scholarly journals Sex-specific neural responses to acute psychosocial stress in depression

2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daifeng Dong ◽  
Maria Ironside ◽  
Emily L. Belleau ◽  
Xiaoqiang Sun ◽  
Chang Cheng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Exposure Time ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Stress Sensitivity ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
First Episode ◽  
Stress Exposure ◽  
Frontoparietal Network ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal

AbstractMajor Depressive Disorder (MDD) is characterized by increased stress sensitivity. Emerging findings in healthy adults suggest that stress responses within limbic/striatal-prefrontal regions are moderated by sex and unfold over time. Thus, we hypothesized that stress response abnormalities in MDD might be affected by sex and stress exposure time. The Montreal Imaging Stress Task was administered to 124 unmedicated patients with first-episode MDD (76 females) and 243 healthy controls (HC; 137 females) during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Based on prior studies, amygdala, hippocampus, medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC), nucleus accumbens (NAc) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) were selected as a priori regions of interest. In a complementary approach, we probed the effects of stress on the frontoparietal network (FPN) and a network including the amygdala, NAc and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Across groups, males exhibited higher dlPFC activity and right FPN amplitude than females. Relative to female HCs, the female MDD group had less deactivation in limbic/striatal regions (amygdala, NAc, hippocampus, Amygdala-NAc-ACC network). Furthermore, unlike female HCs, the female MDD group failed to show a significant increase of deactivation over stress exposure time in the amygdala, mOFC and NAc. Our findings confirm the importance of considering sex differences when investigating neural stress responses. Case-control differences in neural stress responses observed in females (but not males) provide insights into sex differences in the etiology and pathophysiology of depression. The failure to deactivate limbic/NAc regions in depressed females point to dysfunction of adaptive stress responses over stress exposure time.

scholarly journals An Initial Investigation of Disrupted Intracortical Myelin as a Novel Brain Marker of Alcohol Use Disorder

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa Morris ◽  
Luciano Minuzzi ◽  
Nicholas Bock ◽  
James MacKillop ◽  
Michael Amlung
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Posterior Cingulate ◽  
Cohen’S D ◽  
Cohen's D

Abstract: Although disruption of cortical gray matter and white matter tracts are well-established markers of alcohol use disorder (AUD), this is the first study to examine the specific role of intracortical myelin (ICM; i.e., highly myelinated gray matter in deeper cortical layers) in AUD. The current study used a 3T MRI sequence optimized for high intracortical contrast to examine patterns of ICM-related MRI signal in 30 individuals with AUD and 33 healthy social drinkers. Secondary aims included exploring continuous associations with alcohol problem severity and examining sex differences. Surface-based analytic techniques were used to quantify ICM-related MRI signal for a priori region of interest analyses (20 bilateral regions) and exploratory vertex-wise analyses (using Cohen’s d). Although the distribution of ICM-related signal was generally comparable between groups, the AUD group exhibited significantly (p<.05) greater ICM-related MRI signal in precuneus, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate, middle anterior cingulate, middle/posterior insula, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and posterior cingulate, among other regions (Cohen’s d = .50-.75, indicating medium magnitude effects). Significant positive correlations between ICM signal and AUD severity were found in several frontal, parietal, cingulate, and temporal regions (rs .25-.34). No sex differences in ICM were observed. These findings provide initial proof-of-concept for examining ICM in relation to AUD. Understanding the pathophysiological mechanisms of these associations (e.g., neuroinflammation) and the clinical relevance of ICM is warranted.

scholarly journals Intrinsic Connectivity of the Globus Pallidus: An Uncharted Marker of Functional Prognosis in People With First-Episode Schizophrenia

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 184-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Goda Tarcijonas ◽  
William Foran ◽  
Gretchen L Haas ◽  
Beatriz Luna ◽  
Deepak K Sarpal
Keyword(s):  
Globus Pallidus ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Resting State Fmri ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
First Episode ◽  
Functional Interactions ◽  
Early Functional Outcome ◽  
Intrinsic Connectivity ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
First Episode Schizophrenia

