scholarly journals Neurofunctional Differences Related to Methamphetamine and Sexual Cues in Men With Shorter and Longer Term Abstinence Methamphetamine Dependence

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 135-145
Author(s):  
Shubao Chen ◽  
Shucai Huang ◽  
Cheng Yang ◽  
Weifu Cai ◽  
Hongxian Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Sexual Behaviors ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
Cue Reactivity ◽  
Region Of Interest ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Anterior Insula ◽  
Stimulant Use ◽  
Methamphetamine Dependence ◽  
Superior Frontal Cortex

Abstract Background Stimulant use and sexual behaviors have been linked in behavioral and epidemiological studies. Although methamphetamine-related neurofunctional differences have been investigated, few studies have examined neural responses to drug and sexual cues with respect to shorter or longer term methamphetamine abstinence in individuals with methamphetamine dependence. Methods Forty-nine men with shorter term methamphetamine abstinence, 50 men with longer term methamphetamine abstinence, and 47 non–drug-using healthy comparison men completed a functional magnetic resonance imaging cue-reactivity task consisting of methamphetamine, sexual, and neutral visual cues. Results Region-of-interest analyses revealed greater methamphetamine cue–related activation in shorter term methamphetamine abstinence and longer term methamphetamine abstinence individuals relative to healthy comparison men in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. A significant interaction of group and condition in the anterior insula was found. Relative to healthy comparison participants, both shorter term methamphetamine abstinence and longer term methamphetamine abstinence groups displayed greater sexual cue–related anterior insula activation relative to methamphetamine cues and neutral cues, but there were no differences between shorter term methamphetamine abstinence and longer term methamphetamine abstinence groups in anterior insula responses. Subsequent whole-brain analyses indicated a group-by-condition interaction with longer term methamphetamine abstinence participants showing greater sexual-related activation in the left superior frontal cortex relative to healthy comparison men. Shorter term methamphetamine abstinence participants showed greater superior frontal cortex activation to sexual relative to neutral cues, and longer term methamphetamine abstinence participants showed greater superior frontal cortex activation to sexual relative to neutral and methamphetamine cues. Conclusions The findings suggest that abstinence from methamphetamine may alter how individuals respond to drug and sexual cues and thus may influence drug use and sexual behaviors. Given the use of methamphetamine for sexual purposes and responses to natural vs drug rewards for addiction recovery, the findings may have particular clinical relevance.

scholarly journals Safety and tolerability of oral lisdexamfetamine in adults with methamphetamine dependence: a phase-2 dose-escalation study

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. e044696
Author(s):  
Nadine Ezard ◽  
Brendan Clifford ◽  
Adrian Dunlop ◽  
Raimondo Bruno ◽  
Andrew Carr ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Adverse Events ◽  
Risk Behaviour ◽  
Phase 2 ◽  
Open Label ◽  
Dose Escalation Study ◽  
Stimulant Use ◽  
Treatment Services ◽  
Drug Tolerability ◽  
Methamphetamine Dependence ◽  
Icd 10

ObjectivesTo examine the safety of an agonist-type treatment, lisdexamfetamine (LDX), at 250 mg/day among adults with methamphetamine (MA) dependence.DesignA dose-escalating, phase-2, open-label, single-group study of oral LDX at two Australian drug treatment services.SettingThe study was conducted at two Australian stimulant use disorder treatment clinics.ParticipantsThere were 16 participants: at least 18 years old, MA dependent for at least the preceding 2 years using ICD-10 criteria, reporting use of MA on at least 14 of the preceding 28 days.InterventionsDaily, supervised LDX of 100–250 mg, single-blinded to dose, ascending-descending regimen over 8 weeks (100–250 mg over 4 weeks; followed by 4-week dose reduction regimen, 250–100 mg). Participants were followed through to week 12.OutcomesPrimary outcomes were safety, drug tolerability and regimen completion at the end of week 4. Participants were followed to week 12. Secondary outcomes included: change in MA use; craving; withdrawal; severity of dependence; risk behaviour; change in other substance use; medication acceptability; potential for non-prescription use; adherence and neurocognitive functioning.ResultsFourteen of 16 participants (87.5%) completed escalation to 250 mg/day. Two participants withdrew from the trial in the first week: one relocated away from the study site, the other self-withdrew due to a possible, known side effect of LDX (agitation). There was one serious adverse event of suicidal ideation which resolved. All other adverse events were mild or moderate in severity and known side effects of LDX. No participant was withdrawn due to adverse events. MA use decreased from a median of 21 days (IQR: 16–23) to 13 days (IQR: 11–17) over the 4-week escalation period (p=0.013).ConclusionsLDX at a dose of up to 250 mg/day was safe and well tolerated by study participants, warranting larger trials as a pharmacotherapy for MA dependence.Trial registration numberACTRN12615000391572.

scholarly journals A Vision-Based Social Distancing and Critical Density Detection System for COVID-19

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (13) ◽  
pp. 4608
Author(s):  
Dongfang Yang ◽  
Ekim Yurtsever ◽  
Vishnu Renganathan ◽  
Keith A. Redmill ◽  
Ümit Özgüner
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cues ◽  
Detection System ◽  
Critical Density ◽  
Region Of Interest ◽  
Spatial Awareness ◽  
Real Time System ◽  
Effective Measure ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Record Data ◽  
Real World Datasets

