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Grigorenko EL. The extraordinary "ordinary magic" of resilience. Dev Psychopathol 2024:1-18. [PMID: 39363871 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579424000841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/05/2024]
Abstract
In this essay, I will briefly sample different instances of the utilization of the concept of resilience, attempting to complement a comprehensive representation of the field in the special issue of Development and Psychopathology inspired by the 42nd Minnesota Symposium on Child Psychology, hosted by the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota and held in October of 2022. Having established the general context of the field, I will zoom in on some of its features, which I consider "low-hanging fruit" and which can be harvested in a systematic way to advance the study of resilience in the context of the future of developmental psychopathology.
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Bernhard RM, Frankland SM, Plunkett D, Sievers B, Greene JD. Evidence for Spinozan "Unbelieving" in the Right Inferior Prefrontal Cortex. J Cogn Neurosci 2023; 35:659-680. [PMID: 36638227 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Humans can think about possible states of the world without believing in them, an important capacity for high-level cognition. Here, we use fMRI and a novel "shell game" task to test two competing theories about the nature of belief and its neural basis. According to the Cartesian theory, information is first understood, then assessed for veracity, and ultimately encoded as either believed or not believed. According to the Spinozan theory, comprehension entails belief by default, such that understanding without believing requires an additional process of "unbelieving." Participants (n = 70) were experimentally induced to have beliefs, desires, or mere thoughts about hidden states of the shell game (e.g., believing that the dog is hidden in the upper right corner). That is, participants were induced to have specific "propositional attitudes" toward specific "propositions" in a controlled way. Consistent with the Spinozan theory, we found that thinking about a proposition without believing it is associated with increased activation of the right inferior frontal gyrus. This was true whether the hidden state was desired by the participant (because of reward) or merely thought about. These findings are consistent with a version of the Spinozan theory whereby unbelieving is an inhibitory control process. We consider potential implications of these results for the phenomena of delusional belief and wishful thinking.
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Weinstein AM. Reward, motivation and brain imaging in human healthy participants - A narrative review. Front Behav Neurosci 2023; 17:1123733. [PMID: 37035621 PMCID: PMC10079947 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1123733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2022] [Accepted: 03/10/2023] [Indexed: 04/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Over the past 20 years there has been an increasing number of brain imaging studies on the mechanisms underlying reward motivation in humans. This narrative review describes studies on the neural mechanisms associated with reward motivation and their relationships with cognitive function in healthy human participants. The brain's meso-limbic dopamine reward circuitry in humans is known to control reward-motivated behavior in humans. The medial and lateral Pre-Frontal Cortex (PFC) integrate motivation and cognitive control during decision-making and the dorsolateral PFC (dlPFC) integrates and transmits signals of reward to the mesolimbic and meso-cortical dopamine circuits and initiates motivated behavior. The thalamus and insula influence incentive processing in humans and the motor system plays a role in response to action control. There are reciprocal relationships between reward motivation, learning, memory, imagery, working memory, and attention. The most common method of assessing reward motivation is the monetary incentive delay task (DMRT) and there are several meta-analyses of this paradigm. Genetics modulates motivation reward, and dopamine provides the basis for the interaction between motivational and cognitive control. There is some evidence that male adolescents take more risky decisions than female adolescents and that the lateralization of reward-related DA release in the ventral striatum is confined to men. These studies have implications for our understanding of natural reward and psychiatric conditions like addiction, depression and ADHD. Furthermore, the association between reward and memory can help develop treatment techniques for drug addiction that interfere with consolidation of memory. Finally, there is a lack of research on reward motivation, genetics and sex differences and this can improve our understanding of the relationships between reward, motivation and the brain.
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Deng Y, Li M, Wang H, Li J, He X, Yu C. Parent-Adolescent Conflict, Depressive Symptoms, and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury among Chinese Adolescents: The Moderating Effect of the COMT Gene rs4680 Polymorphism. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:10567. [PMID: 36078283 PMCID: PMC9517911 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph191710567] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2022] [Revised: 08/04/2022] [Accepted: 08/16/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Existing research suggests that parent-adolescent conflict is associated with increased risk for adolescent non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). However, adolescent NSSI reactions to parent-adolescent conflicts exhibit large individual differences. This study sought to explore whether depressive symptoms mediates the relationship between parent-adolescent conflict and adolescent NSSI, and whether this mediating process is moderated by the COMT gene rs4680 polymorphism. A total of 673 adolescents (364 males, 309 females) in the age range of 12 to 15 years (Meanage = 12.81 years, SD = 0.48) completed questionnaires regarding parent-adolescent conflict, depressive symptoms, and NSSI. Genomic DNA was extracted from saliva and buccal cells from each participant. Bootstrapping techniques displayed statistically significant moderated mediation. The results showed that the positive association between parent-adolescent conflict and adolescent NSSI was in fact mediated by depressive symptoms. Moreover, this indirect link was moderated by the COMT gene rs4680 polymorphism. Specifically, the risk effect of parent-adolescent conflict on adolescent NSSI via depressive symptoms was stronger for adolescents with Val/Val genotype than for those with Met/Met or Val/Met genotype. These findings underscore the importance of examining the interaction between genes and the environment to understand how and when parent-adolescent conflict impacts adolescent NSSI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuting Deng
- Department of Psychology, Research Center of Adolescent Psychology and Behavior, School of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Meijin Li
- Department of Psychology, Research Center of Adolescent Psychology and Behavior, School of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Huahua Wang
- Department of Psychology, Research Center of Adolescent Psychology and Behavior, School of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Jingjing Li
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Xu He
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Chengfu Yu
- Department of Psychology, Research Center of Adolescent Psychology and Behavior, School of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China
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Boroń A, Śmiarowska M, Grzywacz A, Chmielowiec K, Chmielowiec J, Masiak J, Pawłowski T, Larysz D, Ciechanowicz A. Association of Polymorphism within the Putative miRNA Target Site in the 3'UTR Region of the DRD2 Gene with Neuroticism in Patients with Substance Use Disorder. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:9955. [PMID: 36011589 PMCID: PMC9408599 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19169955] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2022] [Revised: 08/08/2022] [Accepted: 08/10/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The study aims at looking into associations between the polymorphism rs6276 that occurs in the putative miRNA target site in the 3'UTR region of the DRD2 gene in patients with substance use disorder (SUD) comorbid with a maniacal syndrome (SUD MANIA). In our study, we did not state any essential difference in DRD2 rs6276 genotype frequencies in the studied samples of SUD MANIA, SUD, and control subjects. A significant result was found for the SUD MANIA group vs. SUD vs. controls on the Neuroticism Scale of NEO FFI test, and DRD2 rs6276 (p = 0.0320) accounted for 1.7% of the variance. The G/G homozygous variants were linked with lower results on the neuroticism scale in the SUD MANIA group because G/G alleles may serve a protective role in the expression of neuroticism in patients with SUD MANIA. So far, there have been no data in the literature on the relationship between the miRSNP rs6276 region in the DRD2 gene and neuroticism (personal traits) in patients with a diagnosis of substance use disorder comorbid with the affective, maniacal type disturbances related to SUD. This is the first report on this topic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agnieszka Boroń
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Biochemistry, Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, Aleja Powstańców Wielkopolskich 72 St., 70-111 Szczecin, Poland
| | - Małgorzata Śmiarowska
- Department of Pharmacokinetics and Therapeutic Drug Monitoring, Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, Aleja Powstańcόw Wielkopolskich 72 St., 70-111 Szczecin, Poland
| | - Anna Grzywacz
- Independent Laboratory of Health Promotion, Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, Aleja Powstańcόw Wielkopolskich 72 St., 70-111 Szczecin, Poland
| | - Krzysztof Chmielowiec
- Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Collegium Medicum, University of Zielona Góra, Zyty 28 St., 65-046 Zielona Gora, Poland
| | - Jolanta Chmielowiec
- Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Collegium Medicum, University of Zielona Góra, Zyty 28 St., 65-046 Zielona Gora, Poland
| | - Jolanta Masiak
- Second Department of Psychiatry and Psychiatric Rehabilitation, Medical University of Lublin, Głuska 1 St., 20-059 Lublin, Poland
| | - Tomasz Pawłowski
- Division of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, Wroclaw Medical University, Wyb. L. Pasteura 10 St., 50-367 Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Dariusz Larysz
- 109 Military Hospital with Cutpatient Cinic in Szczecin, Piotra Skargi 9-11 St., 70-965 Szczecin, Poland
| | - Andrzej Ciechanowicz
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Biochemistry, Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, Aleja Powstańców Wielkopolskich 72 St., 70-111 Szczecin, Poland
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Frydecka D, Misiak B, Piotrowski P, Bielawski T, Pawlak E, Kłosińska E, Krefft M, Al Noaimy K, Rymaszewska J, Moustafa AA, Drapała J. The Role of Dopaminergic Genes in Probabilistic Reinforcement Learning in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders. Brain Sci 2021; 12:brainsci12010007. [PMID: 35053751 PMCID: PMC8774082 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12010007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2021] [Revised: 11/30/2021] [Accepted: 12/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SZ) are characterized by impairments in probabilistic reinforcement learning (RL), which is associated with dopaminergic circuitry encompassing the prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia. However, there are no studies examining dopaminergic genes with respect to probabilistic RL in SZ. Thus, the aim of our study was to examine the impact of dopaminergic genes on performance assessed by the Probabilistic Selection Task (PST) in patients with SZ in comparison to healthy control (HC) subjects. In our study, we included 138 SZ patients and 188 HC participants. Genetic analysis was performed with respect to the following genetic polymorphisms: rs4680 in COMT, rs907094 in DARP-32, rs2734839, rs936461, rs1800497, and rs6277 in DRD2, rs747302 and rs1800955 in DRD4 and rs28363170 and rs2975226 in DAT1 genes. The probabilistic RL task was completed by 59 SZ patients and 95 HC subjects. SZ patients performed significantly worse in acquiring reinforcement contingencies during the task in comparison to HCs. We found no significant association between genetic polymorphisms and RL among SZ patients; however, among HC participants with respect to the DAT1 rs28363170 polymorphism, individuals with 10-allele repeat genotypes performed better in comparison to 9-allele repeat carriers. The present study indicates the relevance of the DAT1 rs28363170 polymorphism in RL in HC participants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dorota Frydecka
- Department of Psychiatry, Wroclaw Medical University, Pasteur Street 10, 50-367 Wroclaw, Poland; (T.B.); (M.K.); (K.A.N.); (J.R.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Błażej Misiak
- Department of Psychiatry, Division of Consultation Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Wroclaw Medical University, Pasteur Street 10, 50-367 Wroclaw, Poland; (B.M.); (P.P.)
| | - Patryk Piotrowski
- Department of Psychiatry, Division of Consultation Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Wroclaw Medical University, Pasteur Street 10, 50-367 Wroclaw, Poland; (B.M.); (P.P.)
| | - Tomasz Bielawski
- Department of Psychiatry, Wroclaw Medical University, Pasteur Street 10, 50-367 Wroclaw, Poland; (T.B.); (M.K.); (K.A.N.); (J.R.)
| | - Edyta Pawlak
- Department of Experimental Therapy, Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Weigel Street 12, 53-114 Wroclaw, Poland;
| | - Ewa Kłosińska
- Day-Care Psychiatric Unit, University Clinical Hospital, Pasteur Street 10, 50-367 Wroclaw, Poland;
| | - Maja Krefft
- Department of Psychiatry, Wroclaw Medical University, Pasteur Street 10, 50-367 Wroclaw, Poland; (T.B.); (M.K.); (K.A.N.); (J.R.)
| | - Kamila Al Noaimy
- Department of Psychiatry, Wroclaw Medical University, Pasteur Street 10, 50-367 Wroclaw, Poland; (T.B.); (M.K.); (K.A.N.); (J.R.)
| | - Joanna Rymaszewska
- Department of Psychiatry, Wroclaw Medical University, Pasteur Street 10, 50-367 Wroclaw, Poland; (T.B.); (M.K.); (K.A.N.); (J.R.)
