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Liu C, Yu R. Neural mechanisms underpinning metacognitive shifts driven by non-informative predictions. Neuroimage 2024; 296:120670. [PMID: 38848980 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120670] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2023] [Revised: 05/10/2024] [Accepted: 06/05/2024] [Indexed: 06/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Humans constantly make predictions and such predictions allow us to prepare for future events. Yet, such benefits may come with drawbacks as premature predictions may potentially bias subsequent judgments. Here we examined how prediction influences our perceptual decisions and subsequent confidence judgments, on scenarios where the predictions were arbitrary and independent of the identity of the upcoming stimuli. We defined them as invalid and non-informative predictions. Behavioral results showed that, such non-informative predictions biased perceptual decisions in favor of the predicted choice, and such prediction-induced perceptual bias further increased the metacognitive efficiency. The functional MRI results showed that activities in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) encoded the response consistency between predictions and perceptual decisions. Activity in mPFC predicted the strength of this congruency bias across individuals. Moreover, the parametric encoding of confidence in putamen was modulated by prediction-choice consistency, such that activity in putamen was negatively correlated with confidence rating after inconsistent responses. These findings suggest that predictions, while made arbitrarily, orchestrate the neural representations of choice and confidence judgment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cuizhen Liu
- School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710062, PR China
| | - Rongjun Yu
- Department of Management, Marketing, and Information Systems, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong 999077, PR China.
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2
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Jiang Y. A theory of the neural mechanisms underlying negative cognitive bias in major depression. Front Psychiatry 2024; 15:1348474. [PMID: 38532986 PMCID: PMC10963437 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1348474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2023] [Accepted: 02/16/2024] [Indexed: 03/28/2024] Open
Abstract
The widely acknowledged cognitive theory of depression, developed by Aaron Beck, focused on biased information processing that emphasizes the negative aspects of affective and conceptual information. Current attempts to discover the neurological mechanism underlying such cognitive and affective bias have successfully identified various brain regions associated with severally biased functions such as emotion, attention, rumination, and inhibition control. However, the neurobiological mechanisms of how individuals in depression develop this selective processing toward negative is still under question. This paper introduces a neurological framework centered around the frontal-limbic circuit, specifically analyzing and synthesizing the activity and functional connectivity within the amygdala, hippocampus, and medial prefrontal cortex. Firstly, a possible explanation of how the positive feedback loop contributes to the persistent hyperactivity of the amygdala in depression at an automatic level is established. Building upon this, two hypotheses are presented: hypothesis 1 revolves around the bidirectional amygdalohippocampal projection facilitating the amplification of negative emotions and memories while concurrently contributing to the impediment of the retrieval of opposing information in the hippocampus attractor network. Hypothesis 2 highlights the involvement of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex in the establishment of a negative cognitive framework through the generalization of conceptual and emotional information in conjunction with the amygdala and hippocampus. The primary objective of this study is to improve and complement existing pathological models of depression, pushing the frontiers of current understanding in neuroscience of affective disorders, and eventually contributing to successful recovery from the debilitating affective disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuyue Jiang
- University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States
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3
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Newcorn JH, Ivanov I, Krone B, Li X, Duhoux S, White S, Schulz KP, Bédard ACV, Pedraza J, Adler L, Blair RJ. Neurobiological basis of reinforcement-based decision making in adults with ADHD treated with lisdexamfetamine dimesylate: Preliminary findings and implications for mechanisms influencing clinical improvement. J Psychiatr Res 2024; 170:19-26. [PMID: 38101205 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2023.11.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Revised: 11/20/2023] [Accepted: 11/22/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND ADHD is often described as a disorder of altered reward sensitivity, yet few studies have examined the extent to which: (i) treatments for ADHD impact reward-related mechanisms; and (ii) changes in the reward system are associated with clinical improvement. This study addresses these issues - examining the extent to which clinical improvement following lisdexamfetamine (LDX) treatment is associated with changes in brain reward system activation. METHODS Twenty adults (M = 11, 55%, F = 9, 45%), ages 19-52 (M = 33.9, SD = 10.0) with ADHD participated in a randomized cross-over study with lisdexamfetamine (LDX) and placebo (PB). Changes in brain activation were assessed during functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) scans: after receiving 3-5 weeks of treatment with LDX and 3-5 weeks of no drug/PB. fMRI contrasts were derived from the passive-avoidance (PA) learning task, which assessed reward-related learning using computational variables. We analyzed the following conditions: the Choice-Phase, modulated by the expected value (EV; i.e., object-choose and object-reject), and the Feedback-Phase, modulated by the prediction error (PE; i.e., reward and punish). Clinical symptom severity was assessed via interview with the ADHD-Rating Scale (ADHD-RS-IV). To address the primary objective, we performed group-level mass-univariate regression analyses between LDX and PB of percent change of the ADHD-RS total scores and the four contrast images under the Choice- and Feedback-conditions. Significance was set at a whole-brain voxel-wise threshold of p < 0.05 with family-wise error (FWE) correction and an extent (cluster) threshold of 50 contiguous voxels. RESULTS Improvement in ADHD symptoms with LDX was accompanied by significantly increased activation in a series of brain regions previously implicated in reinforcement processing in the choice and feedback conditions (e.g., left caudate and putamen, right orbitofrontal cortex, left middle frontal, superior frontal, and precentral gyri). CONCLUSIONS These findings, while preliminary, are the first to show that ADHD symptom improvement with stimulant treatment is associated with increased responsiveness of brain systems engaged in reward processing. Results support the hypothesis that LDX treatment may restore balance to dysfunction (e.g., hypoactivation) within the brain reward circuitry in adults with ADHD. Trial RegistrationClinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01924429.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey H Newcorn
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA.
