scholarly journals Functional Connectivity of the Anterior Cingulate Cortex in Depression and in Health

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 3617-3630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edmund T Rolls ◽  
Wei Cheng ◽  
Weikang Gong ◽  
Jiang Qiu ◽  
Chanjuan Zhou ◽  
...  

Abstract The first voxel-level resting-state functional connectivity (FC) neuroimaging analysis of depression of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) showed in 282 patients with major depressive disorder compared with 254 controls, some higher, and some lower FCs. However, in 125 unmedicated patients, primarily increases of FC were found: of the subcallosal anterior cingulate with the lateral orbitofrontal cortex, of the pregenual/supracallosal anterior cingulate with the medial orbitofrontal cortex, and of parts of the anterior cingulate with the inferior frontal gyrus, superior parietal lobule, and with early cortical visual areas. In the 157 medicated patients, these and other FCs were lower than in the unmedicated group. Parcellation was performed based on the FC of individual ACC voxels in healthy controls. A pregenual subdivision had high FC with medial orbitofrontal cortex areas, and a supracallosal subdivision had high FC with lateral orbitofrontal cortex and inferior frontal gyrus. The high FC in depression between the lateral orbitofrontal cortex and the subcallosal parts of the ACC provides a mechanism for more non-reward information transmission to the ACC, contributing to depression. The high FC between the medial orbitofrontal cortex and supracallosal ACC in depression may also contribute to depressive symptoms.

Cortex ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 123 ◽  
pp. 185-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingnan Du ◽  
Edmund T. Rolls ◽  
Wei Cheng ◽  
Yu Li ◽  
Weikang Gong ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (12) ◽  
pp. 1600-1609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin N Perry ◽  
Hera E Schlagintweit ◽  
Christine Darredeau ◽  
Carl Helmick ◽  
Aaron J Newman ◽  
...  

Background: Changes in resting state functional connectivity between the insula and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex as well as between the insula and nucleus accumbens have been linked to nicotine withdrawal and/or administration. However, because many of nicotine’s effects in humans appear to depend, at least in part, on the belief that nicotine has been administered, the relative contribution of nicotine’s pharmacological actions to such effects requires clarification. Aims: The purpose of this study was to examine the impacts of perceived and actual nicotine administration on neural responses. Methods: Twenty-six smokers were randomly assigned to receive either a nicotine inhaler (4 mg deliverable) or a nicotine-free inhaler across two sessions. Inhaler content instructions (told nicotine vs told nicotine-free) differed across sessions. Resting state functional connectivity between sub-regions of the insula and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and nucleus accumbens was measured using magnetic resonance imaging before and after inhaler administration. Results: Both actual and perceived nicotine administration independently altered resting state functional connectivity between the anterior insula and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, with actual administration being associated with decreased resting state functional connectivity, and perceived administration with increased resting state functional connectivity. Actual nicotine administration also contralaterally reduced resting state functional connectivity between the anterior insula and nucleus accumbens, while reductions in resting state functional connectivity between the mid-insula and right nucleus accumbens were observed when nicotine was administered unexpectedly. Changes in resting state functional connectivity associated with actual or perceived nicotine administration were unrelated to changes in subjective withdrawal and craving. Changes in withdrawal and craving were however independently associated with resting state functional connectivity between the nucleus accumbens and insula. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the importance of considering non-pharmacological factors when examining drug mechanisms of action.


eLife ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Cheng ◽  
Edmund T Rolls ◽  
Trevor W Robbins ◽  
Weikang Gong ◽  
Zhaowen Liu ◽  
...  

In a group of 831 participants from the general population in the Human Connectome Project, smokers exhibited low overall functional connectivity, and more specifically of the lateral orbitofrontal cortex which is associated with non-reward mechanisms, the adjacent inferior frontal gyrus, and the precuneus. Participants who drank a high amount had overall increases in resting state functional connectivity, and specific increases in reward-related systems including the medial orbitofrontal cortex and the cingulate cortex. Increased impulsivity was found in smokers, associated with decreased functional connectivity of the non-reward-related lateral orbitofrontal cortex; and increased impulsivity was found in high amount drinkers, associated with increased functional connectivity of the reward-related medial orbitofrontal cortex. The main findings were cross-validated in an independent longitudinal dataset with 1176 participants, IMAGEN. Further, the functional connectivities in 14-year-old non-smokers (and also in female low-drinkers) were related to who would smoke or drink at age 19. An implication is that these differences in brain functional connectivities play a role in smoking and drinking, together with other factors.


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