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Mattavelli G, Gorrino I, Tornaghi D, Canessa N. Cognitive and motor impulsivity in the healthy brain, and implications for eating disorders and obesity: A coordinate-based meta-analysis and systematic review. Cortex 2024; 171:90-112. [PMID: 37984247 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.10.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2023] [Revised: 05/10/2023] [Accepted: 10/25/2023] [Indexed: 11/22/2023]
Abstract
Alterations in the impulse-control balance, and in its neural bases, have been reported in obesity and eating disorders (EDs). Neuroimaging studies suggest a role of fronto-parietal networks in impulsive behaviour, with evaluation and anticipatory processes additionally recruiting meso-limbic regions. However, whether distinct facets of cognitive and motor impulsivity involve common vs. specific neural correlates remains unclear. We addressed this issue through Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) meta-analyses of fMRI studies on delay discounting (DD) and go/no-go (GNG) tasks, alongside conjunction and subtraction analyses. We also performed systematic reviews of neuroimaging studies using the same tasks in individuals with obesity or EDs. ALE results showed consistent activations in the striatum, anterior/posterior cingulate cortex, medial/left superior frontal gyrus and left supramarginal gyrus for impulsive choices in DD, while GNG tasks elicited mainly right-lateralized fronto-parietal activations. Conjunction and subtraction analyses showed: i) common bilateral responses in the caudate nucleus; ii) DD-specific responses in the ventral striatum, anterior/posterior cingulate cortex, left supramarginal and medial frontal gyri; iii) GNG-specific activations in the right inferior parietal cortex. Altered fronto-lateral responses to both tasks are suggestive of dysfunctional cortico-striatal balance in obesity and EDs, but these findings are controversial due to the limited number of studies directly comparing patients and controls. Overall, we found evidence for distinctive neural correlates of the motor and cognitive facets of impulsivity: the right inferior parietal lobe underpins action inhibition, whereas fronto-striatal regions and the left supramarginal gyrus are related to impulsive decision-making. While showing that further research on clinical samples is required to better characterize the neural bases of their behavioural changes, these findings help refining neurocognitive model of impulsivity and highlight potential translational implications for EDs and obesity treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Mattavelli
- IUSS Cognitive Neuroscience (ICoN) Center, Scuola Universitaria Superiore IUSS, Pavia, Italy; Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory of Pavia Institute, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Pavia, Italy.
| | - Irene Gorrino
- IUSS Cognitive Neuroscience (ICoN) Center, Scuola Universitaria Superiore IUSS, Pavia, Italy
| | - Diana Tornaghi
- IUSS Cognitive Neuroscience (ICoN) Center, Scuola Universitaria Superiore IUSS, Pavia, Italy
| | - Nicola Canessa
- IUSS Cognitive Neuroscience (ICoN) Center, Scuola Universitaria Superiore IUSS, Pavia, Italy; Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory of Pavia Institute, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Pavia, Italy
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Bernardoni F, King JA, Hellerhoff I, Schoemann M, Seidel M, Geisler D, Boehm I, Pauligk S, Doose A, Steding J, Gramatke K, Roessner V, Scherbaum S, Ehrlich S. Mouse-cursor trajectories reveal reduced contextual influence on decision conflict during delay discounting in anorexia nervosa. Int J Eat Disord 2023; 56:1898-1908. [PMID: 37415568 DOI: 10.1002/eat.24019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2023] [Revised: 06/05/2023] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 07/08/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The capacity of individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) to forgo immediate food rewards in their long-term pursuit of thinness is thought to reflect elevated self-control and/or abnormal reward sensitivity. Prior research attempted to capture an increased tendency to delay gratification in AN using delay-discounting tasks that assess how rapidly the subjective value of rewards decreases as a function of time until receipt. However, significant effects were mostly subtle or absent. Here, we tested whether the process leading to such decisions might be altered in AN. METHOD We recorded mouse-cursor movement trajectories leading to the final choice in a computerized delay-discounting task (238 trials) in 55 acutely underweight females with AN and pairwise age-matched female healthy controls (HC). We tested for group differences in deviations from a direct choice path, a measure of conflict strength in decision making, and whether group moderated the effect of several predictors of conflict strength (e.g., choice difficulty, consistency). We also explored reaction times and changes in trajectory directions (X-flips). RESULTS No group differences in delay-discounting parameters or movement trajectories were detected. However, the effect of the aforementioned predictors on deviations (and