearful, and neutral expression stimuli while making a gender judgment. Significant diagnosis-by-emotion interactions were observed within the amygdala and the rostral anterior cingulate cortex, as has previously been hypothesized. In these regions, both the adolescent and adult social phobia patients showed significantly increased BOLD responses relative to their respective age-matched comparison subjects, and there was no evidence of age-related modulation of between-group differences. These enhanced responses occurred specifically when viewing angry (rostral anterior cingulate cortex) and fearful (amygdala and rostral anterior cingulate cortex) expressions but not when viewing neutral expressions. In addition, the severity of social phobia was significantly correlated with the enhanced rostral anterior cingulate cortex response in the adults. The neural correlates of adult social phobia during face processing also manifest in adolescents. Neural correlates that are observed in adult social phobia may represent the persistence of profiles established earlier in life rather than adaptive responses to such earlier perturbations or maturational changes. These cross-sectional observations might encourage longitudinal fMRI studies of adolescent social phobia.

Brain metabolite alterations and cognitive dysfunction in early Huntington’s Disease

PubMed Central

Unschuld, Paul G.; Edden, Richard A. E.; Carass, Aaron; Liu, Xinyang; Shanahan, Megan; Wang, Xin; Oishi, Kenichi; Brandt, Jason; Bassett, Susan S.; Redgrave, Graham W.; Margolis, Russell L.; van Zijl, Peter C. M.; Barker, Peter B.; Ross, Christopher A.

2012-01-01

Background Huntington’s Disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by early cognitive decline, which progresses at later stages to dementia and severe movement disorder. HD is caused by a cytosine-adenine-guanine triplet-repeat expansion mutation in the Huntingtin gene, allowing early diagnosis by genetic testing. This study aims to identify the relationship of N-acetylaspartate and other brain metabolites to cognitive function in HD-mutation carriers by using high field strength magnetic-resonance-spectroscopy at 7-Tesla. Methods Twelve individuals with the HD-mutation in premanifest or early stage of disease versus twelve healthy controls underwent 1H magnetic-resonance-spectroscopy (7.2ml voxel in the posterior cingulate cortex) at 7-Tesla, and also T1-weighted structural magnetic-resonance-imaging. All participants received standardized tests of cognitive functioning including the Montreal Cognitive Assessment and standardized quantified neurological examination within an hour before scanning. Results Individuals with the HD mutation had significantly lower posterior cingulate cortex N-acetylaspartate (−9.6%, p=0.02) and glutamate levels (−10.1%, p=0.02) than controls. By contrast, in this small group, measures of brain morphology including striatal and ventricle volumes did not differ significantly. Linear regression with Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores revealed significant correlations with N-acetylaspartate (r2=0.50, p=0.01) and glutamate (r2=0.64, p=0.002) in HD subjects. Conclusions Our data suggest a relationship between reduced N-acetylaspartate and glutamate levels in the posterior cingulate cortex with cognitive decline in early stages of HD. N-acetylaspartate and glutamate magnetic-resonance-spectroscopy signals of the posterior cingulate cortex region may serve as potential biomarkers of disease progression or treatment outcome in HD and other neurodegenerative disorders with early cognitive dysfunction, when structural brain changes are still minor. PMID:22649062

Is a neutral expression also a neutral stimulus? A study with functional magnetic resonance.

PubMed

Carvajal, Fernando; Rubio, Sandra; Serrano, Juan M; Ríos-Lago, Marcos; Alvarez-Linera, Juan; Pacheco, Lara; Martín, Pilar

2013-08-01

Although neutral faces do not initially convey an explicit emotional message, it has been found that individuals tend to assign them an affective content. Moreover, previous research has shown that affective judgments are mediated by the task they have to perform. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging in 21 healthy participants, we focus this study on the cerebral activity patterns triggered by neutral and emotional faces in two different tasks (social or gender judgments). Results obtained, using conjunction analyses, indicated that viewing both emotional and neutral faces evokes activity in several similar brain areas indicating a common neural substrate. Moreover, neutral faces specifically elicit activation of cerebellum, frontal and temporal areas, while emotional faces involve the cuneus, anterior cingulated gyrus, medial orbitofrontal cortex, posterior superior temporal gyrus, precentral/postcentral gyrus and insula. The task selected was also found to influence brain activity, in that the social task recruited frontal areas while the gender task involved the posterior cingulated, inferior parietal lobule and middle temporal gyrus to a greater extent. Specifically, in the social task viewing neutral faces was associated with longer reaction times and increased activity of left dorsolateral frontal cortex compared with viewing facial expressions of emotions. In contrast, in the same task emotional expressions distinctively activated the left amygdale. The results are discussed taking into consideration the fact that, like other facial expressions, neutral expressions are usually assigned some emotional significance. However, neutral faces evoke a greater activation of circuits probably involved in more elaborate cognitive processing.

Altered regional homogeneity in patients with late monocular blindness: a resting-state functional MRI study

PubMed Central

Huang, Xin; Ye, Cheng-Long; Zhong, Yu-Lin; Ye, Lei; Yang, Qi-Chen; Li, Hai-Jun; Jiang, Nan; Peng, De-Chang

2017-01-01

Many previous studies have demonstrated that the blindness patients have has functional and anatomical abnormalities in the visual and other vision-related cortex. However, changes in the brain function in late monocular blindness (MB) at rest are largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the underlying regional homogeneity (ReHo) of brain-activity abnormalities in patients with late MB and their relationship with clinical features. A total of 32 patients with MB (25 male and seven female) and 32 healthy controls (HCs) (25 male and seven female) closely matched in age, sex, and education underwent resting-state functional MRI scans. The ReHo method was used to assess local features of spontaneous brain activities. Patients with MB were distinguishable from HCs using the receiver operating characteristic curve. The relationship between the mean ReHo in brain regions and the behavioral performance was calculated using correlation analysis. Compared with HCs, patients with MB showed significantly decreased ReHo values in the right rectal gyrus, right cuneus, right anterior cingulate, and right lateral occipital cortex and increased ReHo values in the right inferior temporal gyrus, right frontal middle orbital, left posterior cingulate/precuneus, and left middle frontal gyrus. However, there was no significant relationship between the different mean ReHo values in the brain regions and the clinical features. Late MB involves abnormalities of the visual cortex and other vision-related brain regions, which may reflect brain dysfunction in these regions. PMID:28858036

The social evaluation of faces: a meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies

PubMed Central

Mende-Siedlecki, Peter; Said, Christopher P.

2013-01-01

Neuroscience research on the social evaluation of faces has accumulated over the last decade, yielding divergent results. We used a meta-analytic technique, multi-level kernel density analysis (MKDA), to analyze 29 neuroimaging studies on face evaluation. Across negative face evaluations, we observed the most consistent activations in bilateral amygdala. Across positive face evaluations, we observed the most consistent activations in medial prefrontal cortex, pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pgACC), medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC), left caudate and nucleus accumbens (NAcc). Based on additional analyses comparing linear and non-linear responses, we propose a ventral/dorsal dissociation within the amygdala, wherein separate populations of neurons code for face valence and intensity, respectively. Finally, we argue that some of the differences between studies are attributable to differences in the typicality of face stimuli. Specifically, extremely attractive faces are more likely to elicit responses in NAcc/caudate and mOFC. PMID:22287188

A Neural Mechanism of Preference Shifting Under Zero Price Condition

PubMed Central

Votinov, Mikhail; Aso, Toshihiko; Fukuyama, Hidenao; Mima, Tatsuya

2016-01-01

In everyday life, free products have a strong appeal to us, even if we do not need them. Behavioral studies demonstrated that people have a tendency to switch their preference from preferred more expensive products to less preferable, cheaper alternatives, when the cheaper option becomes free. However, the neural representation of this behavioral anomaly called “Zero price” is still unclear. Using fMRI, we studied subjects while they performed binary preference choice task for items with different prices. We found that zero-related change of preference was associated with activation of the choice network, which includes inferior parietal lobule (IPL), posterior cingulate cortex and medial prefrontal cortex. Moreover, the amount of activation in medial prefrontal cortex was positively correlated with the subjective happiness score of getting free products. Our findings suggest that the Zero-price effect is driven by affective evaluations during decision-making. PMID:27148024

Sex and performance level effects on brain activation during a verbal fluency task: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

PubMed

Gauthier, Christophe T; Duyme, Michel; Zanca, Michel; Capron, Christiane

2009-02-01

Neuroimaging studies investigating the neural correlates of verbal fluency (VF) focused on sex differences without taking into account behavioural variation. Nevertheless, group differences in this verbal ability might account for neurocognitive differences elicited between men and women. The aim of this study was to test sex and performance level effects and the combination of these on cerebral activation. Four samples of 11 healthy students (N=44) selected on the basis of sex and contrasted VF scores, high fluency (HF) versus low fluency (LF), performed a covert phonological VF task during scans. Within- and between-group analyses were conducted. Consistent with previous studies, for each sample, the whole-group analysis reported activation in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), insula, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), medial frontal gyrus (mFG), superior (SPL) and inferior parietal lobules (IPL), inferior visual areas, cerebellum, thalamus and basal ganglia. Between-group analyses showed an interaction between sexes and performances in the right precuneus, left ACC, right IFG and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). HF men showed more activation than LF ones in the right precuneus and left dlPFC. LF men showed more activation in the right IFG than HF ones and LF women elicited more activation in the left ACC than HF ones. A sex main effect was found regardless of performance in the left inferior temporal gyrus (ITG), cerebellum, anterior and posterior cingulate cortexes and in the right superior frontal gyrus (SFG) and dlPFC, lingual gyrus and ACC, with men eliciting significantly greater activations than women. A performance main effect was found for the left ACC and the left cerebellum regardless of sex. LF subjects had stronger activations than HF ones in the ACC whereas HF subjects showed stronger activations in the cerebellum. Activity in three discrete subregions of the ACC is related to sex, performance and their interaction, respectively. Our findings emphasize the need to consider sex and performance level in functional imaging studies of VF.

Attention and Regional Gray Matter Development in Very Preterm Children at Age 12 Years.

PubMed

Lean, Rachel E; Melzer, Tracy R; Bora, Samudragupta; Watts, Richard; Woodward, Lianne J

2017-08-01

This study examines the selective, sustained, and executive attention abilities of very preterm (VPT) born children in relation to concurrent structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of regional gray matter development at age 12 years. A regional cohort of 110 VPT (≤32 weeks gestation) and 113 full term (FT) born children were assessed at corrected age 12 years on the Test of Everyday Attention-Children. They also had a structural MRI scan that was subsequently analyzed using voxel-based morphometry to quantify regional between-group differences in cerebral gray matter development, which were then related to attention measures using multivariate methods. VPT children obtained similar selective (p=.85), but poorer sustained (p=.02) and executive attention (p=.01) scores than FT children. VPT children were also characterized by reduced gray matter in the bilateral parietal, temporal, prefrontal and posterior cingulate cortices, bilateral thalami, and left hippocampus; and increased gray matter in the occipital and anterior cingulate cortices (family-wise error-corrected p<.05). Poorer sustained auditory attention was associated with increased gray matter in the anterior cingulate cortex (p=.04). Poor executive shifting attention was associated with reduced gray matter in the right superior temporal cortex (p=.04) and bilateral thalami (p=.05). Poorer executive divided attention was associated with reduced gray matter in the occipital (p=.001), posterior cingulate (p=.02), and left temporal (p=.01) cortices; and increased gray matter in the anterior cingulate cortex (p=.001). Disturbances in regional gray matter development appear to contribute, at least in part, to the poorer attentional performance of VPT children at school age. (JINS, 2017, 23, 539-550).