| | - Ahmed A. Moustafa
- School of Psychology, Marcs Institute for Brain and Behaviour, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia;
- Department of Human Anatomy and Physiology, The Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa
| | - Jarosław Drapała
- Department of Computer Science and Systems Engineering, Faculty of Information and Communication Technology, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wybrzeze Wyspianskiego Street 27, 50-370 Wrocław, Poland;
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Moreno M, Azocar V, Vergés A, Fuentealba JA. High impulsive choice is accompanied by an increase in dopamine release in rat dorsolateral striatum. Behav Brain Res 2021; 405:113199. [PMID: 33636234 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2021.113199] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2020] [Revised: 02/17/2021] [Accepted: 02/18/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Dopamine neurotransmission has been consistently associated with individual differences in impulsive choice. Clinical and preclinical evidence suggests that low striatal dopamine D2 signaling predisposes to engage in impulsive behaviors. Although dopamine D2 signaling controls dopamine (DA) extracellular levels, the relationship between striatal dopamine extracellular levels and impulsive choice remains poorly understood. Using quantitative microdialysis, we investigated whether extracellular DA levels in rat dorsolateral striatum (DLS) correlates with preference for an immediate small reward or for a delayed larger reward. Rats were tested in a delay-discounting task and classified as high impulsive (HI) or low impulsive (LI) according to the area under the discounting curve (AUC). No-net flux microdialysis experiments, assessing basal DA release, DA-uptake, and DA extracellular concentration (DA Cext), were carried out in dorsolateral striatum (DLS) of urethane-anesthetized rats. Rats classified as HI showed a higher DA release compared with LI rats. Differences in DLS DA-uptake and DA Cext were non-significant. Importantly, a significant negative correlation was observed between AUC and DA release, indicating that the lower the AUC, the higher the DLS DA release. This finding shows that DA release is augmented in the DLS of rats classified as HI, suggesting that a hyper-activated nigro-striatal pathway contributes to impulsive choice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Macarena Moreno
- Department of Pharmacy and Interdisciplinary Center of Neuroscience, Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Victor Azocar
- Department of Pharmacy and Interdisciplinary Center of Neuroscience, Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Alvaro Vergés
- Escuela de Psicología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - José Antonio Fuentealba
- Department of Pharmacy and Interdisciplinary Center of Neuroscience, Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
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Smillie LD. What is reinforcement sensitivity? Neuroscience paradigms for approach‐avoidance process theories of personality. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/per.674] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Reinforcement sensitivity is a concept proposed by Gray (1973) to describe the biological antecedents of personality, and has become the common mechanism among a family of personality theories concerning approach and avoidance processes. These theories suggest that 2–3 biobehavioural systems mediate the effects of reward and punishment on emotion and motivation, and that individual differences in the functioning of these systems manifest as personality. Identifying paradigms for operationalising reinforcement sensitivity is therefore critical for testing and developing these theories, and evaluating their footprint in personality space. In this paper I suggest that, while traditional self‐report paradigms in personality psychology may be less‐than‐ideal for this purpose, neuroscience paradigms may offer operations of reinforcement sensitivity at multiple levels of approach and avoidance processes. After brief reflection on the use of such methods in animal models—which first spawned the concept of reinforcement sensitivity—recent developments in four domains of neuroscience are reviewed. These are psychogenomics, psychopharmacology, neuroimaging and category‐learning. By exploring these paradigms as potential operations of reinforcement sensitivity we may enrich our understanding of the putative biobehavioural bases of personality. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luke D. Smillie
- Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, UK
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Leukel C, Schümann D, Kalisch R, Sommer T, Bunzeck N. Dopamine Related Genes Differentially Affect Declarative Long-Term Memory in Healthy Humans. Front Behav Neurosci 2020; 14:539725. [PMID: 33328916 PMCID: PMC7673390 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2020.539725] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2020] [Accepted: 09/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
In humans, monetary reward can promote behavioral performance including response times, accuracy, and subsequent recognition memory. Recent studies have shown that the dopaminergic system plays an essential role here, but the link to interindividual differences remains unclear. To further investigate this issue, we focused on previously described polymorphisms of genes affecting dopaminergic neurotransmission: DAT1 40 base pair (bp), DAT1 30 bp, DRD4 48 bp, and cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CNR1). Specifically, 669 healthy humans participated in a delayed recognition memory paradigm on two consecutive days. On the first day, male vs. female faces served as cues predicting an immediate monetary reward upon correct button presses. Subsequently, participants performed a remember/know recognition memory task on the same day and 1 day later. As predicted, reward increased accuracy and accelerated response times, which were modulated by DAT 30 bp. However, reward did not promote subsequent recognition memory performance and there was no interaction with any genotype tested here. Importantly, there were differential effects of genotype on declarative long-term memory independent of reward: (a) DAT1 40 bp was linked to the quality of memory with a more pronounced difference between recollection and familiarity in the heterozygous and homozygous 10-R as compared to homozygous 9-R; (b) DAT1 30 bp was linked to memory decay, which was most pronounced in homozygous 4-R; (c) DRD4 48 bp was linked to overall recognition memory with higher performance in the short allele group; and (d) CNR1 was linked to overall memory with reduced performance in the homozygous short group. These findings give new insights into how polymorphisms, which are related to dopaminergic neuromodulation, differentially affect long-term recognition memory performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carla Leukel
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Dirk Schümann
- Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Raffael Kalisch
- Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.,Neuroimaging Center (NIC), Focus Program Translational Neuroscience, Johannes Gutenberg University Medical Center, Mainz, Germany.,Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research (LIR), Mainz, Germany
| | - Tobias Sommer
- Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Nico Bunzeck
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.,Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.,Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM), University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
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Kaminskaite M, Jokubka R, Janaviciute J, Lelyte I, Sinkariova L, Pranckeviciene A, Borutaite V, Bunevicius A. Epistatic effect of Ankyrin repeat and kinase domain containing 1 - Dopamine receptor D2 and catechol-o-methyltransferase single nucleotide polymorphisms on the risk for hazardous use of alcohol in Lithuanian population. Gene 2020; 765:145107. [PMID: 32889058 DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2020.145107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2020] [Revised: 08/24/2020] [Accepted: 08/27/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
AIM The Lithuanian population has outstanding rates of alcohol consumption and alcohol related mortality. Alteration of brain dopaminergic system play a role in the risk for addiction disorders. We evaluated the association of one single nucleotide polymorphism rs1800497 in the Ankyrin Repeat and Kinase Domain Containing 1 - Dopamine Receptor D2 complex (ANKK1-DRD2) and a catechol-o-methyltransferase (COMT) rs4680 single nucleotide polymorphism with the risk for alcohol use disorder and impulsiveness in Lithuanian population. Both genetic polymorphisms are known to alter brain dopaminergic activity, thus we also investigated the possible interaction effect of these polymorphisms. METHODS The study included 329 participants recruited from the local community. Hazardous alcohol use was evaluated using the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT). Impulsiveness was measured using the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale - 11 (BIS-11). Between group differences of AUDIT and BIS-11 scores were examined stratified by genetic polymorphisms and their combinations. The independent effect of each polymorphism and their interaction for hazardous alcohol use were evaluated using adjusted logistic regression analyses. RESULTS The ANKK1-DRD2 rs1800497 polymorphism was associated with total AUDIT score, but not with the hazardous use of alcohol, as indicated by the AUDIT test cut-off of 8. The COMT rs4680 GG genotype was associated with the hazardous use of alcohol (adjusted OR = 2.094, p = 0.029), but this association was not statistically significant after adjustment for multiple comparisons. Presence of both COMT rs4680 and ANKK1-DRD2 rs1800497 GGxCT/TT polymorphisms was associated with significantly increased risk for hazardous use of alcohol (adjusted OR = 5.016, p = 0.005). The COMT rs4680 and ANKK1-DRD2 rs1800497 genetic polymorphisms, and their combination were not associated with impulsiveness. CONCLUSIONS Our study demonstrated that the interaction of COMT rs4680 and ANKK1-DRD2 rs1800497 genetic polymorphisms is associated with a hazardous use of alcohol.
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Affiliation(s)
- Migle Kaminskaite
- Neuroscience Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania.
| | - Ramunas Jokubka
- Neuroscience Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania
| | | | - Inesa Lelyte
- Department of Psychology, Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania
| | - Liuda Sinkariova
- Department of Psychology, Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania
| | - Aiste Pranckeviciene
- Neuroscience Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania
| | - Vilmante Borutaite
- Neuroscience Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania
| | - Adomas Bunevicius
- Neuroscience Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania
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11
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Wächtler CO, Chakroun K, Clos M, Bayer J, Hennies N, Beaulieu JM, Sommer T. Region-specific effects of acute haloperidol in the human midbrain, striatum and cortex. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 2020; 35:126-135. [PMID: 32439227 DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2020.04.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2019] [Revised: 03/24/2020] [Accepted: 04/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
D2 autoreceptors provide an important regulatory mechanism of dopaminergic neurotransmission. However, D2 receptors are also expressed as heteroreceptors at postsynaptic membranes. The expression and the functional characteristics of both, D2 auto- and heteroreceptors, differ between brain regions. Therefore, one would expect that also the net response to a D2 antagonist, i.e. whether and to what degree overall neural activity increases or decreases, varies across brain areas. In the current study we systematically tested this hypothesis by parametrically increasing haloperidol levels (placebo, 2 and 3 mg) in healthy volunteers and measuring brain activity in the three major dopaminergic pathways. In particular, activity was assessed using fMRI while participants performed a working memory and a reinforcement learning task. Consistent with the hypothesis, across brain regions activity parametrically in- and decreased. Moreover, even within the same area there were function-specific concurrent de- and increases of activity, likely caused by input from upstream dopaminergic regions. In the ventral striatum, for instance, activity during reinforcement learning decreased for outcome processing while prediction error related activity increased. In conclusion, the current study highlights the intricacy of D2 neurotransmission which makes it difficult to predict the function-specific net response of a given area to pharmacological manipulations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Ole Wächtler
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Karima Chakroun
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Mareike Clos
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Janine Bayer
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Nora Hennies
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Jean Martin Beaulieu
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Tobias Sommer
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
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12
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Kujawa A, Klein DN, Pegg S, Weinberg A. Developmental trajectories to reduced activation of positive valence systems: A review of biological and environmental contributions. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2020; 43:100791. [PMID: 32510349 PMCID: PMC7225621 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2020.100791] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2019] [Revised: 03/29/2020] [Accepted: 04/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Reduced activation of positive valence systems (PVS), including blunted neural and physiological responses to pleasant stimuli and rewards, has been shown to prospectively predict the development of psychopathology. Yet, little is known about how reduced PVS activation emerges across development or what implications it has for prevention. We review genetic, temperament, parenting, and naturalistic and laboratory stress research on neural measures of PVS and outline developmentally-informed models of trajectories of PVS activation. PVS function is partly heritable and appears to reflect individual differences in early-emerging temperament traits. Although lab-induced stressors blunt PVS activation, effects of parenting and naturalistic stress on PVS are mixed and depend on the type of stressor, developmental timing, and interactions amongst risk factors. We propose that there may be multiple, dynamic developmental trajectories to reduced PVS activation in which combinations of genes, temperament, and exposure to severe, prolonged, or uncontrollable stress may exert direct and interactive effects on PVS function. Critically, these risk factors may alter PVS developmental trajectories and/or PVS sensitivity to proximal stressors. Distinct factors may converge such that PVS activation proceeds along a typical, accelerated, chronically low, or stress-reactive trajectory. Finally, we present directions for future research with translational implications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Autumn Kujawa
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, 230 Appleton Place, Nashville, TN 37203-5721, United States.
| | - Daniel N Klein
- Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, 100 Nicolls Road, Stony Brook, NY 11794-2500, United States.
| | - Samantha Pegg
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, 230 Appleton Place, Nashville, TN 37203-5721, United States.
| | - Anna Weinberg
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, 2001 McGill College Avenue, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 1G1, Canada.
