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Decreased reward circuit connectivity during reward anticipation in major depression. Neuroimage Clin 2022; 36:103226. [PMID: 36257119 PMCID: PMC9668633 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2022.103226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2021] [Revised: 09/21/2022] [Accepted: 10/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
An important symptom of major depressive disorder (MDD) is the inability to experience pleasure, possibly due to a dysfunction of the reward system. Despite promising insights regarding impaired reward-related processing in MDD, circuit-level abnormalities remain largely unexplored. Furthermore, whereas studies contrasting experimental conditions from incentive tasks have revealed important information about reward processing, temporal difference modeling of reward-related prediction error (PE) signals might give a more accurate representation of the reward system. We used a monetary incentive delay task during functional MRI scanning to explore PE-related striatal and ventral tegmental area (VTA) activation in response to anticipation and delivery of monetary rewards in 24 individuals with MDD versus 24 healthy controls (HCs). Furthermore, we investigated group differences in temporal difference related connectivity with a generalized psychophysiological interaction (gPPI) analysis with the VTA, ventral striatum (VS) and dorsal striatum (DS) as seeds during reward versus neutral, both in anticipation and delivery. Relative to HCs, MDD patients displayed a trend-level (p = 0.052) decrease in temporal difference-related activation in the VS during reward anticipation and delivery combined. Moreover, gPPI analyses revealed that during reward anticipation, MDD patients exhibited decreased functional connectivity between the VS and anterior cingulate cortex / medial prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate gyrus, angular/middle orbital gyrus, left insula, superior/middle frontal gyrus (SFG/MFG) and precuneus/superior occipital gyrus/cerebellum compared to HC. Moreover, MDD patients showed decreased functional connectivity between the VTA and left insula compared to HC during reward anticipation. Exploratory analysis separating medication free patients from patients using antidepressant revealed that these decreased functional connectivity patterns were mainly apparent in the MDD group that used antidepressants. These results suggest that MDD is characterized by alterations in reward circuit connectivity rather than isolated activation impairments. These findings represent an important extension of the existing literature since improved understanding of neural pathways underlying depression-related reward dysfunctions, may help currently unmet diagnostic and therapeutic efforts.
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Rosenblau G, O'Connell G, Heekeren HR, Dziobek I. Neurobiological mechanisms of social cognition treatment in high-functioning adults with autism spectrum disorder. Psychol Med 2020; 50:2374-2384. [PMID: 31551097 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291719002472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The promise of precision medicine for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) hinges on developing neuroscience-informed individualized interventions. Taking an important step in this direction, we investigated neuroplasticity in response to an ecologically-valid, computer-based social-cognitive training (SCOTT). METHODS In an active control group design, 48 adults with ASD were randomly assigned to a 3-month SCOTT or non-social computer training. Participants completed behavioral tasks, a functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging session before and after the training period. RESULTS The SCOTT group showed social-cognitive improvements on close and distant generalization tasks. The improvements scaled with reductions in functional activity and increases in cortical thickness in prefrontal regions. CONCLUSION In sum, we provide evidence for the sensitivity of neuroscientific methods to reflect training-induced social-cognitive improvements in adults with ASD. These results encourage the use of neuroimaging data to describe and quantify treatment-related changes more broadly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriela Rosenblau
- Cluster of Excellence 'Languages of Emotion', Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin14195, Germany
- Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin14195, Germany
- Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Institute, The George Washington University and Children's National Health System, 2115 G St NW, Washington, DC20052, USA
| | - Garret O'Connell
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Institute of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099, Berlin, Germany
| | - Hauke R Heekeren
- Cluster of Excellence 'Languages of Emotion', Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin14195, Germany
- Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin14195, Germany
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Isabel Dziobek
- Cluster of Excellence 'Languages of Emotion', Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin14195, Germany
- Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin14195, Germany
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Institute of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099, Berlin, Germany
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Shearrer GE, Nansel TR, Lipsky LM, Sadler JR, Burger KS. The impact of elevated body mass on brain responses during appetitive prediction error in postpartum women. Physiol Behav 2019; 206:243-251. [PMID: 30986423 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2019.04.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2018] [Revised: 04/11/2019] [Accepted: 04/11/2019] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Repeated exposure to highly palatable foods and elevated weight promote: 1) insensitivity to punishment in striatal regions and, 2) increased willingness to work for food. We hypothesized that BMI would be positively associated with negative prediction error BOLD response in the occipital cortex. Additionally, we postulated that food reinforcement value would be negatively associated with negative prediction error BOLD response in the orbital frontal cortex and amygdala. Postpartum women (n = 47; BMI = 25.5 ± 5.1) were 'trained' to associate specific cues paired to either a highly palatable milkshake or a sub-palatable milkshake. We then violated these cue-taste pairings in 40% of the trials by showing a palatable cue followed by the sub-palatable taste (negative prediction error). Contrary to our hypotheses, during negative prediction error (mismatched cue-taste) versus matched palatable cue-taste, women showed increased BOLD response in the central operculum (pFWE = 0.002; k = 1680; MNI: -57, -7,14) and postcentral gyrus (pFWE = 0.006, k = 1219; MNI: 62, -8,18). When comparing the matched sub-palatable cue-taste to the negative prediction error trials, BOLD response increased in the postcentral gyrus (r = -0.60, pFWE = 0.008), putamen (r = -0.55, pFWE = 0.02), and insula (r = -0.50, pFWE = 0.01). Similarly, viewing the palatable cue vs sub-palatable cue was related to BOLD response in the putamen (pFWE = 0.025, k = 53; MNI: -20, 6, -8) and the insula (pFWE = 0.04, k = 19, MNI:38, -12, -6). Neither BMI at 6-month postpartum nor food reinforcement value was related to BOLD response. The insula and putamen appear to encode for visual food cue processing, and the gustatory and somatosensory cortices appear to encode negative prediction errors. Differential response in the somatosensory cortex to the matched cue-taste pairs to negative prediction error may indicate that a palatable cue may dull aversive qualities in the stimulus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Grace E Shearrer
- Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States of America
| | - Tonja R Nansel
- Social and Behavioral Sciences Branch, Division of Intramural Population Health Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, Bethesda, MD, United States of America
| | - Leah M Lipsky
- Social and Behavioral Sciences Branch, Division of Intramural Population Health Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, Bethesda, MD, United States of America
| | - Jennifer R Sadler
- Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States of America
| | - Kyle S Burger
- Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States of America; Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States of America.
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Kumar P, Goer F, Murray L, Dillon DG, Beltzer ML, Cohen AL, Brooks NH, Pizzagalli DA. Impaired reward prediction error encoding and striatal-midbrain connectivity in depression. Neuropsychopharmacology 2018; 43. [PMID: 29540863 PMCID: PMC5983542 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-018-0032-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 114] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Anhedonia (hyposensitivity to rewards) and negative bias (hypersensitivity to punishments) are core features of major depressive disorder (MDD), which could stem from abnormal reinforcement learning. Emerging evidence highlights blunted reward learning and reward prediction error (RPE) signaling in the striatum in MDD, although inconsistencies exist. Preclinical studies have clarified that ventral tegmental area (VTA) neurons encode RPE and habenular neurons encode punishment prediction error (PPE), which are then transmitted to the striatum and cortex to guide goal-directed behavior. However, few studies have probed striatal activation, and functional connectivity between VTA-striatum and VTA-habenula during reward and punishment learning respectively, in unmedicated MDD. To fill this gap, we acquired fMRI data from 25 unmedicated MDD and 26 healthy individuals during a monetary instrumental learning task and utilized a computational modeling approach to characterize underlying neural correlates of RPE and PPE. Relative to controls, MDD individuals showed impaired reward learning, blunted RPE signal in the striatum and overall reduced VTA-striatal connectivity to feedback. Critically, striatal RPE signal was increasingly blunted with more major depressive episodes (MDEs). No group differences emerged in PPE signals in the habenula and VTA or in connectivity between these regions. However, PPE signals in the habenula correlated positively with number of MDEs. These results highlight impaired reward learning, disrupted RPE signaling in the striatum (particularly among individuals with more lifetime MDEs) as well as reduced VTA-striatal connectivity in MDD. Collectively, these findings highlight reward-related learning deficits in MDD and their underlying pathophysiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Poornima Kumar
- Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA. .,Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Franziska Goer
- 0000 0000 8795 072Xgrid.240206.2Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA USA
| | - Laura Murray
- 0000 0000 8795 072Xgrid.240206.2Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA USA
| | - Daniel G. Dillon
- 0000 0000 8795 072Xgrid.240206.2Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA USA ,000000041936754Xgrid.38142.3cDepartment of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
| | - Miranda L. Beltzer
- 0000 0000 8795 072Xgrid.240206.2Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA USA
| | - Andrew L. Cohen
- 0000 0000 8795 072Xgrid.240206.2Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA USA
| | - Nancy H. Brooks
- 0000 0000 8795 072Xgrid.240206.2Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA USA
| | - Diego A. Pizzagalli
- 0000 0000 8795 072Xgrid.240206.2Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA USA ,000000041936754Xgrid.38142.3cDepartment of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA ,0000 0000 8795 072Xgrid.240206.2McLean Imaging Center, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA USA
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Cservenka A, Courtney KE, Ghahremani DG, Hutchison KE, Ray LA. Development, Initial Testing and Challenges of an Ecologically Valid Reward Prediction Error FMRI Task for Alcoholism. Alcohol Alcohol 2018. [PMID: 28633363 DOI: 10.1093/alcalc/agx037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Aims To advance translational studies of the role of reward prediction error (PE) in alcohol use disorder, the present study sought to develop and conduct an initial test of an alcohol-specific PE task paradigm using functional magnetic resonance imaging in humans. Methods Alcohol dependent or social drinkers received small tastes of their preferred alcohol beverage or control beverage, with preceding visual cues indicating whether alcohol (or water) would be delivered. To assess both positive and negative PE signals, expectancies were systematically violated in both positive (i.e. expecting water and receiving alcohol) and negative (i.e. expecting alcohol and receiving water) directions. Exploratory trial-by-trial analyses were conducted to explore temporal fluctuations of activation within a priori-defined regions of interest that have been implicated in cue reactivity and PE processing. Results Across the entire sample of participants, positive PE-related brain activation was found in a large cluster comprised of frontal lobe regions, as well as insular cortex, and motor/sensory cortices. Compared to social drinking subjects, alcohol dependent subjects had greater positive PE-related brain activity in left superior parietal lobule, lateral occipital cortex and postcentral gyrus. Exploratory trial-by-trial analyses indicated differences in activation specific to type of taste, mostly at earlier trials. Conclusions This task-development oriented pilot study found that PE signaling may not be detected in expected brain regions when image analyses average across all PE trials of the task. Rather, a trial-by-trial analysis approach may help detect sparse, temporally distinct PE signaling in expected reward processing regions. Short Summary This fMRI study of reward prediction error found greater positive prediction error-related activity (i.e. expecting water taste, receiving alcohol taste) in alcohol dependent individuals relative to social drinkers in parietal and occipital cortices. Trial-by-trial analyses may be able to better detect sparse prediction error signaling in expected reward processing regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anita Cservenka
- School of Psychological Science, Oregon State University, 2950 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
| | - Kelly E Courtney
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, 9500 Gilman Drive #0862, La Jolla, San Diego, CA 92093, USA
| | - Dara G Ghahremani
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California,Los Angeles, 37-356 Semel Institute, Box 951759, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1759, USA
| | - Kent E Hutchison
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado, Boulder, Muenzinger Psychology, 345 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0345, USA
| | - Lara A Ray
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, 37-356 Semel Institute, Box 951759, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1759, USA.,Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, 1285 Franz Hall, Box 951563, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA.,Brain Research Institute, University of California, Box 951761, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1761, USA
