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Hur KH, Meisler SL, Yassin W, Frederick BB, Kohut SJ. Prefrontal-Limbic Circuitry Is Associated With Reward Sensitivity in Nonhuman Primates. Biol Psychiatry 2024:S0006-3223(24)01131-4. [PMID: 38432521 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2024.02.1011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2023] [Revised: 02/23/2024] [Accepted: 02/24/2024] [Indexed: 03/05/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Abnormal reward sensitivity is a risk factor for psychiatric disorders, including eating disorders such as overeating and binge-eating disorder, but the brain structural mechanisms that underlie it are not completely understood. Here, we sought to investigate the relationship between multimodal whole-brain structural features and reward sensitivity in nonhuman primates. METHODS Reward sensitivity was evaluated through behavioral economic analysis in which monkeys (adult rhesus macaques; 7 female, 5 male) responded for sweetened condensed milk (10%, 30%, 56%), Gatorade, or water using an operant procedure in which the response requirement increased incrementally across sessions (i.e., fixed ratio 1, 3, 10). Animals were divided into high (n = 6) or low (n = 6) reward sensitivity groups based on essential value for 30% milk. Multimodal magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure gray matter volume and white matter microstructure. Brain structural features were compared between groups, and their correlations with reward sensitivity for various stimuli was investigated. RESULTS Animals in the high sensitivity group had greater dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, centromedial amygdaloid complex, and middle cingulate cortex volumes than animals in the low sensitivity group. Furthermore, compared with monkeys in the low sensitivity group, high sensitivity monkeys had lower fractional anisotropy in the left dorsal cingulate bundle connecting the centromedial amygdaloid complex and middle cingulate cortex to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and in the left superior longitudinal fasciculus 1 connecting the middle cingulate cortex to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that neuroanatomical variation in prefrontal-limbic circuitry is associated with reward sensitivity. These brain structural features may serve as predictive biomarkers for vulnerability to food-based and other reward-related disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kwang-Hyun Hur
- Behavioral Neuroimaging Laboratory, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Steven L Meisler
- Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Walid Yassin
- Behavioral Neuroimaging Laboratory, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Blaise B Frederick
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; McLean Imaging Center, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts
| | - Stephen J Kohut
- Behavioral Neuroimaging Laboratory, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; McLean Imaging Center, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts.
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Kristensen TD, Raghava JM, Skjerbæk MW, Dhollander T, Syeda W, Ambrosen KS, Bojesen KB, Nielsen MØ, Pantelis C, Glenthøj BY, Ebdrup BH. Fibre density and fibre-bundle cross-section of the corticospinal tract are distinctly linked to psychosis-specific symptoms in antipsychotic-naïve patients with first-episode schizophrenia. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2023; 273:1797-1812. [PMID: 37012463 PMCID: PMC10713712 DOI: 10.1007/s00406-023-01598-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2022] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 04/05/2023]
Abstract
Multiple lines of research support the dysconnectivity hypothesis of schizophrenia. However, findings on white matter (WM) alterations in patients with schizophrenia are widespread and non-specific. Confounding factors from magnetic resonance image (MRI) processing, clinical diversity, antipsychotic exposure, and substance use may underlie some of the variability. By application of refined methodology and careful sampling, we rectified common confounders investigating WM and symptom correlates in a sample of strictly antipsychotic-naïve first-episode patients with schizophrenia. Eighty-six patients and 112 matched controls underwent diffusion MRI. Using fixel-based analysis (FBA), we extracted fibre-specific measures such as fibre density and fibre-bundle cross-section. Group differences on fixel-wise measures were examined with multivariate general linear modelling. Psychopathology was assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. We separately tested multivariate correlations between fixel-wise measures and predefined psychosis-specific versus anxio-depressive symptoms. Results were corrected for multiple comparisons. Patients displayed reduced fibre density in the body of corpus callosum and in the middle cerebellar peduncle. Fibre density and fibre-bundle cross-section of the corticospinal tract were positively correlated with suspiciousness/persecution, and negatively correlated with delusions. Fibre-bundle cross-section of isthmus of corpus callosum and hallucinatory behaviour were negatively correlated. Fibre density and fibre-bundle cross-section of genu and splenium of corpus callosum were negative correlated with anxio-depressive symptoms. FBA revealed fibre-specific properties of WM abnormalities in patients and differentiated associations between WM and psychosis-specific versus anxio-depressive symptoms. Our findings encourage an itemised approach to investigate the relationship between WM microstructure and clinical symptoms in patients with schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tina D Kristensen
- Center for Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research and Center for Clinical Intervention and Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research, Mental Health Centre Glostrup, Copenhagen University Hospital, Nordstjernevej 41, 2600, Glostrup, Denmark.
