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Verdonk C, Teed AR, White EJ, Ren X, Stewart JL, Paulus MP, Khalsa SS. Heartbeat-evoked neural response abnormalities in generalized anxiety disorder during peripheral adrenergic stimulation. Neuropsychopharmacology 2024; 49:1246-1254. [PMID: 38291167 PMCID: PMC11224228 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-024-01806-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2023] [Revised: 12/22/2023] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 02/01/2024]
Abstract
Hyperarousal symptoms in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) are often incongruent with the observed physiological state, suggesting that abnormal processing of interoceptive signals is a characteristic feature of the disorder. To examine the neural mechanisms underlying interoceptive dysfunction in GAD, we evaluated whether adrenergic modulation of cardiovascular signaling differentially affects the heartbeat-evoked potential (HEP), an electrophysiological marker of cardiac interoception, during concurrent electroencephalogram and functional magnetic resonance imaging (EEG-fMRI) scanning. Intravenous infusions of the peripheral adrenergic agonist isoproterenol (0.5 and 2.0 micrograms, μg) were administered in a randomized, double-blinded and placebo-controlled fashion to dynamically perturb the cardiovascular system while recording the associated EEG-fMRI responses. During the 0.5 μg isoproterenol infusion, the GAD group (n = 24) exhibited significantly larger changes in HEP amplitude in an opposite direction than the healthy comparison (HC) group (n = 24). In addition, the GAD group showed significantly larger absolute HEP amplitudes than the HC group during saline infusions, when cardiovascular tone did not increase. No significant group differences in HEP amplitude were identified during the 2.0 μg isoproterenol infusion. Using analyzable blood oxygenation level-dependent fMRI data from participants with concurrent EEG-fMRI data (21 GAD and 21 HC), we found that the aforementioned HEP effects were uncorrelated with fMRI signals in the insula, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, amygdala, and somatosensory cortex, brain regions implicated in cardiac signal processing in prior fMRI studies. These findings provide additional evidence of dysfunctional cardiac interoception in GAD and identify neural processes at the electrophysiological level that may be independent from blood oxygen level-dependent responses during peripheral adrenergic stimulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles Verdonk
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, USA
- VIFASOM (EA 7330 Vigilance Fatigue, Sommeil et Santé Publique), Université Paris Cité, Paris, France
- French Armed Forces Biomedical Research Institute, Brétigny-sur-Orge, France
| | - Adam R Teed
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, USA
| | - Evan J White
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, USA
| | - Xi Ren
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, USA
| | - Jennifer L Stewart
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, USA
- Oxley College of Health Sciences, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, USA
| | - Martin P Paulus
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, USA
- Oxley College of Health Sciences, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, USA
| | - Sahib S Khalsa
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, USA.
- Oxley College of Health Sciences, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, USA.
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2
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Tang Q, Zhang G, Fan YS, Sheng W, Yang C, Liu L, Liu X, Liu H, Guo Y, Gao Q, Lu F, He Z, Cui Q, Chen H. An investigation into the abnormal dynamic connection mechanism of generalized anxiety disorders based on non-homogeneous Markov models. J Affect Disord 2024; 354:500-508. [PMID: 38484883 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.03.038] [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: 09/17/2023] [Revised: 02/25/2024] [Accepted: 03/09/2024] [Indexed: 03/26/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The dynamic and hierarchical nature of the functional brain network. The neural dynamical systems tend to converge to multiple attractors (stable fixed points or dynamical states) in long run. Little is known about how the changes in this brain dynamic "long-term" behavior of the connectivity flow of brain network in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). METHODS This study recruited 92 patients with GAD and 77 healthy controls (HC). We applied a reachable probability approach combining a Non-homogeneous Markov model with transition probability to quantify all possible connectivity flows and the hierarchical structure of brain functional systems at the dynamic level and the stationary probability vector (10-step transition probabilities) to describe the steady state of the system in the long run. A random forest algorithm was conducted to predict the severity of anxiety. RESULTS The dynamic functional patterns in distributed brain networks had larger possibility to converge in