Structural and functional differences in the cingulate cortex relate to disease severity in anorexia nervosa

PubMed Central

Bär, Karl-Jürgen; de la Cruz, Feliberto; Berger, Sandy; Schultz, Carl Christoph; Wagner, Gerd

2015-01-01

Background The dysfunction of specific brain areas might account for the distortion of body image in patients with anorexia nervosa. The present study was designed to reveal brain regions that are abnormal in structure and function in patients with this disorder. We hypothesized, based on brain areas of altered activity in patients with anorexia nervosa and regions involved in pain processing, an interrelation of structural aberrations in the frontoparietal–cingulate network and aberrant functional activation during thermal pain processing in patients with the disorder. Methods We determined pain thresholds outside the MRI scanner in patients with anorexia nervosa and matched healthy controls. Thereafter, thermal pain stimuli were applied during fMRI imaging. Structural analyses with high-resolution structural T1-weighted volumes were performed using voxel-based morphometry and a surface-based approach. Results Twenty-six patients and 26 controls participated in our study, and owing to technical difficulties, 15 participants in each group were included in our fMRI analysis. Structural analyses revealed significantly decreased grey matter volume and cortical thickness in the frontoparietal–cingulate network in patients with anorexia nervosa. We detected an increased blood oxygen level–dependent signal in patients during the painful 45°C condition in the midcingulate and posterior cingulate cortex, which positively correlated with increased pain thresholds. Decreased grey matter and cortical thickness correlated negatively with pain thresholds, symptom severity and illness duration, but not with body mass index. Limitations The lack of a specific quantification of body image distortion is a limitation of our study. Conclusion This study provides further evidence for confined structural and functional brain abnormalities in patients with anorexia nervosa in brain regions that are involved in perception and integration of bodily stimuli. The association of structural and functional deviations with thermal thresholds as well as with clinical characteristics might indicate a common neuronal origin. PMID:25825813

Anterior cingulate cortex activity can be independent of response conflict in Stroop-like tasks.

PubMed

Roelofs, Ardi; van Turennout, Miranda; Coles, Michael G H

2006-09-12

Cognitive control includes the ability to formulate goals and plans of action and to follow these while facing distraction. Previous neuroimaging studies have shown that the presence of conflicting response alternatives in Stroop-like tasks increases activity in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), suggesting that the ACC is involved in cognitive control. However, the exact nature of ACC function is still under debate. The prevailing conflict detection hypothesis maintains that the ACC is involved in performance monitoring. According to this view, ACC activity reflects the detection of response conflict and acts as a signal that engages regulative processes subserved by lateral prefrontal brain regions. Here, we provide evidence from functional MRI that challenges this view and favors an alternative view, according to which the ACC has a role in regulation itself. Using an arrow-word Stroop task, subjects responded to incongruent, congruent, and neutral stimuli. A critical prediction made by the conflict detection hypothesis is that ACC activity should be increased only when conflicting response alternatives are present. Our data show that ACC responses are larger for neutral than for congruent stimuli, in the absence of response conflict. This result demonstrates the engagement of the ACC in regulation itself. A computational model of Stroop-like performance instantiating a version of the regulative hypothesis is shown to account for our findings.

A meta-analysis of the anterior cingulate contribution to social pain.

PubMed

Rotge, Jean-Yves; Lemogne, Cedric; Hinfray, Sophie; Huguet, Pascal; Grynszpan, Ouriel; Tartour, Eric; George, Nathalie; Fossati, Philippe

2015-01-01

Many functional magnetic resonance imaging studies have explored the neural correlates of social pain that results from social threat, exclusion, rejection, loss or negative evaluation. Although activations have consistently been reported within the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), it remains unclear which ACC subdivision is particularly involved. To provide a quantitative estimation of the specific involvement of ACC subdivisions in social pain, we conducted a voxel-based meta-analysis. The literature search identified 46 articles that included 940 subjects, the majority of which used the cyberball task. Significant likelihoods of activation were found in both the ventral and dorsal ACC for both social pain elicitation and self-reported distress during social pain. Self-reported distress involved more specifically the subgenual and pregenual ACC than social pain-related contrasts. The cyberball task involved the anterior midcingulate cortex to a lesser extent than other experimental tasks. During social pain, children exhibited subgenual activations to a greater extent than adults. Finally, the ventro-dorsal gradient of ACC activations in cyberball studies was related to the length of exclusion phases. The present meta-analysis contributes to a better understanding of the role of ACC subdivisions in social pain, and it could be of particular importance for guiding future studies of social pain and its neural underpinnings. © The Author (2014). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Brain regions involved in the retrieval of spatial and episodic details associated with a familiar environment: an fMRI study.

PubMed

Hirshhorn, Marnie; Grady, Cheryl; Rosenbaum, R Shayna; Winocur, Gordon; Moscovitch, Morris

2012-11-01

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to compare brain activity during the retrieval of coarse- and fine-grained spatial details and episodic details associated with a familiar environment. Long-time Toronto residents compared pairs of landmarks based on their absolute geographic locations (requiring either coarse or fine discriminations) or based on previous visits to those landmarks (requiring episodic details). An ROI analysis of the hippocampus showed that all three conditions activated the hippocampus bilaterally. Fine-grained spatial judgments recruited an additional region of the right posterior hippocampus, while episodic judgments recruited an additional region of the right anterior hippocampus, and a more extensive region along the length of the left hippocampus. To examine whole-brain patterns of activity, Partial Least Squares (PLS) analysis was used to identify sets of brain regions whose activity covaried with the three conditions. All three comparison judgments recruited the default mode network including the posterior cingulate/retrosplenial cortex, middle frontal gyrus, hippocampus, and precuneus. Fine-grained spatial judgments also recruited additional regions of the precuneus, parahippocampal cortex and the supramarginal gyrus. Episodic judgments recruited the posterior cingulate and medial frontal lobes as well as the angular gyrus. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for theories of hippocampal function and spatial and episodic memory. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Processing of emotional stimuli is reflected by modulations of beta band activity in the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex in patients with treatment resistant depression

PubMed Central

Huebl, Julius; Brücke, Christof; Merkl, Angela; Bajbouj, Malek; Schneider, Gerd-Helge

2016-01-01

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) has emerged as a new therapeutic option in patients with treatment resistant depression (TRD). At the same time, DBS offers a unique opportunity as an innovative research tool to study brain function in vivo. Indirect measures of brain function such as positron-emission-tomography imaging findings have revealed a hypermetabolism in the sgACC area in patients with TRD that normalizes in parallel with treatment response to DBS. We used direct intracranial recordings via implanted DBS electrodes to study the neuronal oscillatory activity in the sgACC area during a picture viewing task including emotional and neutral stimuli in eight patients with TRD who underwent DBS. We found a stimulus-induced decrease in beta-band and increase in gamma-band activity, with a main effect of valence for event-related desynchronisation in the beta-frequency range (14–30 Hz). Unpleasant stimuli induced the strongest and most sustained beta-power decrease. The degree of beta-band modulation upon emotional stimuli correlated with the patients’ rating of stimulus valence. Our findings confirm the involvement of the sgACC area in emotional processing that was more enhanced for unpleasant stimuli. Moreover, stimulus evaluation may be encoded by modulations of beta-band activity. PMID:27013105

Aging, self-referencing, and medial prefrontal cortex.

PubMed

Gutchess, Angela H; Kensinger, Elizabeth A; Schacter, Daniel L

2007-01-01

The lateral prefrontal cortex undergoes both structural and functional changes with healthy aging. In contrast, there is little structural change in the medial prefrontal cortex, but relatively little is known about the functional changes to this region with age. Using an event-related fMRI design, we investigated the response of medial prefrontal cortex during self-referencing in order to compare age groups on a task that young and elderly perform similarly and that is known to actively engage the region in young adults. Nineteen young (M age = 23) and seventeen elderly (M age = 72) judged whether adjectives described themselves, another person, or were presented in upper case. We assessed the overlap in activations between young and elderly for the self-reference effect (self vs. other person), and found that both groups engage medial prefrontal cortex and mid-cingulate during self-referencing. The only cerebral differences between the groups in self versus other personality assessment were found in somatosensory and motor-related areas. In contrast, age-related modulations were found in the cerebral network recruited for emotional valence processing. Elderly (but not young) showed increased activity in the dorsal prefrontal cortex for positive relative to negative items, which could reflect an increase in controlled processing of positive information for elderly adults.

Neural Correlates of the Use of Psychological Distancing to Regulate Responses to Negative Social Cues: A Study of Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder

PubMed Central

Koenigsberg, Harold W.; Fan, Jin; Ochsner, Kevin; Liu, Xun; Guise, Kevin G.; Pizzarello, Scott; Dorantes, Christine; Guerreri, Stephanie; Tecuta, Lucia; Goodman, Marianne; New, Antonia; Siever, Larry J

2009-01-01

Background Emotional instability is a defining feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD), yet little is understood about its underlying neural correlates. One possible contributing factor to emotional instability is a failure to adequately employ adaptive cognitive regulatory strategies such as psychological distancing. Method To determine whether there are differences in neural dynamics underlying this control strategy, between BPD patients and healthy volunteers (HC’s), BOLD fMRI signals were acquired as 18 BPD and 16 HC subjects distanced from or simply looked at negative and neutral pictures depicting social interactions. Contrasts in signal between distance and look condition were compared between groups to identify commonalities and differences in regional activation. Results BPD patients show a different pattern of activation compared to HC subjects when looking at negative vs. neutral pictures. When distancing vs. looking at negative pictures, both groups showed decreased negative affect in rating and increased activation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, areas near/along the intraparietal sulcus (IPS), ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate/precuneus regions. However, the BPD group showed less BOLD signal change in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and IPS, less deactivation in the amygdala and greater activation in the superior temporal sulcus and superior frontal gyrus. Conclusion BPD and HC subjects display different neural dynamics while passively viewing social emotional stimuli. In addition, BPD patients do not engage the cognitive control regions to the extent that HC’s do when employing a distancing strategy to regulate emotional reactions, which may be a factor contributing to the affective instability of BPD. PMID:19651401

Altered regional and circuit resting-state activity in patients with occult spastic diplegic cerebral palsy.

