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Buehler SK, Lowther M, Lukow PB, Kirk PA, Pike AC, Yamamori Y, Chavanne AV, Gormley S, Goble T, Tuominen EW, Aylward J, McCloud T, Rodriguez-Sanchez J, Robinson OJ. Independent replications reveal anterior and posterior cingulate cortex activation underlying state anxiety-attenuated face encoding. COMMUNICATIONS PSYCHOLOGY 2024; 2:80. [PMID: 39184223 PMCID: PMC11343718 DOI: 10.1038/s44271-024-00128-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2024] [Accepted: 08/08/2024] [Indexed: 08/27/2024]
Abstract
Anxiety involves the anticipation of aversive outcomes and can impair neurocognitive processes, such as the ability to recall faces encoded during the anxious state. It is important to precisely delineate and determine the replicability of these effects using causal state anxiety inductions in the general population. This study therefore aimed to replicate prior research on the distinct impacts of threat-of-shock-induced anxiety on the encoding and recognition stage of emotional face processing, in a large asymptomatic sample (n = 92). We successfully replicated previous results demonstrating impaired recognition of faces encoded under threat-of-shock. This was supported by a mega-analysis across three independent studies using the same paradigm (n = 211). Underlying this, a whole-brain fMRI analysis revealed enhanced activation in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), alongside previously seen activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) when combined in a mega-analysis with the fMRI findings we aimed to replicate. We further found replications of hippocampus activation when the retrieval and encoding states were congruent. Our results support the notion that state anxiety disrupts face recognition, potentially due to attentional demands of anxious arousal competing with affective stimuli processing during encoding and suggest that regions of the cingulate cortex play pivotal roles in this.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Peter A. Kirk
- National Institute of Mental Health, Washington, DC USA
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2
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Grégoire L, Robinson TD, Choi JM, Greening SG. Conscious expectancy rather than associative strength elicits brain activity during single-cue fear conditioning. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2023; 18:nsad054. [PMID: 37756616 PMCID: PMC10597625 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsad054] [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: 04/19/2021] [Revised: 07/14/2023] [Accepted: 09/21/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The neurocognitive processes underlying Pavlovian conditioning in humans are still largely debated. The conventional view is that conditioned responses (CRs) emerge automatically as a function of the contingencies between a conditioned stimulus (CS) and an unconditioned stimulus (US). As such, the associative strength model asserts that the frequency or amplitude of CRs reflects the strength of the CS-US associations. Alternatively, the expectation model asserts that the presentation of the CS triggers conscious expectancy of the US, which is responsible for the production of CRs. The present study tested the hypothesis that there are dissociable brain networks related to the expectancy and associative strength theories using a single-cue fear conditioning paradigm with a pseudo-random intermittent reinforcement schedule during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Participants' (n = 21) trial-by-trial expectations of receiving shock displayed a significant linear effect consistent with the expectation model. We also found a positive linear relationship between the expectancy model and activity in frontoparietal brain areas including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) and dorsomedial PFC. While an exploratory analysis found a linear relationship consistent with the associated strength model in the insula and early visual cortex, our primary results are consistent with the view that conscious expectancy contributes to CRs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurent Grégoire
- Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
- Department of Psychology and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M, College Station, TX 77843-4235, USA
| | - Tyler D Robinson
- Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
| | - Jong Moon Choi
- Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
- Statistical Methodology Division, Statistics Research Institute, Daejeon 35208, South Korea
| | - Steven G Greening
- Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg R3T 2N2, Canada
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3
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Dadario NB, Sughrue ME. The functional role of the precuneus. Brain 2023; 146:3598-3607. [PMID: 37254740 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awad181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2022] [Revised: 05/08/2023] [Accepted: 05/10/2023] [Indexed: 06/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent advancements in computational approaches and neuroimaging techniques have refined our understanding of the precuneus. While previously believed to be largely a visual processing region, the importance of the precuneus in complex cognitive functions has been previously less familiar due to a lack of focal lesions in this deeply seated region, but also a poor understanding of its true underlying anatomy. Fortunately, recent studies have revealed significant information on the structural and functional connectivity of this region, and this data has provided a more detailed mechanistic understanding of the importance of the precuneus in healthy and pathologic states. Through improved resting-state functional MRI analyses, it has become clear that the function of the precuneus can be better understood based on its functional association with large scale brain networks. Dual default mode network systems have been well explained in recent years in supporting episodic memory and theory of mind; however, a novel 'para-cingulate' network, which is a subnetwork of the larger central executive network, with likely significant roles in self-referential processes and related psychiatric symptoms is introduced here and requires further clarification. Importantly, detailed anatomic studies on the precuneus structural connectivity inside and beyond the cingulate cortex has demonstrated the presence of large structural white matter connections, which provide an additional layer of meaning to the structural-functional significance of this region and its association with large scale brain networks. Together, the structural-functional connectivity of the precuneus has provided central elements which can model various neurodegenerative diseases and psychiatric disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease and depression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas B Dadario
- Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 07102, USA
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Wlad M, Frick A, Engman J, Hjorth O, Hoppe JM, Faria V, Wahlstedt K, Björkstrand J, Månsson KN, Hultberg S, Alaie I, Rosén J, Fredrikson M, Furmark T, Gingnell M. Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex activity during cognitive challenge in social anxiety disorder. Behav Brain Res 2023; 442:114304. [PMID: 36681164 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2023.114304] [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: 05/09/2022] [Revised: 01/16/2023] [Accepted: 01/17/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is associated with aberrant emotional information processing while little is known about non-emotional cognitive processing biases. The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) has been implicated in SAD neuropathology and is activated both by emotional and non-affective cognitive challenges like the Multisource Interference Task (MSIT). METHODS Here, we used fMRI to compare dACC activity and test performance during MSIT in 69 SAD patients and 38 healthy controls. In addition to patient-control comparisons, we examined whether neural activity in the dACC correlated with social anxiety, trait anxiety or depression levels. RESULTS The MSIT activated the dACC as expected but with no differences in task performance or neural reactivity between SAD patients and controls. There were no significant correlations between dACC activity and social or trait anxiety symptom severity. In patients, there was a significant negative correlation between dACC activity and depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS In absence of affective challenge, we found no disorder-related cognitive profile in SAD patients since neither MSIT task performance nor dACC neural activity deviated in patients relative to controls.
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Affiliation(s)
- Magdalena Wlad
- Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Andreas Frick
- Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Jonas Engman
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Olof Hjorth
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Johanna M Hoppe
- Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Vanda Faria
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; Brain and Eye Pain Imaging Lab, Pain and Affective Neuroscience Center, Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Smell & Taste Clinic, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
| | - Kurt Wahlstedt
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | | | - Kristoffer Nt Månsson
- Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Sara Hultberg
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Iman Alaie
- Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; Division of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Jörgen Rosén
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Mats Fredrikson
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Tomas Furmark
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Malin Gingnell
- Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
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5
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Yankouskaya A, Denholm-Smith T, Yi D, Greenshaw AJ, Cao B, Sui J. Neural Connectivity Underlying Reward and Emotion-Related Processing: Evidence From a Large-Scale Network Analysis. Front Syst Neurosci 2022; 16:833625. [PMID: 35465191 PMCID: PMC9033203 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2022.833625] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2021] [Accepted: 03/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Neuroimaging techniques have advanced our knowledge about neurobiological mechanisms of reward and emotion processing. It remains unclear whether reward and emotion-related processing share the same neural connection topology and how intrinsic brain functional connectivity organization changes to support emotion- and reward-related prioritized effects in decision-making. The present study addressed these challenges using a large-scale neural network analysis approach. We applied this approach to two independent functional magnetic resonance imaging datasets, where participants performed a reward value or emotion associative matching task with tight control over experimental conditions. The results revealed that interaction between the Default Mode Network, Frontoparietal, Dorsal Attention, and Salience networks engaged distinct topological structures to support the effects of reward, positive and negative emotion processing. Detailed insights into the properties of these connections are important for understanding in detail how the brain responds in the presence of emotion and reward related stimuli. We discuss the linking of reward- and emotion-related processing to emotional regulation, an important aspect of regulation of human behavior in relation to mental health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ala Yankouskaya
- Department of Psychology, Bournemouth University, Bournemouth, United Kingdom
- *Correspondence: Ala Yankouskaya
| | - Toby Denholm-Smith
- Department of Psychology, Bournemouth University, Bournemouth, United Kingdom
| | - Dewei Yi
- School of Natural and Computing Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom
| | | | - Bo Cao
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Jie Sui
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom
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Namkung H, Thomas KL, Hall J, Sawa A. Parsing neural circuits of fear learning and extinction across basic and clinical neuroscience: Towards better translation. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022; 134:104502. [PMID: 34921863 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.12.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2021] [Revised: 12/13/2021] [Accepted: 12/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Over the past decades, studies of fear learning and extinction have advanced our understanding of the neurobiology of threat and safety learning. Animal studies can provide mechanistic/causal insights into human brain regions and their functional connectivity involved in fear learning and extinction. Findings in humans, conversely, may further enrich our understanding of neural circuits in animals by providing macroscopic insights at the level of brain-wide networks. Nevertheless, there is still much room for improvement in translation between basic and clinical research on fear learning and extinction. Through the lens of neural circuits, in this article, we aim to review the current knowledge of fear learning and extinction in both animals and humans, and to propose strategies to fill in the current knowledge gap for the purpose of enhancing clinical benefits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ho Namkung
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA
| | - Kerrie L Thomas
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK; School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Jeremy Hall
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK; School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Akira Sawa
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA; Department of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA; Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA.
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7
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Dougherty DD, Peters AT, Grant JE, Peris TS, Ricketts EJ, Migó M, Chou T, O'Neill J, Stein DJ, Lochner C, Keuthen N, Piacentini J, Deckersbach T. Neural Basis of Associative Learning in Trichotillomania and Skin-Picking Disorder. Behav Brain Res 2022; 425:113801. [PMID: 35183617 PMCID: PMC8940679 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2022.113801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2021] [Revised: 02/10/2022] [Accepted: 02/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Disorders such as Trichotillomania (TTM) and skin-picking disorder (SPD) are associated with reduced flexibility and increased internally focused attention. While the basal ganglia have been hypothesized to play a key role, the mechanisms underlying learning and flexible accommodation of new information is unclear. Using a Bayesian Learning Model, we evaluated the neural basis of learning and accommodation in individuals with TTM and/or SPD. Participants were 127 individuals with TTM and/or SPD (TTM/SPD) recruited from three sites (age 18-57, 84% female) and 26 healthy controls (HC). During fMRI, participants completed a shape-button associative learning and reversal fMRI task. Above-threshold clusters were identified where the Initial Learning-Reversals BOLD activation contrast differed significantly (p < .05 FDR-corrected) between the two groups. A priori, effects were anticipated in predefined ROIs in bilateral basal ganglia, with exploratory analyses in the hippocampus, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC). Relative to HC, individuals with TTM/SPD demonstrated reduced activation during initial learning compared to reversal learning in the right basal ganglia. Similarly, individuals with TTM/SPD demonstrated reduced activation during initial learning compared to reversal learning in several clusters in the dlPFC and dACC compared to HC. Individuals with TTM/SPD may form or reform visual stimulus-motor response associations through different brain mechanisms than healthy controls. The former exhibit altered activation within the basal ganglia, dlPFC, and dACC during an associative learning task compared to controls, reflecting reduced frontal-subcortical activation during initial learning. Future work should determine whether these neural deficits may be restored with targeted treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Darin D Dougherty
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.
