Localization of brain activity by temporal anti-correlation with the posterior cingulate cortex

Negative urgency (NU) and positive urgency (PU) are implicated in several high-risk behaviors, such as eating disorders, substance use disorders, and nonsuicidal self-injury behavior. The current study aimed to explore the possible link between trait of urgency and brain activity at rest. We assessed the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) of the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) signal in 85 healthy volunteers. Trait urgency measures were related to ALFF in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, ventral and dorsal medial frontal cortex, anterior cingulate, and posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus. In addition, trait urgency measures showed significant correlations with the functional connectivity of the posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus seed with the thalamus and midbrain region. These findings suggest an association between intrinsic brain activity and impulsive behaviors in healthy humans.

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Real-time fMRI Links Subjective Experience with Brain Activity During Focused Attention

10.31231/osf.io/2qve8 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Kathleen A. Garrison ◽

Dustin Scheinost ◽

Patrick Worhunsky ◽

Hani Elwafi ◽

Thomas Thornhill ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Real Time ◽

Subjective Experience ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Cingulate Cortex ◽

Mind Wandering ◽

Posterior Cingulate Cortex ◽

Focused Attention ◽

Attention Task ◽

Subjective Data ◽

Posterior Cingulate

Recent advances in brain imaging have improved the measure of neural processes related to perceptual, cognitive and affective functions, yet the relation between brain activity and subjective experience remains poorly characterized. In part, it is a challenge to obtain reliable accounts of participant’s experience in such studies. Here we addressed this limitation by utilizing experienced meditators who are expert in introspection. We tested a novel method to link objective and subjective data, using real-time fMRI (rt-fMRI) to provide participants with feedback of their own brain activity during an ongoing task. We provided real-time feedback during a focused attention task from the posterior cingulate cortex, a hub of the default mode network shown to be activated during mind-wandering and deactivated during meditation. In a first experiment, both meditatorsand non-meditators reported significant correspondence between the feedback graph and their subjective experience of focused attention and mind-wandering. When instructed to volitionally decrease the feedback graph, meditators, but not non-meditators, showed significant deactivation of the posterior cingulate cortex. We were able to replicate these results in a separate group of meditators using a novel step-wise rt-fMRI discovery protocol in which participants were not provided with prior knowledge of the expected relationship between their experience and the feedback graph (i.e., focused attention versus mind-wandering). These findings support the feasibility of using rt-fMRI to link objective measures of brain activity with reports of ongoingsubjective experience in cognitive neuroscience research, and demonstrate the generalization of expertise in introspective awareness to novel contexts.

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Are inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmitter levels in the posterior cingulate cortex associated with MS fatigue?

10.26226/morressier.59a3e8b4d462b8028d89445c ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Karen A. Ribbons

Keyword(s):

Cingulate Cortex ◽

Posterior Cingulate Cortex ◽

Excitatory Neurotransmitter ◽

Posterior Cingulate

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Serum Vitamin D and Cingulate Cortex Thickness in Older Adults: Quantitative MRI of the Brain

Current Alzheimer Research ◽

10.2174/1567205016666191113124356 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (11) ◽

pp. 1063-1071 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Gonzague Foucault ◽

Guillaume T Duval ◽

Romain Simon ◽

Olivier Beauchet ◽

Mickael Dinomais ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Vitamin D ◽

Brain Mri ◽

Serum Vitamin ◽

Cingulate Cortex ◽

Posterior Cingulate Cortex ◽

Vitamin D Insufficiency ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Posterior Cingulate ◽

Significant Difference

Background: Vitamin D insufficiency is associated with brain changes, and cognitive and mobility declines in older adults. Method: Two hundred and fifteen Caucasian older community-dwellers (mean±SD, 72.1±5.5years; 40% female) received a blood test and brain MRI. The thickness of perigenual anterior cingulate cortex, midcingulate cortex and posterior cingulate cortex was measured using FreeSurfer from T1-weighted MR images. Age, gender, education, BMI, mean arterial pressure, comorbidities, use of vitamin D supplements or anti-vascular drugs, MMSE, GDS, IADL, serum calcium and vitamin B9 concentrations, creatinine clearance were used as covariables. Results: Participants with vitamin D insufficiency (n=80) had thinner total cingulate thickness than the others (24.6±1.9mm versus 25.3±1.4mm, P=0.001); a significant difference found for all 3 regions. Vitamin D insufficiency was cross-sectionally associated with a decreased total cingulate thickness (β=- 0.49, P=0.028). Serum 25OHD concentration correlated positively with the thickness of perigenual anterior (P=0.011), midcingulate (P=0.013) and posterior cingulate cortex (P=0.021). Conclusion: Vitamin D insufficiency was associated with thinner cingulate cortex in the studied sample of older adults. These findings provide insight into the pathophysiology of cognitive and mobility declines in older adults with vitamin D insufficiency.

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