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Herzog N, Hartmann H, Janssen LK, Waltmann M, Fallon SJ, Deserno L, Horstmann A. Working memory gating in obesity: Insights from a case-control fMRI study. Appetite 2024; 195:107179. [PMID: 38145879 DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2023.107179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2023] [Revised: 12/08/2023] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 12/27/2023]
Abstract
Computational models and neurophysiological data propose that a 'gating mechanism' coordinates distractor-resistant maintenance and flexible updating of working memory contents: While maintenance of information is mainly implemented in the prefrontal cortex, updating of information is signaled by phasic increases in dopamine in the striatum. Previous literature demonstrates structural and functional alterations in these brain areas, as well as differential dopamine transmission among individuals with obesity, suggesting potential impairments in these processes. To test this hypothesis, we conducted an observational case-control fMRI study, dividing participants into groups with and without obesity based on their BMI. We probed maintenance and updating of working memory contents using a modified delayed match to sample task and investigated the effects of SNPs related to the dopaminergic system. While the task elicited the anticipated brain responses, our findings revealed no evidence for group differences in these two processes, neither at the neural level nor behaviorally. However, depending on Taq1A genotype, which affects dopamine receptor density in the striatum, participants with obesity performed worse on the task. In conclusion, this study does not support the existence of overall obesity-related differences in working memory gating. Instead, we propose that potentially subtle alterations may manifest specifically in individuals with a 'vulnerable' genotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadine Herzog
- Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive & Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Hendrik Hartmann
- Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive & Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany; Collaborative Research Centre 1052, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany; Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Lieneke K Janssen
- Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive & Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany; Institute of Psychology, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Maria Waltmann
- Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive & Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany; School of Psychology, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK
| | - Sean J Fallon
- School of Psychology, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK
| | - Lorenz Deserno
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Annette Horstmann
- Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive & Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany; Collaborative Research Centre 1052, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany; Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
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Leow LA, Bernheine L, Carroll TJ, Dux PE, Filmer HL. Dopamine Increases Accuracy and Lengthens Deliberation Time in Explicit Motor Skill Learning. eNeuro 2024; 11:ENEURO.0360-23.2023. [PMID: 38238069 PMCID: PMC10849023 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0360-23.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2023] [Revised: 11/23/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 01/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Although animal research implicates a central role for dopamine in motor skill learning, a direct causal link has yet to be established in neurotypical humans. Here, we tested if a pharmacological manipulation of dopamine alters motor learning, using a paradigm which engaged explicit, goal-directed strategies. Participants (27 females; 11 males; aged 18-29 years) first consumed either 100 mg of levodopa (n = 19), a dopamine precursor that increases dopamine availability, or placebo (n = 19). Then, during training, participants learnt the explicit strategy of aiming away from presented targets by instructed angles of varying sizes. Targets jumped mid-movement by the instructed aiming angle. Task success was thus contingent upon aiming accuracy and not speed. The effect of the dopamine manipulations on skill learning was assessed during training and after an overnight follow-up. Increasing dopamine availability at training improved aiming accuracy and lengthened reaction times, particularly for larger, more difficult aiming angles, both at training and, importantly, at follow-up, despite prominent session-by-session performance improvements in both accuracy and speed. Exogenous dopamine thus seems to result in a learnt, persistent propensity to better adhere to task goals. Results support the proposal that dopamine is important in engagement of instrumental motivation to optimize adherence to task goals, particularly when learning to execute goal-directed strategies in motor skill learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li-Ann Leow
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, 4072, Australia
- Centre for Sensorimotor Performance, School of Human Movement & Nutrition Sciences, St Lucia, 4067, Australia
