scholarly journals Reward Enhances Connectivity between the Ventral Striatum and the Default Mode Network

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Dobryakova ◽  
David V Smith
Keyword(s):  
Default Mode Network ◽  
Ventral Striatum ◽  
Interaction Analysis ◽  
Personality Characteristic ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
Default Mode ◽  
Human Connectome Project ◽  
Psychophysiological Interaction ◽  
Multiple Regions

One of the central topics in cognitive neuroscience revolves around understanding how responses in the default mode network (DMN) relate to cognitive process and disease states. While there has been many investigations of the intrinsic patterns of activation and connectivity of the DMN with other networks at rest, i.e. when an individual is not engaged in any particular behavior, to truly understand the influence and significance of the DMN activation and connectivity, we must study it in association with a particular process. Reward processing is an integral part of goal-directed behavior that has been shown to rely on the striatum, a subcortical brain region that is connected to multiple regions of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) that belong to the DMN. Yet, it remains unclear how the DMN interacts with the striatum during reward processing. To investigate this issue, we analyzed card-guessing task data of 453 subjects from the Human Connectome Project and applied a novel network-based psychophysiological interaction analysis (nPPI) that quantified reward-dependent connectivity of the DMN. We show that only the DMN exhibits increased connectivity with the ventral striatum (VS) during the receipt of reward. This result was specific to the DMN and the strength of connectivity was associated with the personality characteristic of openness. These findings point to a novel role of the DMN during reward processing, and to the nPPI approach being able to capture a unique contribution of a collection of regions to task performance.

scholarly journals Effects of bariatric surgery on functional connectivity of the reward and default mode network: a pre-registered analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah S. Heinrichs ◽  
Frauke Beyer ◽  
Evelyn Medawar ◽  
Kristin Prehn ◽  
Juergen Ordemann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bariatric Surgery ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Default Mode Network ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Interaction Analysis ◽  
Brain Networks ◽  
Group Interaction ◽  
Head Motion ◽  
Whole Brain ◽  
Default Mode

Obesity imposes serious health risks and involves alterations in resting-state functional connectivity of brain networks involved in eating behavior. Bariatric surgery is an effective treatment, but its effects on functional connectivity are still under debate. In this pre-registered study, we aimed to determine the effects of bariatric surgery on major resting-state brain networks (reward and default mode network) in a longitudinal controlled design. 33 bariatric surgery patients and 15 obese waiting-list control patients (37 females; aged 44.15 ± 11.86 SD years (range 21-68)) underwent magnetic resonance imaging at baseline, after 6 and 12 months. We conducted a pre-registered whole-brain time-by-group interaction analysis, and a time-by-group interaction analysis on within-network connectivity (https://osf.io/f8tpn/, https://osf.io/59bh7/). In exploratory analyses, we investigated the effects of weight loss and head motion. Bariatric surgery compared to waiting did not significantly affect functional connectivity (FWE-corrected p > 0.05), neither whole-brain nor within-network. In exploratory analyses, surgery-related BMI decrease (FWE-corrected p = 0.041) and higher average head motion (FWE-corrected p = 0.021) resulted in significantly stronger connectivity of the reward network with medial posterior frontal regions. This pre-registered well-controlled study did not support a strong effect of bariatric surgery, compared to waiting, on major resting-state brain networks after 6 months. Exploratory analyses indicated that head motion might have confounded the effects. Data pooling and more rigorous control of within-scanner head motion during data acquisition are needed to substantiate effects of bariatric surgery on brain organization.

scholarly journals The influence of relationship closeness on default-mode network connectivity during social interactions

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominic S Fareri ◽  
David V Smith ◽  
Mauricio R Delgado
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Default Mode Network ◽  
Social Preference ◽  
Computer Network ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Network Connectivity ◽  
Trust Game ◽  
Default Mode ◽  
Social Closeness ◽  
Psychophysiological Interaction

