scholarly journals Attentional bias to threat and gray mater volume morphology in high anxious individuals

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua M. Carlson ◽  
Lin Fang
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Bias ◽  
Parietal Cortex ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Posterior Parietal Cortex ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Brain Morphology ◽  
Matter Volume ◽  
Posterior Parietal ◽  
The Right

AbstractIn a sample of highly anxious individuals, the relationship between gray matter volume brain morphology and attentional bias to threat was assessed. Participants performed a dot-probe task of attentional bias to threat and gray matter volume was acquired from whole brain structural T1-weighted MRI scans. The results replicate previous findings in unselected samples that elevated attentional bias to threat is linked to greater gray matter volume in the anterior cingulate cortex, middle frontal gyrus, and striatum. In addition, we provide novel evidence that elevated attentional bias to threat is associated with greater gray matter volume in the right posterior parietal cortex, cerebellum, and other distributed regions. Lastly, exploratory analyses provide initial evidence that distinct sub-regions of the right posterior parietal cortex may contribute to attentional bias in a sex-specific manner. Our results illuminate how differences in gray matter volume morphology relate to attentional bias to threat in anxious individuals. This knowledge could inform neurocognitive models of anxiety-related attentional bias to threat and targets of neuroplasticity in anxiety interventions such as attention bias modification.

Gray Matter Volume in Elderly adults With ADHD: Associations of Symptoms and Comorbidities With Brain Structures

2019 ◽  
pp. 108705471985568
Author(s):  
Margarete Klein ◽  
Fábio Luis Souza-Duran ◽  
Anny Karinna Pires Mendes Menezes ◽  
Tania Maria Alves ◽  
Geraldo Busatto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gray Matter ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Region Of Interest ◽  
Brain Structures ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Affective Processing ◽  
Old Patients ◽  
Matter Volume ◽  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Mri ◽  
The Right

Objective: To investigate total and selected region-of-interest-based gray matter volume (GMV) in older adults with ADHD. Method: Twenty-five elderly (≥65 years old) patients with ADHD and 34 healthy controls underwent 1.5-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We used voxel-based morphometry to compare GMV between groups and performed a correlation analysis with ADHD symptoms and comorbidities. Results: Findings revealed a smaller total GMV in males with ADHD and a smaller GMV in the right medial frontal orbital area extending toward the medial frontal superior, the frontal superior, and the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) besides correlations between inattentiveness and ACC (bilaterally) and left cerebellum, hyperactivity/impulsivity and the left frontal inferior orbital, depression and caudate (bilaterally), and the right inferior parietal lobule. Conclusion: Neural correlates in regions related to attention, executive control, and affective processing suggest that impairments in frontostriatal and frontoparietal-cerebellar areas observed in adults with ADHD persist into old age.

The gray matter volume of the right insula mediates the relationship between symptoms of depression/anxiety and sleep quality among college students

2019 ◽  
pp. 135910531986997 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huazhan Yin ◽  
Li Zhang ◽  
Dan Li ◽  
Lu Xiao ◽  
Mei Cheng
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Sleep Quality ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Symptoms Of Depression ◽  
Matter Volume ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Relationship

This study investigated the neuroanatomical basis of the association between depression/anxiety and sleep quality among 370 college students. The results showed that there was a significant correlation between sleep quality and depression/anxiety. Moreover, mediation results showed that the gray matter volume of the right insula mediated the relationship between depression/anxiety and sleep quality, which suggested that depression/anxiety may affect sleep quality through the right insula volume. These findings confirmed a strong link between sleep quality and depression/anxiety, while highlighting the volumetric variation in the right insula associated with emotional processing, which may play a critical role in improving sleep quality.

scholarly journals Stress-induced anatomical changes in white and gray matter: a review of literature

2020 ◽  
Vol 76 (06) ◽  
pp. 6400-2020
Author(s):  
IWONA ŁUSZCZEWSKA-SIERAKOWSKA ◽  
KAMIL JONAK
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Traumatic Event ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Hippocampal Neurogenesis ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Total Brain Volume ◽  
Extreme Stress ◽  
Mri Morphometry ◽  
The Right

Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric abnormality caused by a drastic traumatic event or extreme stress, that exceeds the capability to adapt. There are many papers reporting anatomical brain changes induced by trauma and extreme stress, not only in white matter but in gray matter as well. Extreme stress and trauma are connected with elevation of cortisol level, which may cause damage to the hippocampus and may interfere with the anatomy of the hippocampus as well as its microstructure and cell number. Stress may inhibit the hippocampal neuroregeneration as well as hippocampal neurogenesis and even induce neuronal death within the hippocampus. Diffusor tensor imaging (DTI) is a powerful method enabling the visualization of the microstructure integrity of white matter, to evaluate the changes (rate and directionality) of water diffusion within myelin tracts and provide enhanced images of white matter tracts compared to traditional MRI morphometry images. One can evaluate the differences in white matter using fractional anisotropy (FA), which is a scalar metric of the degree of anisotropy and diffusion direction of water molecules, indicating fiber density, mylination and axon diameter. Many studies report reduced gray matter volume caused by extreme stress or trauma in people both with the diagnosis of PTSD as well as stress-exposed non PTSD in comparison to healthy controls. Studies have revealed reduced volume mostly in the hippocampus but also in regions such as anterior cingulate, corpus callosum, insula, septum pellucidum, subcallosal cortex, amygdala, prefrontal cortex and total brain volume. The right hippocampus may be prone to the effect of stress much more than the left hippocampus. Moreover, comparing trauma-exposed non-PTSD and PTSD participants, they have found volumetric abnormalities only within the right hippocampus among the PTSD group. They suggest an additional pathological process underlying PTSD, connected with the right hippocampus volume.

scholarly journals Multimodal Magnetic Resonance Imaging reveals alterations of sensorimotor circuits in restless legs syndrome

SLEEP ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ambra Stefani ◽  
Thomas Mitterling ◽  
Anna Heidbreder ◽  
Ruth Steiger ◽  
Christian Kremser ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
White Matter ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Disease Duration ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Iron Storage ◽  
Matter Volume ◽  
The Right

Abstract Study Objectives Integrated information on brain microstructural integrity and iron storage and its impact on the morphometric profile is not available in restless legs syndrome (RLS). We applied multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) including diffusion tensor imaging, the transverse relaxation rate (R2*), a marker for iron storage, as well as gray and white matter volume measures to characterize RLS-related MRI signal distribution patterns and to analyze their associations with clinical parameters. Methods Eighty-seven patients with RLS (mean age 51, range 20–72 years; disease duration, mean 13 years, range 1–46 years, of those untreated n = 30) and 87 healthy control subjects, individually matched for age and gender, were investigated with multimodal 3T MRI. Results Volume of the white matter compartment adjacent to the post- and precentral cortex and fractional anisotropy (FA) of the frontopontine tract were both significantly reduced in RLS compared to healthy controls, and these alterations were associated with disease duration (r = 0.25, p = 0.025 and r = 0.23, p = 0.037, respectively). Corresponding gray matter volume increases of the right primary motor cortex in RLS (p < 0.001) were negatively correlated with the right FA signal of the frontopontine tract (r = −0.22; p < 0.05). Iron content evaluated with R2* was reduced in the putamen as well as in temporal and occipital compartments of the RLS cohort compared to the control group (p < 0.01). Conclusions Multimodal MRI identified progressing white matter decline of key somatosensory circuits that may underlie the perception of sensory leg discomfort. Increases of gray matter volume of the premotor cortex are likely to be a consequence of functional neuronal reorganization.

scholarly journals Increased gray matter volume in the right angular and posterior parahippocampal gyri in loving-kindness meditators

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mei-Kei Leung ◽  
Chetwyn C. H. Chan ◽  
Jing Yin ◽  
Chack-Fan Lee ◽  
Kwok-Fai So ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gray Matter ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Loving Kindness ◽  
Matter Volume ◽  
The Right