| | - Amy T Peters
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Jon E Grant
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Tara S Peris
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Emily J Ricketts
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Marta Migó
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Tina Chou
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Joseph O'Neill
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Dan J Stein
- SAMRC Unit on Risk and Resilience in Mental Disorders, Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Christine Lochner
- SAMRC Unit on Risk & Resilience in Mental Disorders, Department of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
| | - Nancy Keuthen
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - John Piacentini
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Thilo Deckersbach
- Psychology Program, University of Applied Sciences Europe, Berlin, Germany
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Glenn DE, Feldman JS, Ivie EJ, Shechner T, Leibenluft E, Pine DS, Peters MAK, Michalska KJ. Social relevance modulates multivariate neural representations of threat generalization in children and adults. Dev Psychobiol 2021; 63:e22185. [PMID: 34674239 DOI: 10.1002/dev.22185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2021] [Revised: 07/24/2021] [Accepted: 08/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Few studies have examined threat generalization across development and no developmental studies have compared the generalization of social versus nonsocial threat, making it difficult to identify contextual factors that contribute to threat learning across development. The present study assessed youth and adults' multivoxel neural representations of social versus nonsocial threat stimuli. Twenty adults (Mage = 25.7 ± 4.9) and 16 youth (Mage = 14.1 ± 1.7) completed two conditioning and extinction recall paradigms: one social and one nonsocial paradigm. Three weeks after conditioning, participants underwent a functional magnetic resonance imaging extinction recall task that presented the extinguished threat cue (CS+), a safety cue (CS-), and generalization stimuli (GS) consisting of CS-/CS+ blends. Across age groups, neural activity patterns and self-reported fear and memory ratings followed a linear generalization gradient for social threat stimuli and a quadratic generalization gradient for nonsocial threat stimuli, indicating enhanced threat/safety discrimination for social relative to nonsocial threat stimuli. The amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex displayed the greatest neural pattern differentiation between the CS+ and GS/CS-, reinforcing their role in threat learning and extinction recall. Contrary to predictions, age did not influence threat representations. These findings highlight the importance of the social relevance of threat on generalization across development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dana E Glenn
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, California, USA
| | - Julia S Feldman
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Elizabeth J Ivie
- Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA
| | - Tomer Shechner
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Ellen Leibenluft
- Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Daniel S Pine
- Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Megan A K Peters
- Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Kalina J Michalska
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, California, USA
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Alexopoulos GS, Raue PJ, Banerjee S, Marino P, Renn BN, Solomonov N, Adeagbo A, Sirey JA, Hull TD, Kiosses DN, Mauer E, Areán PA. Comparing the streamlined psychotherapy "Engage" with problem-solving therapy in late-life major depression. A randomized clinical trial. Mol Psychiatry 2021; 26:5180-5189. [PMID: 32612251 PMCID: PMC7775269 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-020-0832-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2020] [Revised: 06/01/2020] [Accepted: 06/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Effective psychotherapies for late-life depression are underutilized, mainly because of their complexity. "Engage" is a novel, streamlined psychotherapy that relies on neurobiology to identify core behavioral pathology of late-life depression and targets it with simple interventions, co-designed with community therapists so that they can be delivered in community settings. Consecutively recruited adults (≥60 years) with major depression (n = 249) were randomly assigned to 9 weekly sessions of "Engage" or to the evidence-based Problem-Solving Therapy (PST) offered by 35 trained community social workers and assessed by blind raters. "Engage" therapists required an average of 30% less training time to achieve fidelity to treatment than PST therapists and had one-third of the PST therapists' skill drift. Both treatments led to reduction of HAM-D scores over 9 weeks. The mixed effects model-estimated HAM-D ratings were not significantly different between the two treatments at any assessment point of the trial. The one-sided 95% CI for treatment-end difference was (-∞, 0.07) HAM-D points, indicating a non-inferiority margin of 1.3 HAM-D points or greater; this margin is lower than the pre-determined 2.2-point margin. The two treatment arms had similar response (HR = 1.08, 95% CI (0.76, 1.52), p = 0.67) and remission rates (HR = 0.89, 95% CI (0.57, 1.39), p = 0.61). We conclude that "Engage" is non-inferior to PST. If disseminated, "Engage" will increase the number of therapists who can reliably treat late-life depression and make effective psychotherapy available to large numbers of depressed older adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- George S Alexopoulos
- Weill Cornell Institute of Geriatric Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medicine, White Plains, NY, USA.
| | - Patrick J Raue
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA
| | - Samprit Banerjee
- Weill Cornell Institute of Geriatric Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medicine, White Plains, NY
| | - Patricia Marino
- Weill Cornell Institute of Geriatric Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medicine, White Plains, NY
| | - Brenna N. Renn
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA
| | - Nili Solomonov
- Weill Cornell Institute of Geriatric Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medicine, White Plains, NY
| | - Adenike Adeagbo
- Weill Cornell Institute of Geriatric Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medicine, White Plains, NY
| | - Jo Anne Sirey
- Weill Cornell Institute of Geriatric Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medicine, White Plains, NY
| | - Thomas D. Hull
- Talkspace, New York, NY,Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY
| | - Dimitris N. Kiosses
- Weill Cornell Institute of Geriatric Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medicine, White Plains, NY
| | - Elizabeth Mauer
- Weill Cornell Institute of Geriatric Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medicine, White Plains, NY
| | - Patricia A. Areán
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA
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Scharpf F, Mueller SC, Masath FB, Nkuba M, Hecker T. Psychopathology mediates between maltreatment and memory functioning in Burundian refugee youth. CHILD ABUSE & NEGLECT 2021; 118:105165. [PMID: 34171582 DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2021] [Revised: 06/06/2021] [Accepted: 06/09/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The detrimental impact of child maltreatment on children and adolescents' academic achievement and later socioeconomic wellbeing is well known. However, it is still unclear (1) whether maltreatment is actually linked to youth's long- and short-term memory deficits and (2) whether potential impairments are due to maltreatment per se or related psychopathology. OBJECTIVE Based on the Attentional Control Theory, we investigated a mediational model in which maltreatment would be related to psychopathology (internalizing symptoms, posttraumatic stress symptoms, posttraumatic cognitions), which would in turn be related to impaired memory functioning. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING We drew on a sample of 155 Burundian refugee youth (aged 11 to 15) currently living in refugee camps in Tanzania and at high risk of experiencing ongoing maltreatment by parents. METHODS Youth reported on their experiences of maltreatment and psychopathology in structured clinical interviews and completed visuospatial memory tasks involving a short-term and a working memory component (Corsi Block Tapping Test) and delayed recall from long-term memory (Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure). RESULTS Structural equation modeling showed that psychopathology mediated the association between increased maltreatment and reduced working memory capacity (β = -0.07, p = .02), with a trend towards mediation for short-term memory (β = -0.05, p = .06). Higher levels of maltreatment, but not psychopathology, were directly linked to long-term memory deficits (β = -0.20, p = .02). CONCLUSIONS Preventive efforts targeting maltreatment and interventions focusing on related psychopathology are needed to counter memory deficits and their potential negative implications for academic and socioeconomic outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sven C Mueller
- Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Belgium; Department of Personality, Psychological Assessment and Treatment, University of Deusto, Bilbao, Spain
| | - Faustine Bwire Masath
- Department of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Germany; Department of Educational Psychology and Curriculum Studies, Dar es salaam University College of Education, Tanzania
| | - Mabula Nkuba
- Department of Educational Psychology and Curriculum Studies, Dar es salaam University College of Education, Tanzania
| | - Tobias Hecker
- Department of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Germany; Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Switzerland
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11
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Midazolam and Ketamine Produce Distinct Neural Changes in Memory, Pain, and Fear Networks during Pain. Anesthesiology 2021; 135:69-82. [PMID: 33872345 DOI: 10.1097/aln.0000000000003774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Despite the well-known clinical effects of midazolam and ketamine, including sedation and memory impairment, the neural mechanisms of these distinct drugs in humans are incompletely understood. The authors hypothesized that both drugs would decrease recollection memory, task-related brain activity, and long-range connectivity between components of the brain systems for memory encoding, pain processing, and fear learning. METHODS In this randomized within-subject crossover study of 26 healthy adults, the authors used behavioral measures and functional magnetic resonance imaging to study these two anesthetics, at sedative doses, in an experimental memory paradigm using periodic pain. The primary outcome, recollection memory performance, was quantified with d' (a difference of z scores between successful recognition versus false identifications). Secondary outcomes were familiarity memory performance, serial task response times, task-related brain responses, and underlying brain connectivity from 17 preselected anatomical seed regions. All measures were determined under saline and steady-state concentrations of the drugs. RESULTS Recollection memory was reduced under midazolam (median [95% CI], d' = 0.73 [0.43 to 1.02]) compared with saline (d' = 1.78 [1.61 to 1.96]) and ketamine (d' = 1.55 [1.12 to 1.97]; P < 0.0001). Task-related brain activity was detected under saline in areas involved in memory, pain, and fear, particularly the hippocampus, insula, and amygdala. Compared with saline, midazolam increased functional connectivity to 20 brain areas and decreased to 8, from seed regions in the precuneus, posterior cingulate, and left insula. Compared with saline, ketamine decreased connectivity to 17 brain areas and increased to 2, from 8 seed regions including the hippocampus, parahippocampus, amygdala, and anterior and primary somatosensory cortex. CONCLUSIONS Painful stimulation during light sedation with midazolam, but not ketamine, can be accompanied by increased coherence in brain connectivity, even though details are less likely to be recollected as explicit memories. EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE
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12
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Zabik NL, Iadipaolo AS, Marusak HA, Peters C, Burghardt K, Rabinak CA. A common genetic variant in fatty acid amide hydrolase is linked to alterations in fear extinction neural circuitry in a racially diverse, nonclinical sample of adults. J Neurosci Res 2021; 100:744-761. [PMID: 34051704 DOI: 10.1002/jnr.24860] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2021] [Revised: 04/14/2021] [Accepted: 05/06/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Poor fear extinction learning and recall are linked to the development of fear-based disorders, like posttraumatic stress disorder, and are associated with aberrant activation of fear-related neural circuitry. This includes greater amygdala activation during extinction learning and lesser hippocampal and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) activation during recall. Emerging data indicate that genetic variation in fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH C385A; rs324420) is associated with increased peripheral endocannabinoid (eCB) levels and lesser threat-related amygdala reactivity. Preclinical studies link increased eCB signaling to better extinction learning and recall, thus FAAH C385A may protect against the development of trauma-related psychopathology by facilitating extinction learning. However, how this FAAH variant affects fear extinction neural circuitry remains unknown. In the present study, we used a novel, immersive-reality fear extinction paradigm paired with functional neuroimaging to assess FAAH C385A effects on fear-related neural circuitry and conditioned fear responding (US expectancy ratings, subjective units of distress, and skin conductance responding) in healthy adults from an urban area (Detroit, MI; N = 59; C/C = 35, A-carrier = 24). We found lesser amygdala activation in A-allele carriers, compared to C/C homozygotes, during early extinction recall. Likewise, we found lesser dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and greater hippocampus activation in early extinction learning in A-carriers compared to C/C homozygotes. We found no effects of FAAH C385A on vmPFC activation or behavioral fear indices. These data support and extend previous findings that FAAH genetic variation, associated with increased eCB signaling and subsequent enhanced fear extinction, may predict individual differences in successful fear learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole L Zabik
- Department of Pharmacy Practice, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.,Translational Neuroscience Program, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
| | | | - Hilary A Marusak
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.,Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute for Child and Family Development, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
| | - Craig Peters
- Department of Pharmacy Practice, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
| | - Kyle Burghardt
- Department of Pharmacy Practice, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.,Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
| | - Christine A Rabinak
- Department of Pharmacy Practice, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.,Translational Neuroscience Program, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.,Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute for Child and Family Development, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.,Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
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13
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Solomonov N, Victoria LW, Dunlop K, Respino M, Hoptman MJ, Zilcha-Mano S, Oberlin L, Liston C, Areán PA, Gunning FM, Alexopoulos GS. Resting State Functional Connectivity and Outcomes of Psychotherapies for Late-Life Depression. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 2020; 28:859-868. [PMID: 32376080 PMCID: PMC7369214 DOI: 10.1016/j.jagp.2020.04.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2020] [Revised: 04/14/2020] [Accepted: 04/14/2020] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Problem solving therapy (PST) and "Engage," a reward-exposure" based therapy, are important treatment options for late-life depression, given modest efficacy of antidepressants in this disorder. Abnormal function of the reward and default mode networks has been observed during depressive episodes. This study examined whether resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) of reward and DMN circuitries is associated with treatment outcomes. METHODS Thirty-two older adults with major depression (mean age = 72.7) were randomized to 9-weeks of either PST or "Engage." We assessed rsFC at baseline and week 6. We placed seeds in three a priori regions of interest: subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC), dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), and nucleus accumbens (NAcc). Outcome measures included the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) and the Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale (BADS). RESULTS In both PST and "Engage," higher rsFC between the sgACC and middle temporal gyrus at baseline was associated with greater improvement in depression severity (HAMD). Preliminary findings suggested that in "Engage" treated participants, lower rsFC between the dACC and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex at baseline was associated with HAMD improvement. Finally, in Engage only, increased rsFC from baseline to week 6 between NAcc and Superior Parietal Cortex was associated with increased BADS scores. CONCLUSION The results suggest that patients who present with higher rsFC between the sgACC and a structure within the DMN may benefit from behavioral psychotherapies for late life depression. "Engage" may lead to increased rsFC within the reward system reflecting a reconditioning of the reward systems by reward exposure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nili Solomonov
- Weill Cornell Institute of Geriatric Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medicine (NS, LWV, LO, FMG, and GSA), White Plains, NY.