PubMed

Mu, Xuetao; Wang, Zhiqun; Nie, Binbin; Duan, Shaofeng; Ma, Qiaozhi; Dai, Guanghui; Wu, Chunnan; Dong, Yuru; Shan, Baoci; Ma, Lin

2017-10-07

Very few studies have been made to investigate functional activity changes in occult spastic diplegic cerebral palsy (SDCP). The purpose of this study was to analyze whole-brain resting state regional brain activity and functional connectivity (FC) changes in patients with SDCP. We examined 12 occult SDCP and 14 healthy control subjects using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. The data were analyzed using Resting-State fMRI Data Analysis Toolkit (REST) software. The regional homogeneity (ReHo), amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF), and whole brain FC of the motor cortex and thalamus were analyzed and compared between the occult SDCP and control groups. Compared with the control group, the occult SDCP group showed decreased ReHo regions, including the bilateral frontal, parietal, and temporal lobes, the cerebellum, right cingulate gyrus, and right lenticular nucleus, whereas an increased ReHo value was observed in the left precuneus, calcarine, fusiform gyrus, and right precuneus. Compared with the control group, no significant differences in ALFF were noted in the occult SDCP group. With the motor cortex as the region of interest, the occult SDCP group showed decreased connectivity regions in the bilateral fusiform and lingual gyrus, but increased connectivity regions in the contralateral precentral and postcentral gyrus, supplementary motor area, and the ipsilateral postcentral gyrus. With the thalamus being regarded as the region of interest, the occult SDCP group showed decreased connectivity regions in the bilateral basal ganglia, cingulate, and prefrontal cortex, but increased connectivity regions in the bilateral precentral gyrus, the contralateral cerebellum, and inferior temporal gyrus. Resting-state regional brain activities and FC changes in the patients with occult SDCP exhibited a special distribution pattern, which is consistent with the pathology of the disease. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

T174. STRUCTURAL ABNORMALITIES IN THE CINGULATE CORTEX IN ADOLESCENTS AT ULTRA-HIGH RISK WHO LATER DEVELOP PSYCHOSIS

PubMed Central

Fortea, Adriana; van Eindhjoven, Phillip; Pariente, Jose; Calvo, Anna; Batalla, Albert; de la Serna, Elena; Ilzarbe, Daniel; Tor, Jordina; Dolz, Montserrat; Baeza, Inmaculada; Sugranyes, Gisela

2018-01-01

Abstract Background Identification of biomarkers of transition to psychosis in individuals at ultra-high risk (UHR) has the potential to improve future outcomes (McGorry, 2008). Structural MRI studies with UHR samples have revealed steeper rates of cortical thinning in temporal, prefrontal and cingulate cortices in individuals who later develop psychosis in both baseline and longitudinal comparisons (Fusar-Poli, 2011; Cannon, 2014). However, little is known about how onset of prodromal symptoms during adolescence impacts on changes in cortical thickness (CTH) (Ziermans, 2012). Methods Multicentre cross-sectional case-control study, including youth aged 10–17 years, recruited from two child and adolescent mental health centres. UHR individuals were identified using the Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes criteria with some modifications. Healthy controls (HC) were recruited from the same geographical area. Exclusion criteria comprised personal history of psychotic symptoms, IQ<70, autism spectrum disorder, presence of neurological disorder, or antecedents of head trauma with loss of consciousness. The study was approved by the local Ethical Review Boards. All participants underwent a comprehensive socio-demographic and clinical evaluation at baseline and after 6, 12 and 18 months follow-up to identify which individuals converted to psychosis (UHR-P) and which did not (UHR-NP). High-resolution magnetic resonance structural images were acquired at baseline on a 3Tesla and 1.5Tesla scanners. An inter-site compatibility study was conducted with healthy controls which revealed high inter-site correlation coefficients (r>.6) for CTH measures. Images were pre-processed employing automated procedures implemented in FreeSurfer 5.3.0, cortical parcellation employed the Desikan-Killiany brain atlas. Analyses: First, mean global and lobar (frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital, insula and cingulate) CTH measurements were computed. Then, within lobes showing group effects, CTH was measured for each parcellation. ANCOVA was performed to test differences between groups in SPSS 22.0, including gender, age, total intracranial volume and site as covariates. Significance was set at p<.05, corrected using the false discovery rate (FDR). Results 122 subjects were included (59 UHR-NP vs. 18 UHR-P vs. 45 HC, mean ages: 15.2 ± 1.5 vs. 15.0 ± 1.8 vs. 15.8 ± 1.5, F=1.9, p=.15; gender (%female): 61.0% vs 61.1% vs 68.9%, χ2=.76, p=.68). There were no significant differences in case-control proportion between centres: χ2=1.3, p=.25. No significant differences in global CTH in UHR-P (2.57 ± 0.13mm) relative to UHR-NP (2.56 ± 0.11mm) and HC (2.58 ± 0.09mm) were found. There was a significant group effect on the right cingulate cortex (F=6.6, pFDR=.024): UHR-P showed lower CTH in this area relative to controls (p=.007 uncorrected). Within the right cingulate cortex, a significant group effect was found in the posterior cingulate (F=5.7, pFDR=.016) and isthmus (F=4.6, pFDR=.024), and a trend level in the caudal anterior cingulate (F=2.9, p=.057): with smaller CTH in UHR-P relative to HC in the isthmus cingulate (p=.025) and the posterior cingulate (p=.066). No significant differences were observed between UHR-P and UHR-NP groups. Discussion UHR-P showed significant cortical thinning in several regions of the right cingulate cortex in comparison to HC, giving support to the notion that structural alterations in the cingulate cortex may be present in children and adolescents prior the onset of psychosis. Longitudinal changes in CTH have the potential to increase understanding of changes related to transition to clinical illness.

Regional homogeneity and functional connectivity patterns in major depressive disorder, cognitive vulnerability to depression and healthy subjects.

PubMed

Sun, Hui; Luo, Lizhu; Yuan, Xinru; Zhang, Lu; He, Yini; Yao, Shuqiao; Wang, Jiaojian; Xiao, Jing

2018-08-01

Cognitive vulnerability to depression (CVD) is a high risk for depressive disorder. Recent studies focus on individuals with CVD to determine the neural basis of major depressive disorder (MDD) neuropathology. However, whether CVD showed specific or similar brain functional activity and connectivity patterns, compared to MDD, remain largely unknown. Here, using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging in subjects with CVD, healthy controls (HC) and MDD, regional homogeneity (ReHo) and resting-state functional connectivity (R-FC) analyses were conducted to assess local synchronization and changes in functional connectivity patterns. Significant ReHo differences were found in right posterior lobe of cerebellum (PLC), left lingual gyrus (LG) and precuneus. Compared to HC, CVD subjects showed increased ReHo in the PLC, which was similar to the difference found between MDD and HC. Compared to MDD patients, CVD subjects showed decreased ReHo in PLC, LG, and precuneus. R-FC analyses found increased functional connections between LG and left inferior parietal lobule, posterior cingulate cortex, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in CVD compared to both HC and MDD. Moreover, Regional mean ReHo values were positively correlated with Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale scores. These analyses revealed that PLC and functional connections between LG and left inferior parietal lobule, posterior cingulate cortex, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex may be a potential marker for CVD. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Altered effective connectivity anchored in the posterior cingulate cortex and the medial prefrontal cortex in cognitively intact elderly APOE ε4 carriers: a preliminary study.

PubMed

Luo, Xiao; Li, Kaicheng; Jia, Y L; Zeng, Qingze; Jiaerken, Yeerfan; Qiu, Tiantian; Huang, Peiyu; Xu, Xiaojun; Shen, Zhujing; Guan, Xiaojun; Zhou, Jiong; Wang, Chao; Xu, J J; Zhang, Minming

2018-03-17

The APOE ε4 allele is associated with impaired intrinsic functional connectivity in neural networks, especially in the default mode network (DMN). However, effective connectivity (EC) reflects the direct causal effects of one brain region to another, which has rarely been investigated. Recently, Granger causality analysis (GCA) proved suitable for the study of directionality in neuronal interactions. Using GCA, we examined the differences in the EC between the anterior medial prefrontal cortex/posterior cingulate cortex (aMPFC/PCC) and the whole brain in 17 ε4 carrying and 32 non-carrying cognitively intact elderly individuals. Furthermore, correlation analyses were performed between the abnormal EC and cognition/neuropathological indices. Compared with the non-carriers, the results showed that the ε4 carriers exhibited decreased EC from the PCC to the whole brain in the middle temporal gyrus (MTG), the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and the precuneus (PCu). Meanwhile, the ε4 carriers demonstrated increased EC from the whole brain to the aMPFC in the inferior parietal lobe (IPL) and the postcentral gyrus (PCG). The correlation analyses suggested that the EC from the IPL/PCG to the aMPFC was related to episodic memory in non-carriers, while the decreased EC from the PCC to the ACC was associated with increased levels of t-tau in the ε4 carriers. In ε4 carriers, a negative influence can be traced from the PCC to both the anterior and posterior DMN subsystems; meanwhile, the anterior DMN subsystem receives compensatory effects from the parietal cortex. Early increases in AD-related pathologies in the PCC may act as first factors during this pathological process.

Lower Choline and Myo-Inositol in Temporo-Parietal Cortex Is Associated With Apathy in Amnestic MCI.

PubMed

Tumati, Shankar; Opmeer, Esther M; Marsman, Jan-Bernard C; Martens, Sander; Reesink, Fransje E; De Deyn, Peter P; Aleman, André

2018-01-01

Apathy is a common symptom in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and is associated with an increased risk of progression to Alzheimer's disease (AD). The neural substrates underlying apathy in aMCI may involve multiple brain regions, including the anterior cingulate cortex and the temporo-parietal region. Here we investigated neurometabolites in brain regions that may underlie apathy in aMCI patients using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 1 H-MRS). Twenty-eight aMCI patients with varying degrees of apathy and 20 matched controls underwent 1 H-MRS. Spectra were acquired from single voxels in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (DACC), right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and right temporo-parietal cortex (TPC). Apathy was measured with the Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES). Spearman partial correlations between metabolite concentrations in each region and severity of apathy were determined. Additionally, analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) were performed to determine whether metabolite changes differed between patients with or without clinically-diagnosed apathy. The degree of apathy was found to be negatively correlated with choline and myo-inositol (mI) in the TPC. Additional exploratory analyses suggested that N-acetylaspartate (NAA)/mI ratio was reduced in aMCI without clinical apathy but not in aMCI with clinical apathy. In the DACC, glutamate and glutamine (Glx) levels tended to be higher in the aMCI with apathy group compared to controls and reduced in association with depression scores. In conclusion, apathy in aMCI patients was associated with neurometabolite changes indicative of altered membranal integrity and glial function in the right TPC. Findings also indicated that in a clinically-diagnosed aMCI cohort, apathy symptoms may be suggestive of neural changes that are distinct from aMCI without apathy.

No differences in calcium-binding protein immunoreactivity in the posterior cingulate and visual cortex: schizophrenia and controls.

PubMed

Wheeler, David G; Dixon, Gavin; Harper, Clive G

2006-06-01

Schizophrenia-specific alterations in the densities of interneurons immunoreactive (ir) to the calcium binding proteins are reported for several cortical regions. However, no reported studies have searched for such differences within the posterior cingulate cortex using antibodies to a specific calcium binding protein, calbindin (Cb). Compare the (a) relative density of Cb-ir neurons (ratio of labeled neurons to total neurons), (b) relative width of cortical layers II/III and (c) somal areas of Cb-ir neurons in people with schizophrenia and non-psychiatric age-, gender- and postmortem index-matched controls (9 per group). Tissue from Brodmann's area (BA) 30 and 23 and an internal control region, the visual cortex (BA 18) were labeled with polyclonal Cb antibodies then Nissl counter-stained. Cb-ir neurons as well as counter-stained neurons with clearly visible nucleoli were plotted and counted within their area 1 and laminar boundaries. No qualitative or statistical differences in the relative density of Cb-ir neurons were observed. A trend towards a significant effect was detected in BA 30, the relative density of Cb-ir neurons for controls was greater than for schizophrenics (P=0.0518). There were no significant differences in the relative cortical widths or somal areas. The data from this study suggest that the posterior cingulate cortex may not be involved in schizophrenia, at least not as far as Cb-ir neurons are concerned.

