scholarly journals Structural gray matter differences in Problematic Usage of the Internet: a systematic review and meta-analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy E. Solly ◽  
Roxanne W. Hook ◽  
Jon E. Grant ◽  
Samuele Cortese ◽  
Samuel R. Chamberlain
Keyword(s):  
Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Likelihood Estimation ◽  
Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Spatial Convergence

AbstractProblematic Usage of the Internet (PUI) has been linked to diverse structural gray matter changes in individual data studies. However, no quantitative synthesis across studies has been conducted. We aimed to identify gray matter regions showing significant spatial convergence across neuroimaging studies in PUI. We searched PubMed and PsycINFO up to 10/03/2021 and included original, cross-sectional comparative studies that examined structural gray matter imaging in PUI versus control groups; reported a whole-brain analysis; and provided peak coordinates for gray matter differences. From a total of 624 potentially relevant studies, 15 (including 355 individuals with PUI and 363 controls) were included in a meta-analysis of voxel-based morphometry studies. Anatomical likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis was performed using extracted coordinates and identified significant spatial convergence in the medial/superior frontal gyri, the left anterior cingulate cortex/cingulate gyrus, and the left middle frontal/precentral gyri. Datasets contributing to these findings all indicated reduced gray matter in cases compared to controls. In conclusion, voxel-based morphometric studies indicate replicable gray matter reductions in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex in PUI, regions implicated in reward processing and top-down inhibitory control. Further studies are required to understand the nature of gray matter differences across PUI behaviors, as well as the contribution of particular mental health disorders, and the influence of variation in study and sample characteristics.

scholarly journals Chronic Pain is Associated With Reduced Sympathetic Nervous System Reactivity During Simple and Complex Walking Tasks: Potential Cerebral Mechanisms

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 247054702110302
Author(s):  
Taylor D. Yeater ◽  
David J. Clark ◽  
Lorraine Hoyos ◽  
Pedro A. Valdes-Hernandez ◽  
Julio A. Peraza ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Pain ◽  
Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Brain Region ◽  
Skin Conductance Level ◽  
Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Autonomic Responses ◽  
The Difference

Background Autonomic dysregulation may lead to blunted sympathetic reactivity in chronic pain states. Autonomic responses are controlled by the central autonomic network (CAN). Little research has examined sympathetic reactivity and associations with brain CAN structures in the presence of chronic pain; thus, the present study aims to investigate how chronic pain influences sympathetic reactivity and associations with CAN brain region volumes. Methods Sympathetic reactivity was measured as change in skin conductance level (ΔSCL) between a resting reference period and walking periods for typical and complex walking tasks (obstacle and dual-task). Participants included 31 people with (n = 19) and without (n = 12) chronic musculoskeletal pain. Structural 3 T MRI was used to determine gray matter volume associations with ΔSCL in regions of the CAN (i.e., brainstem, amygdala, insula, and anterior cingulate cortex). Results ΔSCL varied across walking tasks (main effect p = 0.036), with lower ΔSCL in chronic pain participants compared to controls across trials 2 and 3 under the obstacle walking condition. ΔSCL during typical walking was associated with multiple CAN gray matter volumes, including brainstem, bilateral insula, amygdala, and right caudal anterior cingulate cortex (p’s < 0.05). The difference in ΔSCL from typical-to-obstacle walking were associated with volumes of the midbrain segment of the brainstem and anterior segment of the circular sulcus of the insula (p’s < 0.05), with no other significant associations. The difference in ΔSCL from typical-to-dual task walking was associated with the bilateral caudal anterior cingulate cortex, and left rostral cingulate cortex (p’s < 0.05). Conclusions Sympathetic reactivity is blunted during typical and complex walking tasks in persons with chronic pain. Additionally, blunted sympathetic reactivity is associated with CAN brain structure, with direction of association dependent on brain region. These results support the idea that chronic pain may negatively impact typical autonomic responses needed for walking performance via its potential impact on the brain.

scholarly journals Modulation of anterior cingulate cortex reward and penalty signalling in medication-naive young-adult subjects with depressive symptoms following acute dose lurasidone

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (08) ◽  
pp. 1365-1377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Selina A. Wolke ◽  
Mitul A. Mehta ◽  
Owen O'Daly ◽  
Fernando Zelaya ◽  
Nada Zahreddine ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Depression Severity ◽  
Placebo Condition ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Monetary Incentive Delay ◽  
Reward Functions

AbstractBackgroundAberrations in reward and penalty processing are implicated in depression and putatively reflect altered dopamine signalling. This study exploits the advantages of a placebo-controlled design to examine how a novel D2antagonist with adjunctive antidepressant properties modifies activity in the brain's reward network in depression.MethodsWe recruited 43 medication-naïve subjects across the range of depression severity (Beck's Depression Inventory-II score range: 0–43), including healthy volunteers, as well as people meeting full-criteria for major depressive disorder. In a double-blind placebo-controlled cross-over design, all subjects received either placebo or lurasidone (20 mg) across two visits separated by 1 week. Functional magnetic resonance imaging with the Monetary Incentive Delay (MID) task assessed reward functions via neural responses during anticipation and receipt of gains and losses. Arterial spin labelling measured cerebral blood flow (CBF) at rest.ResultsLurasidone altered fronto-striatal activity during anticipation and outcome phases of the MID task. A significant three-way Medication-by-Depression severity-by-Outcome interaction emerged in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) after correction for multiple comparisons. Follow-up analyses revealed significantly higher ACC activation to losses in high-v.low depression participants in the placebo condition, with a normalisation by lurasidone. This effect could not be accounted for by shifts in resting CBF.ConclusionsLurasidone acutely normalises reward processing signals in individuals with depressive symptoms. Lurasidone's antidepressant effects may arise from reducing responses to penalty outcomes in individuals with depressive symptoms.