bilateral thalamus, posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), right superior occipital gyrus (SOG) and smaller possibility to converge in bilateral superior temporal gyrus (STG) and right parahippocampal gyrus (PHG) in patients with GAD compared to HC. The abnormal transition probability pattern could predict anxiety severity in patients with GAD. LIMITATIONS Small samples and subjects taking medications may have influenced our results. Future studies are expected to rule out the potential confounding effects. CONCLUSION Our results have revealed abnormal dynamic neural communication and integration in emotion regulation in patients with GAD, which give new insights to understand the dynamics of brain function of patients with GAD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qin Tang
- Department of Radiology, First Affiliated Hospital to Army Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China; The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China; MOE Key Lab for Neuroinformation High-Field Magnetic Resonance Brain Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Gan Zhang
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Yun-Shuang Fan
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Wei Sheng
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Chenguang Yang
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Liju Liu
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Xingli Liu
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Haoxiang Liu
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Yuanhong Guo
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Qing Gao
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China; MOE Key Lab for Neuroinformation High-Field Magnetic Resonance Brain Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Fengmei Lu
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Zongling He
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Qian Cui
- School of Public Affairs and Administration, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
| | - Huafu Chen
- Department of Radiology, First Affiliated Hospital to Army Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China; The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China; MOE Key Lab for Neuroinformation High-Field Magnetic Resonance Brain Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
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3
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Verdonk C, Teed AR, White EJ, Ren X, Stewart JL, Paulus MP, Khalsa SS. Heartbeat-evoked neural response abnormalities in generalized anxiety disorder during peripheral adrenergic stimulation. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2023:2023.06.09.23291166. [PMID: 37398268 PMCID: PMC10312828 DOI: 10.1101/2023.06.09.23291166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/04/2023]
Abstract
Hyperarousal symptoms in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) are often incongruent with the observed physiological state, suggesting that abnormal processing of interoceptive signals is a characteristic feature of the disorder. To examine the neural mechanisms underlying interoceptive dysfunction in GAD, we evaluated whether adrenergic modulation of cardiovascular signaling differentially affects the heartbeat evoked potential (HEP), an electrophysiological marker of cardiac interoception, during concurrent electroencephalogram and functional magnetic resonance imaging (EEG-fMRI) scanning. Intravenous infusions of the peripheral adrenergic agonist isoproterenol (0.5 and 2.0 micrograms, μg) were administered in a randomized, double-blinded and placebo-controlled fashion to dynamically perturb the cardiovascular system while recording the associated EEG-fMRI responses. During the 0.5 μg isoproterenol infusion, the GAD group (n=24) exhibited significantly larger changes in HEP amplitude in an opposite direction than the HC group (n=24). In addition, the GAD group showed significantly larger absolute HEP amplitudes than HC during saline infusions, when cardiovascular tone did not increase. No significant group differences in HEP amplitude were identified during the 2.0 μg isoproterenol infusion. Using analyzable blood oxygenation level dependent fMRI data from participants with concurrent EEG-fMRI data (21 GAD and 21 HC), we found that the aforementioned HEP effects were uncorrelated with fMRI signals in the insula, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, amygdala, and somatosensory cortex, brain regions implicated in cardiac signal processing according to prior fMRI studies. These findings provide additional evidence of dysfunctional cardiac interoception in GAD and identify neural processes at the electrophysiological level that may be independent from blood oxygen level-dependent responses during peripheral adrenergic stimulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles Verdonk
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
- VIFASOM (EA 7330 Vigilance Fatigue, Sommeil et Santé Publique), Université Paris Cité, Paris, France
- French Armed Forces Biomedical Research Institute, Brétigny-sur-Orge, France
| | - Adam R. Teed
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