| | - Iliyan Ivanov
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Beth Krone
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Xiaobo Li
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, USA
| | | | | | - Kurt P Schulz
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Anne-Claude V Bédard
- Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, 252 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON, M5S 1V6, USA
| | - Juan Pedraza
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Lenard Adler
- New York University Crossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016, USA
| | - Robert James Blair
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, 68010, USA
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Zhang R, Aloi J, Bajaj S, Bashford-Largo J, Lukoff J, Schwartz A, Elowsky J, Dobbertin M, Blair KS, Blair RJR. Dysfunction in differential reward-punishment responsiveness in conduct disorder relates to severity of callous-unemotional traits but not irritability. Psychol Med 2023; 53:1870-1880. [PMID: 34467836 PMCID: PMC8885913 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291721003500] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2020] [Revised: 06/29/2021] [Accepted: 08/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Conduct disorder (CD) has been associated with dysfunction in reinforcement-based decision-making. Two forms of affective traits that reflect the components of CD severity are callous-unemotional (CU; reduced guilt/empathy) traits and irritability. The form of the reinforcement-based decision-making dysfunction with respect to CD and CU traits remains debated and has not been examined with respect to irritability in cases with CD. The goals of the current study were to determine the extent of dysfunction in differential (reward v. punishment) responsiveness in CD, and CU traits and irritability in participants with CD. METHODS The study involved 178 adolescents [typically developing (TD; N = 77) and cases with CD (N = 101)]. Participants were scanned with fMRI during a passive avoidance task that required participants to learn to respond to (i.e. approach) stimuli that engender reward and refrain from responding to (i.e. passively avoid) stimuli that engender punishment. RESULTS Adolescents with CD showed reduced differential reward-punishment responsiveness within the striatum relative to TD adolescents. CU traits, but not irritability, were associated with reduced differential reward-punishment responsiveness within the striatum, rostromedial, and lateral frontal cortices. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest CD is associated with reduced differential reward-punishment responsiveness and the extent of this dysfunction in participants with CD is associated with the severity of CU traits but not irritability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ru Zhang
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
| | - Joseph Aloi
- Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Sahil Bajaj
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
| | - Johannah Bashford-Largo
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
| | - Jennie Lukoff
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
| | - Amanda Schwartz
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
| | - Jamie Elowsky
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
| | - Matthew Dobbertin
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
| | - Karina S. Blair
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
| | - R. James R. Blair
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, NE, USA
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Allen CH, Aharoni E, Gullapalli AR, Edwards BG, Harenski CL, Harenski KA, Kiehl KA. Hemodynamic activity in the limbic system predicts reoffending in women. Neuroimage Clin 2022; 36:103238. [PMID: 36451349 PMCID: PMC9668656 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2022.103238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2022] [Revised: 10/02/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Previous research (Aharoni et al., 2013, 2014) found that hemodynamic activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) during error monitoring predicted non-violent felony rearrest in men released from prison. This article reports an extension of the Aharoni et al. (2013, 2014) model in a sample of women released from state prison (n = 248). Replicating aspects of prior work, error monitoring activity in the dACC, as well as psychopathy scores and age at release, predicted non-violent felony rearrest in women. Sex differences in the directionality of dACC activity were observed-high error monitoring activity predicted rearrest in women, whereas prior work found low error monitoring activity predicted rearrest in men. As in prior analyses, the ability of the dACC to predict rearrest outcomes declines with more generalized outcomes (i.e., general felony). Implications for future research and clinical and forensic risk assessment are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Corey H. Allen
- The Mind Research Network, 1101 Yale Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106-4188, USA
| | - Eyal Aharoni
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, P.O. Box 5010, Atlanta, GA 30302-5010, USA
| | | | - Bethany G. Edwards
- The Mind Research Network, 1101 Yale Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106-4188, USA,Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
| | - Carla L. Harenski
- The Mind Research Network, 1101 Yale Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106-4188, USA
| | - Keith A. Harenski
- The Mind Research Network, 1101 Yale Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106-4188, USA
| | - Kent A. Kiehl
- The Mind Research Network, 1101 Yale Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106-4188, USA,Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA,Corresponding author at: Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.
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6
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White SF, Nusslock R, Miller GE. Low Socioeconomic Status Is Associated with a Greater Neural Response to Both Rewards and Losses. J Cogn Neurosci 2022; 34:1939-1951. [DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01821] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Low socioeconomic status (SES) has been associated with distinct patterns of reward processing, which appear to have adverse implications for health outcomes, well-being, and human capital. However, most studies in this literature have used complex tasks that engage more than reward processing and/or retrospectively studied childhood SES in samples of adults. To clarify how SES relates to the development of reward processing tendencies, we measured income-to-poverty ratio (IPR) in 172 youth who subsequently underwent functional MRI while completing a passive avoidance task to assess neural responses to reward and loss information. Participants were 12–15 years old (mean = 13.94, SD = .52; 65.7% female) from a sample broadly representative of the Chicago area in terms of SES (IPR range = 0.1–34.53; mean = 3.90; SD = 4.15) and racial makeup (40.1% European-American; 30.8% Black; 29.1% Hispanic). To the extent they had lower IPR, children displayed a trend toward worse behavioral performance on the passive avoidance task. Lower IPR also was associated with a greater response in attention brain regions to reward and loss cues and to reward and loss feedback. Lower IPR also was associated with reduced differentiation between reward and loss feedback in the ventromedial prefrontal and parietal cortex. The current data suggest that both increased salience of reward/loss information and reduced discrimination between reward and loss feedback could be factors linking SES with the development of human capital and health outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stuart F. White
- Boys Town National Research Hospital & Creighton University School of Medicine, NE
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7
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Bashford-Largo J, Aloi J, Zhang R, Bajaj S, Carollo E, Elowsky J, Schwartz A, Dobbertin M, Blair RJR, Blair KS. Reduced neural differentiation of rewards and punishment during passive avoidance learning in adolescents with generalized anxiety disorder. Depress Anxiety 2021; 38:794-803. [PMID: 33739566 PMCID: PMC8328882 DOI: 10.1002/da.23150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2020] [Revised: 01/21/2021] [Accepted: 03/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND It has been proposed that individuals with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) show dysfunctional computations related to approach-avoidance decision-making. However, few studies have examined the neural basis of this impairment, particularly in adolescents with GAD. The goal of the current study was to address this gap in the literature. METHOD The study involved 51 adolescents with GAD and 51 typically developing (TD) comparison individuals matched on age (16.10 and 15.75 respective means), gender (30 F/21 M and 24 F/27 M), and IQ (103.20 and 103.18 respective means). Participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging during a passive avoidance task. RESULTS We found a significant Group-by-Reinforcement interaction within reward-related brain regions including the caudate, putamen, mid cingulate/paracentral lobule, and superior and middle frontal gyrus. TD adolescents showed a greater differential response to reward versus punishment feedback within these regions relative to adolescents with GAD. In particular, this reflected reduced responses to rewards in the adolescents with GAD. There were no group differences in neural responses when making approach/avoidance responses. CONCLUSION The results of this study suggest reduced differential responsiveness to reinforcement as a component of the pathophysiology seen in adolescents with GAD. This dysfunction likely underpins decision-making impairments that may exacerbate the participants' worry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johannah Bashford-Largo
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, Nebraska, USA
| | - Joseph Aloi
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, Nebraska, USA,Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
| | - Ru Zhang
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, Nebraska, USA
| | - Sahil Bajaj
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, Nebraska, USA
| | - Erin Carollo
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, Nebraska, USA
| | - Jaimie Elowsky
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, Nebraska, USA
| | - Amanda Schwartz
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, Nebraska, USA
| | - Matthew Dobbertin
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, Nebraska, USA
| | - R. James R. Blair
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, Nebraska, USA
| | - Karina S. Blair
- Center for Neurobehavioral Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Boys Town, Nebraska, USA
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Dillien T, Goethals K, Sabbe B, Brazil IA. Impairment of Both Reward and Punishment Learning in Males Who Have Sexually Offended Against a Child. SEXUAL ABUSE : A JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND TREATMENT 2020; 32:931-957. [PMID: 31462171 DOI: 10.1177/1079063219871579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Prior studies suggest that persons with a sexual offense against a child (PSOCs) present with an impairment in learning from reinforcement, which may contribute to the behavioral dysregulation often seen in PSOCs. Therefore, gaining more insight into the nature of this impairment seems essential to better understand child sexual (re)offending. Using a passive avoidance task, we found that PSOCs (n = 57) have difficulties with selecting behaviors that are associated with reward and suppressing behaviors that are associated with punishment relative to nonoffending men (n = 33), but not compared with persons with a nonsexual offense history (n = 31). The latter ability was particularly compromised in nonpedophilic PSOCs. By unraveling a source of pathology in the mechanisms that are involved in behavioral control, this study helps setting a step toward new, more tailored, therapeutic approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tineke Dillien
- Collaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium
- University Forensic Centre, University Hospital Antwerp (UZA), Edegem, Belgium
| | - Kris Goethals
- Collaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium
- University Forensic Centre, University Hospital Antwerp (UZA), Edegem, Belgium
| | - Bernard Sabbe
- Collaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium
| | - Inti A Brazil
- Collaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Forensic Psychiatric Centre Pompestichting, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Centre for Advances in Behavioural Science, Coventry University, UK
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Bremner JD, Fani N, Cheema FA, Ashraf A, Vaccarino V. Effects of a mental stress challenge on brain function in coronary artery disease patients with and without depression. Health Psychol 2019; 38:910-924. [PMID: 31380683 PMCID: PMC6746592 DOI: 10.1037/hea0000742] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Coronary artery disease (CAD) patients with comorbid depression show an increase in mortality compared to cardiac patients without depression, but the mechanisms mediating this effect remain obscure. One possible explanation for this finding is that depressed patients with CAD exhibit an increased vulnerability to stress. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of stress and depression on brain function and to explore its relationship with myocardial ischemia in CAD patients. METHODS Patients with CAD and depression (N = 13) and CAD without depression (N = 15) underwent imaging of the brain with positron emission tomography and [O-15] water and imaging of the heart with single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and [Tc-99m] sestamibi under mental stress task and control conditions. RESULTS CAD patients with depression compared to nondepressed showed decreased function with mental stress in the rostral anterior cingulate, the hippocampus, parts of the dorsolateral temporal and parietal cortex, the cerebellum, and the uncus, with increased blood flow in the parahippocampus, visual association cortex, and posterior cingulate. Depressed CAD patients who became ischemic during a mental stress task had relative decreases in the caudal and posterior cingulate, orbitofrontal cortex, and cerebellum, and increased activation in the parietal cortex and precuneus/visual association cortex compared to nonischemic depressed CAD patients. CONCLUSIONS These findings are consistent with dysfunction in a network of brain regions involved in the stress response in patients with comorbid CAD and depression that has direct and indirect links to the heart, suggesting a pathway by which stress and depression could lead to increased risk of heart disease related morbidity and mortality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Negar Fani
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
| | | | - Ali Ashraf
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
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A neurocomputational investigation of reinforcement-based decision making as a candidate latent vulnerability mechanism in maltreated children. Dev Psychopathol 2017; 29:1689-1705. [DOI: 10.1017/s095457941700133x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
AbstractAlterations in reinforcement-based decision making may be associated with increased psychiatric vulnerability in children who have experienced maltreatment. A probabilistic passive avoidance task and a model-based functional magnetic resonance imaging analytic approach were implemented to assess the neurocomputational components underlying decision making: (a) reinforcement expectancies (the representation of the outcomes associated with a stimulus) and (b) prediction error signaling (the ability to detect the differences between expected and actual outcomes). There were three main findings. First, the maltreated group (n = 18; mean age = 13), relative to nonmaltreated peers (n = 19; mean age = 13), showed decreased activity during expected value processing in a widespread network commonly associated with reinforcement expectancies representation, including the striatum (especially the caudate), the orbitofrontal cortex, and medial temporal structures including the hippocampus and insula. Second, consistent with previously reported hyperresponsiveness to negative cues in the context of childhood abuse, the maltreated group showed increased prediction error signaling in the middle cingulate gyrus, somatosensory cortex, superior temporal gyrus, and thalamus. Third, the maltreated group showed increased activity in frontodorsal regions and in the putamen during expected value representation. These findings suggest that early adverse environments disrupt the development of decision-making processes, which in turn may compromise psychosocial functioning in ways that increase latent vulnerability to psychiatric disorder.
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Changing views of emotion regulation and neurobiological models of the mechanism of action of psychotherapy. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2017; 16:571-87. [PMID: 27351671 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-016-0440-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Influential neurobiological models of the mechanism of action of psychotherapy attribute its success to increases of activity in prefrontal areas and decreases in limbic areas, interpreted as the successful and adaptive recruitment of controlled processes to achieve emotion regulation. In this article, we review the behavioral and neuroscientific evidence in support of this model and its applicability to explain the mechanism of action of psychotherapy. Neuroimaging studies of explicit emotion regulation, evidence on the neurobiological substrates of implicit emotion regulation, and meta-analyses of neuroimaging studies of the effect of psychotherapy consistently suggest that areas implicated in coding semantic representations play an important role in emotion regulation not covered by existing models based on controlled processes. We discuss the findings that implicate these same areas in supporting working memory, in encoding preferences and the prospective outcome of actions taken in rewarding or aversive contingencies, and show how these functions may be integrated into process models of emotion regulation that depend on elaborate semantic representations for their effectiveness. These alternative models also appear to be more consistent with internal accounts in the psychotherapeutic literature of how psychotherapy works.
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Teng C, Otero M, Geraci M, Blair R, Pine DS, Grillon C, Blair KS. Abnormal decision-making in generalized anxiety disorder: Aversion of risk or stimulus-reinforcement impairment? Psychiatry Res 2016; 237:351-6. [PMID: 26822065 PMCID: PMC4988522 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2015.12.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2015] [Revised: 11/03/2015] [Accepted: 12/25/2015] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
There is preliminary data indicating that patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) show impairment on decision-making tasks requiring the appropriate representation of reinforcement value. The current study aimed to extend this literature using the passive avoidance (PA) learning task, where the participant has to learn to respond to stimuli that engender reward and avoid responding to stimuli that engender punishment. Six stimuli engendering reward and six engendering punishment are presented once per block for 10 blocks of trials. Thirty-nine medication-free patients with GAD and 29 age-, IQ and gender matched healthy comparison individuals performed the task. In addition, indexes of social functioning as assessed by the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale were obtained to allow for correlational analyzes of potential relations between cognitive and social impairments. The results revealed a Group-by-Error Type-by-Block interaction; patients with GAD committed significantly more commission (passive avoidance) errors than comparison individuals in the later blocks (blocks 7,8, and 9). In addition, the extent of impairment on these blocks was associated with their functional impairment as measured by the GAF scale. These results link GAD with anomalous decision-making and indicate that a potential problem in reinforcement representation may contribute to the severity of expression of their disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Karina S. Blair
- Correspondence to: National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, 15K North Drive, Rm 115A, MSC 2670, Bethesda, MA 20892-2670, USA
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Caldwell BM, Harenski CL, Harenski KA, Fede SJ, Steele VR, Koenigs MR, Kiehl KA. Abnormal frontostriatal activity in recently abstinent cocaine users during implicit moral processing. Front Hum Neurosci 2015; 9:565. [PMID: 26528169 PMCID: PMC4608360 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2015.00565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2015] [Accepted: 09/28/2015] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Investigations into the neurobiology of moral cognition are often done by examining clinical populations characterized by diminished moral emotions and a proclivity toward immoral behavior. Psychopathy is the most common disorder studied for this purpose. Although cocaine abuse is highly co-morbid with psychopathy and cocaine-dependent individuals exhibit many of the same abnormalities in socio-affective processing as psychopaths, this population has received relatively little attention in moral psychology. To address this issue, the authors used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to record hemodynamic activity in 306 incarcerated male adults, stratified into regular cocaine users (n = 87) and a matched sample of non-cocaine users (n = 87), while viewing pictures that did or did not depict immoral actions and determining whether each depicted scenario occurred indoors or outdoors. Consistent with expectations, cocaine users showed abnormal neural activity in several frontostriatial regions during implicit moral picture processing compared to their non-cocaine using peers. This included reduced moral/non-moral picture discrimination in the vACC, vmPFC, lOFC, and left vSTR. Additionally, psychopathy was negatively correlated with activity in an overlapping region of the ACC and right lateralized vSTR. These results suggest that regular cocaine abuse may be associated with affective deficits which can impact relatively high-level processes like moral cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brendan M. Caldwell
- The Mind Research Network and Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research InstituteAlbuquerque, NM, USA
| | - Carla L. Harenski
- The Mind Research Network and Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research InstituteAlbuquerque, NM, USA
| | - Keith A. Harenski
- The Mind Research Network and Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research InstituteAlbuquerque, NM, USA
| | - Samantha J. Fede
- The Mind Research Network and Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research InstituteAlbuquerque, NM, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of New MexicoAlbuquerque, NM, USA
| | - Vaughn R. Steele
- Intramural Research Program, Neuroimaging Research Branch, National Institute of Drug Abuse, National Institutes of HealthBaltimore, MD, USA
| | - Michael R. Koenigs
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-MadisonMadison, WI, USA
| | - Kent A. Kiehl