The auditory and non-auditory brain areas involved in tinnitus. An emergent property of multiple parallel overlapping subnetworks

PubMed Central

Vanneste, Sven; De Ridder, Dirk

2012-01-01

Tinnitus is the perception of a sound in the absence of an external sound source. It is characterized by sensory components such as the perceived loudness, the lateralization, the tinnitus type (pure tone, noise-like) and associated emotional components, such as distress and mood changes. Source localization of quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) data demonstrate the involvement of auditory brain areas as well as several non-auditory brain areas such as the anterior cingulate cortex (dorsal and subgenual), auditory cortex (primary and secondary), dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex, insula, supplementary motor area, orbitofrontal cortex (including the inferior frontal gyrus), parahippocampus, posterior cingulate cortex and the precuneus, in different aspects of tinnitus. Explaining these non-auditory brain areas as constituents of separable subnetworks, each reflecting a specific aspect of the tinnitus percept increases the explanatory power of the non-auditory brain areas involvement in tinnitus. Thus, the unified percept of tinnitus can be considered an emergent property of multiple parallel dynamically changing and partially overlapping subnetworks, each with a specific spontaneous oscillatory pattern and functional connectivity signature. PMID:22586375

Self-development: integrating cognitive, socioemotional, and neuroimaging perspectives.

PubMed

Pfeifer, Jennifer H; Peake, Shannon J

2012-01-01

This review integrates cognitive, socioemotional, and neuroimaging perspectives on self-development. Neural correlates of key processes implicated in personal and social identity are reported from studies of children, adolescents, and adults, including autobiographical memory, direct and reflected self-appraisals, and social exclusion. While cortical midline structures of medial prefrontal cortex and medial posterior parietal cortex are consistently identified in neuroimaging studies considering personal identity from a primarily cognitive perspective ("who am I?"), additional regions are implicated by studies considering personal and social identity from a more socioemotional perspective ("what do others think about me, where do I fit in?"), especially in child or adolescent samples. The involvement of these additional regions (including tempo-parietal junction and posterior superior temporal sulcus, temporal poles, anterior insula, ventral striatum, anterior cingulate cortex, middle cingulate cortex, and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex) suggests mentalizing, emotion, and emotion regulation are central to self-development. In addition, these regions appear to function atypically during personal and social identity tasks in autism and depression, exhibiting a broad pattern of hypoactivation and hyperactivation, respectively. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Trigeminal activation using chemical, electrical, and mechanical stimuli.

PubMed

Iannilli, E; Del Gratta, C; Gerber, J C; Romani, G L; Hummel, T

2008-10-15

Tactile, proprioceptive, and nociceptive information, including also chemosensory functions are expressed in the trigeminal nerve sensory response. To study differences in the processing of different stimulus qualities, we performed a study based on functional magnetic resonance imaging. The first trigeminal branch (ophthalmic nerve) was activated by (a) intranasal chemical stimulation with gaseous CO2 which produces stinging and burning sensations, but is virtually odorless, (b) painful, but not nociceptive specific cutaneous electrical stimulation, and (c) cutaneous mechanical stimulation using air puffs. Eighteen healthy subjects participated (eight men, 10 women, mean age 31 years). Painful stimuli produced patterns of activation similar to what has been reported for other noxious stimuli, namely activation in the primary and secondary somatosensory cortices, anterior cingulate cortex, insular cortex, and thalamus. In addition, analyses indicated intensity-related activation in the prefrontal cortex which was specifically involved in the evaluation of stimulus intensity. Importantly, the results also indicated similarities between activation patterns after intranasal chemosensory trigeminal stimulation and patterns usually found following intranasal odorous stimulation, indicating the intimate connection between these two systems in the processing of sensory information.

Modulation of Beta-Band Activity in the Subgenual Anterior Cingulate Cortex during Emotional Empathy in Treatment-Resistant Depression.

PubMed

Merkl, Angela; Neumann, Wolf-Julian; Huebl, Julius; Aust, Sabine; Horn, Andreas; Krauss, Joachim K; Dziobek, Isabel; Kuhn, Jens; Schneider, Gerd-Helge; Bajbouj, Malek; Kühn, Andrea A

2016-06-01

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a promising approach in treatment-resistant depression (TRD). TRD is associated with problems in interpersonal relationships, which might be linked to impaired empathy. Here, we investigate the influence of DBS in the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) on empathy in patients with TRD and explore the pattern of oscillatory sgACC activity during performance of the multifaceted empathy test. We recorded local field potential activity directly from sgACC via DBS electrodes in patients. Based on previous behavioral findings, we expected disrupted empathy networks. Patients showed increased empathic involvement ratings toward negative stimuli as compared with healthy subjects that were significantly reduced after 6 months of DBS. Stimulus-related oscillatory activity pattern revealed a broad desynchronization in the beta (14-35 Hz) band that was significantly larger during patients' reported emotional empathy for negative stimuli than when patients reported to have no empathy. Beta desynchronization for empathic involvement correlated with self-reported severity of depression. Our results indicate a "negativity bias" in patients that can be reduced by DBS. Moreover, direct recordings show activation of the sgACC area during emotional processing and propose that changes in beta-band oscillatory activity in the sgACC might index empathic involvement of negative emotion in TRD. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Dissociating response conflict and error likelihood in anterior cingulate cortex.

PubMed

Yeung, Nick; Nieuwenhuis, Sander

2009-11-18

Neuroimaging studies consistently report activity in anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in conditions of high cognitive demand, leading to the view that ACC plays a crucial role in the control of cognitive processes. According to one prominent theory, the sensitivity of ACC to task difficulty reflects its role in monitoring for the occurrence of competition, or "conflict," between responses to signal the need for increased cognitive control. However, a contrasting theory proposes that ACC is the recipient rather than source of monitoring signals, and that ACC activity observed in relation to task demand reflects the role of this region in learning about the likelihood of errors. Response conflict and error likelihood are typically confounded, making the theories difficult to distinguish empirically. The present research therefore used detailed computational simulations to derive contrasting predictions regarding ACC activity and error rate as a function of response speed. The simulations demonstrated a clear dissociation between conflict and error likelihood: fast response trials are associated with low conflict but high error likelihood, whereas slow response trials show the opposite pattern. Using the N2 component as an index of ACC activity, an EEG study demonstrated that when conflict and error likelihood are dissociated in this way, ACC activity tracks conflict and is negatively correlated with error likelihood. These findings support the conflict-monitoring theory and suggest that, in speeded decision tasks, ACC activity reflects current task demands rather than the retrospective coding of past performance.

The effects of aerobic exercise on the structure and function of DMN-related brain regions: a systematic review.

PubMed

Li, Mo-Yi; Huang, Mao-Mao; Li, Shu-Zhen; Tao, Jing; Zheng, Guo-Hua; Chen, Li-Dian

2017-07-01

Physical activity may play a role in both the prevention and slowing of brain volume loss and may be beneficial in terms of improving the functional connectivity of brain regions. But much less is known about the potential benefit of aerobic exercise for the structure and function of the default mode network (DMN) brain regions. This systematic review examines the effects of aerobic exercise on the structure and function of DMN brain regions in human adulthood. Seven electronic databases were searched for prospective controlled studies published up to April 2015. The quality of the selected studies was evaluated with the Cochrane Collaboration's tool for assessing the risk of bias. RevMan 5.3 software was applied for data analysis. Finally, 14 studies with 631 participants were identified. Meta-analysis revealed that aerobic exercise could significantly increase right hippocampal volume (SMD = 0.26, 95% CI 0.01-0.51, p = 0.04, I 2 = 7%, 4 studies), and trends of similar effects were observed in the total (SMD = 0.12, 95% CI -0.17 to 0.41, p = 0.43, I 2 = 0%, 5 studies), left (SMD = 0.12, 95% CI -0.13 to 0.37, p = 0.33, I 2 = 14%, 4 studies), left anterior (SMD = 0.12, 95% CI -0.16 to 0.40, p = 0.41, I 2 = 74%, 2 studies) and right anterior (SMD = 0.10, 95% CI -0.17 to 0.38, p = 0.46, I 2 = 76%, 4 studies) hippocampal volumes compared to the no-exercise interventions. A few studies reported that relative to no-exercise interventions, aerobic exercise could significantly decrease the atrophy of the medial temporal lobe, slow the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) volume loss, increase functional connectivity within the hippocampus and improve signal activation in the cingulate gyrus and ACC. The current review suggests that aerobic exercise may have positive effects on the right hippocampus and potentially beneficial effects on the overall and other parts of the hippocampus, the cingulate cortex and the medial temporal areas of the DMN. Moreover, aerobic exercise may increase functional connectivity or activation in the hippocampus, cingulate cortex and parahippocampal gyrus regions of the DMN. However, considering the quantity and limitations of the included studies, the conclusion could not be drawn so far. Additional randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with rigorous designs and longer intervention periods are needed in the future.

APOE ε4 associated with preserved executive function performance and maintenance of temporal and cingulate brain volumes in younger adults

PubMed Central

Taylor, Warren D.; Boyd, Brian; Turner, Rachel; McQuoid, Douglas R.; Ashley-Koch, Allison; MacFall, James R.; Saleh, Ayman; Potter, Guy G.

2016-01-01

The APOE ε4 allele is associated with cognitive deficits and brain atrophy in older adults, but studies in younger adults are mixed. We examined APOE genotype effects on cognition and brain structure in younger adults and whether genotype effects differed by age and with presence of depression. 157 adults (32% ε4 carriers, 46% depressed) between 20–50 years of age completed neuropsychological testing, 131 of which also completed 3T cranial MRI. We did not observe a direct effect of APOE genotype on cognitive performance or structural MRI measures. A significant genotype by age interaction was observed for executive function, where age had less of an effect on executive function in ε4 carriers. Similar interactions were observed for the entorhinal cortex, rostral and caudal anterior cingulate cortex and parahippocampal gyrus, where the effect of age on regional volumes was reduced in ε4 carriers. There were no significant interactions between APOE genotype and depression diagnosis. The ε4 allele benefits younger adults by allowing them to maintain executive function performance and volumes of cingulate and temporal cortex regions with aging, at least through age fifty years. PMID:26843007

A Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Study of the Anterior Cingulate Cortex In Youth with Emotional Dysregulation

PubMed Central

Wozniak, Janet; Gönenç, Atilla; Biederman, Joseph; Moore, Constance; Joshi, Gagan; Georgiopoulos, Anna; Hammerness, Paul; McKillop, Hannah; Lukas, Scot E.; Henin, Aude

2017-01-01

Background The main aim of this study was to use proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) to identify brain biomarkers for emotional dysregulation in youth as measured by subscales of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Methods We measured glutamate (Glu) concentrations in the anterior cingulated cortex (ACC) of 37 pediatric subjects (aged 6-17 years) using high field (4.0 Tesla) proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS). Subjects were grouped based on combined T scores on three subscales (Anxiety/Depression, Aggression and Attention) of the CBCL previously associated with deficits in the regulation of emotion. Subjects were stratified into those with high (>180) (N=10) and low (<180) (N=27) scores. Limitations Limitations include small sample size, wide age range studied, focus on Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC) only, and that some subjects received psychopharmacological treatments. Results We found a statistically significant correlation between Glu levels in the ACC and CBCL dysregulation profile scores among subjects with high dysregulation profile scores. Conclusions These results suggest that glutamatergic dysregulation in the ACC may represent a useful biomarker of emotional dysregulation in youth. Further investigation into the causality, time line and utility as a predictive metric is warranted. PMID:22652930

Dissociable Genetic Contributions to Error Processing: A Multimodal Neuroimaging Study

PubMed Central

Agam, Yigal; Vangel, Mark; Roffman, Joshua L.; Gallagher, Patience J.; Chaponis, Jonathan; Haddad, Stephen; Goff, Donald C.; Greenberg, Jennifer L.; Wilhelm, Sabine; Smoller, Jordan W.; Manoach, Dara S.

