Activity In Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex Research Articles

The heart of social pain: examining resting blood pressure and neural sensitivity to exclusion.

Previous work suggests blood pressure (BP) relates to social algesia, where those with higher BP are more tolerant of social pain. The neural correlates of this association, however, are unknown. Based on findings suggesting neural regions involved in physical pain are activated during social pain, the current study explores whether BP relates to subjective and neural responses to social pain, apart from emotional responding. BP was measured, after which participants completed emotional processing and social exclusion functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigms. Results replicated previous findings, with higher systolic BP related to lower trait sensitivity to social pain. However, there were no associations between BP and reported sensitivity to social pain during social exclusion. Moreover, after accounting for adiposity, we found no association between BP and anterior insula (AI) or dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) activity to exclusion. Finally, there were no reliable associations between BP and reported valence or arousal, or AI and dACC activity to emotional images. Findings partly replicate and extend prior findings on BP and emotional responding to social pain; however, they appear inconsistent with predictions at the neural level. Future experimental manipulation of BP may allow for causal inferences and adjudication of conceptual perspectives on cardiovascular contributions to social algesia.

Meta-Analysis Reveals That Explore-Exploit Decisions are Dissociable by Activation in the Dorsal Lateral Prefrontal Cortex, Anterior Insula, and the Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex.

Explore-exploit research faces challenges in generalizability due to a limited theoretical basis for exploration and exploitation. Neuroimaging can help identify whether explore-exploit decisions involve an opponent processing system to address this issue. Thus, we conducted a coordinate-based meta-analysis (N=23 studies) finding activation in the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex, anterior insula, and anterior cingulate cortex during exploration versus exploitation, which provides some evidence for opponent processing. However, the conjunction of explore-exploit decisions was associated with activation in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and dorsal medial prefrontal cortex, suggesting that these brain regions do not engage in opponent processing. Furthermore, exploratory analyses revealed heterogeneity in brain responses between task types during exploration and exploitation respectively. Coupled with results suggesting that activation during exploration and exploitation decisions is generally more similar than it is different suggests that there remain significant challenges in characterizing explore-exploit decision making. Nonetheless, dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex, anterior insula, and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex activation differentiate explore and exploit decisions and identifying these responses can aid in targeted interventions aimed at manipulating these decisions.

Meta-Analysis Reveals That Explore-Exploit Decisions Are Dissociable by Activation in the Dorsal Lateral Prefrontal Cortex, Anterior Insula, and Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex.

Explore-exploit research faces challenges in generalizability due to a limited theoretical basis for exploration and exploitation. Neuroimaging can help identify whether explore-exploit decisions involve an opponent processing system to address this issue. Thus, we conducted a coordinate-based meta-analysis (N = 23 studies) finding activation in the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex, anterior insula, and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex during exploration versus exploitation, which provides some evidence for opponent processing. However, the conjunction of explore-exploit decisions was associated with activation in the anterior cingulate cortex and dorsal medial prefrontal cortex, suggesting that these brain regions do not engage in opponent processing. Furthermore, exploratory analyses revealed heterogeneity in brain responses between task types during exploration and exploitation respectively. Coupled with results suggesting that activation during exploration and exploitation decisions is generally more similar than it is different suggests that there remain significant challenges in characterizing explore-exploit decision-making. Nonetheless, dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex, anterior insula, and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex activation differentiate explore and exploit decisions, and identifying these responses can aid in targeted interventions aimed at manipulating these decisions.

Increased Amygdala Activation during Symptom Provocation Predicts Response to Combined Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Exposure Therapy in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in a Randomized Controlled Trial

Increased Amygdala Activation during Symptom Provocation Predicts Response to Combined Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Exposure Therapy in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in a Randomized Controlled Trial

359 Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound to Human Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex and Insula Attenuates Measures of Central Sensitization

INTRODUCTION: Central sensitization is the abnormal amplified response to pain and is associated with chronic pain. Increased insula and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) activity is associated with central sensitization. Low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) is a novel form of non-invasive neuromodulation that can precisely target the anterior insula (AI), posterior insula (PI) and dACC. METHODS: N = 18 healthy participants underwent conditioned pain modulation (CPM) and temporal summation of pain (TSP) tasks before and after 10 minutes of LIFU or sham stimulations. For CPM, the conditioning stimulus (CS) was a cold pressor test to the left hand and the test stimulus (TS) was a brief transient heat stimulus to the dorsum of the right hand. For TSP, 10 transient heat stimuli (>0.33 Hz) were administered to the dorsum of the right hand. The primary outcome measure for both tasks was perceived pain ratings (0-9). Electrodermal response and electrocardiogram was collected to evaluate the effect of LIFU on autonomic reactivity. RESULTS: LIFU to PI increased CPM 0.5 ± 0.181 compared to sham (p = 0.024). LIFU to PI also significantly reduced perceived pain during the TSP task compared to sham (p < 0.001). We also found a significant difference between dACC and sham conditions during TSP by -0.55 ± 0.05 (p < 0.001). LIFU to the AI increases frequency domain measures of heart-rate variability. CONCLUSIONS: LIFU to the insula and dACC affects pain processing in measures of central sensitization. This demonstrates the neuromodulation abilities of LIFU and is a promising tool to develop noninvasive clinical therapies for chronic pain conditions.