to a lesser extent reaction times) was reduced in AN. DISCUSSION These findings suggest that while delay discounting and conflict strength in decision making are generally unaltered in AN, conflict strength was more stable across different decisions in the disorder. This might enable individuals with AN to pursue (maladaptive) long-term body-weight goals, because particularly conflicting choices may not be experienced as such. PUBLIC SIGNIFICANCE The deviations from a direct path of mouse-cursor movements during a computerized delay-discounting task varied less in people with anorexia nervosa. Assuming such deviations measure decision conflict, we speculate that this increased stability might help people with anorexia nervosa achieve their long-term weight goals, as for them the struggle with the decision to eat high-calorie meals when hungry will be milder, so they would be more likely to skip them.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabio Bernardoni
- Translational Developmental Neuroscience Section, Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Joseph A King
- Translational Developmental Neuroscience Section, Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Inger Hellerhoff
- Translational Developmental Neuroscience Section, Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
- Eating Disorder Treatment and Research Center, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Martin Schoemann
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Natural sciences, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Maria Seidel
- Translational Developmental Neuroscience Section, Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Daniel Geisler
- Translational Developmental Neuroscience Section, Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Ilka Boehm
- Translational Developmental Neuroscience Section, Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Sophie Pauligk
- Translational Developmental Neuroscience Section, Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Arne Doose
- Translational Developmental Neuroscience Section, Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Julius Steding
- Translational Developmental Neuroscience Section, Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Katrin Gramatke
- Eating Disorder Treatment and Research Center, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Veit Roessner
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital C. G. Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Stefan Scherbaum
- Eating Disorder Treatment and Research Center, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Stefan Ehrlich
- Translational Developmental Neuroscience Section, Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
- Eating Disorder Treatment and Research Center, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
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3
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Haynos AF, Koithan E, Hagan KE. Learned industriousness as a translational mechanism in anorexia nervosa. NATURE REVIEWS PSYCHOLOGY 2023; 2:112-126. [PMID: 37693302 PMCID: PMC10485812 DOI: 10.1038/s44159-022-00134-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/25/2022] [Indexed: 09/12/2023]
Abstract
It remains unexplained why some behaviours persist despite being non-hedonic and ostensibly aversive. This phenomenon is especially baffling when such behaviours are taken to excess in the form of psychopathology. Anorexia nervosa is one psychiatric disorder in which effortful behaviours that most people find unpleasant (suchas restrictive eating) are persistently performed. We propose thatthe social psychology theory of learned industriousness providesa novel mechanistic account for such phenomena. This theoryposits that high-effort behaviour can be conditioned to acquire secondary reinforcing properties through repeated pairing with reward. Accordingly, effort sensations become less aversive andmore appetitive, increasing willingness to engage in effortful behaviour. In this Perspective, we review pre-clinical behaviouraland biological data that support learned industriousness, contrast learned industriousness with other models of non-hedonic persistence (such as habit learning), highlight evidence that supports learned industriousness in individuals with anorexia nervosa and consider implications of the model, including translation to other psychiatric presentations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ann F. Haynos
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Emily Koithan
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Kelsey E. Hagan
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
