scholarly journals Faculty Opinions recommendation of Insula's functional connectivity with ventromedial prefrontal cortex mediates the impact of trait alexithymia on state tobacco craving.

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Grunberg
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals Insula’s functional connectivity with ventromedial prefrontal cortex mediates the impact of trait alexithymia on state tobacco craving

2013 ◽  
Vol 228 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew T. Sutherland ◽  
Allison J. Carroll ◽  
Betty Jo Salmeron ◽  
Thomas J. Ross ◽  
Elliot A. Stein
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
The Impact

Age differences in ventromedial prefrontal cortex functional connectivity during socioemotional content processing

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (7) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Ryan T. Daley ◽  
Holly J. Bowen ◽  
Eric C. Fields ◽  
Angela Gutchess ◽  
Elizabeth A. Kensinger
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Emotional Content ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Supramarginal Gyrus ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Content Processing

Self-relevance effects are often confounded by the presence of emotional content, rendering it difficult to determine how brain networks functionally connected to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) are affected by the independent contributions of self-relevance and emotion. This difficulty is complicated by age-related changes in functional connectivity between the vmPFC and other default mode network regions, and regions typically associated with externally oriented networks. We asked groups of younger and older adults to imagine placing emotional and neutral objects in their home or a stranger's home. An age-invariant vmPFC cluster showed increased activation for self-relevant and emotional content processing. Functional connectivity analyses revealed age × self-relevance interactions in vmPFC connectivity with the anterior cingulate cortex. There were also age × emotion interactions in vmPFC functional connectivity with the anterior insula, orbitofrontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, and supramarginal gyrus. Interactions occurred in regions with the greatest differences between the age groups, as revealed by conjunction analyses. Implications of the findings are discussed.

scholarly journals Human ventromedial prefrontal cortex lesions enhance expectation-related pain modulation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
JC Motzkin ◽  
J Hiser ◽  
I Carroll ◽  
R Wolf ◽  
MK Baskaya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Brain Damage ◽  
Pain Sensitivity ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Pain Processing ◽  
Expectancy Effects ◽  
Cognitive Representations ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Pain Unpleasantness

AbstractPain is strongly modulated by expectations and beliefs. Research across species indicates that subregions of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) play a fundamental role in learning and generating predictions about valued outcomes. Consistent with this overarching framework, neuroimaging studies of experimental pain indicate that VMPFC activation tracks expectations of pain relief and statistically mediates expectation-related reductions in responses to painful stimuli across a distributed pain processing network. However, lesion studies in preclinical models and in humans with refractory chronic pain suggest that VMPFC may play a more general role in representing the affective and motivational qualities of pain that contribute to its strong aversive drive. To test whether VMPFC is necessary for pain processing in general, or instead plays a more specific role in the modulation of pain by expectations, we studied responses to experimental heat pain in five adults with bilateral surgical lesions of VMPFC and twenty healthy adults without brain damage.All participants underwent quantitative sensory testing (QST) to characterize pain sensitivity, followed by a pain expectancy task. Participants were instructed that auditory cues would be followed by heat calibrated to elicit low or high pain. Following a conditioning phase, each cue was intermittently paired with a single temperature calibrated to elicit moderate pain. We compared ratings of moderate heat stimuli and subjective expectancy ratings as a function of cue to evaluate whether VMPFC lesions impact cue-based expectancy and expectancy effects on pain intensity and unpleasantness. We also analyzed QST measures to evaluate whether VMPFC lesions were associated with overall shifts in pain sensitivity.Compared to adults without brain damage, individuals with VMPFC lesions reported larger differences in expectations as a function of pain-predictive cues, and stronger cue-based modulation of pain ratings, particularly for ratings of pain unpleasantness. There were no group differences in pain sensitivity, nor in the relationship between pain and autonomic arousal, indicating that the impact of VMPFC lesions is specific to expectancy-based modulation of pain unpleasantness.Our findings suggest that the VMPFC is not essential for basic subjective and physiological responses to painful stimuli. Rather, our findings of significantly enhanced cue- related expectancy effects may suggest that VMPFC plays an important role in updating expectations or integrating sensory information with expectations to guide subjective judgements about pain. Taken together, these results expand our understanding VMPFC’s contribution to pain and highlight the role of VMPFC in integrating cognitive representations with sensory information to yield affective responses.

scholarly journals Keeping weight off: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction alters amygdala functional connectivity during weight loss maintenance in a randomized control trial

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Serhiy Y. Chumachenko ◽  
Ryan Cali ◽  
Milagros C. Rosal ◽  
Jeroan Allison ◽  
Sharina Person ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Weight Loss ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Stress Reduction ◽  
Behavioral Interventions ◽  
Weight Loss Maintenance ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Significant Group ◽  
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction

AbstractObesity is associated with significant comorbidities and financial costs. While behavioral interventions produce clinically meaningful weight loss, weight loss maintenance is challenging. The objective was to improve understanding of the neural and psychological mechanisms modified by mindfulness that may predict clinical outcomes.Individuals who intentionally recently lost weight were randomized to Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) or a control healthy living course. Anthropometric and psychological factors were measured at baseline, 8 weeks and 6 months. Functional connectivity (FC) analysis was performed at baseline and 8 weeks to examine FC changes between regions of interest selected a priori, and independent components identified by independent component analysis. The association of pre-post FC changes with 6-month weight and psychometric outcomes was then analyzed.Significant group x time interaction was found for FC between the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, such that FC increased in the MBSR group and decreased in controls. Non-significant changes in weight were observed at 6 months, where the mindfulness group maintained their weight while the controls showed a weight increase of 3.4% in BMI. Change in FC at 8-weeks between ventromedial prefrontal cortex and several ROIs was associated with change in depression symptoms but not weight at 6 months. This pilot study provides preliminary evidence of neural mechanisms that may be involved in MBSR’s impact on weight loss maintenance that may be useful for designing future clinical trials and mechanistic studies.