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13
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Holz NE, Tost H, Meyer-Lindenberg A. Resilience and the brain: a key role for regulatory circuits linked to social stress and support. Mol Psychiatry 2020; 25:379-396. [PMID: 31628419 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-019-0551-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2019] [Revised: 09/17/2019] [Accepted: 10/01/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Given the high prevalence and burden of mental disorders, fostering the understanding of protective factors is an urgent issue for translational medicine in psychiatry. The concept of resilience describes individual and environmental protective factors against the backdrop of established adversities linked to mental illness. There is convergent evidence for a crucial role of direct as well as indirect adversity impacting the developing brain, with persisting effects until adulthood. Direct adversity may include childhood maltreatment and family adversity, while indirect social adversity can include factors such as urban living or ethnic minority status. Recently, research has begun to examine protective factors which may be able to buffer against or even reverse these influences. First evidence indicates that supportive social environments as well as trait-like individual protective characteristics might impact on similar neural substrates, thus strengthening the capacity to actively cope with stress exposure in order to counteract the detrimental effects evoked by social adversity. Here, we provide an overview of the current literature investigating the neural mechanisms of resilience with a putative social background, including studies on individual traits and genetic variation linked to resilience. We argue that the regulatory perigenual anterior cingulate cortex and limbic regions, including the amygdala and the ventral striatum, play a key role as crucial convergence sites of protective factors. Further, we discuss possible prevention and early intervention approaches targeting both the individual and the social environment to reduce the risk of psychiatric disorders and foster resilience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathalie E Holz
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Heike Tost
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany.
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14
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Li Z, Wang Y, Yan C, Cheung EFC, Docherty AR, Sham PC, Gur RE, Gur RC, Chan RCK. Inheritance of Neural Substrates for Motivation and Pleasure. Psychol Sci 2019; 30:1205-1217. [PMID: 31318629 DOI: 10.1177/0956797619859340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite advances in the understanding of the reward system and the role of dopamine in recent decades, the heritability of the underlying neural mechanisms is not known. In the present study, we examined the hemodynamic activation of the nucleus accumbens (NAcc), a key hub of the reward system, in 86 healthy monozygotic twins and 88 healthy dizygotic twins during a monetary-incentive-delay task. The participants also completed self-report measures of pleasure. Using voxelwise heritability mapping, we found that activation of the bilateral NAcc during the anticipation of monetary gains had significant heritability (h2 = .20-.49). Moreover, significant shared genetic covariance was observed between pleasure and NAcc activation during the anticipation of monetary gain. These findings suggest that both NAcc activation and self-reported pleasure may be heritable and that their phenotypic correlation may be partially explained by shared genetic variation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhi Li
- 1 Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.,2 Department of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
| | - Yi Wang
- 1 Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
| | - Chao Yan
- 3 Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University
| | | | - Anna R Docherty
- 5 Department of Psychiatry, University of Utah School of Medicine.,6 Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University
| | - Pak C Sham
- 7 Centre for Genomic Sciences, The University of Hong Kong.,8 State Key Laboratory in Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong.,9 Department of Psychiatry, The University of Hong Kong
| | - Raquel E Gur
- 10 Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
| | - Ruben C Gur
- 10 Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
| | - Raymond C K Chan
- 1 Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.,2 Department of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
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15
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Assessing drug cue-induced brain response in heroin dependents treated by methadone maintenance and protracted abstinence measures. Brain Imaging Behav 2019; 14:1221-1229. [DOI: 10.1007/s11682-019-00051-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
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16
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Tardiff N, Graves KN, Thompson-Schill SL. The Role of Frontostriatal Systems in Instructed Reinforcement Learning: Evidence From Genetic and Experimentally-Induced Variation. Front Hum Neurosci 2019; 12:472. [PMID: 30618672 PMCID: PMC6304395 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2018.00472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2018] [Accepted: 11/12/2018] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Instructions have a powerful effect on learning and decision-making, biasing choice even in the face of disconfirming feedback. Detrimental biasing effects have been reported in a number of studies in which instruction was given prior to trial-and-error learning. Previous work has attributed individual differences in instructional bias to variations in prefrontal and striatal dopaminergic genes, suggesting a role for prefrontally-mediated cognitive control processes in biasing learning. The current study replicates and extends these findings. Human subjects performed a probabilistic reinforcement learning task after receiving inaccurate instructions about the quality of one of the options. In order to establish a causal relationship between prefrontal cortical mechanisms and instructional bias, we applied transcranial direct current stimulation over dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (anodal, cathodal, or sham) while subjects performed the task. We additionally genotyped subjects for the COMT Val158Met genetic polymorphism, which influences the breakdown of prefrontal dopamine, and for the DAT1/SLC6A3 variable number tandem repeat, which affects expression of striatal dopamine transporter. We replicated the finding that the COMT Met allele is associated with increased instructional bias and further demonstrated that variation in DAT1 has similar effects to variation in COMT, with 9-repeat carriers demonstrating increased bias relative to 10-repeat homozygotes. Consistent with increased top-down regulation of reinforcement learning, anodal subjects demonstrated greater bias relative to sham, though this effect was present only early in training. In contrast, there was no effect of cathodal stimulation. Finally, we fit computational models to subjects' data to better characterize the mechanisms underlying instruction bias. A novel choice bias model, in which instructions influence decision-making rather than learning, was found to best account for subjects' behavior. Overall, these data provide further evidence for the role of frontostriatal interactions in biasing instructed reinforcement learning, which adds to the growing literature documenting both costs and benefits of cognitive control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan Tardiff
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Kathryn N Graves
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA, United States
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17
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Alaghband Y, Kramár E, Kwapis JL, Kim ES, Hemstedt TJ, López AJ, White AO, Al-Kachak A, Aimiuwu OV, Bodinayake KK, Oparaugo NC, Han J, Lattal KM, Wood MA. CREST in the Nucleus Accumbens Core Regulates Cocaine Conditioned Place Preference, Cocaine-Seeking Behavior, and Synaptic Plasticity. J Neurosci 2018; 38:9514-9526. [PMID: 30228227 PMCID: PMC6209848 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2911-17.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2017] [Revised: 08/29/2018] [Accepted: 09/06/2018] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Epigenetic mechanisms result in persistent changes at the cellular level that can lead to long-lasting behavioral adaptations. Nucleosome remodeling is a major epigenetic mechanism that has not been well explored with regards to drug-seeking behaviors. Nucleosome remodeling is performed by multi-subunit complexes that interact with DNA or chromatin structure and possess an ATP-dependent enzyme to disrupt nucleosome-DNA contacts and ultimately regulate gene expression. Calcium responsive transactivator (CREST) is a transcriptional activator that interacts with enzymes involved in both histone acetylation and nucleosome remodeling. Here, we examined the effects of knocking down CREST in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) core on drug-seeking behavior and synaptic plasticity in male mice as well as drug-seeking in male rats. Knocking down CREST in the NAc core results in impaired cocaine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) as well as theta-induced long-term potentiation in the NAc core. Further, similar to the CPP findings, using a self-administration procedure, we found that CREST knockdown in the NAc core of male rats had no effect on instrumental responding for cocaine itself on a first-order schedule, but did significantly attenuate responding on a second-order chain schedule, in which responding has a weaker association with cocaine. Together, these results suggest that CREST in the NAc core is required for cocaine-induced CPP, synaptic plasticity, as well as cocaine-seeking behavior.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT This study demonstrates a key role for the role of Calcium responsive transactivator (CREST), a transcriptional activator, in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) core with regard to cocaine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP), self-administration (SA), and synaptic plasticity. CREST is a unique transcriptional regulator that can recruit enzymes from two different major epigenetic mechanisms: histone acetylation and nucleosome remodeling. In this study we also found that the level of potentiation in the NAc core correlated with whether or not animals formed a CPP. Together the results indicate that CREST is a key downstream regulator of cocaine action in the NAc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yasaman Alaghband
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
- Irvine Center for Addiction Neuroscience
- Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, Irvine, California, 92697, and
| | - Enikö Kramár
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
- Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, Irvine, California, 92697, and
| | - Janine L Kwapis
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
- Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697
- Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, Irvine, California, 92697, and
| | - Earnest S Kim
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon 97239
| | - Thekla J Hemstedt
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
- Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, Irvine, California, 92697, and
| | - Alberto J López
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
- Irvine Center for Addiction Neuroscience
- Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, Irvine, California, 92697, and
| | - André O White
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
- Irvine Center for Addiction Neuroscience
- Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, Irvine, California, 92697, and
| | - Amni Al-Kachak
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
- Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, Irvine, California, 92697, and
| | - Osasumwen V Aimiuwu
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
- Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, Irvine, California, 92697, and
| | - Kasuni K Bodinayake
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
- Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, Irvine, California, 92697, and
| | - Nicole C Oparaugo
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
- Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, Irvine, California, 92697, and
| | - Joseph Han
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
- Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, Irvine, California, 92697, and
| | - K Matthew Lattal
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon 97239
| | - Marcelo A Wood
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory,
- Irvine Center for Addiction Neuroscience
- Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697
- Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, Irvine, California, 92697, and
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18
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Holz NE, Zohsel K, Laucht M, Banaschewski T, Hohmann S, Brandeis D. Gene x environment interactions in conduct disorder: Implications for future treatments. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2018; 91:239-258. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.08.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2016] [Revised: 07/27/2016] [Accepted: 08/15/2016] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
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19
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Wang L, Sun H, Li L, Meng L. Hey, what is your choice? Uncertainty and inconsistency enhance subjective anticipation of upcoming information in a social context. Exp Brain Res 2018; 236:2797-2810. [DOI: 10.1007/s00221-018-5336-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2018] [Accepted: 07/16/2018] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
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20
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Dopaminergic Genetic Variation Influences Aripiprazole Effects on Alcohol Self-Administration and the Neural Response to Alcohol Cues in a Randomized Trial. Neuropsychopharmacology 2018; 43:1247-1256. [PMID: 29362512 PMCID: PMC5916367 DOI: 10.1038/npp.2017.298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2017] [Revised: 11/27/2017] [Accepted: 12/02/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Dopamine (DA) signaling regulates many aspects of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). However, clinical studies of dopaminergic medications, including the DA partial agonist aripiprazole (APZ), have been inconsistent, suggesting the possibility of a pharmacogenetic interaction. This study examined whether variation in DA-related genes moderated APZ effects on reward-related AUD phenotypes. The interacting effects of APZ and a variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) polymorphism in DAT1/SLC6A3 (the gene encoding the DA transporter (DAT)) were tested. In addition, interactions between APZ and a genetic composite comprising the DAT1 VNTR and functional polymorphisms in catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), DRD2, and DRD4 were evaluated. Ninety-four non-treatment-seeking individuals with AUD were genotyped for these polymorphisms, randomized to APZ (titrated to 15 mg) or placebo for 8 days, and underwent an fMRI alcohol cue-reactivity task (day 7; n=81) and a bar lab paradigm (day 8). Primary outcomes were alcohol cue-elicited ventral striatal (VS) activation and the number of drinks consumed in the bar lab. DAT1 genotype significantly moderated medication effects, such that APZ, relative to placebo, reduced VS activation and bar-lab drinking only among carriers of the DAT1 9-repeat allele, previously associated with lower DAT expression and greater reward-related brain activation. The genetic composite further moderated medication effects, such that APZ reduced the primary outcomes more among individuals who carried a larger number of DAT1, COMT, DRD2, and DRD4 alleles associated with higher DA tone. Taken together, these data suggest that APZ may be a promising AUD treatment for individuals with a genetic predisposition to higher synaptic DA tone.