| | - Jayachandra M Raghava
- Center for Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research and Center for Clinical Intervention and Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research, Mental Health Centre Glostrup, Copenhagen University Hospital, Nordstjernevej 41, 2600, Glostrup, Denmark
- Functional Imaging Unit, Department of Clinical Physiology, Nuclear Medicine and PET, Rigshospitalet, Glostrup, Denmark
| | - Martin W Skjerbæk
- Center for Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research and Center for Clinical Intervention and Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research, Mental Health Centre Glostrup, Copenhagen University Hospital, Nordstjernevej 41, 2600, Glostrup, Denmark
| | - Thijs Dhollander
- Developmental Imaging, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Victoria, Australia
| | - Warda Syeda
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Victoria, Australia
| | - Karen S Ambrosen
- Center for Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research and Center for Clinical Intervention and Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research, Mental Health Centre Glostrup, Copenhagen University Hospital, Nordstjernevej 41, 2600, Glostrup, Denmark
| | - Kirsten B Bojesen
- Center for Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research and Center for Clinical Intervention and Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research, Mental Health Centre Glostrup, Copenhagen University Hospital, Nordstjernevej 41, 2600, Glostrup, Denmark
| | - Mette Ø Nielsen
- Center for Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research and Center for Clinical Intervention and Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research, Mental Health Centre Glostrup, Copenhagen University Hospital, Nordstjernevej 41, 2600, Glostrup, Denmark
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Christos Pantelis
- Developmental Imaging, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Victoria, Australia
| | - Birte Y Glenthøj
- Center for Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research and Center for Clinical Intervention and Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research, Mental Health Centre Glostrup, Copenhagen University Hospital, Nordstjernevej 41, 2600, Glostrup, Denmark
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Bjørn H Ebdrup
- Center for Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research and Center for Clinical Intervention and Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research, Mental Health Centre Glostrup, Copenhagen University Hospital, Nordstjernevej 41, 2600, Glostrup, Denmark
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
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Mallahzadeh A, Shafie M, Tahvilian M, Sadeghi M, Moslemian G, Barzin P, Bemanalizadeh M, Mayeli M, Aarabi MH. White matter tracts alterations underpinning reward and conflict processing. J Affect Disord 2023; 331:251-258. [PMID: 36958490 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.03.070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2023] [Revised: 03/10/2023] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 03/25/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST) is proposed as a neurobiological system that eventually led to emotion and motivation-based constructs of personality. Traditionally segmented into the behavioral activation system (BAS) and the behavioral inhibition system (BIS), RST is commonly used to describe personality and behavior. Although there have been studies linking gray matter alterations with BIS/BAS subscales, the role of white matter (WM) alterations is yet controversial. We aimed to investigate the specific WM tracts associated with BIS/BAS scores. METHODS 220 healthy participants (mean age = 39.14 ± 20.23, 80 (35.7 %) females) were evaluated using the BIS/BAS questionnaire from the LEMON database. Diffusion MRI connectometry (DMRI) was used to investigate the WM correlates of BIS/BAS subscales in each gender group. Multiple regression models with the covariates of age, handedness, and education were fitted to address the correlation of local connectomes with BIS/BAS components. RESULTS DMRI connectometry revealed that the quantitative anisotropy (QA) value of the splenium of the corpus callosum, right cerebellum, middle cerebellar peduncle, and superior cerebellar peduncle, had a significant negative correlation with each BIS/BAS subscale. In contrast, the QA value in the body of the corpus callosum and bilateral cingulum showed a positive correlation with BIS/BAS subscales. CONCLUSION The connectivity of WM in certain tracts may contribute to behavioral activation and inhibition. This finding expands the findings on the neural networks associated with risk-taking and reward-seeking behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arashk Mallahzadeh
- NeuroTRACT Association, Students' Scientific Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Mahan Shafie
- NeuroTRACT Association, Students' Scientific Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Mahdi Tahvilian
- NeuroTRACT Association, Students' Scientific Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Mohammad Sadeghi
- NeuroTRACT Association, Students' Scientific Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Golsa Moslemian
- NeuroTRACT Association, Students' Scientific Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Pouria Barzin
- NeuroTRACT Association, Students' Scientific Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Maryam Bemanalizadeh
- NeuroTRACT Association, Students' Scientific Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Child Growth and Development Research Center, Research Institute for Primordial Prevention of Non-communicable Disease, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Mahsa Mayeli
- NeuroTRACT Association, Students' Scientific Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Iranian Center of Neurological Research, Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex, Tehran, Iran.