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A Computational Account of Optimizing Social Predictions Reveals That Adolescents Are Conservative Learners in Social Contexts. J Neurosci 2017; 38:974-988. [PMID: 29255008 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1044-17.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2017] [Revised: 09/30/2017] [Accepted: 11/27/2017] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
As adolescents transition to the complex world of adults, optimizing predictions about others' preferences becomes vital for successful social interactions. Mounting evidence suggests that these social learning processes are affected by ongoing brain development across adolescence. A mechanistic understanding of how adolescents optimize social predictions and how these learning strategies are implemented in the brain is lacking. To fill this gap, we combined computational modeling with functional neuroimaging. In a novel social learning task, male and female human adolescents and adults predicted the preferences of peers and could update their predictions based on trial-by-trial feedback about the peers' actual preferences. Participants also rated their own preferences for the task items and similar additional items. To describe how participants optimize their inferences over time, we pitted simple reinforcement learning models against more specific "combination" models, which describe inferences based on a combination of reinforcement learning from past feedback and participants' own preferences. Formal model comparison revealed that, of the tested models, combination models best described how adults and adolescents update predictions of others. Parameter estimates of the best-fitting model differed between age groups, with adolescents showing more conservative updating. This developmental difference was accompanied by a shift in encoding predictions and the errors thereof within the medial prefrontal and fusiform cortices. In the adolescent group, encoding of own preferences and prediction errors scaled with parent-reported social traits, which provides additional external validity for our learning task and the winning computational model. Our findings thus help to specify adolescent-specific social learning processes.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Adolescence is a unique developmental period of heightened awareness about other people. Here we probe the suitability of various computational models to describe how adolescents update their predictions of others' preferences. Within the tested model space, predictions of adults and adolescents are best described by the same learning model, but adolescents show more conservative updating. Compared with adults, brain activity of adolescents is modulated less by predictions themselves and more by prediction errors per se, and this relationship scales with adolescents' social traits. Our findings help specify social learning across adolescence and generate hypotheses about social dysfunctions in psychiatric populations.
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Avoidant Responses to Interpersonal Provocation Are Associated with Increased Amygdala and Decreased Mentalizing Network Activity. eNeuro 2017; 4:eN-NWR-0337-16. [PMID: 28660251 PMCID: PMC5485378 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0337-16.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2016] [Revised: 05/19/2017] [Accepted: 06/06/2017] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
When intentionally pushed or insulted, one can either flee from the provoker or retaliate. The implementation of such fight-or-flight decisions is a central aspect in the genesis and evolution of aggression episodes, yet it is usually investigated only indirectly or in nonsocial situations. In the present fMRI study, we aimed to distinguish brain regions associated with aggressive and avoidant responses to interpersonal provocation in humans. Participants (thirty-six healthy young women) could either avoid or face a highly (HP) and a lowly (LP) provoking opponent in a competitive reaction time task: the fight-or-escape (FOE) paradigm. Subjects avoided the HP more often, but retaliated when facing her. Moreover, they chose to fight the HP more quickly, and showed increased heart rate (HR) right before confronting her. Orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and sensorimotor cortex were more active when participants decided to fight, whereas the mentalizing network was engaged when deciding to avoid. Importantly, avoiding the HP relative to the LP was associated with both higher activation in the right basolateral amygdala and lower relative activity in several mentalizing regions [e.g., medial and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), temporal-parietal junction (TPJ)]. These results suggest that avoidant responses to provocation might result from heightened threat anticipation and are associated with reduced perspective taking. Furthermore, our study helps to reconcile conflicting findings on the role of the mentalizing network, the amygdala, and the OFC in aggression.
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