Abstract Reciprocated trust plays a critical role in forming and maintaining relationships, and has consistently been shown to implicate neural circuits involved in reward-related processing and social cognition. Less is known about neural network connectivity during social interactions involving trust, however, particularly as a function of closeness between an investor and a trustee. We examined network reactivity and connectivity in participants who played an economic trust game with close friends, strangers and a computer. Network reactivity analyses showed enhanced activation of the default-mode network (DMN) to social relative to non-social outcomes. A novel network psychophysiological interaction (nPPI) analysis revealed enhanced connectivity between the DMN and the superior frontal gyrus and superior parietal lobule when experiencing reciprocated vs violated trust from friends relative to strangers. Such connectivity tracked with differences in self-reported social closeness with these partners. Interestingly, reactivity of the executive control network (ECN), involved in decision processes, demonstrated no social vs non-social preference, and ECN-ventral striatum connectivity did not track social closeness. Taken together, these novel findings suggest that DMN interacts with components of attention and control networks to signal the relative importance of positive experiences with close others vs strangers.

scholarly journals Nucleus Accumbens Functional Connectivity with the Default Mode Network: Black Children’s Diminished Returns of Household Income

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. p34
Author(s):  
Shervin Assari
Keyword(s):  
Nucleus Accumbens ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Default Mode Network ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Household Income ◽  
Black People ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽  
Default Mode ◽  
The Us

Introduction: Although research has established a link between socioeconomic status (SES) and neuroimaging measures, weaker SES effects are shown for Blacks than Whites. This is, in part, due to processes such as stratification, racism, mineralization, and othering of Black people in the US. Purpose: This study had two aims: First to test the association between household income and the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) resting-state functional connectivity with the Default Mode Network (DMN) in children, and second, to investigate racial heterogeneity in this association. Methods: This cross-sectional study used data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. We analyzed the resting-state functional connectivity data using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (rsfMRI) of 7903 US pre-adolescents who were between ages 9 and 10 years old. The main outcome was the NAcc resting-state functional connectivity with DMN. The independent variable was household income. Age, sex, and family structure were the study covariates. Race was the moderator. Mixed-effects regression models were used for data analysis with and without interaction terms between household income and race. Results: Higher household income was associated with higher NAcc resting-state functional connectivity with DMN. Race showed a statistically significant interaction with household income suggesting that the NAcc resting-state functional connectivity with DMN was significantly weaker for Black compared to White pre-adolescents. Conclusions: In line with Minorities’ Diminished Returns (MDRs), the association between household income and pre-adolescents NAcc resting-state functional connectivity with DMN is weaker in Black than in White children. This result is of interest because DMN’s functional connectivity with NAcc may have a role in cognitive flexibility and reward processing. The weaker links between SES indicators and neuroimaging findings for Blacks than for Whites may reflect the racialization of Black people in the US. Social stratification, racism, and discrimination may minimize the returns of SES for Black families, who have been oppressed for centuries.

scholarly journals Portraying the unique contribution of the default mode network to internally driven mnemonic processes

2013 ◽  
Vol 110 (13) ◽  
pp. 4950-4955 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Shapira-Lichter ◽  
N. Oren ◽  
Y. Jacob ◽  
M. Gruberger ◽  
T. Hendler
Keyword(s):  
Default Mode Network ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
Default Mode

scholarly journals Enhanced default mode network connectivity with ventral striatum in subthreshold depression individuals

2016 ◽  
Vol 76 ◽  
pp. 111-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.W. Hwang ◽  
S.C. Xin ◽  
Y.M. Ou ◽  
W.Y. Zhang ◽  
Y.L. Liang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Default Mode Network ◽  
Ventral Striatum ◽  
Network Connectivity ◽  
Subthreshold Depression ◽  
Default Mode

scholarly journals Many hats: intratrial and reward level-dependent BOLD activity in the striatum and premotor cortex

2013 ◽  
Vol 110 (7) ◽  
pp. 1689-1702 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik J. Peterson ◽  
Carol A. Seger
Keyword(s):  
Ventral Striatum ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level ◽  
Visuomotor Learning ◽  
Cell Recording ◽  
Human Neuroimaging