Gray matter associations with extinction-induced neural activation in patients with anxiety disorders

Gray matter associations with extinction-induced neural activation in patients with anxiety disorders

Behavioral pattern separation is associated with neural and electrodermal correlates of context-dependent fear conditioning

Hippocampus-dependent pattern separation is considered as a relevant factor for context discrimination and might therefore impact the contextual modulation of conditioned fear. However, the association between pattern separation and context-dependent fear conditioning has not been investigated so far. In the current study, 72 healthy female students completed the Mnemonic Similarity Task, a measure of behavioral pattern separation, in addition to a context-dependent fear conditioning paradigm during functional magnetic resonance imaging. The paradigm included fear acquisition in context A and extinction training in context B on a first day, as well as retrieval testing of the fear and extinction memories in the safe context B (extinction recall) and a novel context C (fear renewal) one day later. Main outcome measures comprised skin conductance responses (SCRs) and blood oxygen level-dependent responses in brain regions of the fear and extinction circuit. Regarding retrieval testing, pattern separation did not correlate with extinction recall, but with stronger dorsal anterior cingulate cortex activation and conditioned SCRs (trend) during fear renewal, indicating a stronger retrieval of the fear memory trace. Our findings suggest that behavioral pattern separation ability seems to be important for context-dependent fear modulation, which is impaired in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder.

Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex activity during cognitive challenge in social anxiety disorder

BackgroundSocial 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). MethodsHere, 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. ResultsThe 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. ConclusionsIn 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.

Altered dorsal anterior cingulate cortex activation in late-life depression and mild cognitive impairment during oddball task: an fmri study

Altered dorsal anterior cingulate cortex activation in late-life depression and mild cognitive impairment during oddball task: an fmri study

Comparison of behavioral and brain indices of fear renewal during a standard vs. novel immersive reality Pavlovian fear extinction paradigm in healthy adults

Comparison of behavioral and brain indices of fear renewal during a standard vs. novel immersive reality Pavlovian fear extinction paradigm in healthy adults

Anxiety disrupts performance monitoring: integrating behavioral, event-related potential, EEG microstate, and sLORETA evidence.

Anxiety impacts performance monitoring, though theory and past research are split on how and for whom. However, past research has often examined either trait anxiety in isolation or task-dependent state anxiety and has indexed event-related potential components, such as the error-related negativity or post-error positivity (Pe), calculated at a single node during a limited window of time. We introduced 2 key novelties to this electroencephalography research to examine the link between anxiety and performance monitoring: (i) we manipulated antecedent, task-independent, state anxiety to better establish the causal effect; (ii) we conducted moderation analyses to determine how state and trait anxiety interact to impact performance monitoring processes. Additionally, we extended upon previous work by using a microstate analysis approach to isolate and sequence the neural networks and rapid mental processes in response to error commission. Results showed that state anxiety disrupts response accuracy in the Stroop task and error-related neural processes, primarily during a Pe-related microstate. Source localization shows that this disruption involves reduced activation in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and compensatory activation in the right lateral prefrontal cortex, particularly among people high in trait anxiety. We conclude that antecedent anxiety is largely disruptive to performance monitoring.

Experimental evidence for a child-to-adolescent switch in human amygdala-prefrontal cortex communication: A cross-sectional pilot study.

Interactions between the amygdala and prefrontal cortex are fundamental to human emotion. Despite the central role of frontoamygdala communication in adult emotional learning and regulation, little is known about how top-down control emerges during human development. In the present cross-sectional pilot study, we experimentally manipulated prefrontal engagement to test its effects on the amygdala during development. Inducing dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) activation resulted in developmentally-opposite effects on amygdala reactivity during childhood versus adolescence, such that dACC activation was followed by increased amygdala reactivity in childhood but reduced amygdala reactivity in adolescence. Bayesian network analyses revealed an age-related switch between childhood and adolescence in the nature of amygdala connectivity with the dACC and ventromedial PFC (vmPFC). Whereas adolescence was marked by information flow from dACC and vmPFC to amygdala (consistent with that observed in adults), the reverse information flow, from the amygdala to dACC and vmPFC, was dominant in childhood. The age-related switch in information flow suggests a potential shift from bottom-up co-excitatory to top-down regulatory frontoamygdala connectivity and may indicate a profound change in the circuitry supporting maturation of emotional behavior. These findings provide novel insight into the developmental construction of amygdala-cortical connections and implications for the ways in which childhood experiences may influence subsequent prefrontal function.

Cortisol before extinction generalization alters its neural correlates during retrieval

Cortisol before extinction generalization alters its neural correlates during retrieval

21.4 REWARD PROCESSING IN CHILDREN WITH DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR DISORDERS AND CALLOUS-UNEMOTIONAL TRAITS IN THE ABCD STUDY

21.4 REWARD PROCESSING IN CHILDREN WITH DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR DISORDERS AND CALLOUS-UNEMOTIONAL TRAITS IN THE ABCD STUDY

Relationships Between Early Maternal Warmth and Social Connection: A Randomized Clinical Trial With Naltrexone.