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Göller S, Nickel K, Horster I, Endres D, Zeeck A, Domschke K, Lahmann C, Tebartz van Elst L, Maier S, Joos AAB. State or trait: the neurobiology of anorexia nervosa - contributions of a functional magnetic resonance imaging study. J Eat Disord 2022; 10:77. [PMID: 35641995 PMCID: PMC9158182 DOI: 10.1186/s40337-022-00598-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2022] [Accepted: 05/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The understanding of the cerebral neurobiology of anorexia nervosa (AN) with respect to state- versus trait-related abnormalities is limited. There is evidence of restitution of structural brain alterations with clinical remission. However, with regard to functional brain abnormalities, this issue has not yet been clarified. METHODS We compared women with AN (n = 31), well-recovered female participants (REC) (n = 18) and non-patients (NP) (n = 27) cross-sectionally. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed to compare neural responses to food versus non-food images. Additionally, affective ratings were assessed. RESULTS Functional responses and affective ratings did not differ between REC and NP, even when applying lenient thresholds for the comparison of neural responses. Comparing REC and AN, the latter showed lower valence and higher arousal ratings for food stimuli, and neural responses differed with lenient thresholds in an occipital region. CONCLUSIONS The data are in line with some previous findings and suggest restitution of cerebral function with clinical recovery. Furthermore, affective ratings did not differ from NP. These results need to be verified in intra-individual longitudinal studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Selma Göller
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Kathrin Nickel
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
| | - Isabelle Horster
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Dominique Endres
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Almut Zeeck
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Katharina Domschke
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.,Center for Basics in Neuromodulation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Claas Lahmann
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Ludger Tebartz van Elst
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Simon Maier
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Andreas A B Joos
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.,Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Ortenau Klinikum, Lahr, Academic Teaching Hospital of the University of Freiburg, Lahr, Germany
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5
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Kraus D, Horowitz‐Kraus T. Functional MRI research involving healthy children: Ethics, safety and recommended procedures. Acta Paediatr 2022; 111:741-749. [PMID: 34986521 DOI: 10.1111/apa.16247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2021] [Revised: 11/26/2021] [Accepted: 01/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
AIM This specific review aims to expose clinicians, researchers and administrators in hospitals to the importance, procedures and safety of fMRI studies to promote the increased utilisation of such studies in different geographical places worldwide. The child's brain is developing rapidly, both structurally and functionally. These functional changes can only be detected using functional scans generated from an MRI machine and referred to as a functional MRI (fMRI). This method may be used clinically in complex medical and surgical conditions (e.g., epilepsy surgery), but these days are often used for research purposes. However, due to ethical and logistical considerations, fMRI in the paediatric population is not widely and equally used in different geographical places. CONCLUSIONS The benefits of using this method to define the functional changes occurring in the developing brain are discussed in this review, along with desensitisation methods recommended when working with this vulnerable population in research and even in a clinical setting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dror Kraus
- Pediatric Neurology Institute Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel Tel Aviv University Petach‐Tiqua Israel
| | - Tzipi Horowitz‐Kraus
- Educational Neuroimaging Group Faculty of Education in Science and Technology Faculty of Biomedical Engineering Haifa Israel
- Kennedy Krieger Institute Baltimore Maryland USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore Maryland USA
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6
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Seidel M, Pauligk S, Fürtjes S, King JA, Schlief SM, Geisler D, Walter H, Goschke T, Ehrlich S. Intact neural and behavioral correlates of emotion processing and regulation in weight-recovered anorexia nervosa: a combined fMRI and EMA study. Transl Psychiatry 2022; 12:32. [PMID: 35075103 PMCID: PMC8786843 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-022-01797-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2021] [Revised: 12/22/2021] [Accepted: 01/11/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Altered emotion processing and regulation mechanisms play a key role in eating disorders. We recently reported increased fMRI responses in brain regions involved in emotion processing (amygdala, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) in acutely underweight anorexia nervosa (AN) patients while passively viewing negatively valenced images. We also showed that patients' ability to downregulate activity elicited by positively valenced pictures in a brain region involved in reward processing (ventral striatum) was predictive of worse outcomes (increased rumination and negative affect). The current study tries to answer the question of whether