Human functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies, as well as lesion, drug, and single-cell recording studies in animals, suggest that the striatum plays a key role in associating sensory events with rewarding actions, both by facilitating reward processing and prediction (i.e., reinforcement learning) and by biasing and later updating action selection. Previous human neuroimaging research has failed to dissociate striatal activity associated with reward, stimulus, and response processing, and previous electrophysiological research in nonhuman animals has typically only examined single striatal subregions. Overcoming both these limitations, we isolated blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal associated with four intratrial processes (stimulus, preparation of response, response, and feedback) in a visuomotor learning task and examined activity associated with each within four striatal subregions (ventral striatum, putamen, head of the caudate nucleus, and body of the caudate) and the lateral premotor cortex. Overall, the striatum and lateral premotor cortex were recruited during all trial components, confirming their importance in all aspects of visuomotor learning. However, the caudate was most active at stimulus and feedback, whereas the putamen peaked in activity at response. Activation in the lateral premotor cortex was, surprisingly, strongest during stimulus and following response as feedback approached. Activity was additionally examined at three reward magnitudes. Reward magnitude affected neural activity only during stimulus in the caudate, putamen, and premotor cortex, whereas the ventral striatum showed reward sensitivity during both stimulus and feedback. Collectively, these results indicate that each striatal region makes a unique contribution to visuomotor learning through functions performed at different points within single trials.

scholarly journals Mapping the subcortical connectivity of the human default mode network

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Li ◽  
William H. Curley ◽  
Bastien Guerin ◽  
Darin D. Dougherty ◽  
Adrian V. Dalca ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Basal Ganglia ◽  
Default Mode Network ◽  
Basal Forebrain ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
7 Tesla ◽  
Human Consciousness ◽  
Connectivity Map ◽  
Caudate Nuclei ◽  
Default Mode ◽  
Human Connectome Project

The default mode network (DMN) mediates self-awareness and introspection, core components of human consciousness. Therapies to restore consciousness in patients with severe brain injuries have historically targeted subcortical sites in the brainstem, thalamus, hypothalamus, basal forebrain, and basal ganglia, with the goal of reactivating cortical DMN nodes. However, the subcortical connectivity of the DMN has not been fully mapped and optimal subcortical targets for therapeutic neuromodulation of consciousness have not been identified. In this work, we created a comprehensive map of DMN subcortical connectivity by combining high-resolution functional and structural datasets with advanced signal processing methods. We analyzed 7 Tesla resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) data from 168 healthy volunteers acquired in the Human Connectome Project. The rs-fMRI blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) data were temporally synchronized across subjects using the BrainSync algorithm. Cortical and subcortical DMN nodes were jointly analyzed and identified at the group level by applying a novel Nadam-Accelerated SCAlable and Robust (NASCAR) tensor decomposition method to the synchronized dataset. The subcortical connectivity map was then overlaid on a 7 Tesla 100 micron ex vivo MRI dataset for neuroanatomic analysis using automated segmentation of nuclei within the brainstem, thalamus, hypothalamus, basal forebrain, and basal ganglia. We further compared the NASCAR subcortical connectivity map with its counterpart generated from canonical seed-based correlation analyses. The NASCAR method revealed that BOLD signal in the central lateral nucleus of the thalamus and ventral tegmental area of the midbrain is strongly correlated with that of the DMN. In an exploratory analysis, additional subcortical sites in the median and dorsal raphe, lateral hypothalamus, and caudate nuclei were correlated with the cortical DMN. We also found that the putamen and globus pallidus are negatively correlated (i.e., anti-correlated) with the DMN, providing rs-fMRI evidence for the mesocircuit hypothesis of human consciousness, whereby a striatopallidal feedback system modulates anterior forebrain function via disinhibition of the central thalamus. Seed-based analyses yielded similar subcortical DMN connectivity, but the NASCAR result showed stronger contrast and better spatial alignment with dopamine immunostaining data. The DMN subcortical connectivity map identified here advances understanding of the subcortical regions that contribute to human consciousness and can be used to inform the selection of therapeutic targets in clinical trials for patients with disorders of consciousness.

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