| | - Lindsay W Victoria
- Weill Cornell Institute of Geriatric Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medicine (NS, LWV, LO, FMG, and GSA), White Plains, NY
| | - Katharine Dunlop
- Feil Family Brain Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine (KD and CL), New York, NY
| | | | - Matthew J Hoptman
- The Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research (MJH), Orangeburg, NY; New York University School of Medicine (MJH), New York, NY
| | - Sigal Zilcha-Mano
- Columbia University (SZM), New York, NY; Haifa University (SZM), Haifa, Israel
| | - Lauren Oberlin
- Weill Cornell Institute of Geriatric Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medicine (NS, LWV, LO, FMG, and GSA), White Plains, NY
| | - Conor Liston
- Feil Family Brain Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine (KD and CL), New York, NY
| | - Patricia A Areán
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (PAA), University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA
| | - Faith M Gunning
- Weill Cornell Institute of Geriatric Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medicine (NS, LWV, LO, FMG, and GSA), White Plains, NY
| | - George S Alexopoulos
- Weill Cornell Institute of Geriatric Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medicine (NS, LWV, LO, FMG, and GSA), White Plains, NY
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14
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Meyer B, Yuen KSL, Saase V, Kalisch R. The Functional Role of Large-scale Brain Network Coordination in Placebo-induced Anxiolysis. Cereb Cortex 2020; 29:3201-3210. [PMID: 30124792 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhy188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2018] [Revised: 07/06/2018] [Accepted: 07/20/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Anxiety reduction through mere expectation of anxiolytic treatment effects (placebo anxiolysis) has enormous clinical importance. Recent behavioral and electrophysiological data suggest that placebo anxiolysis involves reduced vigilance and enhanced internalization of attention; however, the underlying neurobiological mechanisms are not yet clear. Given the fundamental function of intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs) in basic cognitive processes, we investigated ICN activity patterns associated with externally and internally directed mental states under the influence of an anxiolytic placebo medication. Based on recent findings, we specifically analyzed the functional role of the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) in coordinating placebo-dependent cue-related (phasic) and cue-unrelated (sustained) network activity. Under placebo, we observed a down-regulation of the entire salience network (SN), particularly in response to threatening cues. The rACC exhibited enhanced cue-unrelated functional connectivity (FC) with the SN, which correlated with reductions in tonic arousal and anxiety. Hence, apart from the frequently reported modulation of aversive cue responses, the rACC appears to be crucially involved in exerting a tonically dampening control over salience-responsive structures. In line with a more internally directed mental state, we also found enhanced FC within the default mode network (DMN), again predicting reductions in anxiety under placebo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Meyer
- Neuroimaging Center (NIC), Focus Program Translational Neuroscience (FTN), Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany.,Deutsches Resilienz Zentrum (DRZ), Johannes Gutenberg University Medical Center Mainz, Germany
| | - Kenneth S L Yuen
- Neuroimaging Center (NIC), Focus Program Translational Neuroscience (FTN), Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany.,Deutsches Resilienz Zentrum (DRZ), Johannes Gutenberg University Medical Center Mainz, Germany
| | - Victor Saase
- Neuroimaging Center (NIC), Focus Program Translational Neuroscience (FTN), Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany.,Deutsches Resilienz Zentrum (DRZ), Johannes Gutenberg University Medical Center Mainz, Germany
| | - Raffael Kalisch
- Neuroimaging Center (NIC), Focus Program Translational Neuroscience (FTN), Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany.,Deutsches Resilienz Zentrum (DRZ), Johannes Gutenberg University Medical Center Mainz, Germany
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15
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Dorsomedial prefrontal cortex 5-HT6 receptors regulate anxiety-like behavior. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2019; 18:58-67. [PMID: 29204799 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-017-0552-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) plays a very important role in decision-related and anxiety-related information processing. It has enriched 5-HT6 receptors; however, the precise role of dmPFC 5-HT6 receptors in anxiety remains to be fully investigated. In this study, we injected dmPFC with the 5-HT6 receptor agonist EMD 386088 and antagonist SB 271046 using stereotactic technology. 5-HT6 receptor activation in mice increased time spent in the center area on the open-field test, increased exploration of the open arms on the elevated plus maze test, and increased ratio on the social interaction test. 5-HT6 receptor inactivation induced the opposite effects. In brain slices, EMD 386088 decreased both spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents (sIPSC) and spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents (sEPSC), while SB 271046 only increased sEPSC. These effects of EMD 386088 and SB 271046 could be reversed by the GABAA receptor antagonist bicuculline (BMI) and positive allosteric modulator clonazepam (CLZ), respectively. Our results suggest that neurotransmission in the dmPFC by 5-HT6 receptor activation and inhibition may play an important role in anxiety-like behavior, and may provide new insight into the pathological mechanism and potential target of anxiety disorders.
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16
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Orem TR, Wheelock MD, Goodman AM, Harnett NG, Wood KH, Gossett EW, Granger DA, Mrug S, Knight DC. Amygdala and prefrontal cortex activity varies with individual differences in the emotional response to psychosocial stress. Behav Neurosci 2019; 133:203-211. [PMID: 30907618 PMCID: PMC6435298 DOI: 10.1037/bne0000305] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Stress elicits a variety of psychophysiological responses that show large interindividual variability. Determining the neural mechanisms that mediate individual differences in the emotional response to stress would provide new insight that would have important implications for understanding stress-related disorders. Therefore, the present study examined individual differences in the relationship between brain activity and the emotional response to stress. In the largest stress study to date, 239 participants completed the Montreal Imaging Stress Task (MIST) while heart rate, skin conductance response (SCR), cortisol, self-reported stress, and blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) functional MRI (fMRI) signal responses were measured. The relationship between differential responses (heart rate, SCR, cortisol, and self-reported stress) and differential BOLD fMRI data was analyzed. Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC), dorsomedial PFC, ventromedial PFC, and amygdala activity varied with the behavioral response (i.e., SCR and self-reported stress). These results suggest the PFC and amygdala support processes that are important for the expression and regulation of the emotional response to stress, and that stress-related PFC and amygdala activity underlie interindividual variability in peripheral physiologic measures of the stress response. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
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Affiliation(s)
- Tyler R. Orem
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Muriah D. Wheelock
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Adam M. Goodman
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Nathaniel G. Harnett
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Kimberly H. Wood
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Ethan W. Gossett
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Douglas A. Granger
- Institute for Interdisciplinary Salivary Bioscience Research, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
- UCI Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, School of Nursing, and Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Sylvie Mrug
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - David C. Knight
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
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17
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Thompson K, King K, Nahmias E, Fani N, Kvaran T, Tone EB, Turner JA. Social Feedback Modulates Neural Response Associated With Cognitive Bias in Individuals Expressing Anxious Symptoms. CHRONIC STRESS (THOUSAND OAKS, CALIF.) 2019; 3:2470547019848648. [PMID: 31328176 PMCID: PMC6641571 DOI: 10.1177/2470547019848648] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2018] [Accepted: 04/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Social anxiety is characterized by a tendency to overestimate the likelihood of negative outcomes and consequences before, during, and after interpersonal interactions with social partners. Recent evidence suggests that a network of brain regions critical for perspective-taking, threat appraisal, and uncertainty resolution may function atypically in those prone to social anxiety. In this study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine neural activity in specific regions of interest in a sample of young adults who endorsed high or low levels of social anxiety. METHODS We recruited 31 college student volunteers (age: 18-28 years), categorized as having high or low anxiety based on their Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale-Self Report scores. These participants were each scanned while playing the iterated Prisoner's Dilemma game with three computerized confederates, two of whom they were deceived to believe were human co-players. This study focuses on data collected during play with the presumed humans. Regions of interest were defined for the temporoparietal junction, anterior midcingulate, and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. Average weighted mean blood-oxygen-level-dependent signals for each subject were extracted and analyzed using mixed design analyses of variance to detect group differences in activation during decision-making, anticipation, and appraisal of round outcomes during the game. RESULTS Behavior analysis revealed that the high-anxiety group was more likely to defect than the low-anxiety group. Neuroimaging analysis showed that the high-anxiety group exhibited elevated blood-oxygen-level-dependent activity relative to the low-anxiety group in all three regions during the social feedback appraisal phase but not during decision-making or the anticipation of interaction outcomes. CONCLUSIONS These findings provide evidence that some behaviors linked to cognitive biases associated with social anxiety may be mediated by a network of regions involved in recognizing and processing directed social information. Future investigation of the neural basis of cognition and bias in social anxiety using the prisoner's dilemma and other economic-exchange tasks is warranted. These tasks appear to be highly effective, functional magnetic resonance imaging-compatible methods of probing altered cognition and behavior associated with anxiety and related conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Khalil Thompson
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State
University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Kendrick King
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State
University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Eddy Nahmias
- Department of Philosophy, Georgia State
University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Negar Fani
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral
Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA USA
| | - Trevor Kvaran
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State
University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Erin B. Tone
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State
University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Jessica A. Turner
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State
University, Atlanta, GA, USA
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18
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Hehr A, Marusak HA, Huntley ED, Rabinak CA. Effects of Duration and Midpoint of Sleep on Corticolimbic Circuitry in Youth. CHRONIC STRESS (THOUSAND OAKS, CALIF.) 2019; 3:2470547019856332. [PMID: 31511841 PMCID: PMC6739076 DOI: 10.1177/2470547019856332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2019] [Accepted: 05/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Adequate sleep is essential for cognitive and emotion-related functioning, and 9 to 12 hr of sleep is recommended for children ages 6 to 12 years and 8 to 10 hr for children ages 13 to 18 years. However, national survey data indicate that older youth sleep for fewer hours and fall asleep later than younger youth. This shift in sleep duration and timing corresponds with a sharp increase in onset of emotion-related problems (e.g., anxiety, depression) during adolescence. Given that both sleep duration and timing have been linked to emotion-related outcomes, the present study tests the effects of sleep duration and timing, and their interaction, on resting-state functional connectivity (RS-FC) of corticolimbic emotion-related neural circuitry in children and adolescents. METHODS A total of 63 children and adolescents (6-17 years, 34 females) completed a weekend overnight sleep journal and a 10-min resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan the next day (Sunday). Whole-brain RS-FC of the amygdala was computed, and the effects of sleep duration, timing (i.e., midpoint of sleep), and their interaction were explored using regression analyses. RESULTS Overall, we found that older youth tended to sleep later and for fewer hours than younger youth. Controlling for age, shorter sleep duration was associated with lower RS-FC between the amygdala and regions implicated in emotion regulation, including ventral anterior cingulate cortex, precentral gyrus, and superior temporal gyrus. Interestingly, midpoint of sleep was associated with altered connectivity in a distinct set of brain regions involved in interoception and sensory processing, including insula, supramarginal gyrus, and postcentral gyrus. Our data also indicate widespread interactive effects of sleep duration and midpoint on brain regions implicated in emotion regulation, sensory processing, and motor control. CONCLUSION These results suggest that both sleep duration and midpoint of sleep are associated with next-day RS-FC within corticolimbic emotion-related neural circuitry in children and adolescents. The observed interactive effects of sleep duration and timing on RS-FC may reflect how homeostatic and circadian process interact in the brain and explain the complex patterns observed with respect to emotional health when considering sleep duration and timing. Sleep-related changes in corticolimbic circuitry may contribute to the onset of emotion-related problems during adolescence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aneesh Hehr