| | - Evan J. White
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
| | - Xi Ren
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
| | - Jennifer L. Stewart
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
- Oxley College of Health Sciences, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
| | - Martin P. Paulus
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
- Oxley College of Health Sciences, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
| | - Sahib S. Khalsa
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
- Oxley College of Health Sciences, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
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4
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Fell J, Chaieb L, Hoppe C. Mind wandering in anxiety disorders: A status report. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 155:105432. [PMID: 37898447 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105432] [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: 07/05/2023] [Revised: 10/02/2023] [Accepted: 10/22/2023] [Indexed: 10/30/2023]
Abstract
Many investigations have targeted the subject of worry in anxiety disorders. Worry can be regarded as a subtype of mind wandering (MW), which is undeliberate, perseverative, negatively-valenced, and mainly future-oriented. Nevertheless, until now only a few studies have explored the role of overall MW in the origin and course of anxiety disorders. To foster progress in this field, we briefly describe and discuss relevant studies addressing MW in subjects with anxiety disorders or symptoms or disorders associated with anxiety symptoms. Provisional synthesis suggests that: a) the overall amount of MW is positively correlated with anxiety symptoms; b) MW characteristics reflecting worry and rumination appear to be relevant in anxiety; c) comorbid depressive and ADHD symptoms may contribute to excessive MW in anxiety; d) MW-related therapeutic interventions may be useful as complementary treatments in anxiety disorders. However, more studies related to MW in anxiety disorders or symptoms are necessary to corroborate and extend these initial findings. Such investigations should ideally combine experience sampling with self-rating assessments of both MW and worry/rumination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juergen Fell
- Department of Epileptology, University Hospital Bonn, Venusberg-Campus 1, 53127 Bonn, Germany.
| | - Leila Chaieb
- Department of Epileptology, University Hospital Bonn, Venusberg-Campus 1, 53127 Bonn, Germany
| | - Christian Hoppe
- Department of Epileptology, University Hospital Bonn, Venusberg-Campus 1, 53127 Bonn, Germany
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5
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Weber-Goericke F, Muehlhan M. High and low worriers do not differ in unstimulated resting-state brain connectivity. Sci Rep 2023; 13:3052. [PMID: 36810628 PMCID: PMC9944913 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-28333-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2022] [Accepted: 01/17/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Chronic, excessive and uncontrollable worry presents an anxiety rising and distressing mental activity relevant in a range of psychological disorders. Task based studies investigating its underlying neural mechanisms reveal fairly heterogenous results. The current study aimed to investigate pathological worry related effects on the functional neural network architecture in the resting unstimulated brain. Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) we compared functional connectivity (FC) patterns between 21 high worriers and 21 low worriers. We, on the one hand, conducted a seed-to-voxel analysis based on recent meta-analytic findings and, on the other hand, implemented a data-driven multi voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) approach to yield brain clusters showing connectivity differences between the two groups. Additionally, the seed regions and MVPA were used to investigate whether whole brain connectivity is associated with momentary state worry across groups. The data did not reveal differences in resting-state FC related to pathological worry, neither by the seed-to-voxel or MVPA approach testing for differences linked to trait worry nor by using the MVPA to test for state worry related aberrations. We discuss whether the null findings in our analyses are related to spontaneous fluctuations in momentary worry and the associated presence of multiple fluctuating brain states that could cause mutually cancelling effects. For future studies investigating the neural correlates of excessive worry, we propose a direct worry induction for better control of the situation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fanny Weber-Goericke
- Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Chemnitzer Strasse 46, 01187, Dresden, Germany.
| | - Markus Muehlhan
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Human Science, Medical School Hamburg, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany. .,ICAN Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Medical School Hamburg, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany.