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21
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VAN DER Mee DJ, Fedko IO, Hottenga JJ, Ehli EA, VAN DER Zee MD, Ligthart L, VAN Beijsterveldt TCEM, Davies GE, Bartels M, Landers JG, DE Geus EJC. Dopaminergic Genetic Variants and Voluntary Externally Paced Exercise Behavior. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2018; 50:700-708. [PMID: 29135816 PMCID: PMC5856580 DOI: 10.1249/mss.0000000000001479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE Most candidate gene studies on the neurobiology of voluntary exercise behavior have focused on the dopaminergic signaling pathway and its role in the mesolimbic reward system. We hypothesized that dopaminergic candidate genes may influence exercise behavior through additional effects on executive functioning and that these effects are only detected when the types of exercise activity are taken into account. METHODS Data on voluntary exercise behavior and at least one single-nucleotide polymorphism/variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) were available for 12,929 participants of the Netherlands Twin Registry. Exercise activity was classified as externally paced if a high level of executive function skill was required. The total volume of voluntary exercise (minutes per week) as well as the volume specifically spent on externally paced activities were tested for association with nine functional dopaminergic polymorphisms (DRD1: rs265981, DRD2/ANKK1: rs1800497, DRD3: rs6280, DRD4: VNTR 48 bp, DRD5: VNTR 130-166 bp, DBH: rs2519152, DAT1: VNTR 40 bp, COMT: rs4680, MAOA: VNTR 30 bp), a polygenic score (PGS) based on nine alleles leading to lower dopamine responsiveness, and a PGS based on three alleles associated with both higher reward sensitivity and better executive functioning (DRD2/ANKK1: "G" allele, COMT: Met allele, DAT1: 440-bp allele). RESULTS No association with total exercise volume or externally paced exercise volume was found for individual alleles or the nine-allele PGS. The volume of externally paced exercise behavior was significantly associated with the reward and executive function congruent PGS. This association was driven by the DAT1 440-bp and COMT Met allele, which acted as increaser alleles for externally paced exercise behavior. CONCLUSIONS Taking into account the types of exercise activity may increase the success of identifying genetic variants and unraveling the neurobiology of voluntary exercise behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Denise J VAN DER Mee
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
| | - Iryna O Fedko
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
| | - Jouke-Jan Hottenga
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
| | - Erik A Ehli
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
| | - Matthijs D VAN DER Zee
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
| | - Lannie Ligthart
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
| | | | - Gareth E Davies
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
| | - Meike Bartels
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
| | - Joseph G Landers
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
| | - Eco J C DE Geus
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
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22
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Elevated outcome-anticipation and outcome-evaluation ERPs associated with a greater preference for larger-but-delayed rewards. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2018; 17:625-641. [PMID: 28224457 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-017-0501-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Although waiting for a reward reduces or discounts its value, some people have a stronger tendency to wait for larger rewards and forgo smaller-but-immediate rewards. This ability to delay gratification is captured by individual differences in so-called intertemporal choices in which individuals are asked to choose between larger-but-delayed versus smaller-but-immediate rewards. The current study used event-related potentials (ERPs) to examine whether enhancement in two neurocognitive processes, outcome anticipation and outcome evaluation, modulate individual variability in intertemporal responses. After completing a behavioral intertemporal choice task, 34 participants performed an ERP gambling task. From this ERP task, we separately examined individual differences in outcome anticipation (stimulus-preceding negativity; SPN), early outcome valuation (feedback-related negativity; FRN), and late outcome evaluation (P3). We observed that both elevated outcome-anticipation (SPN) and late outcome-evaluation (P3) neural processes predicted a stronger preference toward larger-but-delayed rewards. No relationship was observed between intertemporal responses and early outcome evaluation (FRN), indicating that the relationship between outcome evaluation and intertemporal responses was specific to the late outcome-evaluation processing stream. Moreover, multiple regression analyses indicated that the SPN and P3 independently modulate individual differences in intertemporal responses, suggesting separate mechanisms underlie the relationship between these two neurocognitive processes and intertemporal responses. Accordingly, we identify two potential neurocognitive modulators of individual variability in intertemporal responses. We discuss the mechanisms underlying these modulators in terms of anticipation-related processing (SPN) and a saliency bias toward gain (compared to loss) outcomes (P3).
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23
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Diaconescu AO, Mathys C, Weber LAE, Kasper L, Mauer J, Stephan KE. Hierarchical prediction errors in midbrain and septum during social learning. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2018; 12:618-634. [PMID: 28119508 PMCID: PMC5390746 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsw171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2015] [Accepted: 11/24/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Social learning is fundamental to human interactions, yet its computational and physiological mechanisms are not well understood. One prominent open question concerns the role of neuromodulatory transmitters. We combined fMRI, computational modelling and genetics to address this question in two separate samples (N = 35, N = 47). Participants played a game requiring inference on an adviser’s intentions whose motivation to help or mislead changed over time. Our analyses suggest that hierarchically structured belief updates about current advice validity and the adviser’s trustworthiness, respectively, depend on different neuromodulatory systems. Low-level prediction errors (PEs) about advice accuracy not only activated regions known to support ‘theory of mind’, but also the dopaminergic midbrain. Furthermore, PE responses in ventral striatum were influenced by the Met/Val polymorphism of the Catechol-O-Methyltransferase (COMT) gene. By contrast, high-level PEs (‘expected uncertainty’) about the adviser’s fidelity activated the cholinergic septum. These findings, replicated in both samples, have important implications: They suggest that social learning rests on hierarchically related PEs encoded by midbrain and septum activity, respectively, in the same manner as other forms of learning under volatility. Furthermore, these hierarchical PEs may be broadcast by dopaminergic and cholinergic projections to induce plasticity specifically in cortical areas known to represent beliefs about others.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreea O Diaconescu
- Translational Neuromodeling Unit, Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University of Zurich & ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Laboratory for Social and Neural Systems Research, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Christoph Mathys
- Translational Neuromodeling Unit, Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University of Zurich & ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Laboratory for Social and Neural Systems Research, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London, UK.,Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK
| | - Lilian A E Weber
- Translational Neuromodeling Unit, Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University of Zurich & ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Laboratory for Social and Neural Systems Research, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Lars Kasper
- Translational Neuromodeling Unit, Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University of Zurich & ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Laboratory for Social and Neural Systems Research, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Jan Mauer
- Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research, Cologne, Germany.,Department of Pharmacology, Weill Medical College, Cornell University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Klaas E Stephan
- Translational Neuromodeling Unit, Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University of Zurich & ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Laboratory for Social and Neural Systems Research, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research, Cologne, Germany.,Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK
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24
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Elton A, Smith CT, Parrish MH, Boettiger CA. COMT Val 158Met Polymorphism Exerts Sex-Dependent Effects on fMRI Measures of Brain Function. Front Hum Neurosci 2017; 11:578. [PMID: 29270116 PMCID: PMC5723646 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00578] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2017] [Accepted: 11/16/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Evidence suggests that dopamine levels in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) modulate executive functions. A key regulator of PFC dopamine is catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT). The activity level of the COMT enzyme are influenced by sex and the Val158Met polymorphism (rs4680) of the COMT gene, with male sex and Val alleles both being associated with higher bulk enzyme activity, and presumably lower PFC dopamine. COMT genotype has not only been associated with individual differences in frontal dopamine-mediated behaviors, but also with variations in neuroimaging measures of brain activity and functional connectivity. In this study, we investigated whether COMT genotype predicts individual differences in neural activity and connectivity, and whether such effects are sex-dependent. We tested 93 healthy adults (48 females), genotyped for the Val158Met polymorphism, in a delay discounting task and at rest during fMRI. Delay discounting behavior was predicted by an interaction of COMT genotype and sex, consistent with a U-shaped relationship with enzyme activity. COMT genotype and sex similarly exhibited U-shaped relationships with individual differences in neural activation, particularly among networks that were most engaged by the task, including the default-mode network. Effects of COMT genotype and sex on functional connectivity during rest were also U-shaped. In contrast, flexible reorganization of network connections across task conditions varied linearly with COMT among both sexes. These data provide insight into the potential influences of COMT-regulated variations in catecholamine levels on brain function, which may represent endophenotypes for disorders of impulsivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda Elton
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States.,Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Christopher T Smith
- Neuroscience Curriculum, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Michael H Parrish
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Charlotte A Boettiger
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States.,Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States.,Neuroscience Curriculum, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States.,Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
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25
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Miller CWT. Epigenetic and Neural Circuitry Landscape of Psychotherapeutic Interventions. PSYCHIATRY JOURNAL 2017; 2017:5491812. [PMID: 29226124 PMCID: PMC5684598 DOI: 10.1155/2017/5491812] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2016] [Accepted: 04/11/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
The science behind psychotherapy has garnered considerable interest, as objective measures are being developed to map the patient's subjective change over the course of treatment. Prenatal and early life influences have a lasting impact on how genes are expressed and the manner in which neural circuits are consolidated. Transgenerationally transmitted epigenetic markers as well as templates of enhanced thought flexibility versus evasion can be passed down from parent to child. This influences gene expression/repression (impacting neuroplasticity) and kindling of neurocircuitry which can perpetuate maladaptive cognitive processing seen in a number of psychiatric conditions. Importantly, genetic factors and the compounding effects of early life adversity do not inexorably lead to certain fated outcomes. The concepts of vulnerability and resilience are becoming more integrated into the framework of "differential susceptibility," speaking to how corrective environmental factors may promote epigenetic change and reconfigure neural templates, allowing for symptomatic improvement. Psychotherapy is one such factor, and this review will focus on our current knowledge of its epigenetic and neurocircuitry impact.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher W. T. Miller
- University of Maryland School of Medicine, 701 W. Pratt St., 4th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
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26
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Modest Amounts of Voluntary Exercise Reduce Pain- and Stress-Related Outcomes in a Rat Model of Persistent Hind Limb Inflammation. THE JOURNAL OF PAIN 2017; 18:687-701. [PMID: 28185925 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpain.2017.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2016] [Revised: 01/13/2017] [Accepted: 01/17/2017] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Aerobic exercise improves outcomes in a variety of chronic health conditions, yet the support for exercise-induced effects on chronic pain in humans is mixed. Although many rodent studies have examined the effects of exercise on persistent hypersensitivity, the most used forced exercise paradigms that are known to be highly stressful. Because stress can also produce analgesic effects, we studied how voluntary exercise, known to reduce stress in healthy subjects, alters hypersensitivity, stress, and swelling in a rat model of persistent hind paw inflammation. Our data indicate that voluntary exercise rapidly and effectively reduces hypersensitivity as well as stress-related outcomes without altering swelling. Moreover, the level of exercise is unrelated to the analgesic and stress-reducing effects, suggesting that even modest amounts of exercise may impart significant benefit in persistent inflammatory pain states. PERSPECTIVE Modest levels of voluntary exercise reduce pain- and stress-related outcomes in a rat model of persistent inflammatory pain, independently of the amount of exercise. As such, consistent, self-regulated activity levels may be more relevant to health improvement in persistent pain states than standardized exercise goals.