| | - Mohammad Hadi Aarabi
- Department of Neuroscience (DNS), Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padua, Italy
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Chan SY, Ong ZY, Ngoh ZM, Chong YS, Zhou JH, Fortier MV, Daniel LM, Qiu A, Meaney MJ, Tan AP. Structure-function coupling within the reward network in preschool children predicts executive functioning in later childhood. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2022; 55:101107. [PMID: 35413663 PMCID: PMC9010704 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2022.101107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2021] [Revised: 03/11/2022] [Accepted: 03/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Early differences in reward behavior have been linked to executive functioning development. The nucleus accumbens (NAc) and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) are activated by reward-related tasks and identified as key nodes of the brain circuit that underlie reward processing. We aimed to investigate the relation between NAc-OFC structural and functional connectivity in preschool children, as well as associations with future reward sensitivity and executive function. We showed that NAc-OFC structural and functional connectivity were not significantly associated in preschool children, but both independently predicted sensitivity to reward in males in a left-lateralized manner. Moreover, significant NAc-OFC structure-function coupling was only found in individuals who performed poorly on executive function tasks in later childhood, but not in the middle- and high-performing groups. As structure-function coupling is proposed to measure functional specialization, this finding suggests premature functional specialization within the reward network, which may impede dynamic communication with other regions, affects executive function development. Our study also highlights the utility of multimodal imaging data integration when studying the effects of reward network functional flexibility in the preschool age, a critical period in brain and executive function development. Functional connectivity is not tethered to structural connectivity in preschool age. Higher degree of SC-FC coupling reflects lower plasticity in early childhood. Gender differences in reward sensitivity were present as early as in preschool age. Early reward network SC-FC coupling affects later executive function.
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Fixel-based Analysis of Diffusion MRI: Methods, Applications, Challenges and Opportunities. Neuroimage 2021; 241:118417. [PMID: 34298083 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118417] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 29.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2020] [Revised: 07/11/2021] [Accepted: 07/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Diffusion MRI has provided the neuroimaging community with a powerful tool to acquire in-vivo data sensitive to microstructural features of white matter, up to 3 orders of magnitude smaller than typical voxel sizes. The key to extracting such valuable information lies in complex modelling techniques, which form the link between the rich diffusion MRI data and various metrics related to the microstructural organization. Over time, increasingly advanced techniques have been developed, up to the point where some diffusion MRI models can now provide access to properties specific to individual fibre populations in each voxel in the presence of multiple "crossing" fibre pathways. While highly valuable, such fibre-specific information poses unique challenges for typical image processing pipelines and statistical analysis. In this work, we review the "Fixel-Based Analysis" (FBA) framework, which implements bespoke solutions to this end. It has recently seen a stark increase in adoption for studies of both typical (healthy) populations as well as a wide range of clinical populations. We describe the main concepts related to Fixel-Based Analyses, as well as the methods and specific steps involved in a state-of-the-art FBA pipeline, with a focus on providing researchers with practical advice on how to interpret results. We also include an overview of the scope of all current FBA studies, categorized across a broad range of neuro-scientific domains, listing key design choices and summarizing their main results and conclusions. Finally, we critically discuss several aspects and challenges involved with the FBA framework, and outline some directions and future opportunities.
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