scholarly journals Income is associated with hippocampal/amygdala and education with cingulate cortex grey matter volume

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Lotze ◽  
M. Domin ◽  
C. O. Schmidt ◽  
N. Hosten ◽  
H. J. Grabe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Grey Matter Volume ◽  
Life Outcomes ◽  
Matter Volume ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Income and education are both elements of a person’s socioeconomic status, which is predictive of a broad range of life outcomes. The brain’s gray matter volume (GMV) is influenced by socioeconomic status and mediators related to an unhealthy life style. We here investigated two independent general population samples comprising 2838 participants (all investigated with the same MRI-scanner) with regard to the association of indicators of the socioeconomic status and gray matter volume. Voxel-based morphometry without prior hypotheses revealed that years of education were positively associated with GMV in the anterior cingulate cortex and net-equivalent income with gray matter volume in the hippocampus/amygdala region. Analyses of possible mediators (alcohol, cigarettes, body mass index (BMI), stress) revealed that the relationship between income and GMV in the hippocampus/amygdala region was partly mediated by self-reported stressors, and the association of years of education with GMV in the anterior cingulate cortex by BMI. These results corrected for whole brain effects (and therefore not restricted to certain brain areas) do now offer possibilities for more detailed hypotheses-driven approaches.

scholarly journals Electrophysiological indices of anterior cingulate cortex function reveal changing levels of cognitive effort and reward valuation that sustain task performance

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akina Umemoto ◽  
Michael Inzlicht ◽  
Clay B. Holroyd
Keyword(s):  
Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Cognitive Effort ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Time On Task ◽  
Frontal Midline Theta ◽  
High Control ◽  
Reward Valuation

AbstractSuccessful execution of goal-directed behaviors often requires the deployment of cognitive control, which is thought to require cognitive effort. Recent theories have proposed that anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) regulates control levels by weighing the reward-related benefits of control against its effort-related costs. However, given that the sensations of cognitive effort and reward valuation are available only to introspection, this hypothesis is difficult to investigate empirically. We have proposed that two electrophysiological indices of ACC function, frontal midline theta and the reward positivity (RewP), provide objective measures of these functions. To investigate this issue, we recorded the electroencephalogram (EEG) from participants engaged in an extended, cognitively-demanding task. Participants performed a time estimation task for 2 hours in which they received reward and error feedback according to their task performance. We observed that the amplitude of the RewP, a feedback-locked component of the event related brain potential associated with reward processing, decreased with time-on-task. Conversely, frontal midline theta power, which consists of 4-8 Hz EEG oscillations associated with cognitive effort, increased with time-on-task. We also examined how these phenomena changed over time by conducting within-participant multi-level modeling analyses. Our results suggest that extended execution of a cognitively-demanding task is characterized by an early phase in which high control levels combine with strong reward valuation to foster rapid improvements in task performance, and a later phase in which high control levels counteract waning reward valuation to maintain stable task performance.

scholarly journals Attention and Regional Gray Matter Development in Very Preterm Children at Age 12 Years

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (7) ◽  
pp. 539-550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel E. Lean ◽  
Tracy R. Melzer ◽  
Samudragupta Bora ◽  
Richard Watts ◽  
Lianne J. Woodward
Keyword(s):  
Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Structural Mri ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Executive Attention ◽  
Posterior Cingulate ◽  
Very Preterm ◽  
The Right

AbstractObjectives: This study examines the selective, sustained, and executive attention abilities of very preterm (VPT) born children in relation to concurrent structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of regional gray matter development at age 12 years. Methods: A regional cohort of 110 VPT (≤32 weeks gestation) and 113 full term (FT) born children were assessed at corrected age 12 years on the Test of Everyday Attention-Children. They also had a structural MRI scan that was subsequently analyzed using voxel-based morphometry to quantify regional between-group differences in cerebral gray matter development, which were then related to attention measures using multivariate methods. Results: VPT children obtained similar selective (p=.85), but poorer sustained (p=.02) and executive attention (p=.01) scores than FT children. VPT children were also characterized by reduced gray matter in the bilateral parietal, temporal, prefrontal and posterior cingulate cortices, bilateral thalami, and left hippocampus; and increased gray matter in the occipital and anterior cingulate cortices (family-wise error–corrected p<.05). Poorer sustained auditory attention was associated with increased gray matter in the anterior cingulate cortex (p=.04). Poor executive shifting attention was associated with reduced gray matter in the right superior temporal cortex (p=.04) and bilateral thalami (p=.05). Poorer executive divided attention was associated with reduced gray matter in the occipital (p=.001), posterior cingulate (p=.02), and left temporal (p=.01) cortices; and increased gray matter in the anterior cingulate cortex (p=.001). Conclusions: Disturbances in regional gray matter development appear to contribute, at least in part, to the poorer attentional performance of VPT children at school age. (JINS, 2017, 23, 539–550)

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document