- The Mind Research Network and Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research InstituteAlbuquerque, NM, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of New MexicoAlbuquerque, NM, USA
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14
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Kelm MK, Boettiger CA. Age moderates the effect of acute dopamine depletion on passive avoidance learning. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2015; 131:57-63. [PMID: 25636601 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbb.2015.01.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2014] [Revised: 01/16/2015] [Accepted: 01/20/2015] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Despite extensive links between reinforcement-based learning and dopamine (DA), studies to date have not found consistent effects of acute DA reduction on reinforcement learning in both men and women. Here, we tested the effects of reducing DA on reward- and punishment-based learning using the deterministic passive avoidance learning (PAL) task. We tested 16 (5 female) adults (ages 22-40) in a randomized, cross-over design to determine whether reducing global DA by administering an amino acid beverage deficient in the DA precursors, phenylalanine and tyrosine (P/T[-]), would affect PAL task performance. We found that P/T[-] beverage effects on PAL performance were modulated by age. Specifically, we found that P/T depletion significantly improved learning from punishment with increasing participant age. Participants committed 1.49 fewer passive avoidance errors per additional year of age (95% CI, -0.71 - -2.27, r=-0.74, p=0.001). Moreover, P/T depletion improved learning from punishment in adults (ages 26-40) while it impaired learning from punishment in emerging adults (ages 22-25). We observed similar, but non-significant trends in learning from reward. While there was no overall effect of P/T-depletion on reaction time (RT), there was a relationship between the effect of P/T depletion on PAL performance and RT; those who responded more slowly on the P/T[-] beverage also made more errors on the P/T[-] beverage. When P/T-depletion slowed RT after a correct response, there was a worsening of PAL task performance; there was no similar relationship for the RT after an incorrect response and PAL task performance. Moreover, among emerging adults, changes in mood on the P/T[-] beverage negatively correlated with learning from reward on the P/T[-] beverage. Together, we found that both reward- and punishment-based learning are sensitive to central catecholamine levels, and that these effects of acute DA reduction vary with age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mary Katherine Kelm
- Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States; Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States
| | - Charlotte Ann Boettiger
- Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States; Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States; Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States; Neurobiology Curriculum, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States.
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15
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Wolf S, Centifanti LCM. Recognition of pain as another deficit in young males with high callous-unemotional traits. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 2014; 45:422-32. [PMID: 24276392 DOI: 10.1007/s10578-013-0412-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Prior research on callous-unemotional (CU) traits supports a deficit in recognizing fear in faces and body postures. Difficulties recognising others' emotions may impair the typical behavioural inhibition for violent behaviour. However, recent research has begun to examine other distress cues such as pain. The present study examined emotion recognition skills, including pain, of school-excluded boys aged 11-16 years (N = 50). Using dynamic faces and body poses, we examined the relation between emotion recognition and CU traits using the youth psychopathic traits inventory (YPI) and the inventory of CU traits. Violent delinquency was covaried in regression analyses. Although fearful facial and fearful bodily expressions were unrelated to CU traits, recognition of dynamic pain facial expressions was negatively related to CU traits using the YPI. The failure to replicate a fear and sad deficit are discussed in relation to previous research. Also, findings are discussed in support of a general empathy deficit for distress cues which may underlie the problem behaviour of young males with CU traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susanne Wolf
- Department of Psychology, University of Durham, South Road, Mountjoy Site, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
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16
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O’Daly OG, Joyce D, Tracy DK, Azim A, Stephan KE, Murray RM, Shergill SS. Amphetamine sensitization alters reward processing in the human striatum and amygdala. PLoS One 2014; 9:e93955. [PMID: 24717936 PMCID: PMC3981726 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0093955] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2013] [Accepted: 03/10/2014] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Dysregulation of mesolimbic dopamine transmission is implicated in a number of psychiatric illnesses characterised by disruption of reward processing and goal-directed behaviour, including schizophrenia, drug addiction and impulse control disorders associated with chronic use of dopamine agonists. Amphetamine sensitization (AS) has been proposed to model the development of this aberrant dopamine signalling and the subsequent dysregulation of incentive motivational processes. However, in humans the effects of AS on the dopamine-sensitive neural circuitry associated with reward processing remains unclear. Here we describe the effects of acute amphetamine administration, following a sensitising dosage regime, on blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal in dopaminoceptive brain regions during a rewarded gambling task performed by healthy volunteers. Using a randomised, double-blind, parallel-groups design, we found clear evidence for sensitization to the subjective effects of the drug, while rewarded reaction times were unchanged. Repeated amphetamine exposure was associated with reduced dorsal striatal BOLD signal during decision making, but enhanced ventromedial caudate activity during reward anticipation. The amygdala BOLD response to reward outcomes was blunted following repeated amphetamine exposure. Positive correlations between subjective sensitization and changes in anticipation- and outcome-related BOLD signal were seen for the caudate nucleus and amygdala, respectively. These data show for the first time in humans that AS changes the functional impact of acute stimulant exposure on the processing of reward-related information within dopaminoceptive regions. Our findings accord with pathophysiological models which implicate aberrant dopaminergic modulation of striatal and amygdala activity in psychosis and drug-related compulsive disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Owen G. O’Daly
- Cognition, Schizophrenia & Imaging Laboratory, Department of Psychosis Studies, the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
- Department of Neuroimaging, Centre for Neuroimaging Sciences, the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Daniel Joyce
- Cognition, Schizophrenia & Imaging Laboratory, Department of Psychosis Studies, the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Derek K. Tracy
- Cognition, Schizophrenia & Imaging Laboratory, Department of Psychosis Studies, the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
- Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom
| | - Adnan Azim
- Cognition, Schizophrenia & Imaging Laboratory, Department of Psychosis Studies, the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Klaas E. Stephan
- Laboratory for Social and Neural Systems Research, Department of Economics, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Robin M. Murray
- Department of Psychosis Studies, the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Sukhwinder S. Shergill
- Cognition, Schizophrenia & Imaging Laboratory, Department of Psychosis Studies, the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
- The National Psychosis Unit, South London, and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom
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17
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Viviani R. Neural correlates of emotion regulation in the ventral prefrontal cortex and the encoding of subjective value and economic utility. Front Psychiatry 2014; 5:123. [PMID: 25309459 PMCID: PMC4163980 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2014.00123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2014] [Accepted: 08/22/2014] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
In many studies of the interaction between cognitive control and emotion, the orbitofrontal cortex/ventromedial prefrontal cortex (mOFC/vmPFC) has been associated with an inhibitory function on limbic areas activated by emotionally arousing stimuli, such as the amygdala. This has led to the hypothesis of an inhibitory or regulatory role of mOFC/vmPFC. In studies of cognition and executive function, however, this area is deactivated by focused effort, raising the issue of the nature of the putative regulatory process associated with mOFC/vmPFC. This issue is here revisited in light of findings in the neuroeconomics field demonstrating the importance of mOFC/vmPFC to encoding the subjective value of stimuli or their economic utility. Many studies show that mOFC/vmPFC activity may affect response by activating personal preferences, instead of resorting to effortful control mechanisms typically associated with emotion regulation. Based on these findings, I argue that a simple automatic/controlled dichotomy is insufficient to describe the data on emotion and control of response adequately. Instead, I argue that the notion of subjective value from neuroeconomics studies and the notion of attentional orienting may play key roles in integrating emotion and cognition. mOFC/vmPFC may work together with the inferior parietal lobe, the cortical region associated with attentional orienting, to convey information about motivational priorities and facilitate processing of inputs that are behaviorally relevant. I also suggest that the dominant mode of function of this ventral network may be a distinct type of process with intermediate properties between the automatic and the controlled, and which may co-operate with effortful control processes in order to steer response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberto Viviani
- Institute of Psychology, University of Innsbruck , Innsbruck , Austria ; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy III, University of Ulm , Ulm , Germany
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18
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Neurocriminology: implications for the punishment, prediction and prevention of criminal behaviour. Nat Rev Neurosci 2013; 15:54-63. [PMID: 24326688 DOI: 10.1038/nrn3640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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19
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Abstract
Identification of factors that predict recurrent antisocial behavior is integral to the social sciences, criminal justice procedures, and the effective treatment of high-risk individuals. Here we show that error-related brain activity elicited during performance of an inhibitory task prospectively predicted subsequent rearrest among adult offenders within 4 y of release (N = 96). The odds that an offender with relatively low anterior cingulate activity would be rearrested were approximately double that of an offender with high activity in this region, holding constant other observed risk factors. These results suggest a potential neurocognitive biomarker for persistent antisocial behavior.