Early experiences of having received maternal warmth predict responses to opportunities to connect with others later in life. However, the understanding of neurochemical mechanisms by which such relationships emerge remains incomplete. Endogenous opioids, involved in social connection in both animals and humans, may contribute to this link. Therefore, the current study examined a) relationships between early maternal warmth and brain and self-report responses to novel social targets (i.e., outcomes that may promote social connection) and b) the effect of the opioid antagonist, naltrexone, on such relationships. Eighty-two adult participants completed a retrospective report of early maternal warmth. On a second visit, participants were randomized to 50 mg of oral naltrexone (n = 42) or placebo (n = 40), followed by a magnetic resonance imaging scan where functional brain activity in response to images of novel social targets (strangers) was assessed. Approximately 24 hours later, participants reported on their feelings of social connection since leaving the scanner. In the placebo condition, greater early maternal warmth was associated with less dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula, ventral striatum, and amygdala activity in response to images of novel social targets (r values ≥ -0.360, p values ≤ .031), and greater feelings of social connection (r = 0.524, p < .001) outside of the laboratory. The same relationships, however, were not present in the naltrexone condition. Results highlight relationships between early maternal warmth and responses to the social world at large and suggest that opioids might contribute to social connection by supporting the buffering effects of warm early life experiences on social connection later in life.Trial Registration: Clinical Trials NCT02818036.

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.

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.

Counteracting Effects of Glutathione on the Glutamate-Driven Excitation/Inhibition Imbalance in First-Episode Schizophrenia: A 7T MRS and Dynamic Causal Modeling Study.

Oxidative stress plays a key role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. While free radicals produced by glutamatergic excess and oxidative metabolism have damaging effects on brain tissue, antioxidants such as glutathione (GSH) counteract these effects. The interaction between glutamate (GLU) and GSH is centered on N-Methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. GSH levels increase during glutamate-mediated excitatory neuronal activity, which serves as a checkpoint to protect neurons from oxidative damage and reduce excitatory overdrive. We studied the possible influence of GSH on the glutamate-mediated dysconnectivity in 19 first-episode schizophrenia (FES) patients and 20 healthy control (HC) subjects. Using ultra-high field (7 Tesla) magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we measured GSH and GLU levels in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and blood-oxygenation level-dependent activity in both the dACC and the anterior insula (AI). Using spectral dynamic causal modeling, we found that when compared to HCs, in FES patients inhibitory activity within the dACC decreased with GLU levels whereas inhibitory activity in both the dACC and AI increased with GSH levels. Our model explains how higher levels of GSH can reverse the downstream pathophysiological effects of a hyperglutamatergic state in FES. This provides an initial insight into the possible mechanistic effect of antioxidant system on the excitatory overdrive in the salience network (dACC-AI).

Impaired error awareness in healthy older adults: an age group comparison study

Impaired error awareness in healthy older adults: an age group comparison study

Reward Processing in Children With Disruptive Behavior Disorders and Callous-Unemotional Traits in the ABCD Study.

Disrupted reward processing is implicated in the etiology of disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs) and callous-unemotional traits. However, neuroimaging investigations of reward processing underlying these phenotypes remain sparse. The authors examined neural sensitivity in response to reward anticipation and receipt among youths with DBDs, with and without callous-unemotional traits. Data were obtained from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study (mean age=9.51 years [SD=0.50]; 49% female). Reward-related activation during the monetary incentive delay task was examined across 16 brain regions, including the amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), nucleus accumbens (NAcc), and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Latent variable modeling was used to examine network-level coactivation. The following diagnostic groups were compared: typically developing youths (N=693) and youths with DBDs (N=995), subdivided into those with callous-unemotional traits (DBD+CU, N=198) and without callous-unemotional traits (DBD only, N=276). During reward anticipation, youths in the overall DBD group (with and without callous-unemotional traits) showed decreased dorsal ACC activation compared with typically developing youths. The DBD-only group exhibited reduced ventral and dorsal striatal activity compared with the DBD+CU and typically developing groups. During reward receipt, youths with DBDs showed increased cortical (e.g., OFC) and subcortical (e.g., NAcc) regional activation compared with typically developing youths. The DBD+CU group demonstrated greater activation in several regions compared with those in the typically developing (e.g., amygdala) and DBD-only (e.g., dorsal ACC) groups. At the network level, the DBD-only group showed reduced anticipatory reward activation compared with the typically developing and DBD+CU groups, whereas youths in the DBD+CU group showed increased activation during reward receipt compared with those in the typically developing group. These findings advance our understanding of unique neuroetiologic pathways to DBDs and callous-unemotional traits.

Temporal Dynamics of Large-Scale Networks Predict Neural Cue Reactivity and Cue-Induced Craving

Temporal Dynamics of Large-Scale Networks Predict Neural Cue Reactivity and Cue-Induced Craving