| | - Lena Bernheine
- Centre for Sensorimotor Performance, School of Human Movement & Nutrition Sciences, St Lucia, 4067, Australia
- School of Sport Science Faculty of Sport Governance and Event Management, University of Bayreuth, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Timothy J Carroll
- Centre for Sensorimotor Performance, School of Human Movement & Nutrition Sciences, St Lucia, 4067, Australia
| | - Paul E Dux
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, 4072, Australia
| | - Hannah L Filmer
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, 4072, Australia
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Leow LA, Marcos A, Nielsen E, Sewell D, Ballard T, Dux PE, Filmer HL. Dopamine Alters the Effect of Brain Stimulation on Decision-Making. J Neurosci 2023; 43:6909-6919. [PMID: 37648451 PMCID: PMC10573748 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1140-23.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Revised: 07/27/2023] [Accepted: 08/22/2023] [Indexed: 09/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Noninvasive brain stimulation techniques, such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), show promise in treating a range of psychiatric and neurologic conditions. However, optimization of such applications requires a better understanding of how tDCS alters cognition and behavior. Existing evidence implicates dopamine in tDCS alterations of brain activity and plasticity; however, there is as yet no causal evidence for a role of dopamine in tDCS effects on cognition and behavior. Here, in a preregistered, double-blinded study, we examined how pharmacologically manipulating dopamine altered the effect of tDCS on the speed-accuracy trade-off, which taps ubiquitous strategic operations. Cathodal tDCS was delivered over the left prefrontal cortex and the superior medial frontal cortex before participants (N = 62, 24 males, 38 females) completed a dot-motion task, making judgments on the direction of a field of moving dots under instructions to emphasize speed, accuracy, or both. We leveraged computational modeling to uncover how our interventions altered latent decisional processes driving the speed-accuracy trade-off. We show that dopamine in combination with tDCS (but not tDCS alone nor dopamine alone) not only impaired decision accuracy but also impaired discriminability, which suggests that these manipulations altered the encoding or representation of discriminative evidence. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first direct evidence implicating dopamine in the way tDCS affects cognition and behavior.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT tDCS can improve cognitive and behavioral impairments in clinical conditions; however, a better understanding of its mechanisms is required to optimize future clinical applications. Here, using a pharmacological approach to manipulate brain dopamine levels in healthy adults, we demonstrate a role for dopamine in the effects of tDCS in the speed-accuracy trade-off, a strategic cognitive process ubiquitous in many contexts. In doing so, we provide direct evidence implicating dopamine in the way tDCS affects cognition and behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li-Ann Leow
- School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane QLD 4072 Australia
| | - Anjeli Marcos
- School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane QLD 4072 Australia
| | - Esteban Nielsen
- School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane QLD 4072 Australia
| | - David Sewell
- School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane QLD 4072 Australia
| | - Timothy Ballard
- School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane QLD 4072 Australia
| | - Paul E Dux
- School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane QLD 4072 Australia
| | - Hannah L Filmer
- School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane QLD 4072 Australia
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Sayalı C, Barrett FS. The costs and benefits of psychedelics on cognition and mood. Neuron 2023; 111:614-630. [PMID: 36681076 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2022.12.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2022] [Revised: 12/14/2022] [Accepted: 12/24/2022] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Anecdotal evidence has indicated that psychedelic substances may acutely enhance creative task performance, although empirical support for this claim is mixed at best. Clinical research has shown that psychedelics might have enduring effects on mood and well-being. However, there is no neurocognitive framework that ties acute changes in cognition to long-term effects in mood. In this review, we operationalize creativity within an emerging cognitive control framework and assess the current empirical evidence of the effects of psychedelics on creativity. Next, we leverage insights about the mechanisms and computations by which other psychoactive drugs act to enhance versus impair cognition, in particular to those that act on catecholamines, the neurophysiological consequences of which are relatively well understood. Finally, we use the same framework to link the suggested psychedelic-induced improvements in creativity with enduring psychedelic-induced improvements in mood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ceyda Sayalı
- Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA.