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20
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Finger EC, Marsh A, Blair KS, Majestic C, Evangelou I, Gupta K, Schneider MR, Sims C, Pope K, Fowler K, Sinclair S, Tovar-Moll F, Pine D, Blair RJ. Impaired functional but preserved structural connectivity in limbic white matter tracts in youth with conduct disorder or oppositional defiant disorder plus psychopathic traits. Psychiatry Res 2012; 202:239-44. [PMID: 22819939 PMCID: PMC3423593 DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2011.11.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2011] [Revised: 10/28/2011] [Accepted: 11/02/2011] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
Youths with conduct disorder or oppositional defiant disorder and psychopathic traits (CD/ODD+PT) are at high risk of adult antisocial behavior and psychopathy. Neuroimaging studies demonstrate functional abnormalities in orbitofrontal cortex and the amygdala in both youths and adults with psychopathic traits. Diffusion tensor imaging in psychopathic adults demonstrates disrupted structural connectivity between these regions (uncinate fasiculus). The current study examined whether functional neural abnormalities present in youths with CD/ODD+PT are associated with similar white matter abnormalities. Youths with CD/ODD+PT and comparison participants completed 3.0 T diffusion tensor scans and functional magnetic resonance imaging scans. Diffusion tensor imaging did not reveal disruption in structural connections within the uncinate fasiculus or other white matter tracts in youths with CD/ODD+PT, despite the demonstration of disrupted amygdala-prefrontal functional connectivity in these youths. These results suggest that disrupted amygdala-frontal white matter connectivity as measured by fractional anisotropy is less sensitive than imaging measurements of functional perturbations in youths with psychopathic traits. If white matter tracts are intact in youths with this disorder, childhood may provide a critical window for intervention and treatment, before significant structural brain abnormalities solidify.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth Carrie Finger
- Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences, Schulich School of Medicine, University of Western Ontario, 339 Windermere Road, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 35A5.
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21
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Arsalidou M, Duerden EG, Taylor MJ. The centre of the brain: topographical model of motor, cognitive, affective, and somatosensory functions of the basal ganglia. Hum Brain Mapp 2012; 34:3031-54. [PMID: 22711692 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.22124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 146] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2012] [Revised: 04/09/2012] [Accepted: 04/20/2012] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
The basal ganglia have traditionally been viewed as motor processing nuclei; however, functional neuroimaging evidence has implicated these structures in more complex cognitive and affective processes that are fundamental for a range of human activities. Using quantitative meta-analysis methods we assessed the functional subdivisions of basal ganglia nuclei in relation to motor (body and eye movements), cognitive (working-memory and executive), affective (emotion and reward) and somatosensory functions in healthy participants. We document affective processes in the anterior parts of the caudate head with the most overlap within the left hemisphere. Cognitive processes showed the most widespread response, whereas motor processes occupied more central structures. On the basis of these demonstrated functional roles of the basal ganglia, we provide a new comprehensive topographical model of these nuclei and insight into how they are linked to a wide range of behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie Arsalidou
- Diagnostic Imaging and Research Institute, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
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22
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Blair RJR. Considering anger from a cognitive neuroscience perspective. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2012; 3:65-74. [PMID: 22267973 PMCID: PMC3260787 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The goal of this paper is to consider anger from a cognitive neuroscience perspective. Five main claims are made: first, reactive aggression is the ultimate behavioral expression of anger and thus we can begin to understand anger by understanding reactive aggression. Second, neural systems implicated in reactive aggression (amygdala, hypothalamus, and periaqueductal gray; the basic threat system) are critically implicated in anger. Factors such as exposure to extreme threat that increase the responsiveness of these systems, should be (and are in the context of posttraumatic stress disorder), associated with increased anger. Third, regions of frontal cortex implicated in regulating the basic threat system, when dysfunctional (e.g., in the context of lesions) should be associated with increased anger. Fourth, frustration occurs when an individual continues to do an action in the expectation of a reward but does not actually receive that reward, and is associated with anger. Individuals who show impairment in the ability to alter behavioral responding when actions no longer receive their expected rewards should be (and are in the context of psychopathy) associated with increased anger. Fifth, someone not doing what another person wants them to do (particularly if this thwarts the person's goal) is frustrating and consequently anger inducing. The response to such a frustrating social event relies on the neural architecture implicated in changing behavioral responses in nonsocial frustrating situations. WIREs Cogn Sci 2012, 3:65-74. doi: 10.1002/wcs.154 This article is categorized under: Psychology > Brain Function and Dysfunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- R J R Blair
- National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
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23
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Finger EC, Marsh AA, Blair KS, Reid ME, Sims C, Ng P, Pine DS, Blair RJR. Disrupted reinforcement signaling in the orbitofrontal cortex and caudate in youths with conduct disorder or oppositional defiant disorder and a high level of psychopathic traits. Am J Psychiatry 2011; 168:152-62. [PMID: 21078707 PMCID: PMC3908480 DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2010.10010129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 154] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Dysfunction in the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex has been reported in youths and adults with psychopathic traits. The specific nature of the functional irregularities within these structures remains poorly understood. The authors used a passive avoidance task to examine the responsiveness of these systems to early stimulus-reinforcement exposure, when prediction errors are greatest and learning maximized, and to reward in youths with psychopathic traits and comparison youths. METHOD While performing the passive avoidance learning task, 15 youths with conduct disorder or oppositional defiant disorder plus a high level of psychopathic traits and 15 healthy subjects completed a 3.0-T fMRI scan. RESULTS Relative to the comparison youths, the youths with a disruptive behavior disorder plus psychopathic traits showed less orbitofrontal responsiveness both to early stimulus-reinforcement exposure and to rewards, as well as less caudate response to early stimulus-reinforcement exposure. There were no group differences in amygdala responsiveness to these two task measures, but amygdala responsiveness throughout the task was lower in the youths with psychopathic traits. CONCLUSIONS Compromised sensitivity to early reinforcement information in the orbitofrontal cortex and caudate and to reward outcome information in the orbitofrontal cortex of youths with conduct disorder or oppositional defiant disorder plus psychopathic traits suggests that the integrated functioning of the amygdala, caudate, and orbitofrontal cortex may be disrupted. This provides a functional neural basis for why such youths are more likely to repeat disadvantageous decisions. New treatment possibilities are raised, as pharmacologic modulations of serotonin and dopamine can affect this form of learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth C Finger
- Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences, Schulich School of Medicine, University of Western Ontario, Canada.
