Volumetric and connectivity changes in brain networks associated with reward sensitivity, cognitive control, and negative affect in binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bart Hartogsveld ◽  
Conny W.E.M. Quaedflieg ◽  
Peter van Ruitenbeek ◽  
Tom Smeets
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Negative Affect ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Treatment Options ◽  
Reward Sensitivity ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Environmental Cues ◽  
Underlying Causes ◽  
Brain Changes ◽  
The Brain

Binging disorders are characterized by episodes of eating large amounts of food whilst experiencing a loss of control. Recent studies suggest that the underlying causes of these binging disorders consist of a complex system of environmental cues, different processing of food stimuli, altered behavioral responding, and brain changes. We propose that task-independent volumetric and connectivity changes in the brain are highly related to altered functioning in reward sensitivity, cognitive control, and negative affect, which in turn promotes and conserves binging behavior. We here review imaging studies and show that volume and connectivity changes in the orbitofrontal cortex, inferior frontal gyrus, medial prefrontal cortex, striatum, insula and amygdala overlap with distorted brain activation associated with increased reward sensitivity, decreased cognitive control, and distorted responses to negative affect or stress seen in binging disorder. Future research integrating both task-based and task-independent neuroimaging approaches therefore shows considerable promise in clarifying binging behavior. We provide suggestions for how this integration may guide future research and inform novel brain-based treatment options in binging disorders.

scholarly journals The dimensionality of neural representations for control

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Badre ◽  
Apoorva Bhandari ◽  
Haley Keglovits ◽  
Atsushi Kikumoto
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Neural Computation ◽  
Neural Representation ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Neural Representations ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Review Current

Cognitive control allows us to think and behave flexibly based on our context and goals. At the heart of theories of cognitive control is a control representation that enables the same input to produce different outputs contingent on contextual factors. In this review, we focus on an important property of the control representation’s neural code: its representational dimensionality. Dimensionality of a neural representation balances a basic separability/generalizability trade-off in neural computation. We will discuss the implications of this trade-off for cognitive control. We will then briefly review current neuroscience findings regarding the dimensionality of control representations in the brain, particularly the prefrontal cortex. We conclude by highlighting open questions and crucial directions for future research.

How is Schizophrenia Treated?

Schizophrenia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Glatt ◽  
Stephen V. Faraone ◽  
Ming T. Tsuang
Keyword(s):  
Side Effects ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Treatment Options ◽  
Current Treatment ◽  
Good Evidence ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Number Of Patients ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Good Number

In earlier chapters, we described the many advances in our understanding of schizophrenia. Unfortunately, we still do not have a detailed blueprint of what exactly goes wrong in the brain in schizophrenia, or a means for ‘fixing’ the brain. But even without a clear grasp of all the underlying, hidden facts, we have still made many gains. While we search for more clues, we need to use the facts on hand to help individuals with schizophrenia and their families to relieve their suffering. As the saying goes, ‘The perfect is the enemy of the good’, and some good treatment options exist. So while we work toward a perfect under­standing of schizophrenia and develop treatments that are targeted toward each individual’s personal form of the disorder, we must rely on the evidence for existing treatments to separate the ‘good’ from the ‘bad’. Bad treatments are those that are ineffective, counterproductive, or have a high risk of very serious side effects. Good treatments are those that have good evidence of helping a fair number of patients to reduce at least the positive symptoms of the disorder while having a relatively low risk of serious side effects. No current treatment for the disorder will work for all affected individuals, and we do not yet have a way of being able to tell before treatment what chance the affected individual has of improving with a given treatment. These are all goals for future research, including the discovery of brand new medicines. For now, we review the cur­rently available treatments with the best evidence of being able to help a good number of patients. The onset of schizophrenia can be frightening, for both affected individuals and their families. Affected individuals begin to express many odd beliefs: that people are trying to harm them— friends, relatives, strangers, or celebrities; that others can hear their thoughts as if spoken aloud; that voices talk to them, even when they are alone. In addition, they cannot express feelings and thoughts clearly and are frustrated by the doubts expressed by relatives and friends.

scholarly journals tDCS and tinnitus A meta analytic exploration into efficacy and optimization

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Cates ◽  
Evan Davies
Keyword(s):  
Brain Stimulation ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Controlled Trials ◽  
Subjective Outcome ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Causal Treatment ◽  
Underlying Causes ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Efficacy Of Treatment

Millions of Americans suffer from tinnitus, or ringing of the ears. Despite its prevalence, treatment for tinnitus is limited, with most approaches focusing on making the symptoms tolerable, instead of treating the underlying neurological causes. Recently however, brain stimulation techniques, such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), have emerged offering a new method to interact with the brain and offering hope as a new approach to treating the underlying causes of tinnitus, not just making the symptoms tolerable. In the present meta-analysis, we analyzed the results from 17 controlled trials and 5 uncontrolled case studies to determine the efficacy of tDCS for treating tinnitus. Additionally, we performed sub-analyses to test how different tDCS parameters may alter the efficacy of treatment. Overall, we found a small but significant effect (Overall Hedges g of 0.17 (95% CI 0.09-0.25)) of tDCS on tinnitus symptoms. However, mechanistically we found that targeting the DLPFC improved symptoms significantly more than other targets, including targeting the auditory cortex directly. This along with the subjective outcome measures currently available, suggest that while tDCS does offer a benefit to treating the symptoms, it does not appear to treat any underlying causes. It is the opinion of the authors therefore that tDCS should be used in addition to traditional interventions to make the symptoms more tolerable. As covered in the discussion, future research should explore more objective measures of tinnitus in order to better assess the efficacy of tDCS and other brain stimulation methods, with the hope of developing a causal treatment of tinnitus.