- Department of Pharmacy Practice,
Wayne
State University College of Pharmacy and
Health Sciences, Detroit, MI, USA
| | - Hilary A. Marusak
- Department of Pharmacy Practice,
Wayne
State University College of Pharmacy and
Health Sciences, Detroit, MI, USA
| | - Edward D. Huntley
- Survey Research Center, Institute for
Social Research,
University
of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Christine A. Rabinak
- Department of Pharmacy Practice,
Wayne
State University College of Pharmacy and
Health Sciences, Detroit, MI, USA
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19
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Michalska KJ, Feldman JS, Ivie EJ, Shechner T, Sequeira S, Averbeck B, Degnan KA, Chronis-Tuscano A, Leibenluft E, Fox NA, Pine DS. Early-childhood social reticence predicts SCR-BOLD coupling during fear extinction recall in preadolescent youth. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2018; 36:100605. [PMID: 30921634 PMCID: PMC6969221 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2018.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2018] [Revised: 11/16/2018] [Accepted: 12/11/2018] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Threat circuit function may develop differently in children with different temperamental profiles, such as high vs. low social reticence. We relate individual differences in longitudinally assessed, observed socially reticent behavior to brain-physiology interactions during extinction recall. Childhood social reticence predicts a distinct pattern of hemodynamic-autonomic covariation when recalling extinguished threat and safety cues. Covariation patterns indicated that socially reticent youth had difficulty tracking safety as a function of stimulus resemblance to the safe stimulus.
Social Reticence (SR) is a temperament construct identified in early childhood that is expressed as shy, anxiously avoidant behavior and, particularly when stable, robustly associated with risk for anxiety disorders. Threat circuit function may develop differently for children high on SR than low on SR. We compared brain function and behavior during extinction recall in a sample of 11-to-15-year-old children characterized in early childhood on a continuum of SR. Three weeks after undergoing fear conditioning and extinction, participants completed a functional magnetic resonance imaging extinction recall task assessing memory and threat differentiation for conditioned stimuli. Whereas self-report and psychophysiological measures of differential conditioning, extinction, and extinction recall were largely similar across participants, SR-related differences in brain function emerged during extinction recall. Specifically, childhood SR was associated with a distinct pattern of hemodynamic-autonomic covariation in the brain when recalling extinguished threat and safety cues. SR and attention focus impacted associations between trial-by-trial variation in autonomic responding and in brain activation. These interactions occurred in three main brain areas: the anterior insular cortex (AIC), the anterior subdivision of the medial cingulate cortex (aMCC), and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). This pattern of SCR-BOLD coupling may reflect selective difficulty tracking safety in a temperamentally at-risk population.
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Affiliation(s)
- K J Michalska
- University of California Riverside, Department of Psychology, Riverside, CA, USA.
| | - J S Feldman
- University of Pittsburgh, Department of Psychology, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - E J Ivie
- University of Oregon, Department of Psychology, Eugene, OR, USA
| | - T Shechner
- University of Haifa, Department of Psychology, Haifa, Israel
| | - S Sequeira
- University of Pittsburgh, Department of Psychology, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - B Averbeck
- The National Institute of Mental Health, Emotion and Development Branch, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - K A Degnan
- The Catholic University of America, Department of Psychology, Washington D.C., USA
| | - A Chronis-Tuscano
- University of Maryland College Park, Department of Psychology, College Park, MD, USA
| | - E Leibenluft
- The National Institute of Mental Health, Emotion and Development Branch, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - N A Fox
- University of Maryland College Park, Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, College Park, MD, USA
| | - D S Pine
- The National Institute of Mental Health, Emotion and Development Branch, Bethesda, MD, USA
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20
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Morriss J, Gell M, van Reekum CM. The uncertain brain: A co-ordinate based meta-analysis of the neural signatures supporting uncertainty during different contexts. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2018; 96:241-249. [PMID: 30550858 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.12.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2018] [Revised: 12/09/2018] [Accepted: 12/10/2018] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Uncertainty is often inevitable in everyday life and can be both stressful and exciting. Given its relevance to psychopathology and wellbeing, recent research has begun to address the brain basis of uncertainty. In the current review we examined whether there are discrete and shared neural signatures for different uncertain contexts. From the literature we identified three broad categories of uncertainty currently empirically studied using functional MRI (fMRI): basic threat and reward uncertainty, decision-making under uncertainty, and associative learning under uncertainty. We examined the neural basis of each category by using a coordinate based meta-analysis, where brain activation foci from previously published fMRI experiments were drawn together (1998-2017; 87 studies). The analyses revealed shared and discrete patterns of neural activation for uncertainty, such as the insula and amygdala, depending on the category. Such findings will have relevance for researchers attempting to conceptualise uncertainty, as well as clinical researchers examining the neural basis of uncertainty in relation to psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jayne Morriss
- Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK.
| | - Martin Gell
- Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Carien M van Reekum
- Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
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21
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Harnett NG, Ference EW, Wood KH, Wheelock MD, Knight AJ, Knight DC. Trauma exposure acutely alters neural function during Pavlovian fear conditioning. Cortex 2018; 109:1-13. [PMID: 30265859 PMCID: PMC6261786 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2018.08.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2018] [Revised: 06/29/2018] [Accepted: 08/22/2018] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with dysfunction of the neural circuitry that supports fear learning and memory processes. However, much of what is known about neural dysfunction in PTSD is based on research in chronic PTSD populations. Less is known about neural function that supports fear learning acutely following trauma exposure. Determining the acute effects of trauma exposure on brain function would provide new insight into the neural processes that mediate the cognitive-affective dysfunction associated with PTSD. Therefore, the present study investigated neural activity that supports fear learning and memory processes in recently Trauma-Exposed (TE) and Non-Trauma-Exposed (NTE) participants. Participants completed a Pavlovian fear conditioning procedure during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). During fMRI, participants' threat expectancy was continuously monitored. NTE participants showed greater threat expectancy during warning than safety cues, while no difference was observed in the TE group. This finding suggests TE participants overgeneralized the fear association to the safety cue. Further, only the TE group showed a negative relationship between fMRI signal responses within dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (PFC) and threat expectancy during safety cues. These results suggest the dorsomedial PFC mediates overgeneralization of learned fear as an acute result of trauma exposure. Finally, neural activity within the PFC and inferior parietal lobule showed a negative relationship with PTSD symptom severity assessed three months posttrauma. Thus, neural activity measured acutely following trauma exposure predicted future PTSD symptom severity. The present findings elucidate the acute effects of trauma exposure on cognitive-affective function and provide new insight into the neural mechanisms of PTSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathaniel G Harnett
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Edward W Ference
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Kimberly H Wood
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Muriah D Wheelock
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Amy J Knight
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - David C Knight
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
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22
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Rosa LA. Solving the prefrontal conundrum of high-order anxiety: conciliating HOTEC and hypofrontality. A theoretical review. Cogn Neuropsychiatry 2018; 23:335-349. [PMID: 30256715 DOI: 10.1080/13546805.2018.1527217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION According to the High-order Theory of Emotional Consciousness (HOTEC), every emotional process is a conscious and high-order state of mind carried out by the General Networks of Cognition (GNC), which consists mainly of prefrontal mechanisms. This means that anxiety is also an emotional state of mind carried out by the GNC (positive correlation). However, numerous studies have suggested what is commonly called "hypofrontality" during states of anxiety (negative correlation), which seems to give rise to a theoretical and empirical contraction. METHODS I present a theoretical review to address the following issue: how to advocate a HOTEC view of anxiety in the face of a growing paradigm of hypofrontality during states of anxiety? RESULTS Here I propose that dmPFC, the dACC, and the anterior insula are GNC areas positively correlated with anxiety, which, along with the prefrontal areas responsible for regulating the activation of survival circuits and driving the attention to adaptive ways to overcome potential threats, form an interconnective model of anticipatory and regulatory mechanisms related to learned threats based on autobiographical memories. CONCLUSIONS Through this model, I propose that HOTEC is still a valid way to approach and understand both healthy and unhealthy anxious states of mind.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luiz Augusto Rosa
- a Psychology of Learning Laboratory (LPA), Department of Psychology , Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) , São Carlos , Brazil
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Gonzalez-Escamilla G, Chirumamilla VC, Meyer B, Bonertz T, von Grotthus S, Vogt J, Stroh A, Horstmann JP, Tüscher O, Kalisch R, Muthuraman M, Groppa S. Excitability regulation in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex during sustained instructed fear responses: a TMS-EEG study. Sci Rep 2018; 8:14506. [PMID: 30267020 PMCID: PMC6162240 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-32781-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2018] [Accepted: 09/11/2018] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Threat detection is essential for protecting individuals from adverse situations, in which a network of amygdala, limbic regions and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) regions are involved in fear processing. Excitability regulation in the dmPFC might be crucial for fear processing, while abnormal patterns could lead to mental illness. Notwithstanding, non-invasive paradigms to measure excitability regulation during fear processing in humans are missing. To address this challenge we adapted an approach for excitability characterization, combining electroencephalography (EEG) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the dmPFC during an instructed fear paradigm, to dynamically dissect its role in fear processing. Event-related (ERP) and TMS-evoked potentials (TEP) were analyzed to trace dmPFC excitability. We further linked the excitability regulation patterns to individual MRI-derived gray matter structural integrity of the fear network. Increased cortical excitability was demonstrated to threat (T) processing in comparison to no-threat (NT), reflected by increased amplitude of evoked potentials. Furthermore, TMS at dmPFC enhanced the evoked responses during T processing, while the structural integrity of the dmPFC and amygdala predicted the excitability regulation patterns to fear processing. The dmPFC takes a special role during fear processing by dynamically regulating excitability. The applied paradigm can be used to non-invasively track response abnormalities to threat stimuli in healthy subjects or patients with mental disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel Gonzalez-Escamilla
- Section of Movement Disorders and Neurostimulation, Department of Neurology, Focus Program Translational Neurosciences (FTN), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131, Mainz, Germany
| | - Venkata C Chirumamilla
- Section of Movement Disorders and Neurostimulation, Department of Neurology, Focus Program Translational Neurosciences (FTN), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131, Mainz, Germany
| | - Benjamin Meyer
- Neuroimaging Center Mainz, Focus Program Translational Neuroscience, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131, Mainz, Germany
| | - Tamara Bonertz
- Section of Movement Disorders and Neurostimulation, Department of Neurology, Focus Program Translational Neurosciences (FTN), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131, Mainz, Germany
| | - Sarah von Grotthus
- Section of Movement Disorders and Neurostimulation, Department of Neurology, Focus Program Translational Neurosciences (FTN), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131, Mainz, Germany
| | - Johannes Vogt
- Institute for Microscopic Anatomy and Neurobiology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131, Mainz, Germany
| | - Albrecht Stroh
- Focus Program Translational Neurosciences, Institute for Microscopic Anatomy and Neurobiology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131, Mainz, Germany
| | - Johann-Philipp Horstmann
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131, Mainz, Germany
| | - Oliver Tüscher
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131, Mainz, Germany
| | - Raffael Kalisch
- Neuroimaging Center Mainz, Focus Program Translational Neuroscience, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131, Mainz, Germany
| | - Muthuraman Muthuraman
- Section of Movement Disorders and Neurostimulation, Department of Neurology, Focus Program Translational Neurosciences (FTN), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131, Mainz, Germany
| | - Sergiu Groppa
- Section of Movement Disorders and Neurostimulation, Department of Neurology, Focus Program Translational Neurosciences (FTN), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131, Mainz, Germany.