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24
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Impairments of probabilistic response reversal and passive avoidance following catecholamine depletion. Neuropsychopharmacology 2009; 34:2691-8. [PMID: 19675538 PMCID: PMC2783713 DOI: 10.1038/npp.2009.95] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
Catecholamines, particularly dopamine, have been implicated in various aspects of the reward function including the ability to learn through reinforcement and to modify flexibly responses to changing reinforcement contingencies. We examined the impact of catecholamine depletion (CD) achieved by oral administration of alpha-methyl-paratyrosine (AMPT) on probabilistic reversal learning and passive avoidance (PA) in 15 female subjects with major depressive disorder in full remission (RMDD) and 12 healthy female controls. The CD did not affect significantly the acquisition phase of the reversal learning task. However, CD selectively impaired reversal of the 80-20 contingency pair. In the PA learning task, CD was associated with reduced responding toward rewarding stimuli, although the RMDD and control subjects did not differ regarding these CD-induced changes in reward processing. Interestingly, the performance decrement produced by AMPT on both of these tasks was associated with the level of decreased metabolism in the perigenual anterior cingulate cortex. In an additional examination using the affective Stroop task we found evidence for impaired executive attention as a trait abnormality in MDD. In conclusion, this study showed specific effects of CD on the processing of reward-related stimuli in humans and confirms earlier investigations that show impairments of executive attention as a neuropsychological trait in affective illness.
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25
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Brain and autonomic association accompanying stochastic decision-making. Neuroimage 2009; 49:1024-37. [PMID: 19647796 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.07.060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2008] [Revised: 07/16/2009] [Accepted: 07/23/2009] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
To examine the functional association between brain and autonomic activities accompanying decision-making, we simultaneously recorded regional cerebral blood flow using (15)O-water positron emission tomography and event-related brain potentials (ERPs) time-locked to feedback of reward and punishment, as well as cardiovascular parameters, during a stochastic decision-making task. We manipulated the uncertainty of outcomes in the task; specifically, we compared a condition with high predictability of reward/punishment (contingent-reward condition) and a condition with low predictability of reward/punishment (random-reward condition). The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) was commonly activated in both conditions. Compared with the contingent-reward condition, the orbitofrontal and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortices and dorsal striatum were activated in the random-reward condition, where subjects had to continue to seek contingency between stimuli and reward/punishment. Activation of these brain regions correlated with a positive component of ERPs locked to feedback signals (feedback-related positivity), which showed an association with behavioral decision-making in the contingent-reward condition. Furthermore, cardiovascular responses were attenuated in the random-reward condition, where continuous attention and contingency monitoring were needed, and such attenuation of cardiovascular responses was mediated by vagal activity that was governed by the rostral ACC. These findings suggest that the prefrontal-striatal network provides a neural basis for decision-making and modulation over the peripheral autonomic activity accompanying decision-making.
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26
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Cannon R, Congedo M, Lubar J, Hutchens T. Differentiating a Network of Executive Attention: Loreta Neurofeedback in Anterior Cingulate and Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortices. Int J Neurosci 2009; 119:404-41. [DOI: 10.1080/00207450802480325] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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27
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Abstract
Psychopathy is a developmental disorder marked by emotional hypo-responsiveness and an increased risk for antisocial behavior. Influential attention-based accounts of psychopathy have long been made; however, these accounts have made relatively little reference to general models of attention in healthy individuals. This review has three aims: (1) to summarize current cognitive neuroscience data on differing attentional systems; (2) to examine the functional integrity of these attentional systems in individuals with psychopathy; and (3) to consider the implications of these data for attention and emotion dysfunction accounts of psychopathy.
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Affiliation(s)
- R J R Blair
- Mood and Anxiety Program, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
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28
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Blair RJR. The amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex: functional contributions and dysfunction in psychopathy. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2008; 363:2557-65. [PMID: 18434283 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2008.0027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 175] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The current paper examines the functional contributions of the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and the evidence that the functioning of these systems is compromised in individuals with psychopathy. The amygdala is critical for the formation of stimulus-reinforcement associations, both punishment and reward based, and the processing of emotional expressions. vmPFC is critical for the representation of reinforcement expectancies and, owing to this, decision making. Neuropsychological and neuroimaging data from individuals with psychopathy are examined. It is concluded that these critical functions of the amygdala and vmPFC, and their interaction, are compromised in individuals with the disorder. It is argued that these impairments lead to the development of psychopathy.
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Affiliation(s)
- R J R Blair
- Mood & Anxiety Program, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, 15k North Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
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29
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Dissociable roles of medial orbitofrontal cortex in human operant extinction learning. Neuroimage 2008; 43:748-55. [PMID: 18793731 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.08.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2008] [Revised: 08/13/2008] [Accepted: 08/15/2008] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Operant extinction, which features modification of instrumental responses to stimuli following a change in associated reinforcement, is an important form of learning for organisms in dynamic environments. Animal studies have highlighted orbital and medial prefrontal cortex and amygdala as mediators of operant extinction. Yet little is known about the neural mediators of operant extinction learning in humans. Using a novel fMRI paradigm, we report dissociable functional responses in distinct regions of medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) during successful appetitive and aversive based operant extinction. During successful operant extinction, increased activity was observed in frontopolar OFC, while decreased activity was observed in caudal mOFC and rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) relative to both (i) successful control trials where the reinforcement associated with the stimulus does not change; and (ii) successful acquisition trials during initial learning of the stimulus-reinforcement associations. Functional connectivity analysis demonstrated inverse connectivity between frontopolar OFC and both rACC and the amygdala. These data support animal models suggesting the importance of mOFC-amygdala interaction during operant extinction and expand our knowledge of the neural systems in humans. These findings suggest that in humans, frontopolar OFC modulates activity in caudal mOFC, rACC and amygdala during successful operant extinction learning.
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30
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Smith BW, Mitchell DGV, Hardin MG, Jazbec S, Fridberg D, Blair RJR, Ernst M. Neural substrates of reward magnitude, probability, and risk during a wheel of fortune decision-making task. Neuroimage 2008; 44:600-9. [PMID: 18804540 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.08.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 113] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2008] [Revised: 07/24/2008] [Accepted: 08/10/2008] [Indexed: 10/21/2022] Open
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruce W Smith
- Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, USA
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31
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Cannon R, Lubar J. EEG Spectral Power and Coherence: Differentiating Effects of Spatial–Specific Neuro-Operant Learning (SSNOL) Utilizing LORETA Neurofeedback Training in the Anterior Cingulate and Bilateral Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortices. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2008. [DOI: 10.1080/10874200802126191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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32
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Millan MJ, Brocco M. Cognitive Impairment in Schizophrenia: a Review of Developmental and Genetic Models, and Pro-cognitive Profile of the Optimised D3 > D2 Antagonist, S33138. Therapie 2008; 63:187-229. [DOI: 10.2515/therapie:2008041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/02/2008] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
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Sailer U, Robinson S, Fischmeister FPS, Moser E, Kryspin-Exner I, Bauer H. Imaging the changing role of feedback during learning in decision-making. Neuroimage 2007; 37:1474-86. [PMID: 17698371 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2007.07.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2006] [Revised: 07/02/2007] [Accepted: 07/06/2007] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Learning from the outcome of decisions can be expected not only to change future decisions, but also our reaction to future outcomes. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging we investigated the neural responses of healthy subjects to feedback about choice outcomes before and after learning a response strategy which led to correct choices only. The task was designed so that losses were unavoidable even when all the choices made were correct. Subjects showed a distinct pattern of learning starting with an initial exploratory phase in which hypotheses about the correct strategy were generated and tested, followed by a phase of rapid strategy acquisition before reaching a final phase of proficiency. Neural activation was more pronounced during feedback processing in the exploratory phase than in the proficiency phase in a distributed network encompassing prefrontal and parietal areas as well as the striatum. These areas are involved in working memory processes, the management of uncertainty and the establishment of stimulus-outcome contingencies. Reduced activation during feedback processing following learning was not only observed within subjects across learning phases, but also between subjects with different learning speeds. Thus, controlled and automatic processing are characterised by differing amounts of activation in identical task-relevant areas. Furthermore, whereas the same brain regions coded for gains and losses, the activation following gains changed to a larger extent with learning than following losses. This suggests that positive prediction errors are more sensitive to increased reward predictability than are negative prediction errors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Uta Sailer
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, A-1010 Vienna, Austria.