Morphological Changes in the Brain of Acutely Ill and Weight-Recovered Patients with Anorexia Nervosa

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jochen Seitz ◽  
Katharina Bühren ◽  
Georg G. von Polier ◽  
Nicole Heussen ◽  
Beate Herpertz-Dahlmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Cognitive Deficits ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Clinical Prognosis ◽  
Qualitative Review ◽  
Brain Changes ◽  
The Brain

Objective: Acute anorexia nervosa (AN) leads to reduced gray (GM) and white matter (WM) volume in the brain, which however improves again upon restoration of weight. Yet little is known about the extent and clinical correlates of these brain changes, nor do we know much about the time-course and completeness of their recovery. Methods: We conducted a meta-analysis and a qualitative review of all magnetic resonance imaging studies involving volume analyses of the brain in both acute and recovered AN. Results: We identified structural neuroimaging studies with a total of 214 acute AN patients and 177 weight-recovered AN patients. In acute AN, GM was reduced by 5.6% and WM by 3.8% compared to healthy controls (HC). Short-term weight recovery 2–5 months after admission resulted in restitution of about half of the GM aberrations and almost full WM recovery. After 2–8 years of remission GM and WM were nearly normalized, and differences to HC (GM: –1.0%, WM: –0.7%) were no longer significant, although small residual changes could not be ruled out. In the qualitative review some studies found GM volume loss to be associated with cognitive deficits and clinical prognosis. Conclusions: GM and WM were strongly reduced in acute AN. The completeness of brain volume rehabilitation remained equivocal.

scholarly journals Antagonism between brain regions relevant for cognitive control and emotional memory facilitates the generation of humorous ideas

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Bitsch ◽  
Philipp Berger ◽  
Andreas Fink ◽  
Arne Nagels ◽  
Benjamin Straube ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Emotional Memory ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Frontal Brain ◽  
Successful Resolution ◽  
Neural Underpinnings ◽  
The Brain

AbstractThe ability to generate humor gives rise to positive emotions and thus facilitate the successful resolution of adversity. Although there is consensus that inhibitory processes might be related to broaden the way of thinking, the neural underpinnings of these mechanisms are largely unknown. Here, we use functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, a humorous alternative uses task and a stroop task, to investigate the brain mechanisms underlying the emergence of humorous ideas in 24 subjects. Neuroimaging results indicate that greater cognitive control abilities are associated with increased activation in the amygdala, the hippocampus and the superior and medial frontal gyrus during the generation of humorous ideas. Examining the neural mechanisms more closely shows that the hypoactivation of frontal brain regions is associated with an hyperactivation in the amygdala and vice versa. This antagonistic connectivity is concurrently linked with an increased number of humorous ideas and enhanced amygdala responses during the task. Our data therefore suggests that a neural antagonism previously related to the emergence and regulation of negative affective responses, is linked with the generation of emotionally positive ideas and may represent an important neural pathway supporting mental health.

scholarly journals Decision Making from the Experience of Orthognathic Surgery Patients: A Grounded Theory Approach

2021 ◽  
pp. 238008442110144
Author(s):  
N.R. Paul ◽  
S.R. Baker ◽  
B.J. Gibson
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Treatment Options ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Major Surgery ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Theory Approach

Introduction: Patients’ decisions to undergo major surgery such as orthognathic treatment are not just about how the decision is made but what influences the decision. Objectives: The primary objective of the study was to identify the key processes involved in patients’ experience of decision making for orthognathic treatment. Methods: This study reports some of the findings of a larger grounded theory study. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews of patients who were seen for orthognathic treatment at a teaching hospital in the United Kingdom. Twenty-two participants were recruited (age range 18–66 y), of whom 12 (male = 2, female = 10) were 6 to 8 wk postsurgery, 6 (male = 2, female = 4) were in the decision-making stage, and 4 (male = 0, female = 4) were 1 to 2 y postsurgery. Additional data were also collected from online blogs and forums on jaw surgery. The data analysis stages of grounded theory methodology were undertaken, including open and selective coding. Results: The study identified the central role of dental care professionals (DCPs) in several underlying processes associated with decision making, including legitimating, mediating, scheduling, projecting, and supporting patients’ decisions. Six categories were related to key aspects of decision making. These were awareness about their underlying dentofacial problems and treatment options available, the information available about the treatment, the temporality of when surgery would be undertaken, the motivations and expectation of patients, social support, and fear of the surgery, hospitalization, and potentially disliking their new face. Conclusion: The decision-making process for orthognathic treatment is complex, multifactorial, and heavily influenced by the role of DCPs in patient care. Understanding the magnitude of this role will enable DCPs to more clearly participate in improving patients’ decision-making process. The findings of this study can inform future quantitative studies. Knowledge Transfer Statement: The results of this study can be used both for informing clinical practice around enabling decision making for orthognathic treatment and also for designing future research. The findings can better inform clinicians about the importance of their role in the patients’ decision-making process for orthognathic treatment and the means to improve the patient experience. It is suggested that further research could be conducted to measure some of the key constructs identified within our grounded theory and assess how these change during the treatment process.