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Holbrook C, Gordon CL, Iacoboni M. Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation of the Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex to Experimentally Reduce Ideological Threat Responses. J Vis Exp 2018. [PMID: 30320754 PMCID: PMC6235344 DOI: 10.3791/58204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Decades of behavioral science research have documented functional shifts in attitudes and ideological adherence in response to various challenges, but little work to date has illuminated the neural mechanisms underlying these dynamics. This paper describes how continuous theta burst transcranial magnetic stimulation may be employed to experimentally assess the causal contribution of cortical regions to threat-related ideological shifts. In the example protocol provided here, participants are exposed to a threat prime-an explicit reminder of their own inevitable death and bodily decomposition-following a downregulation of the posterior medial frontal cortex (pMFC) or a sham stimulation. Next, disguised within a series of distracter tasks, participants' relative degree of ideological adherence is assessed-in the present example, with regard to coalitional prejudice and religious belief. Participants for whom the pMFC has been downregulated exhibit less coalitionally biased responses to an immigrant critical of the participants' national in-group, and less conviction in positive afterlife beliefs (i.e., God, angels, and heaven), despite having recently been reminded of death. These results complement prior findings that continuous theta burst stimulation of the pMFC influences social conformity and sharing and illustrate the feasibility of investigating the neural basis of high-level social cognitive shifts using transcranial magnetic stimulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colin Holbrook
- Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California, Merced;
| | - Chelsea L Gordon
- Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California, Merced
| | - Marco Iacoboni
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles
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25
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The influence of acoustic startle probes on fear learning in humans. Sci Rep 2018; 8:14552. [PMID: 30267018 PMCID: PMC6162305 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-32646-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2018] [Accepted: 09/07/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Even though human fear-conditioning involves affective learning as well as expectancy learning, most studies assess only one of the two distinct processes. Commonly used read-outs of associative fear learning are the fear-potentiated startle reflex (FPS), pupil dilation and US-expectancy ratings. FPS is thought to reflect the affective aspect of fear learning, while pupil dilation reflects a general arousal response. However, in order to measure FPS, aversively loud acoustic probes are presented during conditioning, which might in itself exert an effect on fear learning. Here we tested the effect of startle probes on fear learning by comparing brain activation (fMRI), pupil dilation and US-expectancy ratings with and without acoustic startle probes within subjects. Regardless of startle probes, fear conditioning resulted in enhanced dACC, insula and ventral striatum activation. Interaction analyses showed that startle probes diminished differential pupil dilation between CS+ and CS- due to increased pupil responses to CS-. A trend significant interaction effect was observed for US-expectancy and amygdala activation. Startle probes affect differential fear learning by impeding safety learning, as measured with pupil dilation, a read-out of the cognitive component of fear learning. However, we observed no significant effect of acoustic startle probes on other measures of fear learning.
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Sleep-amount differentially affects fear-processing neural circuitry in pediatric anxiety: A preliminary fMRI investigation. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2018; 17:1098-1113. [PMID: 28913727 PMCID: PMC5709437 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-017-0535-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Insufficient sleep, as well as the incidence of anxiety disorders, both peak during adolescence. While both conditions present perturbations in fear-processing-related neurocircuitry, it is unknown whether these neurofunctional alterations directly link anxiety and compromised sleep in adolescents. Fourteen anxious adolescents (AAs) and 19 healthy adolescents (HAs) were compared on a measure of sleep amount and neural responses to negatively valenced faces during fMRI. Group differences in neural response to negative faces emerged in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and the hippocampus. In both regions, correlation of sleep amount with BOLD activation was positive in AAs, but negative in HAs. Follow-up psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analyses indicated positive connectivity between dACC and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, and between hippocampus and insula. This connectivity was correlated negatively with sleep amount in AAs, but positively in HAs. In conclusion, the presence of clinical anxiety modulated the effects of sleep-amount on neural reactivity to negative faces differently among this group of adolescents, which may contribute to different clinical significance and outcomes of sleep disturbances in healthy adolescents and patients with anxiety disorders.
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27
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Greenwald JD, Shafritz KM. An Integrative Neuroscience Framework for the Treatment of Chronic Pain: From Cellular Alterations to Behavior. Front Integr Neurosci 2018; 12:18. [PMID: 29875641 PMCID: PMC5974053 DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2018.00018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2018] [Accepted: 05/04/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Chronic pain can result from many pain syndromes including complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), phantom limb pain and chronic low back pain, among others. On a molecular level, chronic pain syndromes arise from hypersensitization within the dorsal horn of the spinal cord, a process known as central sensitization. Central sensitization involves an upregulation of ionotropic and metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) similar to that of long-term potentiation (LTP). Regions of the brain in which LTP occurs, such as the amygdala and hippocampus, are implicated in fear- and memory-related brain circuity. Chronic pain dramatically influences patient quality of life. Individuals with chronic pain may develop pain-related anxiety and pain-related fear. The syndrome also alters functional connectivity in the default-mode network (DMN) and salience network. On a cellular/molecular level, central sensitization may be reversed through degradative glutamate receptor pathways. This, however, rarely happens. Instead, cortical brain regions may serve in a top-down regulatory capacity for the maintenance or alleviation of pain. Specifically, the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), which plays a critical role in fear-related brain circuits, the DMN, and salience network may be the driving forces in this process. On a cellular level, the mPFC may form new neural circuits through LTP that may cause extinction of pre-existing pain pathways found within fear-related brain circuits, the DMN, and salience network. In order to promote new LTP connections between the mPFC and other key brain structures, such as the amygdala and insula, we propose a holistic rehabilitation program including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and revolving around: (1) cognitive reappraisals; (2) mindfulness meditation; and (3) functional rehabilitation. Unlike current medical interventions focusing upon pain-relieving medications, we do not believe that chronic pain treatment should focus on reversing the effects of central sensitization. Instead, we propose here that it is critical to focus on non-invasive efforts to promote new neural circuits originating from the mPFC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jess D. Greenwald
- Department of Psychology, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY, United States
| | - Keith M. Shafritz
- Department of Psychology, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY, United States
- Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience, The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Manhasset, NY, United States
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Brinkmann L, Buff C, Feldker K, Tupak SV, Becker MPI, Herrmann MJ, Straube T. Distinct phasic and sustained brain responses and connectivity of amygdala and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis during threat anticipation in panic disorder. Psychol Med 2017; 47:2675-2688. [PMID: 28485259 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291717001192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Panic disorder (PD) patients are constantly concerned about future panic attacks and exhibit general hypersensitivity to unpredictable threat. We aimed to reveal phasic and sustained brain responses and functional connectivity of the amygdala and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) during threat anticipation in PD. METHODS Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we investigated 17 PD patients and 19 healthy controls (HC) during anticipation of temporally unpredictable aversive and neutral sounds. We used a phasic and sustained analysis model to disentangle temporally dissociable brain activations. RESULTS PD patients compared with HC showed phasic amygdala and sustained BNST responses during anticipation of aversive v. neutral stimuli. Furthermore, increased phasic activation was observed in anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), insula and prefrontal cortex (PFC). Insula and PFC also showed sustained activation. Functional connectivity analyses revealed partly distinct phasic and sustained networks. CONCLUSIONS We demonstrate a role for the BNST during unpredictable threat anticipation in PD and provide first evidence for dissociation between phasic amygdala and sustained BNST activation and their functional connectivity. In line with a hypersensitivity to uncertainty in PD, our results suggest time-dependent involvement of brain regions related to fear and anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Brinkmann
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Muenster,Von-Esmarch-Str. 52, Muenster,Germany
| | - C Buff
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Muenster,Von-Esmarch-Str. 52, Muenster,Germany
| | - K Feldker
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Muenster,Von-Esmarch-Str. 52, Muenster,Germany
| | - S V Tupak
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Muenster,Von-Esmarch-Str. 52, Muenster,Germany
| | - M P I Becker
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Muenster,Von-Esmarch-Str. 52, Muenster,Germany
| | - M J Herrmann
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy,Center of Mental Health, University Hospital Wuerzburg,Margarete-Hoeppel-Platz 1, Wuerzburg,Germany
| | - T Straube
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Muenster,Von-Esmarch-Str. 52, Muenster,Germany
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Wagner AN, Bradshaw SD, Dawson JA, Shumway ST. Examining Prefrontal Cortex Activity and Tonic Anxiety in Alcohol Use Disorder Recovery: A Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy Study. ALCOHOLISM TREATMENT QUARTERLY 2017. [DOI: 10.1080/07347324.2017.1322422] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alison N. Wagner
- Center for Neuroscience Discovery, Institute for Healthy Aging, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, Texas, USA
| | - Spencer D. Bradshaw
- Addictive Disorders and Recovery Studies Program, Department of Community, Family, & Addiction Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, USA
| | - John A. Dawson
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, USA
| | - Sterling T. Shumway
- Addictive Disorders and Recovery Studies Program, Department of Community, Family, & Addiction Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, USA
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30