| | - Frederick S Barrett
- Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA; Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Krieger School of Arts & Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
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Heldmann M, Mönch E, Kesseböhmer A, Brüggemann N, Münte TF, Ye Z. Pramipexole modulates fronto-subthalamic pathway in sequential working memory. Neuropsychopharmacology 2022; 48:716-723. [PMID: 36352204 PMCID: PMC10066371 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-022-01494-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2022] [Revised: 10/23/2022] [Accepted: 10/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Brain dopamine may regulate the ability to maintain and manipulate sequential information online. However, the precise role of dopamine remains unclear. This pharmacological fMRI study examined whether and how the dopamine D2/3 receptor agonist pramipexole modulates fronto-subthalamic or fronto-striatal pathways during sequential working memory. This study used a double-blind, randomized crossover design. Twenty-two healthy male volunteers completed a digit ordering task during fMRI scanning after receiving a single oral dose of 0.5-mg pramipexole or placebo. The pramipexole effects on task performance, regional activity, activity pattern similarity, and functional connectivity were analyzed. Pramipexole impaired task performance, leading to less accurate and slower responses in the digit ordering task. Also, it downregulated the maintenance-related subthalamic and dorsolateral prefrontal activity, increasing reaction times for maintaining sequences. In contrast, pramipexole upregulated the manipulation-related subthalamic and dorsolateral prefrontal activity, increasing reaction time costs for manipulating sequences. In addition, it altered the dorsolateral prefrontal activity pattern similarity and fronto-subthalamic functional connectivity. Finally, pramipexole reduced maintenance-related striatal activity, which did not affect the behavior. This study confirms the role of the fronto-subthalamic pathway in sequential working memory. Furthermore, it shows that D2 transmission can regulate sequential working memory by modulating the fronto-subthalamic pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcus Heldmann
- Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, 23538, Germany.,Institute of Psychology II, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, 23538, Germany
| | - Eliana Mönch
- Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, 23538, Germany
| | | | - Norbert Brüggemann
- Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, 23538, Germany.,Institute of Neurogenetics, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, 23538, Germany
| | - Thomas F Münte
- Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, 23538, Germany. .,Institute of Psychology II, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, 23538, Germany.
| | - Zheng Ye
- Institute of Neuroscience, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200031, China.
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Sharma K, Fallon SJ, Davis T, Ankrett S, Munro G, Christopher G, Coulthard E. Preliminary evidence that caffeine improves attention in multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler Relat Disord 2022; 64:103924. [DOI: 10.1016/j.msard.2022.103924] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2022] [Revised: 05/14/2022] [Accepted: 05/27/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Caffeine and attentional control: improved and impaired performance in healthy older adults and Parkinson's disease according to task demands. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2022; 239:605-619. [PMID: 35006304 PMCID: PMC8799544 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-021-06054-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2021] [Accepted: 12/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Caffeine is frequently consumed to boost goal-directed attention. These procognitive effects may occur due to the adenosine-mediated enhancement of monoamines, such as dopamine, after caffeine administration. As such, caffeine's beneficial effects may be altered in conditions such as Parkinson's disease (PD). However, whether caffeine improves cognition, and at what cost, has not been experimentally established in patients with neurodegenerative disease. METHODS Single-dose trials to probe cognitive effects of caffeine are often confounded by short-term caffeine abstinence which conflates caffeine's effects with treatment of withdrawal. Using a placebo controlled, blinded, randomised trial design, we assessed the effect of 100 mg of caffeine across well-established tasks (Choice reaction time, Stroop Task and Rapid Serial Visual Presentation Task; RSVP) that probe different aspects of attention in PD patients (n = 24) and controls (n = 44). Critically, participants withdrew from caffeine for a week prior to testing to eliminate the possibility that withdrawal reversal explained any cognitive benefit. RESULTS Caffeine administration was found to reduce the overall number of errors in patients and controls on the Stroop (p = .018, η2p = .086) and Choice reaction time (p < . 0001, η2p = .588) tasks, but there was no specific effect of caffeine on ignoring irrelevant information in the Stroop task. On the RSVP task, caffeine improved dual item accuracy (p = .037) but impaired single item accuracy (p = .044). Across all tasks, there was little evidence that caffeine has different effects in PD participants and controls. CONCLUSION When removing withdrawal effects as a factor, we demonstrate caffeine has beneficial effects on selective attention but is a double-edge sword for visual temporal attention and would need careful targeting to be clinically useful.