Experience-Dependent Neural Integration of Taste and Smell in the Human Brain

2004 ◽  
Vol 92 (3) ◽  
pp. 1892-1903 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana M. Small ◽  
Joel Voss ◽  
Y. Erica Mak ◽  
Katharine B. Simmons ◽  
Todd Parrish ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Parietal Cortex ◽  
Posterior Parietal Cortex ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Brain Response ◽  
Liquid Form ◽  
Flavor Perception ◽  
Odor Pair ◽  
Frontal Operculum ◽  
Posterior Parietal

Flavor perception arises from the central integration of peripherally distinct sensory inputs (taste, smell, texture, temperature, sight, and even sound of foods). The results from psychophysical and neuroimaging studies in humans are converging with electrophysiological findings in animals and a picture of the neural correlates of flavor processing is beginning to emerge. Here we used event-related fMRI to evaluate brain response during perception of flavors (i.e., taste/odor liquid mixtures not differing in temperature or texture) compared with the sum of the independent presentation of their constituents (taste and/or odor). All stimuli were presented in liquid form so that olfactory stimulation was by the retronasal route. Mode of olfactory delivery is important because neural suppression has been observed in chemosensory regions during congruent taste–odor pairs when the odors are delivered by the orthonasal route and require subjects to sniff. There were 2 flavors. One contained a familiar/congruent taste–odor pair (vanilla/sweet) and the other an unfamiliar/incongruent taste–odor pair (vanilla/salty). Three unimodal stimuli, including 2 tastes (sweet and salty) and one odor (vanilla), as well as a tasteless/odorless liquid (baseline) were presented. Superadditive responses during the perception of the congruent flavor compared with the sum of its constituents were observed in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), dorsal insula, anterior ventral insula extending into the caudal orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), frontal operculum, ventral lateral prefrontal cortex, and posterior parietal cortex. These regions were not present in a similar analysis of the incongruent flavor compared with the sum of its constituents. All of these regions except the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex were also isolated in a direct contrast of congruent − incongruent. Additionally, the anterior cingulate, posterior parietal cortex, frontal operculum, and ventral insula/caudal OFC were also more active in vanilla + salty minus incongruent, suggesting that delivery of an unfamiliar taste–odor combination may lead to suppressed neural responses. Taken together with previous findings in the literature, these results suggest that the insula, OFC, and ACC are key components of the network underlying flavor perception and that taste–smell integration within these and other regions is dependent on 1) mode of olfactory delivery and 2) previous experience with taste/smell combinations.

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 Sex-specific association of poor sleep quality with gray matter volume

SLEEP ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Neumann ◽  
Martin Lotze ◽  
Martin Domin
Keyword(s):  
Sleep Quality ◽  
Analysis Of Variance ◽  
Gray Matter ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Parahippocampal Gyrus ◽  
Poor Sleep ◽  
Poor Sleep Quality ◽  
Whole Brain ◽  
Matter Volume ◽  
The Right

Abstract Study Objectives Previous studies were inconsistent with regard to the association of sleep dysfunction on the brain’s gray matter volume (GMV). The current study set out to investigate if there is a moderating effect of sex on the relationship between sleep quality in healthy individuals and GMV. Methods We applied voxel-based morphometry in 1,074 young adults of the “Human Connectome Project.” An analysis of variance with the factors “sleep quality” (good/poor according to the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, cutoff >5) and “sex” (male, female) on GMV was conducted. Additionally, linear relationships between sleep quality and GMV were tested. Results The analysis of variance yielded no main effect for sleep quality, but an interaction between sex and sleep quality for the right superior frontal gyrus. Post hoc t-tests showed that female good sleepers in comparison to female poor sleepers had larger GMV in the right parahippocampal gyrus extending to the right hippocampus (whole-brain family-wise error [FWE]-corrected), as well as smaller GMV in the right inferior parietal lobule (whole-brain FWE-corrected) and the right inferior temporal gyrus (whole brain FWE-corrected). There were no significant effects when comparing male good sleepers to male poor sleepers. Linear regression analyses corroborated smaller GMV in the right parahippocampal gyrus in women with poor sleep quality. Conclusions Poor sleep quality was associated with altered GMV in females, but not in males. Future studies are needed to investigate the neurobiological mechanisms that underlie the sex differences in the association of sleep quality and brain differences found in this study.

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