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Ellard KK, Barlow DH, Whitfield-Gabrieli S, Gabrieli JDE, Deckersbach T. Neural correlates of emotion acceptance vs worry or suppression in generalized anxiety disorder. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2017; 12:1009-1021. [PMID: 28402571 PMCID: PMC5472113 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsx025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2016] [Accepted: 03/01/2017] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent emotion dysregulation models of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) propose chronic worry in GAD functions as a maladaptive attempt to regulate anxiety related to uncertain or unpredictable outcomes. Emotion acceptance is an adaptive emotion regulation strategy increasingly incorporated into newer cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) approaches to GAD to counter chronic worry. The current study explores the mechanisms of emotion acceptance as an alternate emotion regulation strategy to worry or emotion suppression using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Twenty-one female participants diagnosed with GAD followed counterbalanced instructions to regulate responses to personally relevant worry statements by engaging in either emotion acceptance, worry or emotion suppression. Emotion acceptance resulted in lower ratings of distress than worry and was associated with increased dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) activation and increased ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC)-amygdala functional connectivity. In contrast, worry showed significantly greater distress ratings than acceptance or suppression and was associated with increased precuneus, VLPFC, amygdala and hippocampal activation. Suppression did not significantly differ from acceptance in distress ratings or amygdala recruitment, but resulted in significantly greater insula and VLPFC activation and decreased VLPFC-amygdala functional connectivity. Emotion acceptance closely aligned with activation and connectivity patterns reported in studies of contextual extinction learning and mindful awareness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristen K Ellard
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - David H Barlow
- Department of Psychology, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - John D E Gabrieli
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Thilo Deckersbach
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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Feldker K, Heitmann CY, Neumeister P, Tupak SV, Schrammen E, Moeck R, Zwitserlood P, Bruchmann M, Straube T. Transdiagnostic brain responses to disorder-related threat across four psychiatric disorders. Psychol Med 2017; 47:730-743. [PMID: 27869064 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291716002634] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND There is an ongoing debate whether transdiagnostic neural mechanisms are shared by different anxiety-related disorders or whether different disorders show distinct neural correlates. To investigate this issue, studies controlling for design and stimuli across multiple anxiety-related disorders are needed. METHOD The present functional magnetic resonance imaging study investigated neural correlates of visual disorder-related threat processing across unmedicated patients suffering from panic disorder (n = 20), social anxiety disorder (n = 20), dental phobia (n = 16) and post-traumatic stress disorder (n = 11) relative to healthy controls (HC; n = 67). Each patient group and the corresponding HC group saw a tailor-made picture set with 50 disorder-related and 50 neutral scenes. RESULTS Across all patients, increased activation to disorder-related v. neutral scenes was found in subregions of the bilateral amygdala. In addition, activation of the lateral amygdala to disorder-related v. neutral scenes correlated positively with subjective anxiety ratings of scenes across patients. Furthermore, whole-brain analysis revealed increased responses to disorder-related threat across the four disorders in middle, medial and superior frontal regions, (para-)limbic regions, such as the insula and thalamus, as well as in the brainstem and occipital lobe. We found no disorder-specific brain responses. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that pathologically heightened lateral amygdala activation is linked to experienced anxiety across anxiety disorders and trauma- and stressor-related disorders. Furthermore, the transdiagnostically shared activation network points to a common neural basis of abnormal responses to disorder-related threat stimuli across the four investigated disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Feldker
- University Hospital Muenster, Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience,Muenster,Germany
| | - C Y Heitmann
- University Hospital Muenster, Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience,Muenster,Germany
| | - P Neumeister
- University Hospital Muenster, Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience,Muenster,Germany
| | - S V Tupak
- University Hospital Muenster, Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience,Muenster,Germany
| | - E Schrammen
- University Hospital Muenster, Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience,Muenster,Germany
| | - R Moeck
- University Hospital Muenster, Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience,Muenster,Germany
| | | | - M Bruchmann
- University Hospital Muenster, Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience,Muenster,Germany
| | - T Straube
- University Hospital Muenster, Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience,Muenster,Germany
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Brinkmann L, Buff C, Neumeister P, Tupak SV, Becker MPI, Herrmann MJ, Straube T. Dissociation between amygdala and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis during threat anticipation in female post-traumatic stress disorder patients. Hum Brain Mapp 2017; 38:2190-2205. [PMID: 28070973 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2016] [Revised: 12/15/2016] [Accepted: 01/03/2017] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Feelings of uncontrollability and anxiety regarding possibly harmful events are key features of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology. Due to a lack of studies, the neural correlates of anticipatory anxiety in PTSD are still poorly understood. During functional magnetic resonance imaging, female PTSD patients with interpersonal violence trauma and healthy controls (HC) anticipated the temporally unpredictable presentation of aversive (human scream) or neutral sounds. Based on separate analysis models, we investigated phasic and sustained brain activations. PTSD patients reported increased anxiety during anticipation of aversive versus neutral sounds. Furthermore, we found both increased initial, phasic amygdala activation and increased sustained activation of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) during anticipation of aversive versus neutral sounds in PTSD patients in comparison to HC. PTSD patients as compared with HC also showed increased phasic responses in mid-cingulate cortex (MCC), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), mid-insula and lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) as well as increased sustained responses in MCC, PCC, anterior insula and lateral and medial PFC. Our results demonstrate a relationship between anticipatory anxiety in PTSD patients and hyperresponsiveness of brain regions that have previously been associated with PTSD symptomatology. Additionally, the dissociation between amygdala and BNST indicates distinct temporal and functional characteristics and suggests that phasic fear and sustained anxiety responses are enhanced during unpredictable anticipation of aversive stimuli in PTSD. Hum Brain Mapp 38:2190-2205, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonie Brinkmann
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Von-Esmarch-Str. 52, Muenster, D-48149, Germany
| | - Christine Buff
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Von-Esmarch-Str. 52, Muenster, D-48149, Germany
| | - Paula Neumeister
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Von-Esmarch-Str. 52, Muenster, D-48149, Germany
| | - Sara V Tupak
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Von-Esmarch-Str. 52, Muenster, D-48149, Germany
| | - Michael P I Becker
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Von-Esmarch-Str. 52, Muenster, D-48149, Germany
| | - Martin J Herrmann
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Wuerzburg, Margarete-Hoeppel-Platz 1, D-97080, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Thomas Straube
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Von-Esmarch-Str. 52, Muenster, D-48149, Germany
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33
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Neural circuitry of emotion regulation: Effects of appraisal, attention, and cortisol administration. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2016; 17:437-451. [DOI: 10.3758/s13415-016-0489-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
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34
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Leuchs L, Schneider M, Czisch M, Spoormaker VI. Neural correlates of pupil dilation during human fear learning. Neuroimage 2016; 147:186-197. [PMID: 27915119 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.11.072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2016] [Revised: 11/12/2016] [Accepted: 11/30/2016] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Fear conditioning and extinction are prevailing experimental and etiological models for normal and pathological anxiety. Pupil dilations in response to conditioned stimuli are increasingly used as a robust psychophysiological readout of fear learning, but their neural correlates remain unknown. We aimed at identifying the neural correlates of pupil responses to threat and safety cues during a fear learning task. METHODS Thirty-four healthy subjects underwent a fear conditioning and extinction paradigm with simultaneous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and pupillometry. After a stringent preprocessing and artifact rejection procedure, trial-wise pupil responses to threat and safety cues were entered as parametric modulations to the fMRI general linear models. RESULTS Trial-wise magnitude of pupil responses to both conditioned and safety stimuli correlated positively with activity in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), thalamus, supramarginal gyrus and insula for the entire fear learning task, and with activity in the dACC during the fear conditioning phase in particular. Phasic pupil responses did not show habituation, but were negatively correlated with tonic baseline pupil diameter, which decreased during the task. Correcting phasic pupil responses for the tonic baseline pupil diameter revealed thalamic activity, which was also observed in an analysis employing a linear (declining) time modulation. CONCLUSION Pupil dilations during fear conditioning and extinction provide useful readouts to track fear learning on a trial-by-trial level, particularly with simultaneous fMRI. Whereas phasic pupil responses reflect activity in brain regions involved in fear learning and threat appraisal, most prominently in dACC, tonic changes in pupil diameter may reflect changes in general arousal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Leuchs
- Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, 80804 Munich, Germany
| | - Max Schneider
- Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, 80804 Munich, Germany
| | - Michael Czisch
- Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, 80804 Munich, Germany
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35
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Tottenham N, Galván A. Stress and the adolescent brain: Amygdala-prefrontal cortex circuitry and ventral striatum as developmental targets. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2016; 70:217-227. [PMID: 27473936 PMCID: PMC5074883 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.07.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 174] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2016] [Revised: 07/22/2016] [Accepted: 07/25/2016] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Adolescence is a time in development when significant changes occur in affective neurobiology. These changes provide a prolonged period of plasticity to prepare the individual for independence. However, they also render the system highly vulnerable to the effects of environmental stress exposures. Here, we review the human literature on the associations between stress-exposure and developmental changes in amygdala, prefrontal cortex, and ventral striatal dopaminergic systems during the adolescent period. Despite the vast differences in types of adverse exposures presented in his review, these neurobiological systems appear consistently vulnerable to stress experienced during development, providing putative mechanisms to explain why affective processes that emerge during adolescence are particularly sensitive to environmental influences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nim Tottenham
- Columbia University, Department of Psychology, 1190 Amsterdam Avenue MC 5501, New York, NY 10027, United States.
| | - Adriana Galván
- University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Psychology, 1285 Franz Hall BOX 951563, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, United States.