AbstractThere is growing evidence suggesting that abnormalities in cortical-basal ganglia circuitry may play a significant role in determining outcomes in schizophrenia. The globus pallidus (GP), a critical structure within this circuitry, unique in its role as a mediator of competing inputs through the striatum, has not been well characterized in schizophrenia. The following study examined functional interactions of the GP in individuals with first-episode schizophrenia (FES). To probe the large-scale intrinsic connectivity of the GP, resting-state fMRI scans were obtained from patients with FES and sex and age-matched healthy controls. Participants with FES were also evaluated after 6 months via the Strauss–Carpenter Outcomes Scale to assess overall functional trajectory. The GP was parcellated to generate seeds within its substructures, and connectivity maps were generated. Our FES cohort showed significantly lower functional connectivity between the left GP interna and a network of regions including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, caudate, and cerebellum at baseline. In addition, FES participants with lower overall scores of functioning at 6 months showed significantly decreased connectivity between the GP interna and the dorsal anterior cingulate and bilateral insula, all regions important for motivational salience. These results provide novel evidence for unique abnormalities in functional interactions of the GP with key prefrontal cortical regions in FES. Our findings also suggest that reduced prefrontal-pallidal connectivity may serve as a predictor of early functional outcome.

scholarly journals Emotional imagination of negative situations: Functional neuroimaging in anorexia and bulimia

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. e0231684
Author(s):  
Federico D’Agata ◽  
Paola Caroppo ◽  
Angela Spalatro ◽  
Luca Lavagnino ◽  
Giovanni Abbate Daga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Emotion Processing ◽  
Region Of Interest ◽  
Resistance Mechanisms ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
First Episode ◽  
Therapeutic Resistance ◽  
Significant Group

Aim The present study aims to extend the knowledge of the neural correlates of emotion processing in first episode subjects affected by anorexia nervosa (AN) or bulimia nervosa (BN). We applied an emotional distress paradigm targeting negative emotions thought to be relevant for interpersonal difficulties and therapeutic resistance mechanisms. Methods The current study applied to 44 female participants with newly diagnosed AN or BN and 20 matched controls a neuroimaging paradigm eliciting affective responses. The measurements also included an extensive assessment comprising clinical scales, neuropsychological tests, measures of emotion processing and empathy. Results AN and BN did not differ from controls in terms of emotional response, emotion matching, self-reported empathy and cognitive performance. However, eating disorder and psychopathological clinical scores, as well as alexithymia levels, were increased in AN and BN. On a neural level, no significant group differences emerged, even when focusing on a region of interest selected a priori: the amygdala. Some interesting findings put in relation the hippocampal activity with the level of Body Dissatisfaction of the participants, the relative importance of the key nodes for the common network in the decoding of different emotions (BN = right amygdala, AN = anterior cingulate area), and the qualitative profile of the deactivations. Conclusions Our data do not support the hypothesis that participants with AN or BN display reduced emotional responsiveness. However, peculiar characteristics in emotion processing could be associated to the three different groups. Therefore, relational difficulties in eating disorders, as well as therapeutic resistance, could be not secondary to a simple difficulty in feeling and identifying basic negative emotions in AN and BN participants.

scholarly journals Dissection of the in vitro developmental program of Hammondia hammondi reveals a link between stress sensitivity and life cycle flexibility in Toxoplasma gondii

eLife ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah L Sokol ◽  
Abby S Primack ◽  
Sethu C Nair ◽  
Zhee S Wong ◽  
Maiwase Tembo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Toxoplasma Gondii ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Cyst Formation ◽  
Stress Sensitivity ◽  
Stress Exposure ◽  
Developmental Program ◽  
Dramatic Difference ◽  
Sequential Infection