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27
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Corral-Frías NS, Pizzagalli DA, Carré JM, Michalski LJ, Nikolova YS, Perlis RH, Fagerness J, Lee MR, Conley ED, Lancaster TM, Haddad S, Wolf A, Smoller JW, Hariri AR, Bogdan R. COMT Val(158) Met genotype is associated with reward learning: a replication study and meta-analysis. GENES BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR 2017; 15:503-13. [PMID: 27138112 DOI: 10.1111/gbb.12296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2016] [Revised: 03/25/2016] [Accepted: 04/14/2016] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Identifying mechanisms through which individual differences in reward learning emerge offers an opportunity to understand both a fundamental form of adaptive responding as well as etiological pathways through which aberrant reward learning may contribute to maladaptive behaviors and psychopathology. One candidate mechanism through which individual differences in reward learning may emerge is variability in dopaminergic reinforcement signaling. A common functional polymorphism within the catechol-O-methyl transferase gene (COMT; rs4680, Val(158) Met) has been linked to reward learning, where homozygosity for the Met allele (linked to heightened prefrontal dopamine function and decreased dopamine synthesis in the midbrain) has been associated with relatively increased reward learning. Here, we used a probabilistic reward learning task to asses response bias, a behavioral form of reward learning, across three separate samples that were combined for analyses (age: 21.80 ± 3.95; n = 392; 268 female; European-American: n = 208). We replicate prior reports that COMT rs4680 Met allele homozygosity is associated with increased reward learning in European-American participants (β = 0.20, t = 2.75, P < 0.01; ΔR(2) = 0.04). Moreover, a meta-analysis of 4 studies, including the current one, confirmed the association between COMT rs4680 genotype and reward learning (95% CI -0.11 to -0.03; z = 3.2; P < 0.01). These results suggest that variability in dopamine signaling associated with COMT rs4680 influences individual differences in reward which may potentially contribute to psychopathology characterized by reward dysfunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- N S Corral-Frías
- Psychiatry Department, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.,BRAIN Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - D A Pizzagalli
- Center For Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research and Neuroimaging Center, McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Belmont, MA, USA
| | - J M Carré
- Nipissing University, North Bay, Ontario, Canada
| | - L J Michalski
- BRAIN Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Y S Nikolova
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - R H Perlis
- Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - J Fagerness
- Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - M R Lee
- National Institute on Drug Abuse, Intramural Research Program, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | | | - T M Lancaster
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - S Haddad
- Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - A Wolf
- Department of Psychiatry Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - J W Smoller
- Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - A R Hariri
- Laboratory of NeuroGenetics, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - R Bogdan
- BRAIN Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.,Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
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28
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Pornpattananangkul N, Nusslock R. Willing to wait: Elevated reward-processing EEG activity associated with a greater preference for larger-but-delayed rewards. Neuropsychologia 2016; 91:141-162. [PMID: 27477630 PMCID: PMC5110616 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.07.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2016] [Accepted: 07/28/2016] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
While almost everyone discounts the value of future rewards over immediate rewards, people differ in their so-called delay-discounting. One of the several factors that may explain individual differences in delay-discounting is reward-processing. To study individual-differences in reward-processing, however, one needs to consider the heterogeneity of neural-activity at each reward-processing stage. Here using EEG, we separated reward-related neural activity into distinct reward-anticipation and reward-outcome stages using time-frequency characteristics. Thirty-seven individuals first completed a behavioral delay-discounting task. Then reward-processing EEG activity was assessed using a separate reward-learning task, called a reward time-estimation task. During this EEG task, participants were instructed to estimate time duration and were provided performance feedback on a trial-by-trial basis. Participants received monetary-reward for accurate-performance on Reward trials, but not on No-Reward trials. Reward trials, relative to No-Reward trials, enhanced EEG activity during both reward-anticipation (including, cued-locked delta power during cue-evaluation and pre-feedback alpha suppression during feedback-anticipation) and reward-outcome (including, feedback-locked delta, theta and beta power) stages. Moreover, all of these EEG indices correlated with behavioral performance in the time-estimation task, suggesting their essential roles in learning and adjusting performance to maximize winnings in a reward-learning situation. Importantly, enhanced EEG power during Reward trials, as reflected by stronger 1) pre-feedback alpha suppression, 2) feedback-locked theta and 3) feedback-locked beta, was associated with a greater preference for larger-but-delayed rewards in a separate, behavioral delay-discounting task. Results highlight the association between a stronger preference toward larger-but-delayed rewards and enhanced reward-processing. Moreover, our reward-processing EEG indices detail the specific stages of reward-processing where these associations occur.
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Affiliation(s)
- Narun Pornpattananangkul
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States; Department of Psychology, University of Singapore, Singapore.
| | - Robin Nusslock
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
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29
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van Duin EDA, Goossens L, Hernaus D, da Silva Alves F, Schmitz N, Schruers K, van Amelsvoort T. Neural correlates of reward processing in adults with 22q11 deletion syndrome. J Neurodev Disord 2016; 8:25. [PMID: 27429661 PMCID: PMC4946156 DOI: 10.1186/s11689-016-9158-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2015] [Accepted: 07/05/2016] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS) is caused by a microdeletion on chromosome 22q11.2 and associated with an increased risk to develop psychosis. The gene coding for catechol-O-methyl-transferase (COMT) is located at the deleted region, resulting in disrupted dopaminergic neurotransmission in 22q11DS, which may contribute to the increased vulnerability for psychosis. A dysfunctional motivational reward system is considered one of the salient features in psychosis and thought to be related to abnormal dopaminergic neurotransmission. The functional anatomy of the brain reward circuitry has not yet been investigated in 22q11DS. METHODS This study aims to investigate neural activity during anticipation of reward and loss in adult patients with 22q11DS. We measured blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) activity in 16 patients with 22q11DS and 12 healthy controls during a monetary incentive delay task using a 3T Philips Intera MRI system. Data were analysed using SPM8. RESULTS During anticipation of reward, the 22q11DS group alone displayed significant activation in bilateral middle frontal and temporal brain regions. Compared to healthy controls, significantly less activation in bilateral cingulate gyrus extending to premotor, primary motor and somatosensory areas was found. During anticipation of loss, the 22q11DS group displayed activity in the left middle frontal gyrus and anterior cingulate cortex, and relative to controls, they showed reduced brain activation in bilateral (pre)cuneus and left posterior cingulate. Within the 22q11DS group, COMT Val hemizygotes displayed more activation compared to Met hemizygotes in right posterior cingulate and bilateral parietal regions during anticipation of reward. During anticipation of loss, COMT Met hemizygotes compared to Val hemizygotes showed more activation in bilateral insula, striatum and left anterior cingulate. CONCLUSIONS This is the first study to investigate reward processing in 22q11DS. Our preliminary results suggest that people with 22q11DS engage a fronto-temporal neural network. Compared to healthy controls, people with 22q11DS primarily displayed reduced activity in medial frontal regions during reward anticipation. COMT hemizygosity affects responsivity of the reward system in this condition. Alterations in reward processing partly underlain by the dopamine system may play a role in susceptibility for psychosis in 22q11DS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esther D. A. van Duin
- />Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Liesbet Goossens
- />Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Dennis Hernaus
- />Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Fabiana da Silva Alves
- />Department of Psychiatry, Academic Medical Centre Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Nicole Schmitz
- />Department of Psychiatry, Academic Medical Centre Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Koen Schruers
- />Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Therese van Amelsvoort
- />Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
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30
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Boecker-Schlier R, Holz NE, Buchmann AF, Blomeyer D, Plichta MM, Jennen-Steinmetz C, Wolf I, Baumeister S, Treutlein J, Rietschel M, Meyer-Lindenberg A, Banaschewski T, Brandeis D, Laucht M. Interaction between COMT Val158Met polymorphism and childhood adversity affects reward processing in adulthood. Neuroimage 2016; 132:556-570. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.02.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2015] [Revised: 02/03/2016] [Accepted: 02/04/2016] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
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31
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Holmes RD, Tiwari AK, Kennedy JL. Mechanisms of the placebo effect in pain and psychiatric disorders. THE PHARMACOGENOMICS JOURNAL 2016; 16:491-500. [PMID: 27001122 DOI: 10.1038/tpj.2016.15] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2014] [Revised: 11/17/2015] [Accepted: 01/20/2016] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Placebo effect research over the past 15 years has improved our understanding of how placebo treatments reduce patient symptoms. The expectation of symptom improvement is the primary factor underlying the placebo effect. Such expectations are shaped by past experiences, contextual cues and biological traits, which ultimately modulate one's degree of response to a placebo. The body of evidence that describes the physiology of the placebo effect has been derived from mechanistic studies primarily restricted to the setting of pain. Imaging findings support the role of endogenous opioid and dopaminergic networks in placebo analgesia in both healthy patients as well as patients with painful medical conditions. In patients with psychiatric illnesses such as anxiety disorders or depression, a vast overlap in neurological changes is observed in drug responders and placebo responders supporting the role of serotonergic networks in placebo response. Molecular techniques have been relatively underutilized in understanding the placebo effect until recently. We present an overview of the placebo responder phenotypes and genetic markers that have been associated with the placebo effect in pain, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders and depression.
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Affiliation(s)
- R D Holmes
- Neurogenetics Section, Neuroscience Department, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - A K Tiwari
- Neurogenetics Section, Neuroscience Department, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - J L Kennedy
- Neurogenetics Section, Neuroscience Department, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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32
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Interacting Neural Processes of Feeding, Hyperactivity, Stress, Reward, and the Utility of the Activity-Based Anorexia Model of Anorexia Nervosa. Harv Rev Psychiatry 2016; 24:416-436. [PMID: 27824637 PMCID: PMC5485261 DOI: 10.1097/hrp.0000000000000111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a psychiatric illness with minimal effective treatments and a very high rate of mortality. Understanding the neurobiological underpinnings of the disease is imperative for improving outcomes and can be aided by the study of animal models. The activity-based anorexia rodent model (ABA) is the current best parallel for the study of AN. This review describes the basic neurobiology of feeding and hyperactivity seen in both ABA and AN, and compiles the research on the role that stress-response and reward pathways play in modulating the homeostatic drive to eat and to expend energy, which become dysfunctional in ABA and AN.
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33
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Genes of the dopaminergic system selectively modulate top-down but not bottom-up attention. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2015; 15:104-16. [PMID: 25253063 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-014-0320-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Cognitive performance is modulated by the neurotransmitter dopamine (DA). Recently, it has been proposed that DA has a strong impact on top-down but not on bottom-up selective visual attention. We tested this assumption by analyzing the influence of two gene variants of the dopaminergic system. Both the catechol O-methyltransferase (COMT) protein and the dopamine transporter (DAT) protein are crucial for the degradation and inactivation of DA. These metabolizing proteins modulate the availability of DA, especially in the prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia. The functional COMT Val158Met polymorphism of the COMT gene represents two coding variants, valine and methionine. In Met allele carriers, the COMT activity is reduced three- to fourfold. A variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) polymorphism exists in the DAT1 gene, which encodes DAT. The DAT density was reported to be about 50% higher for the DAT1 10-repeat than the DAT1 9-repeat allele. We assessed attention via two experimental tasks that predominantly measure either top-down processing (the Stroop task) or bottom-up processing (the Posner-Cuing task). Carriers of the Met allele of the COMT Val158Met polymorphism displayed better performance in the Stroop task, but did not outperform the other participants in the Posner-Cuing task. The same result was noted for carriers of the DAT1 10-repeat allele. From these findings, we suggest that normal variations of the dopaminergic system impact more strongly on top-down than on bottom-up attention.