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36
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Buff C, Brinkmann L, Neumeister P, Feldker K, Heitmann C, Gathmann B, Andor T, Straube T. Specifically altered brain responses to threat in generalized anxiety disorder relative to social anxiety disorder and panic disorder. NEUROIMAGE-CLINICAL 2016; 12:698-706. [PMID: 27761400 PMCID: PMC5065042 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2016.09.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2016] [Revised: 09/14/2016] [Accepted: 09/30/2016] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Background Despite considerable effort, the neurobiological underpinnings of hyper-responsive threat processing specific to patients suffering from generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) remain poorly understood. The current functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study aims to delineate GAD-specific brain activity during immediate threat processing by comparing GAD patients to healthy controls (HC), to social anxiety disorder (SAD) and to panic disorder (PD) patients. Method Brain activation and functional connectivity patterns to threat vs. neutral pictures were investigated using event-related fMRI. The sample consisted of 21 GAD, 21 PD, 21 SAD and 21 HC. Results GAD-specific elevated activity to threat vs. neutral pictures was found in cingulate cortex, dorsal anterior insula/frontal operculum (daI/FO) and posterior dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). Defining these effects as seed regions, we detected GAD-specific increased functional connectivity to threat vs. neutral pictures between posterior dlPFC and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, between cingulate cortex and amygdala, between cingulate cortex and anterior insula, as well as decreased functional connectivity between daI/FO and mid-dlPFC. Conclusion The findings present the first evidence for GAD-specific neural correlates of hyper-responsive threat processing, possibly reflecting exaggerated threat sensitivity, maladaptive appraisal and attention-allocation processes. Threat processing investigation across multiple anxiety disorders First neural evidence of GAD-specific threat-related alterations GAD-specific alterations primarily located in prefrontal cortex Alterations are suggestive of exaggerated threat sensitivity
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine Buff
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Von-Esmarch-Str. 52, 48149 Muenster, Germany
- Corresponding author.
| | - Leonie Brinkmann
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Von-Esmarch-Str. 52, 48149 Muenster, Germany
| | - Paula Neumeister
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Von-Esmarch-Str. 52, 48149 Muenster, Germany
| | - Katharina Feldker
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Von-Esmarch-Str. 52, 48149 Muenster, Germany
| | - Carina Heitmann
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Von-Esmarch-Str. 52, 48149 Muenster, Germany
| | - Bettina Gathmann
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Von-Esmarch-Str. 52, 48149 Muenster, Germany
| | - Tanja Andor
- Institute of Psychology, University of Muenster, Fliednerstr. 21, 48149 Muenster, Germany
| | - Thomas Straube
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Von-Esmarch-Str. 52, 48149 Muenster, Germany
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Treatment-refractory posttraumatic stress disorder (TRPTSD): a review and framework for the future. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2016; 70:170-218. [PMID: 26854815 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2016.01.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2015] [Revised: 01/29/2016] [Accepted: 01/29/2016] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious psychiatric consequence of trauma that occurs in a proportion of individuals exposed to life-threatening events. Trauma-focused psychotherapy is often recommended as first choice for those who do not recover spontaneously. But many individuals require medications. In the US, only paroxetine (PRX) and sertraline (SRT) are FDA approved for PTSD. But response and remission rates with these medications are low, so numerous other pharmacologic interventions have been tried. To date, there has not been a systematic review of the data on what are the best next-step pharmacologic strategies for individuals who fail standard treatments. To that end, we review 168 published trials of medications other than PRX or SRT and provide a detailed analysis of the 88/168 studies that describe alternative pharmacologic interventions in patients refractory to other treatment. We also review clinical factors relevant to treatment-refractory PTSD; the neurobiology of extinction, as well as evidence-based psychotherapy and neuromodulation strategies for this condition.
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Bryant RA, Felmingham KL, Liddell B, Das P, Malhi GS. Association of FKBP5 polymorphisms and resting-state activity in a frontotemporal-parietal network. Transl Psychiatry 2016; 6:e925. [PMID: 27754486 PMCID: PMC5315540 DOI: 10.1038/tp.2016.149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2015] [Revised: 03/06/2016] [Accepted: 04/15/2016] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
The FKBP5 polymorphism is a key regulator of the glucocorticoid system underpinning stress responsivity, and risk alleles can increase vulnerability for developing posttraumatic stress disorder. To delineate the specific role of FKBP5 risk alleles unencumbered by the confounds of psychopathology, this study investigated whether high-risk alleles of the FKBP5 polymorphism are characterized by distinctive neural activity during resting state. Thirty-seven healthy participants were selected on the basis of four SNPs in the FKBP5 gene region (rs3800373, rs9296158, rs1360780 and rs9470080) to determine participants who were carriers of the FKBP5 high- and low-risk alleles. Spatial maps, power spectra and connectivity in neural networks active during resting state were assessed with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). During resting-state fMRI, FKBP5 low-risk allele group displayed more power in the low frequency range (<0.1 Hz) than the high-risk allele group, who had significantly more power in higher frequency bins (>0.15 Hz). This difference was apparent only in a frontotemporoparietal network underpinning salience detection and emotion processing. This study provides initial evidence that the risk alleles of the FKBP5 polymorphism are associated with different resting-state activity in a frontotemporal-parietal network, and may point to mechanisms underpinning high-risk carriers' vulnerability to severe stress reactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- R A Bryant
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia,Department of Psychiatry, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia,School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, NSW, Australia. E-mail: r.bryant@.unsw.edu.au
| | - K L Felmingham
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia,School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - B Liddell
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - P Das
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - G S Malhi
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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Yoon HJ, Kim JS, Shin YB, Choi SH, Lee SK, Kim JJ. Neural activity during self-referential working memory and the underlying role of the amygdala in social anxiety disorder. Neurosci Lett 2016; 627:139-47. [PMID: 27260987 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2016.05.068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2016] [Revised: 05/19/2016] [Accepted: 05/30/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Self-referential processing, theory of mind, and working memory are distorted in social anxiety disorder (SAD). This study aimed to investigate characteristics of altered self-referential working memory processing and resting-state functional connectivity in patients with SAD. Twenty patients and 20 healthy controls underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging at resting-state and while performing a working memory task containing faces with self-referential positive or negative comments and three memory phases (encoding, maintenance, and retrieval). Task-related results were compared between groups and tested for correlations. Resting-state connectivity between amygdala subregions and regions showing a task-related difference was also compared between groups. Patients compared to controls showed augmented memory for the negative comments, hyperactivation of the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and temporo-parietal junction during encoding, and hypoactivation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and insula during retrieval. At resting-state, increased connectivity of amygdala subregions with multiple task-related regions was found in patients. These findings suggest that the encoding process in SAD is accompanied by altered involvement of self-referential processing and theory of mind, whereas the retrieval process reflects impaired cognitive control. These memory-related processing may be affected by predisposing resting-state hyperconnectivity with the amygdala, and may underlie a hypersensitivity to negative comments and post-event reflection in SAD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyung-Jun Yoon
- Institute of Behavioral Science in Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Jin Seong Kim
- Institute of Behavioral Science in Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Yu-Bin Shin
- Institute of Behavioral Science in Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Soo-Hee Choi
- Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Seung-Koo Lee
- Department of Radiology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Jae-Jin Kim
- Institute of Behavioral Science in Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Department of Radiology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Department of Psychiatry, Yonsei University Gangnam Severance Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
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Javanbakht A, Duval ER, Cisneros ME, Taylor SF, Kessler D, Liberzon I. Instructed fear learning, extinction, and recall: additive effects of cognitive information on emotional learning of fear. Cogn Emot 2016; 31:980-987. [PMID: 27089509 DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2016.1169997] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
The effects of instruction on learning of fear and safety are rarely studied. We aimed to examine the effects of cognitive information and experience on fear learning. Fourty healthy participants, randomly assigned to three groups, went through fear conditioning, extinction learning, and extinction recall with two conditioned stimuli (CS+). Information was presented about the presence or absence of conditioned stimulus-unconditioned stimulus (CS-US) contingency at different stages of the experiment. Information about the CS-US contingency prior to fear conditioning enhanced fear response and reduced extinction recall. Information about the absence of CS-US contingency promoted extinction learning and recall, while omission of this information prior to recall resulted in fear renewal. These findings indicate that contingency information can facilitate fear expression during fear learning, and can facilitate extinction learning and recall. Information seems to function as an element of the larger context in which conditioning occurs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arash Javanbakht
- a Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences , Wayne State University , Detroit , MI , USA.,b Department of Psychiatry , University of Michigan , Ann Arbor , MI , USA
| | - Elizabeth R Duval
- b Department of Psychiatry , University of Michigan , Ann Arbor , MI , USA
| | - Maria E Cisneros
- b Department of Psychiatry , University of Michigan , Ann Arbor , MI , USA
| | - Stephan F Taylor
- b Department of Psychiatry , University of Michigan , Ann Arbor , MI , USA
| | - Daniel Kessler
- b Department of Psychiatry , University of Michigan , Ann Arbor , MI , USA
| | - Israel Liberzon
- b Department of Psychiatry , University of Michigan , Ann Arbor , MI , USA
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Neural signatures of human fear conditioning: an updated and extended meta-analysis of fMRI studies. Mol Psychiatry 2016; 21:500-8. [PMID: 26122585 DOI: 10.1038/mp.2015.88] [Citation(s) in RCA: 397] [Impact Index Per Article: 49.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2015] [Revised: 04/01/2015] [Accepted: 05/26/2015] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Classical Pavlovian fear conditioning remains the most widely employed experimental model of fear and anxiety, and continues to inform contemporary pathophysiological accounts of clinical anxiety disorders. Despite its widespread application in human and animal studies, the neurobiological basis of fear conditioning remains only partially understood. Here we provide a comprehensive meta-analysis of human fear-conditioning studies carried out with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), yielding a pooled sample of 677 participants from 27 independent studies. As a distinguishing feature of this meta-analysis, original statistical brain maps were obtained from the authors of 13 of these studies. Our primary analyses demonstrate that human fear conditioning is associated with a consistent and robust pattern of neural activation across a hypothesized genuine network of brain regions resembling existing anatomical descriptions of the 'central autonomic-interoceptive network'. This finding is discussed with a particular emphasis on the neural substrates of conscious fear processing. Our associated meta-analysis of functional deactivations-a scarcely addressed dynamic in fMRI fear-conditioning studies-also suggests the existence of a coordinated brain response potentially underlying the 'safety signal' (that is, non-threat) processing. We attempt to provide an integrated summary on these findings with the view that they may inform ongoing studies of fear-conditioning processes both in healthy and clinical populations, as investigated with neuroimaging and other experimental approaches.