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6
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Mitrea L, Nemeş SA, Szabo K, Teleky BE, Vodnar DC. Guts Imbalance Imbalances the Brain: A Review of Gut Microbiota Association With Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders. Front Med (Lausanne) 2022; 9:813204. [PMID: 35433746 PMCID: PMC9009523 DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2022.813204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 36.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2021] [Accepted: 02/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Over the last 10 years, there has been a growing interest in the relationship between gut microbiota, the brain, and neurologic-associated affections. As multiple preclinical and clinical research studies highlight gut microbiota’s potential to modulate the general state of health state, it goes without saying that gut microbiota plays a significant role in neurogenesis, mental and cognitive development, emotions, and behaviors, and in the progression of neuropsychiatric illnesses. Gut microbiota produces important biologic products that, through the gut-brain axis, are directly connected with the appearance and evolution of neurological and psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, autism, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, multiple sclerosis, and epilepsy. This study reviews recent research on the link between gut microbiota and the brain, and microbiome’s role in shaping the development of the most common neurological and psychiatric illnesses. Moreover, special attention is paid to the use of probiotic formulations as a potential non-invasive therapeutic opportunity for prevention and management of neuropsychiatric-associated affections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Mitrea
- Institute of Life Sciences, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.,Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Silvia-Amalia Nemeş
- Institute of Life Sciences, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.,Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Katalin Szabo
- Institute of Life Sciences, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Bernadette-Emőke Teleky
- Institute of Life Sciences, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Dan-Cristian Vodnar
- Institute of Life Sciences, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.,Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
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7
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Stern ER, Eng GK, De Nadai AS, Iosifescu DV, Tobe RH, Collins KA. Imbalance between default mode and sensorimotor connectivity is associated with perseverative thinking in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Transl Psychiatry 2022; 12:19. [PMID: 35022398 PMCID: PMC8755709 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-022-01780-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2021] [Revised: 12/07/2021] [Accepted: 12/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is highly heterogeneous. Although perseverative negative thinking (PT) is a feature of OCD, little is known about its neural mechanisms or relationship to clinical heterogeneity in the disorder. In a sample of 85 OCD patients, we investigated the relationships between self-reported PT, clinical symptom subtypes, and resting-state functional connectivity measures of local and global connectivity. Results indicated that PT scores were highly variable within the OCD sample, with greater PT relating to higher severity of the "unacceptable thoughts" symptom dimension. PT was positively related to local connectivity in subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), pregenual ACC, and the temporal poles-areas that are part of, or closely linked to, the default mode network (DMN)-and negatively related to local connectivity in sensorimotor cortex. While the majority of patients showed higher local connectivity strengths in sensorimotor compared to DMN regions, OCD patients with higher PT scores had less of an imbalance between sensorimotor and DMN connectivity than those with lower PT scores, with healthy controls exhibiting an intermediate pattern. Clinically, this imbalance was related to both the "unacceptable thoughts" and "symmetry/not-just-right-experiences" symptom dimensions, but in opposite directions. These effects remained significant after accounting for variance related to psychiatric comorbidity and medication use in the OCD sample, and no significant relationships were found between PT and global connectivity. These data indicate that PT is related to symptom and neural variability in OCD. Future work may wish to target this circuity when developing personalized interventions for patients with these symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily R. Stern
- grid.240324.30000 0001 2109 4251Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY USA ,grid.250263.00000 0001 2189 4777Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY USA
| | - Goi Khia Eng
- grid.240324.30000 0001 2109 4251Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY USA ,grid.250263.00000 0001 2189 4777Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY USA
| | - Alessandro S. De Nadai
- grid.264772.20000 0001 0682 245XDepartment of Psychology, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX USA
| | - Dan V. Iosifescu
- grid.240324.30000 0001 2109 4251Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY USA ,grid.250263.00000 0001 2189 4777Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY USA
| | - Russell H. Tobe
- grid.250263.00000 0001 2189 4777Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY USA
| | - Katherine A. Collins
- grid.250263.00000 0001 2189 4777Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY USA
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8
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New-Onset Sleepwalking in a Patient Treated With Buspirone. J Clin Psychopharmacol 2022; 42:96-98. [PMID: 34928565 PMCID: PMC8946643 DOI: 10.1097/jcp.0000000000001476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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9