Neurochemical and brain functional changes in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex of first-episode psychosis patients: A combined functional magnetic resonance imaging—proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (5) ◽  
pp. 519-527 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haixin Cen ◽  
Jiale Xu ◽  
Zhilei Yang ◽  
Li Mei ◽  
Tianyi Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Proton Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ◽  
First Episode Psychosis ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
First Episode ◽  
Gaba Level ◽  
Episode Psychosis

Objective: Previous studies showed alterations of brain function in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex of schizophrenia patients. Also, neurochemical changes, especially GABA level alteration, have been found in the medial prefrontal cortex of schizophrenia patients. However, the relationship between GABA level in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and brain functional activity in schizophrenia patients remains unexplored. Methods: In total, 23 drug-naïve, first-episode psychosis patients and 26 matched healthy controls completed the study. The single voxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy data were acquired in ventromedial prefrontal cortex region, which was used as the seed region for resting-state functional connectivity analysis. The proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy data were processed to quantify the concentrations of GABA+, glutamine and glutamate, and N-acetylaspartate in ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Spearman correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship between metabolite concentration, functional connectivity and clinical variables. Pearson correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship between GABA+ concentration and functional connectivity value. Results: In first-episode psychosis patients, GABA+ level in ventromedial prefrontal cortex was higher and was positively correlated with ventromedial prefrontal cortex-left middle orbital frontal cortex functional connectivity. N-acetylaspartate level was positively correlated with positive symptoms, and the functional connectivity between ventromedial prefrontal cortex and left precuneus was negatively associated with negative symptoms of first-episode psychosis patients. Conclusion: Our results indicated that ventromedial prefrontal cortex functional connectivity changes were positively correlated with higher local GABA+ level in first-episode psychosis patients. The altered neurochemical concentration and functional connectivity provide insights into the pathology of schizophrenia.

scholarly journals Long-term consequences of childhood maltreatment: Altered amygdala functional connectivity

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (4pt2) ◽  
pp. 1577-1589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Jedd ◽  
Ruskin H. Hunt ◽  
Dante Cicchetti ◽  
Emily Hunt ◽  
Raquel A. Cowell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Childhood Maltreatment ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Healthy Development ◽  
Early Stress ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractChildhood maltreatment is a serious individual, familial, and societal threat that compromises healthy development and is associated with lasting alterations to emotion perception, processing, and regulation (Cicchetti & Curtis, 2005; Pollak, Cicchetti, Hornung, & Reed, 2000; Pollak & Tolley-Schell, 2003). Individuals with a history of maltreatment show altered structural and functional brain development in both frontal and limbic structures (Hart & Rubia, 2012). In particular, previous research has identified hyperactive amygdala responsivity associated with childhood maltreatment (e.g., Dannlowski et al., 2012). However, less is known about the impact of maltreatment on the relationship between the amygdala and other brain regions. The present study employed an emotion processing functional magnetic resonance imaging task to examine task-based activation and functional connectivity in adults who experienced maltreatment as children. The sample included adults with a history of substantiated childhood maltreatment (n = 33) and comparison adults (n = 38) who were well matched on demographic variables, all of whom have been studied prospectively since childhood. The maltreated group exhibited greater activation than comparison participants in the prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia. In addition, maltreated adults showed increased amygdala connectivity with the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. The results suggest that the intense early stress of childhood maltreatment is associated with lasting alterations to frontolimbic circuitry.

scholarly journals Weakened Functional Connectivity Between the Amygdala and the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Is Longitudinally Related to Psychopathic Traits in Low-Income Males During Early Adulthood

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 628-635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Waller ◽  
Arianna M. Gard ◽  
Daniel S. Shaw ◽  
Erika E. Forbes ◽  
Craig S. Neumann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Early Adulthood ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Psychopathic Traits ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Complex Disorder ◽  
Urban Males

Psychopathy is a complex disorder consisting of harmful personality traits and impulsive-lifestyle and antisocial behaviors. Weakened functional connectivity between limbic and prefrontal brain regions is thought to underlie impaired sensitivity to others’ emotions that contribute to the interpersonal and affective personality traits associated with psychopathy. We tested whether weakened functional connectivity between the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) during the processing of fearful, angry, and neutral facial expressions was prospectively related to psychopathic traits in early adulthood. The sample included 167 low-income, racially diverse, urban males who completed a functional MRI scan at age 20 and questionnaire measures at ages 20 and 22. Weakened amygdala-vmPFC functional connectivity to fearful but not neutral or angry faces at age 20 was related to higher psychopathic traits at age 22.

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