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Greco JA, Liberzon I. Neuroimaging of Fear-Associated Learning. Neuropsychopharmacology 2016; 41:320-34. [PMID: 26294108 PMCID: PMC4677141 DOI: 10.1038/npp.2015.255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2015] [Revised: 08/14/2015] [Accepted: 08/16/2015] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Fear conditioning has been commonly used as a model of emotional learning in animals and, with the introduction of functional neuroimaging techniques, has proven useful in establishing the neurocircuitry of emotional learning in humans. Studies of fear acquisition suggest that regions such as amygdala, insula, anterior cingulate cortex, and hippocampus play an important role in acquisition of fear, whereas studies of fear extinction suggest that the amygdala is also crucial for safety learning. Extinction retention testing points to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex as an essential region in the recall of the safety trace, and explicit learning of fear and safety associations recruits additional cortical and subcortical regions. Importantly, many of these findings have implications in our understanding of the pathophysiology of psychiatric disease. Recent studies using clinical populations have lent insight into the changes in regional activity in specific disorders, and treatment studies have shown how pharmaceutical and other therapeutic interventions modulate brain activation during emotional learning. Finally, research investigating individual differences in neurotransmitter receptor genotypes has highlighted the contribution of these systems in fear-associated learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- John A Greco
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Israel Liberzon
- VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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43
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Holbrook C, Izuma K, Deblieck C, Fessler DMT, Iacoboni M. Neuromodulation of group prejudice and religious belief. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2015; 11:387-94. [PMID: 26341901 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsv107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2014] [Accepted: 08/31/2015] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
People cleave to ideological convictions with greater intensity in the aftermath of threat. The posterior medial frontal cortex (pMFC) plays a key role in both detecting discrepancies between desired and current conditions and adjusting subsequent behavior to resolve such conflicts. Building on prior literature examining the role of the pMFC in shifts in relatively low-level decision processes, we demonstrate that the pMFC mediates adjustments in adherence to political and religious ideologies. We presented participants with a reminder of death and a critique of their in-group ostensibly written by a member of an out-group, then experimentally decreased both avowed belief in God and out-group derogation by downregulating pMFC activity via transcranial magnetic stimulation. The results provide the first evidence that group prejudice and religious belief are susceptible to targeted neuromodulation, and point to a shared cognitive mechanism underlying concrete and abstract decision processes. We discuss the implications of these findings for further research characterizing the cognitive and affective mechanisms at play.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colin Holbrook
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA,
| | - Keise Izuma
- Department of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, UK
| | - Choi Deblieck
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA and
| | - Daniel M T Fessler
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Marco Iacoboni
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
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Endepols H, Mertgens H, Backes H, Himmelreich U, Neumaier B, Graf R, Mies G. Longitudinal assessment of infarct progression, brain metabolism and behavior following anterior cerebral artery occlusion in rats. J Neurosci Methods 2015; 253:279-91. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2014.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2014] [Revised: 10/16/2014] [Accepted: 11/04/2014] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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Strawn JR, Hamm L, Fitzgerald DA, Fitzgerald KD, Monk CS, Phan KL. Neurostructural abnormalities in pediatric anxiety disorders. J Anxiety Disord 2015; 32:81-8. [PMID: 25890287 PMCID: PMC4439332 DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2015.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2013] [Revised: 02/01/2015] [Accepted: 03/09/2015] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Functional neuroimaging studies have consistently demonstrated abnormalities in fear and threat processing systems in youth with anxiety disorders; however, the structural neuroanatomy of these systems in children and adolescents remains largely unknown. Using voxel-based morphometry (VBM), gray matter volumes were compared between 38 medication-free patients with anxiety disorders (generalized anxiety disorder; social phobia; separation anxiety disorder, mean age: 14.4±3 years) and 27 comparison subjects (mean age: 14.8±4 years). Compared to healthy subjects, youth with anxiety disorders had larger gray matter volumes in the dorsal anterior cingulate and had decreased gray matter volumes in the inferior frontal gyrus (ventrolateral prefrontal cortex), postcentral gyrus, and cuneus/precuneus. These data suggest the presence of structural differences in regions previously implicated in the processing and regulation of fear in pediatric patients with anxiety disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey R. Strawn
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio,Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Cincinnati, Ohio
| | - Lisa Hamm
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago
| | | | | | | | - K. Luan Phan
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago,Mental Health Service Line, Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois
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Alexopoulos GS, Raue PJ, Kiosses DN, Seirup JK, Banerjee S, Arean PA. Comparing engage with PST in late-life major depression: a preliminary report. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 2015; 23:506-13. [PMID: 25081818 PMCID: PMC4277491 DOI: 10.1016/j.jagp.2014.06.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2014] [Revised: 06/18/2014] [Accepted: 06/20/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The complexity of psychotherapies has been a barrier to community implementation. We used the Research Domain Criteria consensus as a guide to develop Engage, a streamlined, neurobiology-based psychotherapy for late-life depression that may match the skill set of practicing clinicians. This proof of concept study tested the hypotheses that Engage is bioequivalent to Problem Solving Therapy (PST) in reducing depressive symptoms, inducing remission, and ameliorating disability. METHODS Engage assumes that abnormal function of the positive valence systems fuels depression and uses "reward exposure" (engagement in meaningful, rewarding activities) as its principal intervention. Negativity bias, apathy, and emotional dysregulation are expressions of abnormalities in the negative valence, arousal and regulatory, and cognitive control systems, respectively. Engage targets each of them with simple interventions only if they interfere with reward exposure. We treated openly, with 9 weekly sessions of Engage, 39 older adults with unipolar major depression. We compared their course of depression (HAM-D), remission rate (HAM-D<10), and disability (WHODAS) with those of a historical comparison group (N = 97) treated with 9 weekly sessions of PST. RESULTS Community social workers and research therapists required one third as much training time in Engage as in PST. Engage was non-inferior to PST in reducing HAM-D and WHODAS. Remission rates for Engage at 6 and 9 weeks were 18.2% and 41.1%, respectively. The corresponding figures for PST were 13.7% and 35.0%, respectively. CONCLUSION These initial observations suggest that Engage has comparable efficacy with PST in reducing depressive symptoms and disability and warrants a randomized controlled trial.
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47
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Kuhn M, Höger N, Feige B, Blechert J, Normann C, Nissen C. Fear extinction as a model for synaptic plasticity in major depressive disorder. PLoS One 2014; 9:e115280. [PMID: 25545818 PMCID: PMC4278908 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0115280] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2014] [Accepted: 11/23/2014] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The neuroplasticity hypothesis of major depressive disorder proposes that a dysfunction of synaptic plasticity represents a basic pathomechanism of the disorder. Animal models of depression indicate enhanced plasticity in a ventral emotional network, comprising the amygdala. Here, we investigated fear extinction learning as a non-invasive probe for amygdala-dependent synaptic plasticity in patients with major depressive disorder and healthy controls. METHODS Differential fear conditioning was measured in 37 inpatients with severe unipolar depression (International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision, criteria) and 40 healthy controls. The eye-blink startle response, a subcortical output signal that is modulated by local synaptic plasticity in the amygdala in fear acquisition and extinction learning, was recorded as the primary outcome parameter. RESULTS After robust and similar fear acquisition in both groups, patients with major depressive disorder showed significantly enhanced fear extinction learning in comparison to healthy controls, as indicated by startle responses to conditioned stimuli. The strength of extinction learning was positively correlated with the total illness duration. CONCLUSIONS The finding of enhanced fear extinction learning in major depressive disorder is consistent with the concept that the disorder is characterized by enhanced synaptic plasticity in the amygdala and the ventral emotional network. Clinically, the observation emphasizes the potential of successful extinction learning, the basis of exposure therapy, in anxiety-related disorders despite the frequent comorbidity of major depressive disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marion Kuhn
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Nora Höger
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Bernd Feige
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Jens Blechert
- Division of Clinical Psychology, Psychotherapy, and Health Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Claus Normann
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Christoph Nissen
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
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48
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Rabinak CA, MacNamara A, Kennedy AE, Angstadt M, Stein MB, Liberzon I, Phan KL. Focal and aberrant prefrontal engagement during emotion regulation in veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder. Depress Anxiety 2014; 31:851-61. [PMID: 24677490 PMCID: PMC4141895 DOI: 10.1002/da.22243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2013] [Revised: 12/17/2013] [Accepted: 01/03/2014] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Collectively, functional neuroimaging studies implicate frontal-limbic dysfunction in the pathophysiology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as reflected by altered amygdala reactivity and deficient prefrontal responses. These neural patterns are often elicited by social signals of threat (fearful/angry faces) and traumatic reminders (combat sounds, script-driven imagery). Although PTSD can be conceptualized as a disorder of emotion dysregulation, few studies to date have directly investigated the neural correlates of volitional attempts at regulating negative affect in PTSD. METHODS Using functional magnetic resonance imaging and a well-validated task involving cognitive regulation of negative affect via reappraisal and known to engage prefrontal cortical regions, the authors compared brain activation in veterans with PTSD (n = 21) and without PTSD (n = 21, combat-exposed controls/CEC), following military combat trauma experience during deployments in Afghanistan or Iraq. The primary outcome measure was brain activation during cognitive reappraisal (i.e., decrease negative affect) as compared to passive viewing (i.e., maintain negative affect) of emotionally evocative content of aversive images RESULTS The subjects in both groups reported similar successful reduction in negative affect following reappraisal. The PTSD group engaged the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) during cognitive reappraisal, albeit to a lesser extent than the CEC group. Although the amygdala was engaged in both groups during passive viewing of aversive images, neither group exhibited attenuation of amygdala activation during cognitive reappraisal. CONCLUSIONS Veterans with combat-related PTSD showed less recruitment of the dlPFC involved in cognitive reappraisal, suggesting focal and aberrant neural activation during volitional, self-regulation of negative affective states.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine A. Rabinak
- Mental Health Service, Veteran’s Administration Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
| | - Annmarie MacNamara
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
| | - Amy E. Kennedy
- Mental Health Service, Veteran’s Administration Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
- Mental Health Service Line, Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Chicago, IL
| | - Mike Angstadt
- Mental Health Service, Veteran’s Administration Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
| | - Murray B. Stein
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA
| | - Israel Liberzon
- Mental Health Service, Veteran’s Administration Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
| | - K. Luan Phan
- Mental Health Service, Veteran’s Administration Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
- Mental Health Service Line, Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Chicago, IL
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Paret C, Kluetsch R, Ruf M, Demirakca T, Kalisch R, Schmahl C, Ende G. Transient and sustained BOLD signal time courses affect the detection of emotion-related brain activation in fMRI. Neuroimage 2014; 103:522-532. [PMID: 25204866 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.08.054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2014] [Revised: 07/31/2014] [Accepted: 08/29/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
A tremendous amount of effort has been dedicated to unravel the functional neuroanatomy of the processing and regulation of emotion, resulting in a well-described picture of limbic, para-limbic and prefrontal regions involved. Studies applying functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) often use the block-wise presentation of stimuli with affective content, and conventionally model brain activation as a function of stimulus or task duration. However, there is increasing evidence that regional brain responses may not always translate to task duration and rather show stimulus onset-related transient time courses. We assume that brain regions showing transient responses cannot be detected in block designs using a conventional fMRI analysis approach. At the same time, the probability of detecting these regions with conventional analyses may be increased when shorter stimulus timing or a more intense stimulation during a block is used. In a within-subject fMRI study, we presented aversive pictures to 20 healthy subjects and investigated the effect of experimental design (i.e. event-related and block design) on the detection of brain activation in limbic and para-limbic regions of interest of emotion processing. In addition to conventional modeling of sustained activation during blocks of stimulus presentation, we included a second response function into the general linear model (GLM), suited to detect transient time courses at block onset. In the conventional analysis, several regions like the amygdala, thalamus and periaqueductal gray were activated irrespective of design. However, we found a positive BOLD response in the anterior insula (AI) in event-related but not in block-design analyses. GLM analyses suggest that this difference may result from a transient response pattern which cannot be captured by the conventional fMRI analysis approach. Our results indicate that regions with a transient response profile like the AI can be missed in block designs if analyses do not account for transient responses. This may bias conclusions from empirical reports and meta-analyses towards an underestimation of these regions and their role in emotion and emotion regulation. The cognitive processes underlying differential time courses are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Paret
- Department of Neuroimaging, Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Germany; Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Germany.
| | - Rosemarie Kluetsch
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Germany.
| | - Matthias Ruf
- Department of Neuroimaging, Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Germany.
| | - Traute Demirakca
- Department of Neuroimaging, Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Germany.
| | - Raffael Kalisch
- Neuroimaging Center Mainz (NIC), Focus Program Translational Neuroscience, Johannes Gutenberg University Medical Center, Mainz, Germany.
| | - Christian Schmahl
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Germany.
| | - Gabriele Ende
- Department of Neuroimaging, Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Germany.
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Hermann A, Keck T, Stark R. Dispositional cognitive reappraisal modulates the neural correlates of fear acquisition and extinction. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2014; 113:115-24. [DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2014.03.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2013] [Revised: 03/14/2014] [Accepted: 03/24/2014] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
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