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34
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Luo Q, Mitchell D, Jones M, Mondillo K, Vythilingam M, Blair RJR. Common regions of dorsal anterior cingulate and prefrontal-parietal cortices provide attentional control of distracters varying in emotionality and visibility. Neuroimage 2007; 38:631-9. [PMID: 17889565 PMCID: PMC2071928 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2007.07.051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2007] [Revised: 07/16/2007] [Accepted: 07/23/2007] [Indexed: 10/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Top-down attentional control is necessary to ensure successful task performance in the presence of distracters. Lateral prefrontal cortex, parietal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex have been previously implicated in top-down attentional control. However, it is unclear whether these regions are engaged independent of distracter type or whether, as has been suggested for anterior cingulate cortex, different regions provide attentional control over emotional versus other forms of salient distracter. In the current task, subjects viewed targets that were preceded by distracters that varied in both emotionality and visibility. We found that behaviorally, the presence of preceding distracters significantly interfered with target judgment. At the neural level, increases in the emotional and visual saliency of distracters were both associated with increased activity in proximal regions of prefrontal, parietal and cingulate cortex. Moreover, a conjunction analysis indicated considerable overlap in the regions of prefrontal, parietal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex responding to distracters of increased emotionality and visibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qian Luo
- Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, 15K North Drive, Room 300C, MSC 2670, Bethesda, MD 20892-2670, USA.
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35
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Kosson DS, Miller SK, Byrnes KA, Leveroni CL. Testing neuropsychological hypotheses for cognitive deficits in psychopathic criminals: a study of global-local processing. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 2007; 13:267-76. [PMID: 17286884 DOI: 10.1017/s1355617707070294] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2006] [Revised: 09/01/2006] [Accepted: 09/03/2006] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Competing hypotheses about neuropsychological mechanisms underlying psychopathy are seldom examined in the same study. We tested the left hemisphere activation hypothesis and the response modulation hypothesis of psychopathy in 172 inmates completing a global-local processing task under local bias, global bias, and neutral conditions. Consistent with the left hemisphere activation hypothesis, planned comparisons showed that psychopathic inmates classified local targets more slowly than nonpsychopathic inmates in a local bias condition and exhibited a trend toward similar deficits for global targets in this condition. However, contrary to the response modulation hypothesis, psychopaths were no slower to respond to local targets in a global bias condition. Because psychopathic inmates were not generally slower to respond to local targets, results are also not consistent with a general left hemisphere dysfunction account. Correlational analyses also indicated deficits specific to conditions presenting most targets at the local level initially. Implications for neuropsychological conceptualizations of psychopathy are considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- David S Kosson
- Department of Psychology, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, Illinois 60064, USA.
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36
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Marsh AA, Blair KS, Vythilingam M, Busis S, Blair RJR. Response options and expectations of reward in decision-making: the differential roles of dorsal and rostral anterior cingulate cortex. Neuroimage 2007; 35:979-88. [PMID: 17292631 PMCID: PMC1868682 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.11.044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2006] [Revised: 10/30/2006] [Accepted: 11/04/2006] [Indexed: 10/23/2022] Open
Abstract
This study examined the functional specificity of dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC)/medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) regarding two elements of decision-making: the number of available decision options and the level of expected reward. Eighteen healthy participants were trained to recognize the reward value associated with several visual stimuli, and then were presented with groups of two, three, or four of these stimuli and asked to select the object associated with the highest reward. BOLD activation in dACC/dorsomedial frontal cortex (dmFC) was strongly positively associated with increases in the number of decision options but only weakly associated with increases in the level of expected reward. Activation in rACC/mPFC and amygdala was related to increases in the level of expected reward but not increases in the number of decision options. The current results suggest functional specificity with respect to the roles of dACC/dmFC and rACC/mPFC in decision-making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abigail A Marsh
- Mood and Anxiety Program, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, 15K North Drive, MSC 2670, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
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37
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Budhani S, Marsh AA, Pine DS, Blair RJR. Neural correlates of response reversal: Considering acquisition. Neuroimage 2007; 34:1754-65. [PMID: 17188518 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.08.060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 90] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2005] [Revised: 08/27/2006] [Accepted: 08/29/2006] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous work on response reversal has typically used a single pair of stimuli that serially reverse. This conflation of acquisition and reversal processes has prevented an examination of the functional role of neural systems implicated in response reversal during acquisition despite the relevance of such data in evaluating accounts of response reversal. In the current study, participants encountered 16 independent reversing stimulus pairs in the context of a probabilistic response reversal paradigm. Functional regions of interest identified as involved in response reversal through a contrast used in the previous literature (punished errors made in the reversal phase versus rewarded correct responses), were interrogated across conditions. Consistent with suggestions that middle frontal cortex codes reward, this region showed significantly greater responses to rewarded rather than punished trials irrespective of accuracy or learning phase (acquisition or reversal). Consistent with the suggestion that this coding of the expectation of reinforcement is acquired via input from the amygdala, we observed significant positive connectivity between activity within the amygdala and a region of rostral anterior cingulate cortex highly proximal to this region of middle frontal/mesial prefrontal cortex. In contrast, inferior frontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex and caudate showed greater responses to punished errors than to the rewarded correct responses. These three regions also showed significant activation to rewarded errors during acquisition, in contrast to positions suggesting that inferior frontal cortex represents punishment or suppresses previously rewarded responses. Moreover, a connectivity analysis with an anterior cingulate cortex seed revealed highly significant positive connectivity among them. The implications of these data for recent accounts of response reversal and of response reversal impairments in specific neuropsychiatric populations are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Budhani
- Department of Psychology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
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38
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Finger EC, Marsh AA, Buzas B, Kamel N, Rhodes R, Vythilingham M, Pine DS, Goldman D, Blair JR. The impact of tryptophan depletion and 5-HTTLPR genotype on passive avoidance and response reversal instrumental learning tasks. Neuropsychopharmacology 2007; 32:206-15. [PMID: 16900105 DOI: 10.1038/sj.npp.1301182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Transient reductions in serotonin levels during tryptophan depletion (TD) are thought to impair reward processing in healthy volunteers, while another facet of the serotonergic system, the serotonin transporter (5-HTTLPR) short allele polymorphism, is implicated in augmented processing of aversive stimuli. We examined the impact and interactions of TD and the serotonin promoter polymorphism genotype on reward and punishment via two forms of instrumental learning: passive avoidance and response reversal. In this study, healthy volunteers (n=35) underwent rapid TD or control procedures and genotyping (n=26) of the 5-HTTLPR for long and short allele variants. In the passive avoidance task, tryptophan-depleted volunteers failed to respond sufficiently to rewarded stimuli compared to the control group. Additionally, long allele homozygous individuals (n=11) were slower to learn to avoid punished stimuli compared to short allele carriers (n=15). TD alone did not produce measurable deficits in probabilistic response reversal errors. However, a significant drug group by genotype interaction was found indicating that in comparison to short allele carriers, tryptophan-depleted individuals homozygous for the long allele failed to appropriately use punishment information to guide responding. These findings extend prior reports of impaired reward processing in TD to include instrumental learning. Furthermore, they demonstrate behavioral differences in responses to punishing stimuli between long allele homozygotes and short allele carriers when serotonin levels are acutely reduced.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth C Finger
- Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, Unit on Affective Cognitive Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
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39
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Blair RJR. Aggression, psychopathy and free will from a cognitive neuroscience perspective. BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES & THE LAW 2007; 25:321-31. [PMID: 17393398 DOI: 10.1002/bsl.750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
This article considers the notion of free will in the context of aggression and psychopathy research. The philosophical literature is very briefly considered to determine under what assumptions free will can be considered to exist. However, as the issue of free will is very difficult to address directly, the prime focus of this article is on issues raised in the philosophical debate, that may be empirically tractable and that are relevant to the understanding of psychopathy. Specifically, the following issues are considered: (1) The distinction between automatic and controlled processing; (2) Impairment related to automatic processing in individuals with psychopathy; and (3) Impairment related to controlled behavior in individuals with psychopathy. It is concluded that, while there is not a direct mapping of the automatic versus controlled processing dichotomy on to the reactive versus instrumental aggression dichotomy, some overlap can be considered. As such, it is possible to consider that certain episodes of reactive aggression might be considered to occur in the absence of free will. However, instrumental aggression, at least from a compatibilist perspective, must involve free will.