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34
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Schmack K, Rössler H, Sekutowicz M, Brandl EJ, Müller DJ, Petrovic P, Sterzer P. Linking unfounded beliefs to genetic dopamine availability. Front Hum Neurosci 2015; 9:521. [PMID: 26483654 PMCID: PMC4588007 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2015.00521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2015] [Accepted: 09/07/2015] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Unfounded convictions involving beliefs in the paranormal, grandiosity ideas or suspicious thoughts are endorsed at varying degrees among the general population. Here, we investigated the neurobiopsychological basis of the observed inter-individual variability in the propensity toward unfounded beliefs. One hundred two healthy individuals were genotyped for four polymorphisms in the COMT gene (rs6269, rs4633, rs4818, and rs4680, also known as val158met) that define common functional haplotypes with substantial impact on synaptic dopamine degradation, completed a questionnaire measuring unfounded beliefs, and took part in a behavioral experiment assessing perceptual inference. We found that greater dopamine availability was associated with a stronger propensity toward unfounded beliefs, and that this effect was statistically mediated by an enhanced influence of expectations on perceptual inference. Our results indicate that genetic differences in dopaminergic neurotransmission account for inter-individual differences in perceptual inference linked to the formation and maintenance of unfounded beliefs. Thus, dopamine might be critically involved in the processes underlying one's interpretation of the relationship between the self and the world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katharina Schmack
- Department of Psychiatry, Charité Campus Mitte, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin Berlin, Germany
| | - Hannes Rössler
- Department of Psychiatry, Charité Campus Mitte, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin Berlin, Germany
| | - Maria Sekutowicz
- Department of Psychiatry, Charité Campus Mitte, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin Berlin, Germany
| | - Eva J Brandl
- Department of Psychiatry, Charité Campus Mitte, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin Berlin, Germany
| | - Daniel J Müller
- Neurogenetics Section, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Predrag Petrovic
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Philipp Sterzer
- Department of Psychiatry, Charité Campus Mitte, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin Berlin, Germany
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35
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Li Q, Li W, Wang H, Wang Y, Zhang Y, Zhu J, Zheng Y, Zhang D, Wang L, Li Y, Yan X, Chang H, Fan M, Li Z, Tian J, Gold MS, Wang W, Liu Y. Predicting subsequent relapse by drug-related cue-induced brain activation in heroin addiction: an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Addict Biol 2015; 20:968-78. [PMID: 25214465 DOI: 10.1111/adb.12182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Abnormal salience attribution is implicated in heroin addiction. Previously, combining functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and a drug cue-reactivity task, we demonstrated abnormal patterns of subjective response and brain reactivity in heroin-dependent individuals. However, whether the changes in cue-induced brain response were related to relapse was unknown. In a prospective study, we recruited 49 heroin-dependent patients under methadone maintenance treatment, a gold standard treatment (average daily dose 41.8 ± 16.0 mg), and 20 healthy subjects to perform the heroin cue-reactivity task during fMRI. The patients' subjective craving was evaluated. They participated in a follow-up assessment for 3 months, during which heroin use was assessed and relapse was confirmed by self-reported relapse or urine toxicology. Differences between relapsers and non-relapsers were analyzed with respect to the results from heroin-cue responses. Compared with healthy subjects, relapsers and non-relapsers commonly demonstrated significantly increased brain responses during the processing of heroin cues in the mesolimbic system, prefrontal regions and visuospatial-attention regions. However, compared with non-relapsers, relapsers demonstrated significantly greater cue-induced craving and the brain response mainly in the bilateral nucleus accumbens/subcallosal cortex and cerebellum. Although the cue-induced heroin craving was low in absolute measures, the change in craving positively correlated with the activation of the nucleus accumbens/subcallosal cortex among the patients. These findings suggest that in treatment-seeking heroin-dependent individuals, greater cue-induced craving and greater specific regional activations might be related to reward/craving and memory retrieval processes. These responses may predict relapse and represent important targets for the development of new treatment for heroin addiction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiang Li
- Department of Radiology; Tangdu Hospital; The Fourth Military Medical University; Xi'an China
- Department of Psychiatry; McKnight Brain Institute; University of Florida College of Medicine; Gainesville FL USA
| | - Wei Li
- Department of Radiology; Tangdu Hospital; The Fourth Military Medical University; Xi'an China
| | - Hanyue Wang
- Department of Radiology; Tangdu Hospital; The Fourth Military Medical University; Xi'an China
| | - Yarong Wang
- Department of Radiology; Tangdu Hospital; The Fourth Military Medical University; Xi'an China
| | - Yi Zhang
- School of Life Science and Technology; Xidian University; Xi'an China
| | - Jia Zhu
- Department of Radiology; Tangdu Hospital; The Fourth Military Medical University; Xi'an China
| | - Ying Zheng
- Department of Radiology; Tangdu Hospital; The Fourth Military Medical University; Xi'an China
| | - Dongsheng Zhang
- Department of Radiology; Tangdu Hospital; The Fourth Military Medical University; Xi'an China
| | - Lina Wang
- Department of Radiology; Tangdu Hospital; The Fourth Military Medical University; Xi'an China
| | - Yongbin Li
- Department of Radiology; Tangdu Hospital; The Fourth Military Medical University; Xi'an China
| | - Xuejiao Yan
- Department of Radiology; Tangdu Hospital; The Fourth Military Medical University; Xi'an China
| | - Haifeng Chang
- Department of Radiology; Tangdu Hospital; The Fourth Military Medical University; Xi'an China
| | - Min Fan
- Department of Radiology; Tangdu Hospital; The Fourth Military Medical University; Xi'an China
| | - Zhe Li
- Department of Radiology; Tangdu Hospital; The Fourth Military Medical University; Xi'an China
| | - Jie Tian
- Department of Radiology; Tangdu Hospital; The Fourth Military Medical University; Xi'an China
- School of Life Science and Technology; Xidian University; Xi'an China
| | - Mark S. Gold
- Department of Psychiatry; McKnight Brain Institute; University of Florida College of Medicine; Gainesville FL USA
| | - Wei Wang
- Department of Radiology; Tangdu Hospital; The Fourth Military Medical University; Xi'an China
| | - Yijun Liu
- Department of Radiology; Tangdu Hospital; The Fourth Military Medical University; Xi'an China
- Department of Psychiatry; McKnight Brain Institute; University of Florida College of Medicine; Gainesville FL USA
- College of Engineering; Peking University; Beijing China
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36
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Blum K, Thompson B, Demotrovics Z, Femino J, Giordano J, Oscar-Berman M, Teitelbaum S, Smith DE, Roy AK, Agan G, Fratantonio J, Badgaiyan RD, Gold MS. The Molecular Neurobiology of Twelve Steps Program & Fellowship: Connecting the Dots for Recovery. JOURNAL OF REWARD DEFICIENCY SYNDROME 2015; 1:46-64. [PMID: 26306329 PMCID: PMC4545669 DOI: 10.17756/jrds.2015-008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
There are some who suggest that alcoholism and drug abuse are not diseases at all and that they are not consequences of a brain disorder as espoused recently by the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM). Some would argue that addicts can quit on their own and moderate their alcohol and drug intake. When they present to a treatment program or enter the 12 Step Program & Fellowship, many addicts finally achieve complete abstinence. However, when controlled drinking fails, there may be successful alternatives that fit particular groups of individuals. In this expert opinion, we attempt to identify personal differences in recovery, by clarifying the molecular neurobiological basis of each step of the 12 Step Program. We explore the impact that the molecular neurobiological basis of the 12 steps can have on Reward Deficiency Syndrome (RDS) despite addiction risk gene polymorphisms. This exploration has already been accomplished in part by Blum and others in a 2013 Springer Neuroscience Brief. The purpose of this expert opinion is to briefly, outline the molecular neurobiological and genetic links, especially as they relate to the role of epigenetic changes that are possible in individuals who regularly attend AA meetings. It begs the question as to whether "12 steps programs and fellowship" does induce neuroplasticity and continued dopamine D2 receptor proliferation despite carrying hypodopaminergic type polymorphisms such as DRD2 A1 allele. "Like-minded" doctors of ASAM are cognizant that patients in treatment without the "psycho-social-spiritual trio," may not be obtaining the important benefits afforded by adopting 12-step doctrines. Are we better off with coupling medical assisted treatment (MAT) that favors combining dopamine agonist modalities (DAM) as possible histone-deacetylase activators with the 12 steps followed by a program that embraces either one or the other? While there are many unanswered questions, at least we have reached a time when "science meets recovery," and in doing so, can further redeem joy in recovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth Blum
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine and McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
- Department of Addiction Research and Therapy, Malibu Beach Recovery Center, Malibu Beach, CA, USA
- Dominion Diagnostics, Inc., North Kingstown, RI, USA
- IGENE, LLC., Austin, TX, USA
- RDSolutions, Del Mar, CA, USA
- National Institute for Holistic Medicine, North Miami Beach, FL, USA
| | - Benjamin Thompson
- Behavioral Neuroscience Program, Boston University School of Medicine, and Boston VA Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Zsolt Demotrovics
- Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Psychology, Budapest, Hungary
| | - John Femino
- Dominion Diagnostics, Inc., North Kingstown, RI, USA
- Meadows Edge Recovery Center, North Kingstown, RI, USA
| | - John Giordano
- National Institute for Holistic Medicine, North Miami Beach, FL, USA
| | - Marlene Oscar-Berman
- Departments of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Anatomy & Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine, and Boston VA Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Scott Teitelbaum
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine and McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - David E. Smith
- Dominion Diagnostics, Inc., North Kingstown, RI, USA
- Institute of Health & Aging, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | | | - Gozde Agan
- Dominion Diagnostics, Inc., North Kingstown, RI, USA
| | | | - Rajendra D. Badgaiyan
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota College of Medicine, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Mark S. Gold
- Director of Research, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Educational Foundation, Washington, D.C, USA
- Departments of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the Keck, University of Southern California, School of Medicine, CA, USA
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Heitzeg MM, Cope LM, Martz ME, Hardee JE. Neuroimaging Risk Markers for Substance Abuse: Recent Findings on Inhibitory Control and Reward System Functioning. CURRENT ADDICTION REPORTS 2015; 2:91-103. [PMID: 26236575 DOI: 10.1007/s40429-015-0048-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Rates of alcohol and other drug use rise sharply throughout adolescence and peak in the early 20s. Likewise, prevalence of first-time substance use disorder (SUD) and past-year SUD both peak between ages 18-23. SUD is associated with a host of negative outcomes and is a serious health concern. Understanding the mechanisms that precede the onset and escalation of substance use is crucial in order to develop more effective prevention and intervention strategies for children and adolescents at risk for SUD. In this review, we discuss recent findings from functional neuroimaging studies in children, adolescents, and emerging adults that focus on uncovering the neural underpinnings of SUD risk. The focus is on inhibitory control and reward circuitry due to their involvement in risk-taking behaviors, which are heightened in adolescence and may facilitate substance use. We discuss convergences in the literature and highlight findings suggesting that the association between SUD risk and neurofunctioning may be moderated by age, gender, and history of substance use. Recommendations for future directions are also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mary M Heitzeg
- Department of Psychiatry and Addiction Research Center, The University of Michigan, 4250 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Lora M Cope
- Department of Psychiatry and Addiction Research Center, The University of Michigan, 4250 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Meghan E Martz
- Department of Psychiatry and Addiction Research Center, The University of Michigan, 4250 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA ; Department of Psychology, The University of Michigan, 2044 East Hall, 530 Church St., Ann Arbor, MI 48108, USA
| | - Jillian E Hardee
- Department of Psychiatry and Addiction Research Center, The University of Michigan, 4250 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
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Arnold C, Gispert S, Bonig H, von Wegner F, Somasundaram S, Kell CA. Dopaminergic Modulation of Cognitive Preparation for Overt Reading: Evidence from the Study of Genetic Polymorphisms. Cereb Cortex 2015; 26:1539-1557. [DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhu330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
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Donofry SD, Roecklein KA, Wildes JE, Miller MA, Flory JD, Manuck SB. COMT met allele differentially predicts risk versus severity of aberrant eating in a large community sample. Psychiatry Res 2014; 220:513-8. [PMID: 25216558 PMCID: PMC4252581 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2014.08.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2014] [Revised: 07/25/2014] [Accepted: 08/20/2014] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Prefrontal dopamine (DA) transmission participates in the reinforcement of reward-driven behaviors like eating. Because catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) degrades DA and is expressed in the prefrontal cortex, variation in the COMT gene may modulate eating behavior. Previous studies have shown that the met allele of the COMT val158met single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) is associated with Bulimia Nervosa (BN). The specific aim of this study was to test whether the met allele increased risk for, and severity of, eating disorder symptomatology in community volunteers. Caucasian adults (N=1003; 51.2% female) from the University of Pittsburgh Adult Health and Behavior Project (AHAB) were genotyped and completed the Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI). Logistic and Poisson regression analyses assessed genotype-dependent presence and severity of eating disorder symptomatology. The met allele was significantly associated with the presence of symptoms on the Bulimia subscale and the severity of Body Dissatisfaction scores. All EDI subscales significantly predicted BMI. To our knowledge, these are the first data indicating that the COMT met allele increases risk for some symptoms of disordered eating, while increasing severity of others, in a community sample. These novel findings may have important implications for understanding the etiology of heterogeneous disordered eating phenotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shannon D. Donofry
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA,Corresponding author. Tel.: +412 624 4315; fax: +412 624 4428.