2014-01-01

Background Neuroimaging studies reliably identify two markers of error commission: the error-related negativity (ERN), an event-related potential, and functional MRI activation of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC). While theorized to reflect the same neural process, recent evidence suggests that the ERN arises from the posterior cingulate cortex not the dACC. Here, we tested the hypothesis that these two error markers also have different genetic mediation. Methods We measured both error markers in a sample of 92 comprised of healthy individuals and those with diagnoses of schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder or autism spectrum disorder. Participants performed the same task during functional MRI and simultaneously acquired magnetoencephalography and electroencephalography. We examined the mediation of the error markers by two single nucleotide polymorphisms: dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) C-521T (rs1800955), which has been associated with the ERN and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T (rs1801133), which has been associated with error-related dACC activation. We then compared the effects of each polymorphism on the two error markers modeled as a bivariate response. Results We replicated our previous report of a posterior cingulate source of the ERN in healthy participants in the schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder groups. The effect of genotype on error markers did not differ significantly by diagnostic group. DRD4 C-521T allele load had a significant linear effect on ERN amplitude, but not on dACC activation, and this difference was significant. MTHFR C677T allele load had a significant linear effect on dACC activation but not ERN amplitude, but the difference in effects on the two error markers was not significant. Conclusions DRD4 C-521T, but not MTHFR C677T, had a significant differential effect on two canonical error markers. Together with the anatomical dissociation between the ERN and error-related dACC activation, these findings suggest that these error markers have different neural and genetic mediation. PMID:25010186

Altruistic behavior: mapping responses in the brain

PubMed Central

Filkowski, Megan M; Cochran, R Nick; Haas, Brian W

2016-01-01

Altruism is an important social construct related to human relationships and the way many interpersonal and economic decisions are made. Recent progress in social neuroscience research shows that altruism is associated with a specific pattern of brain activity. The tendency to engage in altruistic behaviors is associated with greater activity within limbic regions such as the nucleus accumbens and anterior cingulate cortex in addition to cortical regions such as the medial prefrontal cortex and temporoparietal junction. Here, we review existing theoretical models of altruism as well as recent empirical neuroimaging research demonstrating how altruism is processed within the brain. This review not only highlights the progress in neuroscience research on altruism but also shows that there exist several open questions that remain unexplored. PMID:28580317

Anterior Cingulate Volumetric Alterations in Treatment-Naive Adults with ADHD: A Pilot Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Makris, Nikos; Seidman, Larry J.; Valera, Eve M.; Biederman, Joseph; Monuteaux, Michael C.; Kennedy, David N.; Caviness, Verne S., Jr.; Bush, George; Crum, Katherine; Brown, Ariel B.; Faraone, Stephen V.

2010-01-01

Objective: We sought to examine preliminary results of brain alterations in anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in treatment-naive adults with ADHD. The ACC is a central brain node for the integration of cognitive control and allocation of attention, affect and drive. Thus its anatomical alteration may give rise to impulsivity, hyperactivity and…

A cerebellar thalamic cortical circuit for error-related cognitive control.

PubMed

Ide, Jaime S; Li, Chiang-shan R

2011-01-01

Error detection and behavioral adjustment are core components of cognitive control. Numerous studies have focused on the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) as a critical locus of this executive function. Our previous work showed greater activation in the dorsal ACC and subcortical structures during error detection, and activation in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) during post-error slowing (PES) in a stop signal task (SST). However, the extent of error-related cortical or subcortical activation across subjects was not correlated with VLPFC activity during PES. So then, what causes VLPFC activation during PES? To address this question, we employed Granger causality mapping (GCM) and identified regions that Granger caused VLPFC activation in 54 adults performing the SST during fMRI. These brain regions, including the supplementary motor area (SMA), cerebellum, a pontine region, and medial thalamus, represent potential targets responding to errors in a way that could influence VLPFC activation. In confirmation of this hypothesis, the error-related activity of these regions correlated with VLPFC activation during PES, with the cerebellum showing the strongest association. The finding that cerebellar activation Granger causes prefrontal activity during behavioral adjustment supports a cerebellar function in cognitive control. Furthermore, multivariate GCA described the "flow of information" across these brain regions. Through connectivity with the thalamus and SMA, the cerebellum mediates error and post-error processing in accord with known anatomical projections. Taken together, these new findings highlight the role of the cerebello-thalamo-cortical pathway in an executive function that has heretofore largely been ascribed to the anterior cingulate-prefrontal cortical circuit. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Effects of noxious coldness and non-noxious warmth on the magnitude of cerebral cortex activation during intraoral stimulation with water].

PubMed

Xiuwen, Yang; Hongchen, Liu; Ke, Li; Zhen, Jin; Gang, Liu

2014-12-01

We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to explore the effects of noxious coldness and non-noxious warmth on the magnitude of cerebral cortex activation during intraoral stimulation with water. Six male and female subjects were subjected to whole-brain fMRI during the phasic delivery of non-noxious hot (23 °C) and no- xious cold (4 °C) water intraoral stimulation. A block-design blood oxygenation level-dependent fMRI scan covering the entire brain was also carried out. The activated cortical areas were as follows: left pre-/post-central gyrus, insula/operculum, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), orbital frontal cortex (OFC), midbrain red nucleus, and thalamus. The activated cortical areas under cold condition were as follows: left occipital lobe, premotor cortex/Brodmann area (BA) 6, right motor language area BA44, lingual gyrus, parietal lobule (BA7, 40), and primary somatosensory cortex S I. Comparisons of the regional cerebral blood flow response magnitude were made among stereotactically concordant brain regions that showed significant responses under the two conditions of this study. Compared with non-noxious warmth, more regions were activated in noxious coldness, and the magnitude of activation in areas produced after non-noxious warm stimulation significantly increased. However, ACC only significantly increased the magnitude of activation under noxious coldness stimulation. Results suggested that a similar network of regions was activated common to the perception of pain and no-pain produced by either non-noxious warmth or noxious coldness stimulation. Non-noxious warmth also activated more brain regions and significantly increased the response magnitude of cerebral-cortex activation compared with noxious coldness. Noxious coldness stimulation further significantly increased the magnitude of activation in ACC areas compared with noxious warmth.

Comparison between Alzheimer's disease and subcortical vascular dementia: attentional cortex study in functional magnetic resonance imaging.

PubMed

Li, C; Zheng, J; Wang, J; Gui, L

2011-01-01

Blood oxygen level dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and the Stroop test were used to assess attentional cortex activation in patients with Alzheimer's disease, subcortical vascular dementia, and normal control subjects. Patients with Alzheimer's disease and subcortical vascular dementia demonstrated similar locations of cortical activation, including the bilateral middle and inferior frontal gyri, anterior cingulate and inferior parietal lobule in response to Stroop colour word stimuli. This activation was distinctly decreased in patients with dementia compared with normal control subjects. Different regions of the brain were activated in patients with Alzheimer's disease and subcortical vascular dementia compared with normal controls. fMRI is a useful tool for the study of dementia in humans and has some potential diagnostic value. Further studies with larger numbers of participants are required.

Correlates of decisional dynamics in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex

PubMed Central

Hayden, Benjamin Y.

2017-01-01

We hypothesized that during binary economic choice, decision makers use the first option they attend as a default to which they compare the second. To test this idea, we recorded activity of neurons in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) of macaques choosing between gambles presented asynchronously. We find that ensemble encoding of the value of the first offer includes both choice-dependent and choice-independent aspects, as if reflecting a partial decision. That is, its responses are neither entirely pre- nor post-decisional. In contrast, coding of the value of the second offer is entirely decision dependent (i.e., post-decisional). This result holds even when offer-value encodings are compared within the same time period. Additionally, we see no evidence for 2 pools of neurons linked to the 2 offers; instead, all comparison appears to occur within a single functionally homogenous pool of task-selective neurons. These observations suggest that economic choices reflect a context-dependent evaluation of attended options. Moreover, they raise the possibility that value representations reflect, to some extent, a tentative commitment to a choice. PMID:29141002

Role of the anterior cingulate cortex in the retrieval of novel object recognition memory after a long delay

PubMed Central

Pezze, Marie A.; Marshall, Hayley J.; Fone, Kevin CF.; Cassaday, Helen J.

2017-01-01

Previous in vivo electrophysiological studies suggest that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACgx) is an important substrate of novel object recognition (NOR) memory. However, intervention studies are needed to confirm this conclusion and permanent lesion studies cannot distinguish effects on encoding and retrieval. The interval between encoding and retrieval tests may also be a critical determinant of the role of the ACgx. The current series of experiments used micro-infusion of the GABAA receptor agonist, muscimol, into ACgx to reversibly inactivate the area and distinguish its role in encoding and retrieval. ACgx infusions of muscimol, before encoding did not alter NOR assessed after a delay of 20 min or 24 h. However, when infused into the ACgx before retrieval muscimol impaired NOR assessed after a delay of 24 h, but not after a 20-min retention test. Together these findings suggest that the ACgx plays a time-dependent role in the retrieval, but not the encoding, of NOR memory, neuronal activation being required for the retrieval of remote (24 h old), but not recent (20 min old) visual memory. PMID:28620078

Altered 5-HT2A Receptor Binding after Recovery from Bulimia-Type Anorexia Nervosa: Relationships to Harm Avoidance and Drive for Thinness

PubMed Central

Bailer, Ursula F; Price, Julie C; Meltzer, Carolyn C; Mathis, Chester A; Frank, Guido K; Weissfeld, Lisa; McConaha, Claire W; Henry, Shannan E; Brooks-Achenbach, Sarah; Barbarich, Nicole C; Kaye, Walter H

2015-01-01

Several lines of evidence suggest that a disturbance of serotonin neuronal pathways may contribute to the pathogenesis of anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN). This study applied positron emission tomography (PET) to investigate the brain serotonin 2A (5-HT2A) receptor, which could contribute to disturbances of appetite and behavior in AN and BN. To avoid the confounding effects of malnutrition, we studied 10 women recovered from bulimia-type AN (REC AN–BN, >1 year normal weight, regular menstrual cycles, no binging, or purging) compared with 16 healthy control women (CW) using PET imaging and a specific 5-HT2A receptor antagonist, [18F]altanserin. REC AN–BN women had significantly reduced [18F]altanserin binding potential relative to CW in the left subgenual cingulate, the left parietal cortex, and the right occipital cortex. [18F]altanserin binding potential was positively related to harm avoidance and negatively related to novelty seeking in cingulate and temporal regions only in REC AN–BN subjects. In addition, REC AN–BN had negative relationships between [18F]altanserin binding potential and drive for thinness in several cortical regions. In conclusion, this study extends research suggesting that altered 5-HT neuronal system activity persists after recovery from bulimia-type AN, particularly in subgenual cingulate regions. Altered 5-HT neurotransmission after recovery also supports the possibility that this may be a trait-related disturbance that contributes to the pathophysiology of eating disorders. It is possible that subgenual cingulate findings are not specific for AN–BN, but may be related to the high incidence of lifetime major depressive disorder diagnosis in these subjects. PMID:15054474

Effects of adult attachment and emotional distractors on brain mechanisms of cognitive control.

