scholarly journals White matter tracts characteristics in habitual decision-making circuit underlie ritual behaviors in anorexia nervosa

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Reza Tadayonnejad ◽  
Fabrizio Pizzagalli ◽  
Stuart B. Murray ◽  
Wolfgang M. Pauli ◽  
Geena Conde ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
White Matter ◽  
Symptom Severity ◽  
Structural Characteristics ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
White Matter Tracts ◽  
Compulsive Behaviors ◽  
Positive Correlations ◽  
Brain Behavior

AbstractAnorexia nervosa (AN) is a difficult to treat, pernicious psychiatric disorder that has been linked to decision-making abnormalities. We examined the structural characteristics of habitual and goal-directed decision-making circuits and their connecting white matter tracts in 32 AN and 43 healthy controls across two independent data sets of adults and adolescents as an explanatory sub-study. Total bilateral premotor/supplementary motor area-putamen tracts in the habit circuit had a significantly higher volume in adults with AN, relative to controls. Positive correlations were found between both the number of tracts and white matter volume (WMV) in the habit circuit, and the severity of ritualistic/compulsive behaviors in adults and adolescents with AN. Moreover, we found a significant influence of the habit circuit WMV on AN ritualistic/compulsive symptom severity, depending on the preoccupations symptom severity levels. These findings suggest that AN is associated with white matter plasticity alterations in the habit circuit. The association between characteristics of habit circuit white matter tracts and AN behavioral symptoms provides support for a circuit based neurobiological model of AN, and identifies the habit circuit as a focus for further investigation to aid in development of novel and more effective treatments based on brain-behavior relationships.

scholarly journals Structural neuroimaging signatures of anorexia nervosa features in a mixed sample enriched for disease vulnerability

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy E. Miles ◽  
Allan S. Kaplan ◽  
Yuliya S. Nikolova ◽  
Aristotle N. Voineskos
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
White Matter ◽  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
Cortical Thickness ◽  
Behavioral Risk ◽  
Intracranial Volume ◽  
Set Shifting ◽  
Cortical Morphology ◽  
Brain Behavior

ABSTRACTBrain-behavior relationships that could provide insight into risk-associated pathophysiology have not been thoroughly assessed in anorexia nervosa (AN). Therefore, we sought to identify grey and white matter signatures of AN symptoms and risk factors (trait anxiety, set-shifting impairment) in a sample enriched for AN vulnerability, including acute and remitted AN patients and their unaffected sisters (n = 72, aged 18 – 48 years). MRI/DTI data were acquired on a 3T scanner and processed with Freesurfer and FSL TBSS. Relationships between clinical variables of interest and regional subcortical volume, vertex-wise cortical surface architecture (thickness, surface area, local gyrification), and voxel-wise white matter microstructure (FA, MD) were tested with separate linear regressions, including age, BMI, lifetime AN diagnosis, and intracranial volume as covariates, where appropriate. Significance was determined using a Bonferroni-corrected threshold, p(t) ≤ 0.001. We detected distinct associations linking AN symptoms to lateral occipital cortical thickness and insular/cingulate gyrification and trait anxiety to lingual cortical thickness and superior parietal gyrification, and we detected overlapping associations linking AN symptoms and set-shifting impairment to frontoparietal gyrification. No other brain-behavior relationships emerged. Our findings suggest that variations in site-specific cortical morphology could give rise to core features of AN and shared temperamental and cognitive-behavioral risk factors for AN.

Age-depending degeneration of white matter tracts – A DTI-Study

2010 ◽  
Vol 41 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
J Faber ◽  
JC Schöne-Bake ◽  
C Melzer ◽  
M Tittgemeyer ◽  
B Weber
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
White Matter Tracts

Individual differences in white and grey matter structure associated with verbal habits of thought

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin C. Hayes ◽  
Katherine L Alfred ◽  
Rachel Pizzie ◽  
Joshua S. Cetron ◽  
David J. M. Kraemer
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
White Matter ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Grey Matter ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Diffusion Tensor ◽  
Self Report ◽  
White Matter Tracts

Modality specific encoding habits account for a significant portion of individual differences reflected in functional activation during cognitive processing. Yet, little is known about how these habits of thought influence long-term structural changes in the brain. Traditionally, habits of thought have been assessed using self-report questionnaires such as the visualizer-verbalizer questionnaire. Here, rather than relying on subjective reports, we measured habits of thought using a novel behavioral task assessing attentional biases toward picture and word stimuli. Hypothesizing that verbal habits of thought are reflected in the structural integrity of white matter tracts and cortical regions of interest, we used diffusion tensor imaging and volumetric analyses to assess this prediction. Using a whole-brain approach, we show that word bias is associated with increased volume in several bilateral language regions, in both white and grey matter parcels. Additionally, connectivity within white matter tracts within an a priori speech production network increased as a function of word bias. These results demonstrate long-term structural and morphological differences associated with verbal habits of thought.