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Lorenc ES, Mallett R, Lewis-Peacock JA. Distraction in Visual Working Memory: Resistance is Not Futile. Trends Cogn Sci 2021; 25:228-239. [PMID: 33397602 PMCID: PMC7878345 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2020.12.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2020] [Revised: 11/30/2020] [Accepted: 12/04/2020] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Over half a century of research focused on understanding how working memory is capacity constrained has overshadowed the fact that it is also remarkably resistant to interference. Protecting goal-relevant information from distraction is a cornerstone of cognitive function that involves a multifaceted collection of control processes and storage mechanisms. Here, we discuss recent advances in cognitive psychology and neuroscience that have produced new insights into the nature of visual working memory and its ability to resist distraction. We propose that distraction resistance should be an explicit component in any model of working memory and that understanding its behavioral and neural correlates is essential for building a comprehensive understanding of real-world memory function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth S Lorenc
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
| | - Remington Mallett
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
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Le Heron C, Kolling N, Plant O, Kienast A, Janska R, Ang YS, Fallon S, Husain M, Apps MAJ. Dopamine Modulates Dynamic Decision-Making during Foraging. J Neurosci 2020; 40:5273-5282. [PMID: 32457071 PMCID: PMC7329313 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2586-19.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2019] [Revised: 03/10/2020] [Accepted: 04/28/2020] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
The mesolimbic dopaminergic system exerts a crucial influence on incentive processing. However, the contribution of dopamine in dynamic, ecological situations where reward rates vary, and decisions evolve over time, remains unclear. In such circumstances, current (foreground) reward accrual needs to be compared continuously with potential rewards that could be obtained by traveling elsewhere (background reward rate), to determine the opportunity cost of staying versus leaving. We hypothesized that dopamine specifically modulates the influence of background, but not foreground, reward information when making a dynamic comparison of these variables for optimal behavior. On a novel foraging task based on an ecological account of animal behavior (marginal value theorem), human participants of either sex decided when to leave locations in situations where foreground rewards depleted at different rates, either in rich or poor environments with high or low background reward rates. In line with theoretical accounts, people's decisions to move from current locations were independently modulated by changes in both foreground and background reward rates. Pharmacological manipulation of dopamine D2 receptor activity using the agonist cabergoline significantly affected decisions to move on, specifically modulating the effect of background reward rates. In particular, when on cabergoline, people left patches in poor environments much earlier. These results demonstrate a role of dopamine in signaling the opportunity cost of rewards, not value per se. Using this ecologically derived framework, we uncover a specific mechanism by which D2 dopamine receptor activity modulates decision-making when foreground and background reward rates are dynamically compared.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Many decisions, across economic, political, and social spheres, involve choices to "leave". Such decisions depend on a continuous comparison of a current location's value, with that of other locations you could move on to. However, how the brain makes such decisions is poorly understood. Here, we developed a computerized task, based around theories of how animals make decisions to move on when foraging for food. Healthy human participants had to decide when to leave collecting financial rewards in a location, and travel to collect rewards elsewhere. Using a pharmacological manipulation, we show that the activity of dopamine in the brain modulates decisions to move on, with people valuing other locations differently depending on their dopaminergic state.
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Affiliation(s)
- Campbell Le Heron
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX39DU, United Kingdom
- New Zealand Brain Research Institute, Christchurch 8011, New Zealand
- Department of Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch 8011, New Zealand
| | - Nils Kolling
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6GG, United Kingdom
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, United Kingdom
| | - Olivia Plant
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6GG, United Kingdom
| | - Annika Kienast
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6GG, United Kingdom
| | - Rebecca Janska
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6GG, United Kingdom
| | - Yuen-Siang Ang
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX39DU, United Kingdom
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6GG, United Kingdom
| | - Sean Fallon
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6GG, United Kingdom
- Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UD, United Kingdom
| | - Masud Husain
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX39DU, United Kingdom
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6GG, United Kingdom
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, United Kingdom
| | - Matthew A J Apps
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6GG, United Kingdom
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, United Kingdom
- Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, United Kingdom
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