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Zainal NH, Newman MG. Within-person increase in pathological worry predicts future depletion of unique executive functioning domains. Psychol Med 2021; 51:1676-1686. [PMID: 32188519 PMCID: PMC7501084 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291720000422] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Affective neuroscience and scar theories propose that increased excessive worry, the hallmark symptom of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), predicts future declines in executive functioning (EF). However, the preponderance of cross-sectional designs used to examine between-person chronic worry-EF relationships has blocked progress on understanding their potentially causal within-person associations. Accordingly, this study used bivariate dual latent change score (LCS) models to test whether within-person increased GAD severity might relate to future reduced EF. METHODS Community-dwelling adults (N = 2581, 46 years on average, s.d. = 11.40, 54.71% female) were assessed for GAD symptom severity (Composite International Diagnostic Interview-Short Form) across three waves, spaced about 9 years apart. Three aspects of EF [inhibition, set-shifting, and mixing costs (MCs; a measure related to common EF)], were assessed with stop-and-go switch tasks. Participants responded to 20 normal and 20 reverse single-task block trials and 32 mixed-task switch block trials. EF tests were administered at time 2 (T2) and time 3 (T3), but not at time 1 (T1). RESULTS After controlling for T1 depression, LCS models revealed that within-person increased T1 - T2 GAD severity substantially predicted future reduced T2 - T3 inhibition and set-shifting (both indexed by accuracy and latency), and MC (indexed by latency) with moderate-to-large effect sizes (|d| = 0.51-0.96). CONCLUSIONS Results largely support scar theories by offering preliminary within-person, naturalistic evidence that heightened excessive worry can negatively predict future distinct aspects of cognitive flexibility. Effectively targeting pathological worry might prevent difficulties arising from executive dysfunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nur Hani Zainal
- Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Michelle G Newman
- Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
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10
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Annerer‐Walcher S, Ceh SM, Putze F, Kampen M, Körner C, Benedek M. How Reliably Do Eye Parameters Indicate Internal Versus External Attentional Focus? Cogn Sci 2021; 45:e12977. [DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12977] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2020] [Revised: 03/15/2021] [Accepted: 03/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Felix Putze
- Department of Mathematics and Computer Science University of Bremen
| | - Marvin Kampen
- Department of Mathematics and Computer Science University of Bremen
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11
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Identification of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder based on the complexity and symmetricity of pupil diameter. Sci Rep 2021; 11:8439. [PMID: 33875772 PMCID: PMC8055872 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-88191-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2020] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) frequently leads to psychological/social dysfunction if unaddressed. Identifying a reliable biomarker would assist the diagnosis of adult ADHD and ensure that adults with ADHD receive treatment. Pupil diameter can reflect inherent neural activity and deficits of attention or arousal characteristic of ADHD. Furthermore, distinct profiles of the complexity and symmetricity of neural activity are associated with some psychiatric disorders. We hypothesized that analysing the relationship between the size, complexity of temporal patterns, and asymmetricity of pupil diameters will help characterize the nervous systems of adults with ADHD and that an identification method combining these features would ease the diagnosis of adult ADHD. To validate this hypothesis, we evaluated the resting state hippus in adult participants with or without ADHD by examining the pupil diameter and its temporal complexity using sample entropy and the asymmetricity of the left and right pupils using transfer entropy. We found that large pupil diameters and low temporal complexity and symmetry were associated with ADHD. Moreover, the combination of these factors by the classifier enhanced the accuracy of ADHD identification. These findings may contribute to the development of tools to diagnose adult ADHD.
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12
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Testing the construct validity of competing measurement approaches to probed mind-wandering reports. Behav Res Methods 2021; 53:2372-2411. [PMID: 33835393 PMCID: PMC8613094 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-021-01557-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/03/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Psychology faces a measurement crisis, and mind-wandering research is not immune. The present study explored the construct validity of probed mind-wandering reports (i.e., reports of task-unrelated thought [TUT]) with a combined experimental and individual-differences approach. We examined laboratory data from over 1000 undergraduates at two U.S. institutions, who responded to one of four different thought-probe types across two cognitive tasks. We asked a fundamental measurement question: Do different probe types yield different results, either in terms of average reports (average TUT rates, TUT-report confidence ratings), or in terms of TUT-report associations, such as TUT rate or confidence stability across tasks, or between TUT reports and other consciousness-related constructs (retrospective mind-wandering ratings, executive-control performance, and broad questionnaire trait assessments of distractibility–restlessness and positive-constructive daydreaming)? Our primary analyses compared probes that asked subjects to report on different dimensions of experience: TUT-content probes asked about what they’d been mind-wandering about, TUT-intentionality probes asked about why they were mind-wandering, and TUT-depth probes asked about the extent (on a rating scale) of their mind-wandering. Our secondary analyses compared thought-content probes that did versus didn’t offer an option to report performance-evaluative thoughts. Our findings provide some “good news”—that some mind-wandering findings are robust across probing methods—and some “bad news”—that some findings are not robust across methods and that some commonly used probing methods may not tell us what we think they do. Our results lead us to provisionally recommend content-report probes rather than intentionality- or depth-report probes for most mind-wandering research.