PubMed

Warren, Stacie L; Bost, Kelly K; Roisman, Glenn I; Silton, Rebecca Levin; Spielberg, Jeffrey M; Engels, Anna S; Choi, Eunsil; Sutton, Bradley P; Miller, Gregory A; Heller, Wendy

2010-12-01

Using data from 34 participants who completed an emotion-word Stroop task during functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined the effects of adult attachment on neural activity associated with top-down cognitive control in the presence of emotional distractors. Individuals with lower levels of secure-base-script knowledge--reflected in an adult's inability to generate narratives in which attachment-related threats are recognized, competent help is provided, and the problem is resolved--demonstrated more activity in prefrontal cortical regions associated with emotion regulation (e.g., right orbitofrontal cortex) and with top-down cognitive control (left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and superior frontal gyrus). Less efficient performance and related increases in brain activity suggest that insecure attachment involves a vulnerability to distraction by attachment-relevant emotional information and that greater cognitive control is required to attend to task-relevant, nonemotional information. These results contribute to the understanding of mechanisms through which attachment-related experiences may influence developmental adaptation.

Effects of Adult Attachment and Emotional Distractors on Brain Mechanisms of Cognitive Control

PubMed Central

Warren, Stacie L.; Bost, Kelly K.; Roisman, Glenn I.; Silton, Rebecca Levin; Spielberg, Jeffrey M.; Engels, Anna S.; Choi, Eunsil; Sutton, Bradley P.; Miller, Gregory A.; Heller, Wendy

2011-01-01

Using data from 34 participants who completed an emotion-word Stroop task during functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined the effects of adult attachment on neural activity associated with top-down cognitive control in the presence of emotional distractors. Individuals with lower levels of secure-base-script knowledge—reflected in an adult’s inability to generate narratives in which attachment-related threats are recognized, competent help is provided, and the problem is resolved—demonstrated more activity in prefrontal cortical regions associated with emotion regulation (e.g., right orbitofrontal cortex) and with top-down cognitive control (left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and superior frontal gyrus). Less efficient performance and related increases in brain activity suggest that insecure attachment involves a vulnerability to distraction by attachment-relevant emotional information and that greater cognitive control is required to attend to task-relevant, nonemotional information. These results contribute to the understanding of mechanisms through which attachment-related experiences may influence developmental adaptation. PMID:21098213

Lies that feel honest: Dissociating between incentive and deviance processing when evaluating dishonesty.

PubMed

Lelieveld, Gert-Jan; Shalvi, Shaul; Crone, Eveline A

2016-05-01

This study investigated neural responses to evaluations of lies made by others. Participants learned about other individuals who were instructed to privately roll a die twice and report the outcome of the first roll to determine their pay (with higher rolls leading to higher pay). Participants evaluated three types of outcomes: honest reports, justifiable lies (reporting the second outcome instead of the first), or unjustifiable lies (reporting a different outcome than both die rolls). Evaluating lies relative to honest reports was associated with increased activation in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), insula and lateral prefrontal cortex. Moreover, justifiable lies were associated with even stronger activity in the dorsal ACC and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex compared to unjustifiable lies. These activities were more pronounced for justifiable lies where the deviance from the real outcome was larger. Together, these findings have implications for understanding how humans judge misconduct behavior of others. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mirth and laughter elicited by electrical stimulation of the human anterior cingulate cortex.

PubMed

Caruana, Fausto; Avanzini, Pietro; Gozzo, Francesca; Francione, Stefano; Cardinale, Francesco; Rizzolatti, Giacomo

2015-10-01

Laughter is a complex motor behavior that, typically, expresses mirth. Despite its fundamental role in social life, knowledge about the neural basis of laughter is very limited and mostly based on a few electrical stimulation (ES) studies carried out in epileptic patients. In these studies laughter was elicited from temporal areas where it was accompanied by mirth and from frontal areas plus an anterior cingulate case where laughter without mirth was observed. On the basis of these findings, it has been proposed a dichotomy between temporal lobe areas processing the emotional content of laughter and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and motor areas responsible of laughter production. The present study is aimed to understand the role of ACC in laughter. We report the effects of stimulation of 10 rostral, pregenual ACC (pACC) patients in which the ES elicited laughter. In half of the patients ES elicited a clear burst of laughter with mirth, while in the other half mirth was not evident. This large dataset allow us to offer a more reliable picture of the functional contribute of this region in laughter, and to precisely localize it in the cingulate cortex. We conclude that the pACC is involved in both the motor and the affective components of emotions, and challenge the validity of a sharp dichotomy between motor and emotional centers for laughing. Finally, we suggest a possible anatomical network for the production of positive emotional expressions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Subtle Alterations in Brain Anatomy May Change an Individual’s Personality in Chronic Pain

PubMed Central

Gustin, Sylvia M.; McKay, Jamie G.; Petersen, Esben T.; Peck, Chris C.; Murray, Greg M.; Henderson, Luke A.

2014-01-01

It is well established that gross prefrontal cortex damage can affect an individual’s personality. It is also possible that subtle prefrontal cortex changes associated with conditions such as chronic pain, and not detectable until recent advances in human brain imaging, may also result in subtle changes in an individual’s personality. In an animal model of chronic neuropathic pain, subtle prefrontal cortex changes including altered basal dendritic length, resulted in altered decision making ability. Using multiple magnetic resonance imaging techniques, we found in humans, although gray matter volume and on-going activity were unaltered, chronic neuropathic pain was associated with reduced free and bound proton movement, indicators of subtle anatomical changes, in the medial prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex and mediodorsal thalamus. Furthermore, proton spectroscopy revealed an increase in neural integrity in the medial prefrontal cortex in neuropathic pain patients, the degree of which was significantly correlated to the personality temperament of novelty seeking. These data reveal that even subtle changes in prefrontal cortex anatomy may result in a significant change in an individual’s personality. PMID:25291361

A diffusion tensor imaging study of suicide attempters

PubMed Central

Thapa-Chhetry, Binod; Sublette, M. Elizabeth; Sullivan, Gregory M.; Oquendo, Maria A.; Mann, J. John; Parsey, Ramin V.

2014-01-01

Background Few studies have examined white matter abnormalities in suicide attempters using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). This study sought to identify white matter regions altered in individuals with a prior suicide attempt. Methods DTI scans were acquired in 13 suicide attempters with major depressive disorder (MDD), 39 non-attempters with MDD, and 46 healthy participants (HP). Fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) was determined in the brain using two methods: region of interest (ROI) and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS). ROIs were limited a priori to white matter adjacent to the caudal anterior cingulate cortex, rostral anterior cingulate cortex, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, and medial orbitofrontal cortex. Results Using the ROI approach, suicide attempters had lower FA than MDD non-attempters and HP in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. Uncorrected TBSS results confirmed a significant cluster within the right dorsomedial prefrontal cortex indicating lower FA in suicide attempters compared to non-attempters. There were no differences in ADC when comparing suicide attempters, non-attempters and HP groups using ROI or TBSS methods. Conclusions Low FA in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex was associated with a suicide attempt history. Converging findings from other imaging modalities support this finding, making this region of potential interest in determining the diathesis for suicidal behavior. PMID:24462041

Sadness is unique: neural processing of emotions in speech prosody in musicians and non-musicians.

PubMed

Park, Mona; Gutyrchik, Evgeny; Welker, Lorenz; Carl, Petra; Pöppel, Ernst; Zaytseva, Yuliya; Meindl, Thomas; Blautzik, Janusch; Reiser, Maximilian; Bao, Yan

2014-01-01

Musical training has been shown to have positive effects on several aspects of speech processing, however, the effects of musical training on the neural processing of speech prosody conveying distinct emotions are yet to be better understood. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate whether the neural responses to speech prosody conveying happiness, sadness, and fear differ between musicians and non-musicians. Differences in processing of emotional speech prosody between the two groups were only observed when sadness was expressed. Musicians showed increased activation in the middle frontal gyrus, the anterior medial prefrontal cortex, the posterior cingulate cortex and the retrosplenial cortex. Our results suggest an increased sensitivity of emotional processing in musicians with respect to sadness expressed in speech, possibly reflecting empathic processes.

Dissociable roles of medial and lateral PFC in rule learning.

PubMed

Cao, Bihua; Li, Wei; Li, Fuhong; Li, Hong

2016-11-01

Although the neural basis of rule learning is of great interest to cognitive neuroscientists, the pattern of transient brain activation during rule discovery remains to be investigated. In this study, we measured event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during distinct phases of rule learning. Twenty-one healthy human volunteers were presented with a series of cards, each containing a clock-like display of 12 circles numbered sequentially. Participants were instructed that a fictitious animal would move from one circle to another either in a regular pattern (according to a rule hidden in consecutive trials) or randomly. Participants were then asked to judge whether a given step followed a rule. While the rule-search phase evoked more activation in the posterior lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC), the rule-following phase caused stronger activation in the anterior medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC). Importantly, the intermediate phase, the rule-discovery phase evoked more activations in MPFC and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) than rule search, and more activations in LPFC than rule following. Therefore, we can conclude that the medial and lateral PFC have dissociable contributions in rule learning.

Common and distinct networks underlying reward valence and processing stages: A meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies

PubMed Central

Liu, Xun; Hairston, Jacqueline; Schrier, Madeleine; Fan, Jin

2011-01-01

To better understand the reward circuitry in human brain, we conducted activation likelihood estimation (ALE) and parametric voxel-based meta-analyses (PVM) on 142 neuroimaging studies that examined brain activation in reward-related tasks in healthy adults. We observed several core brain areas that participated in reward-related decision making, including the nucleus accumbens (NAcc), caudate, putamen, thalamus, orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), bilateral anterior insula, anterior (ACC) and posterior (PCC) cingulate cortex, as well as cognitive control regions in the inferior parietal lobule and prefrontal cortex (PFC). The NAcc was commonly activated by both positive and negative rewards across various stages of reward processing (e.g., anticipation, outcome, and evaluation). In addition, the medial OFC and PCC preferentially responded to positive rewards, whereas the ACC, bilateral anterior insula, and lateral PFC selectively responded to negative rewards. Reward anticipation activated the ACC, bilateral anterior insula, and brain stem, whereas reward outcome more significantly activated the NAcc, medial OFC, and amygdala. Neurobiological theories of reward-related decision making should therefore distributed and interrelated representations of reward valuation and valence assessment into account. PMID:21185861

Oxytocin- and arginine vasopressin-containing fibers in the cortex of humans, chimpanzees, and rhesus macaques.