Most eukaryotic parasites are obligately heteroxenous, requiring sequential infection of different host species in order to survive. Toxoplasma gondii is a rare exception to this rule, having a uniquely facultative heteroxenous life cycle. To understand the origins of this phenomenon, we compared development and stress responses in T. gondii to those of its its obligately heteroxenous relative, Hammondia hammondi and have identified multiple H. hammondi growth states that are distinct from those in T. gondii. Of these, the most dramatic difference was that H. hammondi was refractory to stressors that robustly induce cyst formation in T. gondii, and this was reflected most dramatically in its unchanging transcriptome after stress exposure. We also found that H. hammondi could be propagated in vitro for up to 8 days post-excystation, and we exploited this to generate the first ever transgenic H. hammondi line. Overall our data show that H. hammondi zoites grow as stringently regulated, unique life stages that are distinct from T. gondii tachyzoites, and implicate stress sensitivity as a potential developmental innovation that increased the flexibility of the T. gondii life cycle.

Context-specific abnormalities of the central executive network in first-episode psychosis: relationship with cognition

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Deepak K. Sarpal ◽  
Goda Tarcijonas ◽  
Finnegan J. Calabro ◽  
William Foran ◽  
Gretchen L. Haas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Psychotic Disorders ◽  
First Episode Psychosis ◽  
First Episode ◽  
Cognitive State ◽  
Cognitive States ◽  
Episode Psychosis ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
Parietal Lobule ◽  
Context Specific

Abstract Background Cognitive impairments, which contribute to the profound functional deficits observed in psychotic disorders, have found to be associated with abnormalities in trial-level cognitive control. However, neural tasks operate within the context of sustained cognitive states, which can be assessed with ‘background connectivity’ following the removal of task effects. To date, little is known about the integrity of brain processes supporting the maintenance of a cognitive state in individuals with psychotic disorders. Thus, here we examine background connectivity during executive processing in a cohort of participants with first-episode psychosis (FEP). Methods The following fMRI study examined background connectivity of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), during working memory engagement in a group of 43 patients with FEP, relative to 35 healthy controls (HC). Findings were also examined in relation to measures of executive function. Results The FEP group relative to HC showed significantly lower background DLPFC connectivity with bilateral superior parietal lobule (SPL) and left inferior parietal lobule. Background connectivity between DLPFC and SPL was also positively associated with overall cognition across all subjects and in our FEP group. In comparison, resting-state frontoparietal connectivity did not differ between groups and was not significantly associated with overall cognition, suggesting that psychosis-related alterations in executive networks only emerged during states of goal-oriented behavior. Conclusions These results provide novel evidence indicating while frontoparietal connectivity at rest appears intact in psychosis, when engaged during a cognitive state, it is impaired possibly undermining cognitive control capacities in FEP.

scholarly journals The Role of Primate Prefrontal Cortex in Bias and Shift Between Visual Dimensions

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farshad A Mansouri ◽  
Mark J Buckley ◽  
Daniel J Fehring ◽  
Keiji Tanaka
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Attentional Processes ◽  
Prefrontal Cortical ◽  
Frontopolar Cortex ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
Cortical Regions ◽  
Visual Cortical ◽  
Bilateral Lesions

Abstract Imaging and neural activity recording studies have shown activation in the primate prefrontal cortex when shifting attention between visual dimensions is necessary to achieve goals. A fundamental unanswered question is whether representations of these dimensions emerge from top-down attentional processes mediated by prefrontal regions or from bottom-up processes within visual cortical regions. We hypothesized a causative link between prefrontal cortical regions and dimension-based behavior. In large cohorts of humans and macaque monkeys, performing the same attention shifting task, we found that both species successfully shifted between visual dimensions, but both species also showed a significant behavioral advantage/bias to a particular dimension; however, these biases were in opposite directions in humans (bias to color) versus monkeys (bias to shape). Monkeys’ bias remained after selective bilateral lesions within the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), frontopolar cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), or superior, lateral prefrontal cortex. However, lesions within certain regions (ACC, DLPFC, or OFC) impaired monkeys’ ability to shift between these dimensions. We conclude that goal-directed processing of a particular dimension for the executive control of behavior depends on the integrity of prefrontal cortex; however, representation of competing dimensions and bias toward them does not depend on top-down prefrontal-mediated processes.