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13
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Progressive brain structural alterations assessed via causal analysis in patients with generalized anxiety disorder. Neuropsychopharmacology 2020; 45:1689-1697. [PMID: 32396920 PMCID: PMC7419314 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-020-0704-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2019] [Revised: 04/13/2020] [Accepted: 05/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Accumulating neuroimaging studies implicate widespread brain structural alterations in patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), but little is known regarding the temporal information of these changes and their causal relationships. In this study, a morphometric analysis was performed on T1-weighted structural images, and the progressive changes in the gray matter volume (GMV) in GAD were simulated by dividing the patients into different groups from low illness duration to high illness duration. The duration was defined as the interval between the onset of GAD and the time for magnetic resonance imaging collection. Then, a causal structural covariance network analysis was conducted to describe the causal relationships of the brain structural alterations in GAD. With increased illness duration, the GMV reduction in GAD originated from the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) and propagated to the bilateral ventromedial prefrontal cortex, right dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, left inferior temporal gyrus, and right insula. Intriguingly, the sgACC and the right insula had positive causal effects on each other. Moreover, both sgACC and right insula exhibited positive causal effects on the parietal cortex and negative effects on the posterior cingulate cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, visual cortex, and temporal lobe. The opposite causal effects were noted on the somatosensory and the ventrolateral prefrontal cortices. In conclusion, patients with GAD show gradual GMV reduction with increasing ilness duration. Furthermore, the causal effects of the sgACC and the right insula GMV reduction with shifts of duration may provide an important new avenue for understanding the pathological anomalies in GAD.
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Makovac E, Fagioli S, Rae CL, Critchley HD, Ottaviani C. Can't get it off my brain: Meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies on perseverative cognition. Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging 2020; 295:111020. [PMID: 31790922 DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2019.111020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2019] [Revised: 11/19/2019] [Accepted: 11/20/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Perseverative cognition (i.e. rumination and worry) describes intrusive, uncontrollable, repetitive thoughts. These negative affective experiences are accompanied by physiological arousal, as if the individual were facing an external stressor. Perseverative cognition is a transdiagnostic symptom, yet studies of neural mechanisms are largely restricted to specific clinical populations (e.g. patients with major depression). The present study applied activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analyses to 43 functional neuroimaging studies of perseverative cognition to elucidate the neurobiological substrates across individuals with and without psychopathological conditions. Task-related and resting state functional connectivity studies were examined in separate meta-analyses. Across task-based studies, perseverative cognition engaged medial frontal gyrus, cingulate gyrus, insula, and posterior cingulate cortex. Resting state functional connectivity studies similarly implicated posterior cingulate cortex together with thalamus and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), yet the involvement of ACC distinguished between perseverative cognition in healthy controls (HC) and clinical groups. Perseverative cognition is accompanied by the engagement of prefrontal, insula and cingulate regions, whose interaction may support the characteristic conjunction of self-referential and affective processing with (aberrant) cognitive control and embodied (autonomic) arousal. Within this context, ACC engagement appears critical for the pathological expression of rumination and worry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Makovac
- Centre for Neuroimaging Science, Kings College London, London, UK.
| | - Sabrina Fagioli
- Department of Education, University of Roma Tre, Rome, Italy; Neuroimaging Laboratory, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Charlotte L Rae
- School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Falmer, UK; Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, Falmer, UK
| | - Hugo D Critchley
- Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, Falmer, UK; Department of Neuroscience, Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS), University of Sussex, Falmer, UK
| | - Cristina Ottaviani
- Neuroimaging Laboratory, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy; Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
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