PubMed

Rogers, Christina N; Ross, Amy P; Sahu, Shweta P; Siegel, Ethan R; Dooyema, Jeromy M; Cree, Mary Ann; Stopa, Edward G; Young, Larry J; Rilling, James K; Albers, H Elliott; Preuss, Todd M

2018-05-24

Oxytocin (OT) and arginine-vasopressin (AVP) are involved in the regulation of complex social behaviors across a wide range of taxa. Despite this, little is known about the neuroanatomy of the OT and AVP systems in most non-human primates, and less in humans. The effects of OT and AVP on social behavior, including aggression, mating, and parental behavior, may be mediated primarily by the extensive connections of OT- and AVP-producing neurons located in the hypothalamus with the basal forebrain and amygdala, as well as with the hypothalamus itself. However, OT and AVP also influence social cognition, including effects on social recognition, cooperation, communication, and in-group altruism, which suggests connectivity with cortical structures. While OT and AVP V1a receptors have been demonstrated in the cortex of rodents and primates, and intranasal administration of OT and AVP has been shown to modulate cortical activity, there is to date little evidence that OT-and AVP-containing neurons project into the cortex. Here, we demonstrate the existence of OT- and AVP-containing fibers in cortical regions relevant to social cognition using immunohistochemistry in humans, chimpanzees, and rhesus macaques. OT-immunoreactive fibers were found in the straight gyrus of the orbitofrontal cortex as well as the anterior cingulate gyrus in human and chimpanzee brains, while no OT-immunoreactive fibers were found in macaque cortex. AVP-immunoreactive fibers were observed in the anterior cingulate gyrus in all species, as well as in the insular cortex in humans, and in a more restricted distribution in chimpanzees. This is the first report of OT and AVP fibers in the cortex in human and non-human primates. Our findings provide a potential mechanism by which OT and AVP might exert effects on brain regions far from their production site in the hypothalamus, as well as potential species differences in the behavioral functions of these target regions. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Sustained anterior cingulate cortex activation during reward processing predicts response to psychotherapy in major depressive disorder.

PubMed

Carl, Hannah; Walsh, Erin; Eisenlohr-Moul, Tory; Minkel, Jared; Crowther, Andrew; Moore, Tyler; Gibbs, Devin; Petty, Chris; Bizzell, Josh; Dichter, Gabriel S; Smoski, Moria J

2016-10-01

The purpose of the present investigation was to evaluate whether pre-treatment neural activation in response to rewards is a predictor of clinical response to Behavioral Activation Therapy for Depression (BATD), an empirically validated psychotherapy that decreases depressive symptoms by increasing engagement with rewarding stimuli and reducing avoidance behaviors. Participants were 33 outpatients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and 20 matched controls. We examined group differences in activation, and the capacity to sustain activation, across task runs using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and the monetary incentive delay (MID) task. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to investigate whether pre-treatment neural responses predicted change in depressive symptoms over the course of BATD treatment. MDD and Control groups differed in sustained activation during reward outcomes in the right nucleus accumbens, such that the MDD group experienced a significant decrease in activation in this region from the first to second task run relative to controls. Pretreatment anhedonia severity and pretreatment task-related reaction times were predictive of response to treatment. Furthermore, sustained activation in the anterior cingulate cortex during reward outcomes predicted response to psychotherapy; patients with greater sustained activation in this region were more responsive to BATD treatment. The current study only included a single treatment condition, thus it unknown whether these predictors of treatment response are specific to BATD or psychotherapy in general. Findings add to the growing body of literature suggesting that the capacity to sustain neural responses to rewards may be a critical endophenotype of MDD. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Activation of the serotonergic system by pedaling exercise changes anterior cingulate cortex activity and improves negative emotion.

PubMed

Ohmatsu, Satoko; Nakano, Hideki; Tominaga, Takanori; Terakawa, Yuzo; Murata, Takaho; Morioka, Shu

2014-08-15

Pedaling exercise (PE) of moderate intensity has been shown to ease anxiety and discomfort; however, little is known of the changes that occur in brain activities and in the serotonergic (5-HT) system after PE. Therefore, this study was conducted for the following reasons: (1) to localize the changes in the brain activities induced by PE using a distributed source localization algorithm, (2) to examine the changes in frontal asymmetry, as used in the Davidson model, with electroencephalography (EEG) activity, and (3) to examine the effect of PE on the 5-HT system. A 32-channel EEG was used to record before and after PE. Profile of Mood States tests indicated that there was a significant decrease in tension-anxiety and a significant increase in vigor after PE. A standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography analysis showed a significant decrease in brain activities after PE in the alpha-2 band (10-12.5 Hz) in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Moreover, a significant increase in frontal EEG asymmetry was observed after PE in the alpha-1 band (7.5-10 Hz). Urine 5-HT levels significantly increased after PE. Urine 5-HT levels positively correlated with the degree of frontal EEG asymmetry in the alpha-1 band and negatively correlated with brain activity in ACC. Our results suggested that PE activates the 5-HT system and consequently induces increases in frontal EEG asymmetry in the alpha-1 band and reductions of brain activity in the alpha-2 band in the ACC region. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Implications of Starvation-Induced Change in Right Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Volume in Anorexia Nervosa

PubMed Central

McCormick, Laurie M.; Keel, Pamela K.; Brumm, Michael C.; Bowers, Wayne; Swayze, Victor; Andersen, Arnold; Andreasen, Nancy

2013-01-01

Objective Converging evidence suggests a role for the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in the pathophysiology of anorexia nervosa (AN). This study sought to determine whether ACC volume was affected by starvation in active AN and, if so, whether this had any clinical significance. Method Eighteen patients with active AN and age- and gender-matched normal controls underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Sixteen patients (89%) with AN had intelligence quotients (IQ) testing at intake, 14 (78%) had repeat MRIs after weight normalization, and 10 (56%) had outcome data at 1-year post-hospitalization. Results Right dorsal ACC volume was significantly reduced in active AN patients versus controls and was correlated with lower performance IQ. While ACC normalization occurred with weight restoration, smaller change in right dorsal ACC volume prospectively predicted relapse after treatment. Conclusion Reduced right dorsal ACC volume during active AN relates to deficits in perceptual organization and conceptual reasoning. The degree of right dorsal ACC normalization during treatment is related to outcome. PMID:18473337

Implications of starvation-induced change in right dorsal anterior cingulate volume in anorexia nervosa.

PubMed

McCormick, Laurie M; Keel, Pamela K; Brumm, Michael C; Bowers, Wayne; Swayze, Victor; Andersen, Arnold; Andreasen, Nancy

2008-11-01

Converging evidence suggests a role for the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in the pathophysiology of anorexia nervosa (AN). This study sought to determine whether ACC volume was affected by starvation in active AN and, if so, whether this had any clinical significance. Eighteen patients with active AN and age- and gender-matched normal controls underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Sixteen patients (89%) with AN had intelligence quotients (IQ) testing at intake, 14 (78%) had repeat MRIs after weight normalization, and 10 (56%) had outcome data at 1-year posthospitalization. Right dorsal ACC volume was significantly reduced in active AN patients versus controls and was correlated with lower performance IQ. While ACC normalization occurred with weight restoration, smaller change in right dorsal ACC volume prospectively predicted relapse after treatment. Reduced right dorsal ACC volume during active AN relates to deficits in perceptual organization and conceptual reasoning. The degree of right dorsal ACC normalization during treatment is related to outcome.

fMRI Neurofeedback Training for Increasing Anterior Cingulate Cortex Activation in Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. An Exploratory Randomized, Single-Blinded Study.

PubMed

Zilverstand, Anna; Sorger, Bettina; Slaats-Willemse, Dorine; Kan, Cornelis C; Goebel, Rainer; Buitelaar, Jan K

2017-01-01

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is characterized by poor cognitive control/attention and hypofunctioning of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC). In the current study, we investigated for the first time whether real-time fMRI neurofeedback (rt-fMRI) training targeted at increasing activation levels within dACC in adults with ADHD leads to a reduction of clinical symptoms and improved cognitive functioning. An exploratory randomized controlled treatment study with blinding of the participants was conducted. Participants with ADHD (n = 7 in the neurofeedback group, and n = 6 in the control group) attended four weekly MRI training sessions (60-min training time/session), during which they performed a mental calculation task at varying levels of difficulty, in order to learn how to up-regulate dACC activation. Only neurofeedback participants received continuous feedback information on actual brain activation levels within dACC. Before and after the training, ADHD symptoms and relevant cognitive functioning was assessed. Results showed that both groups achieved a significant increase in dACC activation levels over sessions. While there was no significant difference between the neurofeedback and control group in clinical outcome, neurofeedback participants showed stronger improvement on cognitive functioning. The current study demonstrates the general feasibility of the suggested rt-fMRI neurofeedback training approach as a potential novel treatment option for ADHD patients. Due to the study's small sample size, potential clinical benefits need to be further investigated in future studies. ISRCTN12390961.

The self and its resting state in consciousness: an investigation of the vegetative state.

PubMed

Huang, Zirui; Dai, Rui; Wu, Xuehai; Yang, Zhi; Liu, Dongqiang; Hu, Jin; Gao, Liang; Tang, Weijun; Mao, Ying; Jin, Yi; Wu, Xing; Liu, Bin; Zhang, Yao; Lu, Lu; Laureys, Steven; Weng, Xuchu; Northoff, Georg

2014-05-01

Recent studies have demonstrated resting-state abnormalities in midline regions in vegetative state/unresponsive wakefulness syndrome and minimally conscious state patients. However, the functional implications of these resting-state abnormalities remain unclear. Recent findings in healthy subjects have revealed a close overlap between the neural substrate of self-referential processing and the resting-state activity in cortical midline regions. As such, we investigated task-related neural activity during active self-referential processing and various measures of resting-state activity in 11 patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC) and 12 healthy control subjects. Overall, the results revealed that DOC patients exhibited task-specific signal changes in anterior and posterior midline regions, including the perigenual anterior cingulate cortex (PACC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). However, the degree of signal change was significantly lower in DOC patients compared with that in healthy subjects. Moreover, reduced signal differentiation in the PACC predicted the degree of consciousness in DOC patients. Importantly, the same midline regions (PACC and PCC) in DOC patients also exhibited severe abnormalities in the measures of resting-state activity, that is functional connectivity and the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations. Taken together, our results provide the first evidence of neural abnormalities in both the self-referential processing and the resting state in midline regions in DOC patients. This novel finding has important implications for clinical utility and general understanding of the relationship between the self, the resting state, and consciousness. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Automatized smoking-related action schemata are reflected by reduced fMRI activity in sensorimotor brain regions of smokers.

PubMed

Isik, Ayse Ilkay; Naumer, Marcus J; Kaiser, Jochen; Buschenlange, Christian; Wiesmann, Sandro; Czoschke, Stefan; Yalachkov, Yavor

2017-01-01

In the later stages of addiction, automatized processes play a prominent role in guiding drug-seeking and drug-taking behavior. However, little is known about the neural correlates of automatized drug-taking skills and drug-related action knowledge in humans. We employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while smokers and non-smokers performed an orientation affordance task, where compatibility between the hand used for a behavioral response and the spatial orientation of a priming stimulus leads to shorter reaction times resulting from activation of the corresponding motor representations. While non-smokers exhibited this behavioral effect only for control objects, smokers showed the affordance effect for both control and smoking-related objects. Furthermore, smokers exhibited reduced fMRI activation for smoking-related as compared to control objects for compatible stimulus-response pairings in a sensorimotor brain network consisting of the right primary motor cortex, supplementary motor area, middle occipital gyrus, left fusiform gyrus and bilateral cingulate gyrus. In the incompatible condition, we found higher fMRI activation in smokers for smoking-related as compared to control objects in the right primary motor cortex, cingulate gyrus, and left fusiform gyrus. This suggests that the activation and performance of deeply embedded, automatized drug-taking schemata employ less brain resources. This might reduce the threshold for relapsing in individuals trying to abstain from smoking. In contrast, the interruption or modification of already triggered automatized action representations require increased neural resources.

Activation of Neural Pathways Associated with Sexual Arousal in Non-Human Primates

PubMed Central

Ferris, Craig F.; Snowdon, Charles T.; King, Jean A.; Sullivan, John M.; Ziegler, Toni E.; Olson, David P.; Schultz-Darken, Nancy J.; Tannenbaum, Pamela L.; Ludwig, Reinhold; Wu, Ziji; Einspanier, Almuth; Vaughan, J. Thomas; Duong, Timothy Q.