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Affiliation(s)
- R J R Blair
- Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, 15K North Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
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40
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Mitchell DGV, Nakic M, Fridberg D, Kamel N, Pine DS, Blair RJR. The impact of processing load on emotion. Neuroimage 2006; 34:1299-309. [PMID: 17161627 PMCID: PMC1909754 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.10.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 106] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2006] [Revised: 10/02/2006] [Accepted: 10/10/2006] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
This event-related fMRI study examined the impact of processing load on the BOLD response to emotional expressions. Participants were presented with composite stimuli consisting of neutral and fearful faces upon which semi-transparent words were superimposed. This manipulation held stimulus-driven features constant across multiple levels of processing load. Participants made either (1) gender discriminations based on the face; (2) case judgments based on the words; or (3) syllable number judgments based on the words. A significant main effect for processing load was revealed in prefrontal cortex, parietal cortex, visual processing areas, and amygdala. Critically, enhanced activity in the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex seen during gender discriminations was significantly reduced during the linguistic task conditions. A connectivity analysis conducted to investigate theories of cognitive modulation of emotion showed that activity in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was inversely related to activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Together, the data suggest that the processing of task-irrelevant emotional information, like neutral information, is subject to the effects of processing load and is under top-down control.
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Affiliation(s)
- D G V Mitchell
- Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD, USA.
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41
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Blair K, Marsh AA, Morton J, Vythilingam M, Jones M, Mondillo K, Pine DC, Drevets WC, Blair JR. Choosing the lesser of two evils, the better of two goods: specifying the roles of ventromedial prefrontal cortex and dorsal anterior cingulate in object choice. J Neurosci 2006; 26:11379-86. [PMID: 17079666 PMCID: PMC6674525 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1640-06.2006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 125] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2006] [Revised: 08/28/2006] [Accepted: 09/19/2006] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and dorsal anterior cingulate cortices (ACd) are considered important for reward-based decision making. However, work distinguishing their individual functional contributions has only begun. One aspect of decision making that has received little attention is that making the right choice often translates to making the better choice. Thus, response choice often occurs in situations where both options are desirable (e.g., choosing between mousse au chocolat or crème caramel cheesecake from a menu) or, alternatively, in situations where both options are undesirable. Moreover, response choice is easier when the reinforcements associated with the objects are far apart, rather than close together, in value. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to delineate the functional roles of the vmPFC and ACd by investigating these two aspects of decision making: (1) decision form (i.e., choosing between two objects to gain the greater reward or the lesser punishment), and (2) between-object reinforcement distance (i.e., the difference in reinforcements associated with the two objects). Blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) responses within the ACd and vmPFC were both related to decision form but differentially. Whereas ACd showed greater responses when deciding between objects to gain the lesser punishment, vmPFC showed greater responses when deciding between objects to gain the greater reward. Moreover, vmPFC was sensitive to reinforcement expectations associated with both the chosen and the forgone choice. In contrast, BOLD responses within ACd, but not vmPFC, related to between-object reinforcement distance, increasing as the distance between the reinforcements of the two objects decreased. These data are interpreted with reference to models of ACd and vmPFC functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karina Blair
- Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-2670, USA.
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42
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Mitchell DGV, Avny SB, Blair RJR. Divergent patterns of aggressive and neurocognitive characteristics in acquired versus developmental psychopathy. Neurocase 2006; 12:164-78. [PMID: 16801152 DOI: 10.1080/13554790600611288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
An analogy is often drawn between patients with personality changes following orbitofrontal cortex lesions and individuals with developmental psychopathy. We present patient CL, who had acquired psychopathy following an orbitofrontal cortex lesion. Unlike previous studies, CL was assessed on a valid and reliable measure of psychopathy and was compared with controls and patients with developmental psychopathy on measures of instrumental (re)learning, extinction, emotional processing, and social cognition. The results provide further support for the notion that acquired and developmental forms of psychopathy are associated with dissociable neurocognitive deficits that leave each at different levels of risk for reactive and instrumental aggression.
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Affiliation(s)
- D G V Mitchell
- Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
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43
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Nakic M, Smith BW, Busis S, Vythilingam M, Blair RJR. The impact of affect and frequency on lexical decision: the role of the amygdala and inferior frontal cortex. Neuroimage 2006; 31:1752-61. [PMID: 16647271 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.02.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 89] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2005] [Revised: 02/06/2006] [Accepted: 02/07/2006] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The current study used event-related fMRI to examine BOLD responses associated with two factors that behaviorally determine speed of lexical decision: frequency and emotion. Thirteen healthy adults performed a visual lexical decision task, discriminating between words and orthographically and phonologically legal nonwords. The study involved a 2 (Frequency: high and low) x 3 (Emotional arousal: highly negative, mildly negative, and neutral words) design with word categories matched for number of letters and concreteness. There were significant main effects for both frequency and emotion in lexical decision reaction times but no significant interaction. Negative word lexical decisions were associated with increased activation in bilateral amygdala and middle temporal cortex as well as rostral anterior and posterior cingulate cortex. Low-frequency word lexical decisions, relative to high-frequency word lexical decisions, were associated with increased bilateral activity in inferior frontal cortex. Inferior frontal cortex activation was particularly low during lexical decision for high-frequency emotional words but significant for high-frequency neutral emotional words. We suggest that this is because the semantic representation of high-frequency emotional words may receive sufficient additional augmentation via the reciprocal activation from the amygdala such that selective augmentation by inferior frontal cortex to achieve lexical decision is unnecessary.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina Nakic
- Unit on Affective Cognitive Neuroscience, Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
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