scholarly journals Treatment response after 6 and 26 weeks is related to baseline glutamate and GABA levels in antipsychotic-naïve patients with psychosis

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (13) ◽  
pp. 2182-2193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsten B. Bojesen ◽  
Bjørn H. Ebdrup ◽  
Kasper Jessen ◽  
Anne Sigvard ◽  
Karen Tangmose ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Psychotic Disorders ◽  
Poor Response ◽  
First Episode Psychosis ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
First Episode ◽  
Antipsychotic Treatment ◽  
Resonance Spectroscopy ◽  
Reference Levels ◽  
Clinical Prognosis ◽  
Episode Psychosis

AbstractBackgroundPoor response to dopaminergic antipsychotics constitutes a major challenge in the treatment of psychotic disorders and markers for non-response during first-episode are warranted. Previous studies have found increased levels of glutamate and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in non-responding first-episode patients compared to responders, but it is unknown if non-responders can be identified using reference levels from healthy controls (HCs).MethodsThirty-nine antipsychotic-naïve patients with first-episode psychosis and 36 matched HCs underwent repeated assessments with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and 3T magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Glutamate scaled to total creatine (/Cr) was measured in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and left thalamus, and levels of GABA/Cr were measured in ACC. After 6 weeks, we re-examined 32 patients on aripiprazole monotherapy and 35 HCs, and after 26 weeks we re-examined 30 patients on naturalistic antipsychotic treatment and 32 HCs. The Andreasen criteria defined non-response.ResultsBefore treatment, thalamic glutamate/Cr was higher in the whole group of patients but levels normalized after treatment. ACC levels of glutamate/Cr and GABA/Cr were lower at all assessments and unaffected by treatment. When compared with HCs, non-responders at week 6 (19 patients) and week 26 (16 patients) had higher baseline glutamate/Cr in the thalamus. Moreover, non-responders at 26 weeks had lower baseline GABA/Cr in ACC. Baseline levels in responders and HCs did not differ.ConclusionGlutamatergic and GABAergic abnormalities in antipsychotic-naïve patients appear driven by non-responders to antipsychotic treatment. If replicated, normative reference levels for glutamate and GABA may aid estimation of clinical prognosis in first-episode psychosis patients.

scholarly journals Sex differences in interleukin‐6 stress responses in people with Type 2 diabetes

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (6) ◽  
pp. e13334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Panagi ◽  
Lydia Poole ◽  
Ruth A. Hackett ◽  
Andrew Steptoe
Keyword(s):  
Type 2 Diabetes ◽  
Sex Differences ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Interleukin 6

Effects of unilateral deactivations of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex on saccadic eye movements

2014 ◽  
Vol 111 (4) ◽  
pp. 787-803 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Koval ◽  
R. Matthew Hutchison ◽  
Stephen G. Lomber ◽  
Stefan Everling
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movements ◽  
Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
Single Neuron Recording

The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) have both been implicated in the cognitive control of saccadic eye movements by single neuron recording studies in nonhuman primates and functional imaging studies in humans, but their relative roles remain unclear. Here, we reversibly deactivated either dlPFC or ACC subregions in macaque monkeys while the animals performed randomly interleaved pro- and antisaccades. In addition, we explored the whole-brain functional connectivity of these two regions by applying a seed-based resting-state functional MRI analysis in a separate cohort of monkeys. We found that unilateral dlPFC deactivation had stronger behavioral effects on saccades than unilateral ACC deactivation, and that the dlPFC displayed stronger functional connectivity with frontoparietal areas than the ACC. We suggest that the dlPFC plays a more prominent role in the preparation of pro- and antisaccades than the ACC.

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