2006-01-01

Purpose To evaluate brain activity associated with sexual arousal, fully conscious male marmoset monkeys were imaged during presentation of odors that naturally elicit high levels of sexual activity and sexual motivation. Material and Methods Male monkeys were lightly anesthetized, secured in a head and body restrainer with a built-in birdcage resonator and positioned in a 9.4-Tesla spectrometer. When fully conscious, monkeys were presented with the odors of a novel receptive female or an ovariectomized monkey. Both odors were presented during an imaging trial and the presentation of odors was counterbalanced. Significant changes in both positive and negative BOLD signal were mapped and averaged. Results Periovulatory odors significantly increased positive BOLD signal in several cortical areas: the striatum, hippocampus, septum, periaqueductal gray, and cerebellum, in comparison with odors from ovariectomized monkeys. Conversely, negative BOLD signal was significantly increased in the temporal cortex, cingulate cortex, putamen, hippocampus, substantia nigra, medial preoptic area, and cerebellum with presentation of odors from ovariectomized marmosets as compared to periovulatory odors. A common neural circuit comprising the temporal and cingulate cortices, putamen, hippocampus, medial preoptic area, and cerebellum shared both the positive BOLD response to periovulatory odors and the negative BOLD response to odors of ovariectomized females. Conclusion These data suggest the odor-driven enhancement and suppression of sexual arousal affect neuronal activity in many of the same general brain areas. These areas included not only those associated with sexual activity, but also areas involved in emotional processing and reward. PMID:14745749

The effect of hippocampal function, volume and connectivity on posterior cingulate cortex functioning during episodic memory fMRI in mild cognitive impairment.

PubMed

Papma, Janne M; Smits, Marion; de Groot, Marius; Mattace Raso, Francesco U; van der Lugt, Aad; Vrooman, Henri A; Niessen, Wiro J; Koudstaal, Peter J; van Swieten, John C; van der Veen, Frederik M; Prins, Niels D

2017-09-01

Diminished function of the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) is a typical finding in early Alzheimer's disease (AD). It is hypothesized that in early stage AD, PCC functioning relates to or reflects hippocampal dysfunction or atrophy. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between hippocampus function, volume and structural connectivity, and PCC activation during an episodic memory task-related fMRI study in mild cognitive impairment (MCI). MCI patients (n = 27) underwent episodic memory task-related fMRI, 3D-T1w MRI, 2D T2-FLAIR MRI and diffusion tensor imaging. Stepwise linear regression analysis was performed to examine the relationship between PCC activation and hippocampal activation, hippocampal volume and diffusion measures within the cingulum along the hippocampus. We found a significant relationship between PCC and hippocampus activation during successful episodic memory encoding and correct recognition in MCI patients. We found no relationship between the PCC and structural hippocampal predictors. Our results indicate a relationship between PCC and hippocampus activation during episodic memory engagement in MCI. This may suggest that during episodic memory, functional network deterioration is the most important predictor of PCC functioning in MCI. • PCC functioning during episodic memory relates to hippocampal functioning in MCI. • PCC functioning during episodic memory does not relate to hippocampal structure in MCI. • Functional network changes are an important predictor of PCC functioning in MCI.

Neural circuits in the brain that are activated when mitigating criminal sentences.

PubMed

Yamada, Makiko; Camerer, Colin F; Fujie, Saori; Kato, Motoichiro; Matsuda, Tetsuya; Takano, Harumasa; Ito, Hiroshi; Suhara, Tetsuya; Takahashi, Hidehiko

2012-03-27

In sentencing guilty defendants, jurors and judges weigh 'mitigating circumstances', which create sympathy for a defendant. Here we use functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure neural activity in ordinary citizens who are potential jurors, as they decide on mitigation of punishment for murder. We found that sympathy activated regions associated with mentalising and moral conflict (dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, precuneus and temporo-parietal junction). Sentencing also activated precuneus and anterior cingulate cortex, suggesting that mitigation is based on negative affective responses to murder, sympathy for mitigating circumstances and cognitive control to choose numerical punishments. Individual differences on the inclination to mitigate, the sentence reduction per unit of judged sympathy, correlated with activity in the right middle insula, an area known to represent interoception of visceral states. These results could help the legal system understand how potential jurors actually decide, and contribute to growing knowledge about whether emotion and cognition are integrated sensibly in difficult judgments.

Increased regional cerebral blood flow in the contralateral thalamus after successful motor cortex stimulation in a patient with poststroke pain.

PubMed

Saitoh, Youichi; Osaki, Yasuhiro; Nishimura, Hiroshi; Hirano, Shun-ichiro; Kato, Amami; Hashikawa, Kazuo; Hatazawa, Jun; Yoshimine, Toshiki

2004-05-01

The mechanisms underlying poststroke pain have not been clearly identified. Although motor cortex stimulation (MCS) sometimes reduces poststroke pain successfully, the exact mechanism is not yet known. For further investigation of the neural pathways involved in the processing of poststroke pain and in pain reduction by MCS, the authors used positron emission tomography (PET) scanning to determine significant changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). This 58-year-old right-handed man suffered from right-sided poststroke pain for which he underwent implantation of a stimulation electrode in the right motor cortex. After 30 minutes of stimulation, his pain was remarkably reduced (Visual Analog Scale scores decreased 8 to 1) and he felt warmth in his left arm. The rCBF was studied using PET scanning with 15O-labeled water when the patient was in the following states: before MCS (painful condition, no stimulation) and after successful MCS (painless condition, no stimulation). The images were analyzed using statistical parametric mapping software. State-dependent differences in global blood flow were covaried using analysis of covariance. Comparisons of the patient's rCBF in the painful condition with that in the painless condition revealed significant rCBF increases in the left rectus gyrus (BA11), left superior frontal lobe (BA9), left anterior cingulate gyms (BA32), and the left thalamus (p < 0.05, corrected). On the other hand, there were significant decreases in rCBF in the right superior temporal gyrus (BA22, p < 0.01, corrected) and the left middle occipital gyrus (BA19, p < 0.05, corrected). The efficacy of MCS was mainly related to increased synaptic activity in the thalamus, whereas the activations in the rectus gyrus, anterior cingulate gyrus, and superior frontal cortex as well as the inactivation of the superior temporal lobe may be related to emotional processes. This is the first report in which the contralateral thalamus was significantly activated and pain relief was achieved using MCS.

The effects of physical activity on functional MRI activation associated with cognitive control in children: a randomized controlled intervention

PubMed Central

Chaddock-Heyman, Laura; Erickson, Kirk I.; Voss, Michelle W.; Knecht, Anya M.; Pontifex, Matthew B.; Castelli, Darla M.; Hillman, Charles H.; Kramer, Arthur F.

2013-01-01

This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the influence of a 9-month physical activity program on task-evoked brain activation during childhood. The results demonstrated that 8- to 9-year-old children who participated in 60+ min of physical activity, 5 days per week, for 9 months, showed decreases in fMRI brain activation in the right anterior prefrontal cortex coupled with within-group improvements in performance on a task of attentional and interference control. Children assigned to a wait-list control group did not show changes in brain function. Furthermore, at post-test, children in the physical activity group showed similar anterior frontal brain patterns and incongruent accuracy rates to a group of college-aged young adults. Children in the wait-list control group still differed from the young adults in terms of anterior prefrontal activation and performance at post-test. There were no significant changes in fMRI activation in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) for either group. These results suggest that physical activity during childhood may enhance specific elements of prefrontal cortex function involved in cognitive control. PMID:23487583

Citalopram Ameliorates Synaptic Plasticity Deficits in Different Cognition-Associated Brain Regions Induced by Social Isolation in Middle-Aged Rats.

PubMed

Gong, Wei-Gang; Wang, Yan-Juan; Zhou, Hong; Li, Xiao-Li; Bai, Feng; Ren, Qing-Guo; Zhang, Zhi-Jun

2017-04-01

Our previous experiments demonstrated that social isolation (SI) caused AD-like tau hyperphosphorylation and spatial memory deficits in middle-aged rats. However, the underlying mechanisms of SI-induced spatial memory deficits remain elusive. Middle-aged rats (10 months) were group or isolation reared for 8 weeks. Following the initial 4-week period of rearing, citalopram (10 mg/kg i.p.) was administered for 28 days. Then, pathophysiological changes were assessed by performing behavioral, biochemical, and pathological analyses. We found that SI could cause cognitive dysfunction and decrease synaptic protein (synaptophysin or PSD93) expression in different brain regions associated with cognition, such as the prefrontal cortex, dorsal hippocampus, ventral hippocampus, amygdala, and caudal putamen, but not in the entorhinal cortex or posterior cingulate. Citalopram could significantly improve learning and memory and partially restore synaptophysin or PSD93 expression in the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala in SI rats. Moreover, SI decreased the number of dendritic spines in the prefrontal cortex, dorsal hippocampus, and ventral hippocampus, which could be reversed by citalopram. Furthermore, SI reduced the levels of BDNF, serine-473-phosphorylated Akt (active form), and serine-9-phosphorylated GSK-3β (inactive form) with no significant changes in the levels of total GSK-3β and Akt in the dorsal hippocampus, but not in the posterior cingulate. Our results suggest that decreased synaptic plasticity in cognition-associated regions might contribute to SI-induced cognitive deficits, and citalopram could ameliorate these deficits by promoting synaptic plasticity mainly in the prefrontal cortex, dorsal hippocampus, and ventral hippocampus. The BDNF/Akt/GSK-3β pathway plays an important role in regulating synaptic plasticity in SI rats.

Disrupted functional connectivity of the pain network in fibromyalgia.

PubMed

Cifre, Ignacio; Sitges, Carolina; Fraiman, Daniel; Muñoz, Miguel Ángel; Balenzuela, Pablo; González-Roldán, Ana; Martínez-Jauand, Mercedes; Birbaumer, Niels; Chialvo, Dante R; Montoya, Pedro

2012-01-01

To investigate the impact of chronic pain on brain dynamics at rest. Functional connectivity was examined in patients with fibromyalgia (FM) (n = 9) and healthy controls (n = 11) by calculating partial correlations between low-frequency blood oxygen level-dependent fluctuations extracted from 15 brain regions. Patients with FM had more positive and negative correlations within the pain network than healthy controls. Patients with FM displayed enhanced functional connectivity of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) with the insula (INS) and basal ganglia (p values between .01 and .05), the secondary somatosensory area with the caudate (CAU) (p = .012), the primary motor cortex with the supplementary motor area (p = .007), the globus pallidus with the amygdala and superior temporal sulcus (both p values < .05), and the medial prefrontal cortex with the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and CAU (both p values < .05). Functional connectivity of the ACC with the amygdala and periaqueductal gray (PAG) matter (p values between .001 and .05), the thalamus with the INS and PAG (both p values < .01), the INS with the putamen (p = .038), the PAG with the CAU (p = .038), the secondary somatosensory area with the motor cortex and PCC (both p values < .05), and the PCC with the superior temporal sulcus (p = .002) was also reduced in FM. In addition, significant negative correlations were observed between depression and PAG connectivity strength with the thalamus (r = -0.64, p = .003) and ACC (r = -0.60, p = .004). These findings demonstrate that patients with FM display a substantial imbalance of the connectivity within the pain network during rest, suggesting that chronic pain may also lead to changes in brain activity during internally generated thought processes such as occur at rest.