scholarly journals The Psychological Impact of Coronavirus Pandemic Restrictions in Italy. The Mediating Role of the Fear of COVID-19 in the Relationship between Positive and Negative Affect with Positive and Negative Outcomes

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 697-710
Author(s):  
Andrea Zammitti ◽  
Chiara Imbrogliera ◽  
Angela Russo ◽  
Rita Zarbo ◽  
Paola Magnano
Keyword(s):  
Negative Affect ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Positive And Negative Affect ◽  
Ptsd Symptoms ◽  
Negative Outcomes ◽  
Event Scale ◽  
Spiritual Well Being ◽  
The Relationship

Italy was quickly hit hard by the coronavirus. ‘Lockdown’ has significantly impacted the psychological health, personal wellbeing and quality of life of the people. The study aims to explore the relationship between positive and negative affect, as well as positive (spiritual well-being and flourishing) and negative outcomes (psychological distress caused by a traumatic life event in terms of perception of PTSD symptoms) on Italian adults during the lockdown period. Data was collected between April and May 2020. The participants were 281 Italian adults aged between 18 and 73 years. The survey was composed of the following measures: Flourishing Scale, Jarel Spiritual Well-Being scale, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, Impact of Event Scale—Revised, Fear of COVID-19. The mediational analysis shows that fear of COVID-19 fully mediates the relationship between negative affect and spiritual well-being and flourishing; fear of COVID-19 partially mediates the relationship between negative affect and PTSD symptoms; the positive affect shows only direct effects on positive outcomes. Therefore, fear of COVID-19 does not play any mediation role. Implications for psychological interventions and future research will be discussed.

scholarly journals Involvement of Microglia in the Pathophysiology of Intracranial Aneurysms and Vascular Malformations—A Short Overview

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 6141
Author(s):  
Teodora Larisa Timis ◽  
Ioan Alexandru Florian ◽  
Sergiu Susman ◽  
Ioan Stefan Florian
Keyword(s):  
Immune Cells ◽  
Arteriovenous Malformations ◽  
Intracranial Aneurysms ◽  
Immune Cell ◽  
Vascular Malformations ◽  
Cerebral Injury ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
The Central Nervous System ◽  
The Brain

Aneurysms and vascular malformations of the brain represent an important source of intracranial hemorrhage and subsequent mortality and morbidity. We are only beginning to discern the involvement of microglia, the resident immune cell of the central nervous system, in these pathologies and their outcomes. Recent evidence suggests that activated proinflammatory microglia are implicated in the expansion of brain injury following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) in both the acute and chronic phases, being also a main actor in vasospasm, considerably the most severe complication of SAH. On the other hand, anti-inflammatory microglia may be involved in the resolution of cerebral injury and hemorrhage. These immune cells have also been observed in high numbers in brain arteriovenous malformations (bAVM) and cerebral cavernomas (CCM), although their roles in these lesions are currently incompletely ascertained. The following review aims to shed a light on the most significant findings related to microglia and their roles in intracranial aneurysms and vascular malformations, as well as possibly establish the course for future research.

scholarly journals Wireless logging of extracellular neuronal activity in the telencephalon of free-swimming salmonids

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susumu Takahashi ◽  
Takumi Hombe ◽  
Riku Takahashi ◽  
Kaoru Ide ◽  
Shinichiro Okamoto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Environmental Cues ◽  
Fish Movement ◽  
Water Tank ◽  
Head Direction ◽  
Free Swimming ◽  
Rodent Brain ◽  
River Migration ◽  
Spike Waveforms ◽  
The Brain

Abstract Background Salmonids return to the river where they were born in a phenomenon known as mother-river migration. The underpinning of migration has been extensively examined, particularly regarding the behavioral correlations of external environmental cues such as the scent of the mother-river and geomagnetic compass. However, neuronal underpinning remains elusive, as there have been no biologging techniques suited to monitor neuronal activity in the brain of large free-swimming fish. In this study, we developed a wireless biologging system to record extracellular neuronal activity in the brains of free-swimming salmonids. Results Using this system, we recorded multiple neuronal activities from the telencephalon of trout swimming in a rectangular water tank. As proof of principle, we examined the activity statistics for extracellular spike waveforms and timing. We found cells firing maximally in response to a specific head direction, similar to the head direction cells found in the rodent brain. The results of our study suggest that the recorded signals originate from neurons. Conclusions We anticipate that our biologging system will facilitate a more detailed investigation into the neural underpinning of fish movement using internally generated information, including responses to external cues.

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