The middle cingulate cortex and dorso-central insula: A mirror circuit encoding observation and execution of vitality forms

Actions with identical goals can be executed in different ways (gentle, rude, vigorous, etc.), which D. N. Stern called vitality forms [D. N. Stern, Forms of Vitality Exploring Dynamic Experience in Psychology, Arts, Psychotherapy, and Development (2010)]. Vitality forms express the agent’s attitudes toward others. In a series of fMRI studies, we found that the dorso-central insula (DCI) is the region that is selectively active during both vitality form observation and execution. In one previous experiment, however, the middle cingulate gyrus also exhibited activation. In the present study, in order to assess the role of the cingulate cortex in vitality form processing, we adopted a classical vitality form paradigm, but making the control condition devoid of vitality forms using jerky movements. Participants performed two different tasks: Observation of actions performed gently or rudely and execution of the same actions. The results showed that in addition to the insula, the middle cingulate cortex (MCC) was strongly activated during both action observation and execution. Using a voxel-based analysis, voxels showing a similar trend of the blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal in both action observation and execution were found in the DCI and in the MCC. Finally, using a multifiber tractography analysis, we showed that the active sites in MCC and DCI are reciprocally connected.

Decreased Functional Connectivity of Vermis-Ventral Prefrontal Cortex in Bipolar Disorder

Objectives: To investigate changes in functional connectivity between the vermis and cerebral regions in the resting state among subjects with bipolar disorder (BD).Methods: Thirty participants with BD and 28 healthy controls (HC) underwent the resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of the anterior and posterior vermis was examined. For each participant, rsFC maps of the anterior and posterior vermis were computed and compared across the two groups.Results: rsFC between the whole vermis and ventral prefrontal cortex (VPFC) was significantly lower in the BD groups compared to the HC group, and rsFC between the anterior vermis and the middle cingulate cortex was likewise significantly decreased in the BD group.Limitations: 83.3% of the BD participants were taking medication at the time of the study. Our findings may in part be attributed to treatment differences because we did not examine the effects of medication on rsFC. Further, the mixed BD subtypes in our current study may have confounding effects influencing the results.Conclusions: These rsFC differences of vermis-VPFC between groups may contribute to the BD mood regulation.

The Influence of Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback on Cardiac Regulation and Functional Brain Connectivity

BackgroundHeart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback has a beneficial impact on perceived stress and emotion regulation. However, its impact on brain function is still unclear. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of an 8-week HRV-biofeedback intervention on functional brain connectivity in healthy subjects.MethodsHRV biofeedback was carried out in five sessions per week, including four at home and one in our lab. A control group played jump‘n’run games instead of the training. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was conducted before and after the intervention in both groups. To compute resting state functional connectivity (RSFC), we defined regions of interest in the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) and a total of 260 independent anatomical regions for network-based analysis. Changes of RSFC of the VMPFC to other brain regions were compared between groups. Temporal changes of HRV during the resting state recording were correlated to dynamic functional connectivity of the VMPFC.ResultsFirst, we corroborated the role of the VMPFC in cardiac autonomic regulation. We found that temporal changes of HRV were correlated to dynamic changes of prefrontal connectivity, especially to the middle cingulate cortex, the left insula, supplementary motor area, dorsal and ventral lateral prefrontal regions. The biofeedback group showed a drop in heart rate by 5.2 beats/min and an increased SDNN as a measure of HRV by 8.6 ms (18%) after the intervention. Functional connectivity of the VMPFC increased mainly to the insula, the amygdala, the middle cingulate cortex, and lateral prefrontal regions after biofeedback intervention when compared to changes in the control group. Network-based statistic showed that biofeedback had an influence on a broad functional network of brain regions.ConclusionOur results show that increased heart rate variability induced by HRV-biofeedback is accompanied by changes in functional brain connectivity during resting state.

Temporoparietal Junction Functional Connectivity in Early Schizophrenia and Major Depressive Disorder

Background The temporoparietal junction (TPJ) has been linked to lower-level attentional and higher-level social processing, both of which are affected in schizophrenia (SZ) and major depressive disorder (MDD). We examined resting functional connectivity of bilateral anterior and posterior TPJ in SZ and MDD to evaluate potential anomalies in each disorder and differences between disorders. Methods Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired from 24 patients with SZ, 24 patients with MDD, and 24 age-matched healthy controls. We performed seed-based functional connectivity analyses with seed regions in bilateral anterior and posterior TPJ, covarying for gender and smoking. Results SZ had reduced connectivity versus controls between left anterior TPJ and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC); between left posterior TPJ and middle cingulate cortex, left dorsal PFC, and right lateral PFC; between right anterior TPJ and bilateral PCC; and between right posterior TPJ and middle cingulate cortex, left posterior insula, and right insula. MDD had reduced connectivity versus controls between left posterior TPJ and right dlPFC and between right posterior TPJ and PCC and dlPFC. SZ had reduced connectivity versus MDD between right posterior TPJ and left fusiform gyrus and right superior-posterior temporal cortex. Conclusion Functional connectivity to the TPJ was demonstrated to be disrupted in both SZ and MDD. However, TPJ connectivity may differ in these disorders with reduced connectivity in SZ versus MDD between TPJ and posterior brain regions.

Overactivation of the middle cingulate cortex and the caudate nucleus as neural correlates of the familial liability to major depressiive disorder

IntroductionUnaffected healthy 1st degree relatives of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) are 3.6 times more liable to develop the disease themselves than the standard population without the history of the disorder. Neural correlates of this liability are of particular interest since the phenomenon does not always have behavioral manifestations and early detected can enhance quicker and better MDD prevention.ObjectiveThe objective of our study was to establish neuronal correlates of susceptibility MDD in unaffected healthy 1st degree relatives of patients with MDD. Inhibition of emotional information was examined in the present study.AimsThe aim of the study was to better understand the development of MDD and the role of altered inhibition of emotional processing in it. That, in consequence, may contribute to establishing new methods of prevention and quicker detection of MDD liability.MethodsTwenty-one unaffected healthy 1st degree relatives of patients with MDD and twenty-five matched healthy controls underwent a functional magnetic resonance imaging procedure with a task involving inhibition of emotional processing of positive, negative and neutral emotional information. 2 × 3 ANOVA was performed to establish if the two groups differed significantly in the inhibition of one of the three types of emotions.ResultsThe unaffected healthy 1st degree relatives displayed an increased neural activation during the inhibition of negative emotional information in the bilateral middle cingulate cortex (MCC) and the left caudate nucleus (p< 0.05, family wise error).ConclusionsThe overactivation of the MCC and caudate nucleus can be a marker of MDD liability