Mechanisms of Decision Making in Anorexia Nervosa: Integrating Behavioral Analysis With fMRI

2020 ◽  
Vol 87 (9) ◽  
pp. S21
Author(s):  
Akram Bakkour ◽  
Alice M. Xue ◽  
Karin Foerde ◽  
B. Timothy Walsh ◽  
Joanna Steinglass ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Behavioral Analysis

scholarly journals A top-level model of case-based argumentation for explanation: Formalisation and experiments

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-36
Author(s):  
Henry Prakken ◽  
Rosa Ratsma
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Linear Models ◽  
Evaluation Studies ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Machine Learning Applications ◽  
Level Model ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Further Development ◽  
Case Based

This paper proposes a formal top-level model of explaining the outputs of machine-learning-based decision-making applications and evaluates it experimentally with three data sets. The model draws on AI & law research on argumentation with cases, which models how lawyers draw analogies to past cases and discuss their relevant similarities and differences in terms of relevant factors and dimensions in the problem domain. A case-based approach is natural since the input data of machine-learning applications can be seen as cases. While the approach is motivated by legal decision making, it also applies to other kinds of decision making, such as commercial decisions about loan applications or employee hiring, as long as the outcome is binary and the input conforms to this paper’s factor- or dimension format. The model is top-level in that it can be extended with more refined accounts of similarities and differences between cases. It is shown to overcome several limitations of similar argumentation-based explanation models, which only have binary features and do not represent the tendency of features towards particular outcomes. The results of the experimental evaluation studies indicate that the model may be feasible in practice, but that further development and experimentation is needed to confirm its usefulness as an explanation model. Main challenges here are selecting from a large number of possible explanations, reducing the number of features in the explanations and adding more meaningful information to them. It also remains to be investigated how suitable our approach is for explaining non-linear models.

Microstructural differences in visual white matter tracts in people with aniridia

Neuroreport ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (17) ◽  
pp. 1473-1478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Courtney R. Burton ◽  
David J. Schaeffer ◽  
Anastasia M. Bobilev ◽  
Jordan E. Pierce ◽  
Amanda L. Rodrigue ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
White Matter Tracts

scholarly journals Aquaporin-4 protein expression in normal canine brains

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Álvarez ◽  
Ester Blasco ◽  
Martí Pumarola ◽  
Annette Wessmann
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
Cancer Progression ◽  
Aquaporin 4 ◽  
Histopathological Study ◽  
White Matter Tracts ◽  
Aqp4 Expression ◽  
Canine Brain ◽  
Potential Marker ◽  
Formalin Fixed Paraffin ◽  
Formalin Fixed Paraffin Embedded

Abstract Background Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) is in growing recognition as potential marker for cancer progression, differentiation and therapeutic intervention. No information is available about AQP4 expression in the normal canine brain. The aim of this histopathological study is to confirm the presence of AQP4 by immunohistochemistry technique in a group of non-pathological canine brains and to describe its expression and distribution across the brain. Results Twelve non-pathological canine brains of various ages (ranging from 21 days to 17 years) and breeds were included in the study. Immunohistochemical expression of AQP4 was analyzed using formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded brain tissue sections. The findings were correlated between AQP4 expressing cells and astrocytes using glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). AQP4 expression was more marked in the astrocyte foot processes of subpial, perivascular and periventricular surfaces in all specimens. The majority of the canine brain sections (9/12) presented with an AQP4 predilection for white matter tracts. Interestingly, the two youngest dogs (21 days and 3 months old) were characterized by diffuse AQP4 labelling in both grey and white matter tracts. This result may suggest that brain development and ageing may play a role in the AQP4 distribution throughout the canine brain. Conclusions This is the first study to describe immunohistochemical distribution of AQP4 in normal canine brains. The AQP4 expression and distribution in non-pathological canine brains was comparable to other species. Larger studies are needed to substantiate the influence of breed and ageing on AQP4 expression in the normal canine brain.

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