| | - Kathryn A. Roecklein
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA,Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Jennifer E. Wildes
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Megan A. Miller
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Janine D. Flory
- Department of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Stephen B. Manuck
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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Silverman MH, Krueger RF, Iacono WG, Malone SM, Hunt RH, Thomas KM. Quantifying familial influences on brain activation during the monetary incentive delay task: an adolescent monozygotic twin study. Biol Psychol 2014; 103:7-14. [PMID: 25101864 PMCID: PMC4258167 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2014.07.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2013] [Revised: 07/07/2014] [Accepted: 07/26/2014] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Although altered brain activation during reward tasks has been found in a number of heritable psychiatric disorders and health outcomes, the familial nature of reward-related brain activation remains unexplored. In this study, we investigated the degree to which the magnitude of mesocorticolimbic reward system signal intensities in anticipation of reward during the monetary incentive delay (MID) task was similar within 46 pairs of adolescent, monozygotic twins. Significant within-pair correlations in brain activation during anticipation of gain were found in one third of the 18 reward-related regions investigated. These regions were the right nucleus accumbens, left and right posterior caudate, right anterior caudate, left insula, and anterior cingulate cortex. This serves as evidence for a shared familial contribution to individual differences in reward related brain activity in certain key reward processing regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Merav H Silverman
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, 75 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN 55455, United States.
| | - Robert F Krueger
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, 75 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN 55455, United States
| | - William G Iacono
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, 75 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN 55455, United States
| | - Stephen M Malone
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, 75 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN 55455, United States
| | - Ruskin H Hunt
- Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, 51 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN 55455, United States
| | - Kathleen M Thomas
- Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, 51 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN 55455, United States
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Frank GKW. Could dopamine agonists aid in drug development for anorexia nervosa? Front Nutr 2014; 1:19. [PMID: 25988121 PMCID: PMC4428488 DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2014.00019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2014] [Accepted: 10/17/2014] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Anorexia nervosa is a severe psychiatric disorder most commonly starting during the teenage-years and associated with food refusal and low body weight. Typically there is a loss of menses, intense fear of gaining weight, and an often delusional quality of altered body perception. Anorexia nervosa is also associated with a pattern of high cognitive rigidity, which may contribute to treatment resistance and relapse. The complex interplay of state and trait biological, psychological, and social factors has complicated identifying neurobiological mechanisms that contribute to the illness. The dopamine D1 and D2 neurotransmitter receptors are involved in motivational aspects of food approach, fear extinction, and cognitive flexibility. They could therefore be important targets to improve core and associated behaviors in anorexia nervosa. Treatment with dopamine antagonists has shown little benefit, and it is possible that antagonists over time increase an already hypersensitive dopamine pathway activity in anorexia nervosa. On the contrary, application of dopamine receptor agonists could reduce circuit responsiveness, facilitate fear extinction, and improve cognitive flexibility in anorexia nervosa, as they may be particularly effective during underweight and low gonadal hormone states. This article provides evidence that the dopamine receptor system could be a key factor in the pathophysiology of anorexia nervosa and dopamine agonists could be helpful in reducing core symptoms of the disorder. This review is a theoretical approach that primarily focuses on dopamine receptor function as this system has been mechanistically better described than other neurotransmitters that are altered in anorexia nervosa. However, those proposed dopamine mechanisms in anorexia nervosa also warrant further study with respect to their interaction with other neurotransmitter systems, such as serotonin pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guido K W Frank
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Colorado , Aurora, CO , USA ; Department of Neuroscience, School of Medicine, University of Colorado , Aurora, CO , USA
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Association of the catechol-O-methyltransferase val158met polymorphism and anxiety-related traits: a meta-analysis. Psychiatr Genet 2014; 24:52-69. [PMID: 24300663 DOI: 10.1097/ypg.0000000000000018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The aims of this study were (i) to examine genotypic association of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) val158met polymorphism with anxiety-related traits with a meta-analysis; (ii) to examine sex and ethnicity as moderators of the association; and (iii) to evaluate whether the association differed by particular anxiety traits. METHODS Association studies of the COMT val158met polymorphism and anxiety traits were identified from the PubMed or PsycInfo databases, conference abstracts, and listserv postings. Exclusion criteria were (a) pediatric samples, (b) exclusively clinical samples, and (c) samples selected for a nonanxiety phenotype. Standardized mean differences in anxiety between genotypes were aggregated to produce mean effect sizes across all available samples, and for subgroups stratified by sex and ethnicity (Whites vs. Asians). Construct-specific analysis was conducted to evaluate the association of COMT with neuroticism, harm avoidance, and behavioral inhibition. RESULTS Twenty-seven eligible studies (N=15 979) with available data were identified. Overall findings indicate sex-specific and ethnic-specific effects: valine homozygotes had higher neuroticism than methionine homozygotes in studies of White males [mean effect size(Equation is included in full-text article.)=0.13; 95% CI 0.02, 0.25; P=0.03], and higher harm avoidance in studies of Asian males ((Equation is included in full-text article.)=0.43; 95% CI 0.14, 0.72; P=0.004). No significant associations were found in women and effect sizes were diminished when studies were aggregated across ethnicity or anxiety traits. CONCLUSION This meta-analysis provides evidence for sex and ethnic differences in the association of the COMT val158met polymorphism with anxiety traits. Our findings contribute to current knowledge on the relation between prefrontal dopaminergic transmission and anxiety.
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Gliga T, Jones EJH, Bedford R, Charman T, Johnson MH. From early markers to neuro-developmental mechanisms of autism. DEVELOPMENTAL REVIEW 2014; 34:189-207. [PMID: 25187673 PMCID: PMC4119302 DOI: 10.1016/j.dr.2014.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2013] [Revised: 05/19/2014] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Studies of infants at-risk could reveal the developmental origin of autism. Behavioral and brain markers differentiate infants that develop autism symptoms from controls, during the first year of life. Little evidence for decreased social orienting or social motivation. Some evidence for multiple developmental pathways to autism.
A fast growing field, the study of infants at risk because of having an older sibling with autism (i.e. infant sibs) aims to identify the earliest signs of this disorder, which would allow for earlier diagnosis and intervention. More importantly, we argue, these studies offer the opportunity to validate existing neuro-developmental models of autism against experimental evidence. Although autism is mainly seen as a disorder of social interaction and communication, emerging early markers do not exclusively reflect impairments of the “social brain”. Evidence for atypical development of sensory and attentional systems highlight the need to move away from localized deficits to models suggesting brain-wide involvement in autism pathology. We discuss the implications infant sibs findings have for future work into the biology of autism and the development of interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- T Gliga
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck College, University of London, United Kingdom
| | - E J H Jones
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck College, University of London, United Kingdom
| | - R Bedford
- Biostatistics Department, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, United Kingdom
| | - T Charman
- Psychology Department, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, United Kingdom
| | - M H Johnson
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck College, University of London, United Kingdom
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Boecker R, Holz NE, Buchmann AF, Blomeyer D, Plichta MM, Wolf I, Baumeister S, Meyer-Lindenberg A, Banaschewski T, Brandeis D, Laucht M. Impact of early life adversity on reward processing in young adults: EEG-fMRI results from a prospective study over 25 years. PLoS One 2014; 9:e104185. [PMID: 25118701 PMCID: PMC4131910 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0104185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 111] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2014] [Accepted: 07/07/2014] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Several lines of evidence have implicated the mesolimbic dopamine reward pathway in altered brain function resulting from exposure to early adversity. The present study examined the impact of early life adversity on different stages of neuronal reward processing later in life and their association with a related behavioral phenotype, i.e. attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). 162 healthy young adults (mean age = 24.4 years; 58% female) from an epidemiological cohort study followed since birth participated in a simultaneous EEG-fMRI study using a monetary incentive delay task. Early life adversity according to an early family adversity index (EFA) and lifetime ADHD symptoms were assessed using standardized parent interviews conducted at the offspring's age of 3 months and between 2 and 15 years, respectively. fMRI region-of-interest analysis revealed a significant effect of EFA during reward anticipation in reward-related areas (i.e. ventral striatum, putamen, thalamus), indicating decreased activation when EFA increased. EEG analysis demonstrated a similar effect for the contingent negative variation (CNV), with the CNV decreasing with the level of EFA. In contrast, during reward delivery, activation of the bilateral insula, right pallidum and bilateral putamen increased with EFA. There was a significant association of lifetime ADHD symptoms with lower activation in the left ventral striatum during reward anticipation and higher activation in the right insula during reward delivery. The present findings indicate a differential long-term impact of early life adversity on reward processing, implicating hyporesponsiveness during reward anticipation and hyperresponsiveness when receiving a reward. Moreover, a similar activation pattern related to lifetime ADHD suggests that the impact of early life stress on ADHD may possibly be mediated by a dysfunctional reward pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Regina Boecker
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, CIMH Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Nathalie E. Holz
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, CIMH Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Arlette F. Buchmann
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, CIMH Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Dorothea Blomeyer
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, CIMH Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Michael M. Plichta
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, CIMH Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Isabella Wolf
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, CIMH Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
- Department of Neuroimaging, CIMH Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Sarah Baumeister
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, CIMH Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, CIMH Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Tobias Banaschewski
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, CIMH Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Daniel Brandeis
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, CIMH Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Zurich, Zurich, Germany
- Center for Integrative Human Physiology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Germany
- Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Germany
| | - Manfred Laucht
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, CIMH Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
- Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
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Dissociable contribution of prefrontal and striatal dopaminergic genes to learning in economic games. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2014; 111:9615-20. [PMID: 24979760 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1316259111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Game theory describes strategic interactions where success of players' actions depends on those of coplayers. In humans, substantial progress has been made at the neural level in characterizing the dopaminergic and frontostriatal mechanisms mediating such behavior. Here we combined computational modeling of strategic learning with a pathway approach to characterize association of strategic behavior with variations in the dopamine pathway. Specifically, using gene-set analysis, we systematically examined contribution of different dopamine genes to variation in a multistrategy competitive game captured by (i) the degree players anticipate and respond to actions of others (belief learning) and (ii) the speed with which such adaptations take place (learning rate). We found that variation in genes that primarily regulate prefrontal dopamine clearance--catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) and two isoforms of monoamine oxidase--modulated degree of belief learning across individuals. In contrast, we did not find significant association for other genes in the dopamine pathway. Furthermore, variation in genes that primarily regulate striatal dopamine function--dopamine transporter and D2 receptors--was significantly associated with the learning rate. We found that this was also the case with COMT, but not for other dopaminergic genes. Together, these findings highlight dissociable roles of frontostriatal systems in strategic learning and support the notion that genetic variation, organized along specific pathways, forms an important source of variation in complex phenotypes such as strategic behavior.