Social distancing (SD) is an effective measure to prevent the spread of the infectious Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, a lack of spatial awareness may cause unintentional violations of this new measure. Against this backdrop, we propose an active surveillance system to slow the spread of COVID-19 by warning individuals in a region-of-interest. Our contribution is twofold. First, we introduce a vision-based real-time system that can detect SD violations and send non-intrusive audio-visual cues using state-of-the-art deep-learning models. Second, we define a novel critical social density value and show that the chance of SD violation occurrence can be held near zero if the pedestrian density is kept under this value. The proposed system is also ethically fair: it does not record data nor target individuals, and no human supervisor is present during the operation. The proposed system was evaluated across real-world datasets.

scholarly journals Top–Down Attentional Modulation in Human Frontal Cortex: Differential Engagement during External and Internal Attention

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia W Y Kam ◽  
Randolph F Helfrich ◽  
Anne-Kristin Solbakk ◽  
Tor Endestad ◽  
Pål G Larsson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Region Of Interest ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Attentional Modulation ◽  
Attentional Effect ◽  
Human Frontal Cortex ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Target Effect ◽  
Internal Attention

Abstract Decades of electrophysiological research on top–down control converge on the role of the lateral frontal cortex in facilitating attention to behaviorally relevant external inputs. However, the involvement of frontal cortex in the top–down control of attention directed to the external versus internal environment remains poorly understood. To address this, we recorded intracranial electrocorticography while subjects directed their attention externally to tones and responded to infrequent target tones, or internally to their own thoughts while ignoring the tones. Our analyses focused on frontal and temporal cortices. We first computed the target effect, as indexed by the difference in high frequency activity (70–150 Hz) between target and standard tones. Importantly, we then compared the target effect between external and internal attention, reflecting a top–down attentional effect elicited by task demands, in each region of interest. Both frontal and temporal cortices showed target effects during external and internal attention, suggesting this effect is present irrespective of attention states. However, only the frontal cortex showed an enhanced target effect during external relative to internal attention. These findings provide electrophysiological evidence for top–down attentional modulation in the lateral frontal cortex, revealing preferential engagement with external attention.

Insula and Orbital Frontal Cortex Activity Underlying Emotion Interference Resolution in Working Memory

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (12) ◽  
pp. 2790-2803 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara M. Levens ◽  
Elizabeth A. Phelps
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Conflict Resolution ◽  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Anterior Insula ◽  
Orbital Frontal Cortex ◽  
Emotional Information ◽  
Interference Resolution ◽  
Emotional Interference ◽  
The Right

Previous research has shown that emotional information aids conflict resolution in working memory [WM; Levens, S. M., & Phelps, E. A. Emotion processing effects on interference resolution in working memory. Journal of Emotion, 8, 267–280, 2008]. Using a recency-probes WM paradigm, it was found that positive and negative emotional stimuli reduced the amount of interference created when information that was once relevant conflicted with currently relevant information. To explore the neural mechanisms behind these facilitation effects, an event-related fMRI version of the recency-probes task was conducted using neutral and arousing positive and negative words as stimuli. Results replicate previous findings showing that the left and right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) is involved in the interference resolution of neutral information and reveal that the IFG is involved in the interference resolution of emotional information as well. In addition, ROIs in the right and left anterior insula and in the right orbital frontal cortex (OFC) were identified that appear to underlie emotional interference resolution in WM. We conclude that the IFG underlies neutral and emotional interference resolution, and that additional regions of the anterior insula and OFC may contribute to the facilitation of interference resolution for emotional information. These findings clarify the role of the insula and OFC in affective and executive processing, specifically in WM conflict resolution.

scholarly journals Brain Aging and AD-Like Pathology in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian-Qin Wang ◽  
Jie Yin ◽  
Yan-Feng Song ◽  
Lang Zhang ◽  
Ying-Xiang Ren ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Matched Control ◽  
Brain Aging ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Diabetic Rats ◽  
Spine Density ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Golgi Staining ◽  
Design And Methods

Objective.Numerous epidemiological studies have linked diabetes mellitus (DM) with an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, whether or not diabetic encephalopathy shows AD-like pathology remains unclear.Research Design and Methods.Forebrain and hippocampal volumes were measured using stereology in serial coronal sections of the brain in streptozotocin- (STZ-) induced rats. Neurodegeneration in the frontal cortex, hypothalamus, and hippocampus was evaluated using Fluoro-Jade C (FJC). Aβaggregation in the frontal cortex and hippocampus was tested using immunohistochemistry and ELISA. Dendritic spine density in the frontal cortex and hippocampus was measured using Golgi staining, and western blot was conducted to detect the levels of synaptophysin. Cognitive ability was evaluated through the Morris water maze and inhibitory avoidant box.Results.Rats are characterized by insulin deficiency accompanied with polydipsia, polyphagia, polyuria, and weight loss after STZ injection. The number of FJC-positive cells significantly increased in discrete brain regions of the diabetic rats compared with the age-matched control rats. Hippocampal atrophy, Aβaggregation, and synapse loss were observed in the diabetic rats compared with the control rats. The learning and memory of the diabetic rats decreased compared with those of the age-matched control rats.Conclusions.Our results suggested that aberrant metabolism induced brain aging as characterized by AD-like pathologies.

scholarly journals Topography and timing of activity in right inferior frontal cortex and anterior insula for stopping movement

IBRO Reports ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. S526-S527
Author(s):  
Amir Hossein Ashna ◽  
Faezeh Aghayan Gol Kashani ◽  
Zahra Majdi
Keyword(s):  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Anterior Insula ◽  
Inferior Frontal Cortex
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