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Zhao Y, Xiong N, Liu Y, Zhou Y, Li N, Qing H, Lin Z. Human dopamine transporter gene: differential regulation of 18-kb haplotypes. Pharmacogenomics 2014; 14:1481-94. [PMID: 24024899 DOI: 10.2217/pgs.13.141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
AIM Since previous functional studies of short haplotypes and polymorphic sites of SLC6A3 have shown variant-dependent and drug-sensitive promoter activity, this study aimed to understand whether a large SLC6A3 regulatory region, containing these small haplotypes and polymorphic sites, can display haplotype-dependent promoter activity in a drug-sensitive and pathway-related manner. MATERIALS & METHODS By creating and using a single copy number luciferase-reporter vector, we examined regulation of two different SLC6A3 haplotypes (A and B) of the 5´ 18-kb promoter and two known downstream regulatory variable number tandem repeats by 17 drugs in four different cellular models. RESULTS The two regulatory haplotypes displayed up to 3.2-fold difference in promoter activity. The regulations were drug selective (37.5% of the drugs showed effects), and both haplotype and cell type dependent. Pathway analysis revealed at least 13 main signaling hubs targeting SLC6A3, including histone deacetylation, AKT, PKC and CK2 α-chains. CONCLUSION SLC6A3 may be regulated via either its promoter or the variable number tandem repeats independently by specific signaling pathways and in a haplotype-dependent manner. Furthermore, we have developed the first pathway map for SLC6A3 regulation. These findings provide a framework for understanding complex and variant-dependent regulations of SLC6A3.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Zhao
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School & Laboratory of Psychiatric Neurogenomics, Division of Alcohol & Drug Abuse, McLean Hospital, Mailstop 318, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02478, USA
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Jentsch JD, Ashenhurst JR, Cervantes MC, Groman SM, James AS, Pennington ZT. Dissecting impulsivity and its relationships to drug addictions. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2014; 1327:1-26. [PMID: 24654857 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.12388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 144] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Addictions are often characterized as forms of impulsive behavior. That said, it is often noted that impulsivity is a multidimensional construct, spanning several psychological domains. This review describes the relationship between varieties of impulsivity and addiction-related behaviors, the nature of the causal relationship between the two, and the underlying neurobiological mechanisms that promote impulsive behaviors. We conclude that the available data strongly support the notion that impulsivity is both a risk factor for, and a consequence of, drug and alcohol consumption. While the evidence indicating that subtypes of impulsive behavior are uniquely informative--either biologically or with respect to their relationships to addictions--is convincing, multiple lines of study link distinct subtypes of impulsivity to low dopamine D2 receptor function and perturbed serotonergic transmission, revealing shared mechanisms between the subtypes. Therefore, a common biological framework involving monoaminergic transmitters in key frontostriatal circuits may link multiple forms of impulsivity to drug self-administration and addiction-related behaviors. Further dissection of these relationships is needed before the next phase of genetic and genomic discovery will be able to reveal the biological sources of the vulnerability for addiction indexed by impulsivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- J David Jentsch
- Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
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Huppertz C, Bartels M, Groen-Blokhuis MM, Dolan CV, de Moor MHM, Abdellaoui A, van Beijsterveldt CEM, Ehli EA, Hottenga JJ, Willemsen G, Xiao X, Scheet P, Davies GE, Boomsma DI, Hudziak JJ, de Geus EJC. The dopaminergic reward system and leisure time exercise behavior: a candidate allele study. BIOMED RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2014; 2014:591717. [PMID: 24734235 PMCID: PMC3964758 DOI: 10.1155/2014/591717] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2013] [Revised: 01/20/2014] [Accepted: 01/20/2014] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Twin studies provide evidence that genetic influences contribute strongly to individual differences in exercise behavior. We hypothesize that part of this heritability is explained by genetic variation in the dopaminergic reward system. Eight single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs in DRD1: rs265981, DRD2: rs6275, rs1800497, DRD3: rs6280, DRD4: rs1800955, DBH: rs1611115, rs2519152, and in COMT: rs4680) and three variable number of tandem repeats (VNTRs in DRD4, upstream of DRD5, and in DAT1) were investigated for an association with regular leisure time exercise behavior. MATERIALS AND METHODS Data on exercise activities and at least one SNP/VNTR were available for 8,768 individuals aged 7 to 50 years old that were part of the Netherlands Twin Register. Exercise behavior was quantified as weekly metabolic equivalents of task (MET) spent on exercise activities. Mixed models were fitted in SPSS with genetic relatedness as a random effect. RESULTS None of the genetic variants were associated with exercise behavior (P>.02), despite sufficient power to detect small effects. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS We did not confirm that allelic variants involved in dopaminergic function play a role in creating individual differences in exercise behavior. A plea is made for large genome-wide association studies to unravel the genetic pathways that affect this health-enhancing behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte Huppertz
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands ; EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Van der Boechorststraat 7, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Meike Bartels
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands ; EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Van der Boechorststraat 7, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands ; Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, VU University Medical Center, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Maria M Groen-Blokhuis
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Conor V Dolan
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Marleen H M de Moor
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Abdel Abdellaoui
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands ; Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, VU University Medical Center, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | | | - Erik A Ehli
- Avera Institute for Human Genetics, Avera McKennan Hospital and University Health Center, 3720 W. 69th Street Suite 200, Sioux Falls, SD 57108, USA
| | - Jouke-Jan Hottenga
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Gonneke Willemsen
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands ; EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Van der Boechorststraat 7, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Xiangjun Xiao
- Department of Community and Family Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, 1 Rope Ferry Road, Hanover, NH 03755-1404, USA
| | - Paul Scheet
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Texas M.D., Anderson Cancer Center, Unit 1340, P.O. Box 301439, Houston, TX 77230-1439, USA
| | - Gareth E Davies
- Avera Institute for Human Genetics, Avera McKennan Hospital and University Health Center, 3720 W. 69th Street Suite 200, Sioux Falls, SD 57108, USA
| | - Dorret I Boomsma
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands ; EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Van der Boechorststraat 7, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands ; Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, VU University Medical Center, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - James J Hudziak
- Department of Psychiatry, Medicine, and Pediatrics, Vermont Center for Children, Youth and Families, College of Medicine, University of Vermont, UHC Campus, Arnold 3, 1 South Prospect, Burlington, VT 05401, USA
| | - Eco J C de Geus
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands ; EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Van der Boechorststraat 7, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands ; Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, VU University Medical Center, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Schott BH, Assmann A, Schmierer P, Soch J, Erk S, Garbusow M, Mohnke S, Pöhland L, Romanczuk-Seiferth N, Barman A, Wüstenberg T, Haddad L, Grimm O, Witt S, Richter S, Klein M, Schütze H, Mühleisen TW, Cichon S, Rietschel M, Noethen MM, Tost H, Gundelfinger ED, Düzel E, Heinz A, Meyer-Lindenberg A, Seidenbecher CI, Walter H. Epistatic interaction of genetic depression risk variants in the human subgenual cingulate cortex during memory encoding. Transl Psychiatry 2014; 4:e372. [PMID: 24643163 PMCID: PMC3966038 DOI: 10.1038/tp.2014.10] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2013] [Accepted: 01/06/2014] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent genome-wide association studies have pointed to single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes encoding the neuronal calcium channel CaV1.2 (CACNA1C; rs1006737) and the presynaptic active zone protein Piccolo (PCLO; rs2522833) as risk factors for affective disorders, particularly major depression. Previous neuroimaging studies of depression-related endophenotypes have highlighted the role of the subgenual cingulate cortex (CG25) in negative mood and depressive psychopathology. Here, we aimed to assess how recently associated PCLO and CACNA1C depression risk alleles jointly affect memory-related CG25 activity as an intermediate phenotype in clinically healthy humans. To investigate the combined effects of rs1006737 and rs2522833 on the CG25 response, we conducted three functional magnetic resonance imaging studies of episodic memory formation in three independent cohorts (N=79, 300, 113). An epistatic interaction of PCLO and CACNA1C risk alleles in CG25 during memory encoding was observed in all groups, with carriers of no risk allele and of both risk alleles showing higher CG25 activation during encoding when compared with carriers of only one risk allele. Moreover, PCLO risk allele carriers showed lower memory performance and reduced encoding-related hippocampal activation. In summary, our results point to region-specific epistatic effects of PCLO and CACNA1C risk variants in CG25, potentially related to episodic memory. Our data further suggest that genetic risk factors on the SNP level do not necessarily have additive effects but may show complex interactions. Such epistatic interactions might contribute to the 'missing heritability' of complex phenotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- B H Schott
- Department of Psychiatry, Campus Mitte, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany,Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg, Germany,Medical Faculty, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany,Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences (CBBS), Magdeburg, Germany,Department of Behavioral Neurology, Leibniz-Institut für Neurobiologie, Brenneckestrasse 6, Magdeburg 39118, Germany E-mail:
| | - A Assmann
- Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg, Germany,Medical Faculty, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - P Schmierer
- Department of Psychiatry, Campus Mitte, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany,Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt University Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - J Soch
- Department of Psychiatry, Campus Mitte, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany,Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg, Germany,Medical Faculty, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - S Erk
- Department of Psychiatry, Campus Mitte, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - M Garbusow
- Department of Psychiatry, Campus Mitte, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - S Mohnke
- Department of Psychiatry, Campus Mitte, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - L Pöhland
- Department of Psychiatry, Campus Mitte, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - N Romanczuk-Seiferth
- Department of Psychiatry, Campus Mitte, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - A Barman
- Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - T Wüstenberg
- Department of Psychiatry, Campus Mitte, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - L Haddad
- Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany
| | - O Grimm
- Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany
| | - S Witt
- Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany
| | - S Richter
- Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg, Germany,University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
| | - M Klein
- Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - H Schütze
- Medical Faculty, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - T W Mühleisen
- University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany,Research Center Jülich, Jülich, Germany
| | - S Cichon
- University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany,Research Center Jülich, Jülich, Germany,University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - M Rietschel
- Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany
| | | | - H Tost
- Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany
| | - E D Gundelfinger
- Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg, Germany,Medical Faculty, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany,Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences (CBBS), Magdeburg, Germany
| | - E Düzel
- Medical Faculty, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany,Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences (CBBS), Magdeburg, Germany,Helmholtz Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Magdeburg, Germany
| | - A Heinz
- Department of Psychiatry, Campus Mitte, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | | | - C I Seidenbecher
- Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg, Germany,Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences (CBBS), Magdeburg, Germany
| | - H Walter
- Department of Psychiatry, Campus Mitte, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany,Forschungsbereich Mind and Brain, Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Campus Mitte, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin 10117, Germany. E-mail:
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Dillon DG, Rosso IM, Pechtel P, Killgore WDS, Rauch SL, Pizzagalli DA. Peril and pleasure: an rdoc-inspired examination of threat responses and reward processing in anxiety and depression. Depress Anxiety 2014; 31:233-49. [PMID: 24151118 PMCID: PMC3951656 DOI: 10.1002/da.22202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 146] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2013] [Revised: 09/10/2013] [Accepted: 09/17/2013] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
As a step toward addressing limitations in the current psychiatric diagnostic system, the National Institute of Mental Health recently developed the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) to stimulate integrative research-spanning self-report, behavior, neural circuitry, and molecular/genetic mechanisms-on core psychological processes implicated in mental illness. Here, we use the RDoC conceptualization to review research on threat responses, reward processing, and their interaction. The first section of the manuscript highlights the pivotal role of exaggerated threat responses-mediated by circuits connecting the frontal cortex, amygdala, and midbrain-in anxiety, and reviews data indicating that genotypic variation in the serotonin system is associated with hyperactivity in this circuitry, which elevates the risk for anxiety and mood disorders. In the second section, we describe mounting evidence linking anhedonic behavior to deficits in psychological functions that rely heavily on dopamine signaling, especially cost/benefit decision making and reward learning. The third section covers recent studies that document negative effects of acute threats and chronic stress on reward responses in humans. The mechanisms underlying such effects are unclear, but the fourth section reviews new optogenetic data in rodents indicating that GABAergic inhibition of midbrain dopamine neurons, driven by activation of the habenula, may play a fundamental role in stress-induced anhedonia. In addition to its basic scientific value, a better understanding of interactions between the neural systems that mediate threat and reward responses may offer relief from the burdensome condition of anxious depression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel G. Dillon
- Center for Depression; Anxiety and Stress Research; McLean Hospital; Harvard Medical School; Boston Massachusetts
| | - Isabelle M. Rosso
- Center for Depression; Anxiety and Stress Research; McLean Hospital; Harvard Medical School; Boston Massachusetts
| | - Pia Pechtel
- Center for Depression; Anxiety and Stress Research; McLean Hospital; Harvard Medical School; Boston Massachusetts
| | - William D. S. Killgore
- Center for Depression; Anxiety and Stress Research; McLean Hospital; Harvard Medical School; Boston Massachusetts
| | - Scott L. Rauch
- Center for Depression; Anxiety and Stress Research; McLean Hospital; Harvard Medical School; Boston Massachusetts
| | - Diego A. Pizzagalli
- Center for Depression; Anxiety and Stress Research; McLean Hospital; Harvard Medical School; Boston Massachusetts
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