these alterations are only state effects associated with undernutrition or whether they constitute a trait characteristic of the disorder that persists after recovery. Forty-one individuals that were weight-recovered from AN (recAN) and 41 age-matched healthy controls (HC) completed an established emotion regulation paradigm using negatively and positively valenced visual stimuli. We assessed behavioral (arousal) and fMRI measures (activity in the amygdala, ventral striatum, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) during emotion processing and regulation. Additionally, measures of disorder-relevant rumination and affect were collected several times daily for 2 weeks after scanning via ecological momentary assessment. In contrast to our previous findings in acute AN patients, recAN showed no significant alterations either on a behavioral or neural level. Further, there were no associations between fMRI responses and post-scan momentary measures of rumination and affect. Together, these results suggest that neural responses to emotionally valenced stimuli as well as relationships with everyday rumination and affect likely reflect state-related alterations in AN that improve following successful weight-recovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Seidel
- grid.4488.00000 0001 2111 7257Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Sophie Pauligk
- grid.4488.00000 0001 2111 7257Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Sophia Fürtjes
- grid.4488.00000 0001 2111 7257Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Joseph A. King
- grid.4488.00000 0001 2111 7257Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Sophie-Maleen Schlief
- grid.4488.00000 0001 2111 7257Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Daniel Geisler
- grid.4488.00000 0001 2111 7257Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Henrik Walter
- grid.6363.00000 0001 2218 4662Division of Mind and Brain Research, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy CCM, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Thomas Goschke
- grid.4488.00000 0001 2111 7257Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Stefan Ehrlich
- Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany. .,Eating Disorder Treatment and Research Center, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
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7
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Weinert T, King JA, Böldt L, Gronow F, Roessner V, Ehrlich S. Increased self-reported delay of gratification in acutely underweight, but not remitted anorexia nervosa. Int J Eat Disord 2022; 55:135-140. [PMID: 34799878 DOI: 10.1002/eat.23644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2021] [Revised: 10/15/2021] [Accepted: 11/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Laboratory experiments using delay discounting tasks have delivered some evidence of an increased capacity to delay reward in anorexia nervosa (AN). Overall, however, findings have been inconclusive and no comprehensive studies of self-reported tendency to forgo immediate gratification in favor of long-term rewards exist in AN. METHOD A total of 71 acutely underweight female inpatients with AN (acAN); 52 women long-term weight-recovered from AN (recAN); and 120 healthy control women completed the Delaying Gratification Inventory (DGI). Fifty-two acAN were reassessed after short-term weight rehabilitation. Separate cross-sectional and longitudinal group comparisons tested for differences in DGI subscales (food, physical pleasure, social interaction, money, and achievement) and total scores. RESULTS DGI scores were elevated in acAN even after removing food-related items and accounting for comorbid symptoms. DGI scores remained relatively elevated following short-term weight rehabilitation, but no differences were evident between recAN and HC. DISCUSSION This study delivers self-report evidence supporting the notion of an increased propensity to delay gratification in individuals acutely ill with AN which does not appear to change with partial weight restoration alone. A reduction in the tendency to delay reward may thus be an important cognitive correlate of long-term recovery in AN.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomas Weinert
- Translational Developmental Neuroscience Section, Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Joseph A King
- Translational Developmental Neuroscience Section, Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Luisa Böldt
- Translational Developmental Neuroscience Section, Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Franziska Gronow
- Translational Developmental Neuroscience Section, Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Veit Roessner
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Stefan Ehrlich
- Translational Developmental Neuroscience Section, Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany.,Eating Disorder Research and Treatment Center, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
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8
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Bystritsky A, Spivak NM, Dang BH, Becerra SA, Distler MG, Jordan SE, Kuhn TP. Brain circuitry underlying the ABC model of anxiety. J Psychiatr Res 2021; 138:3-14. [PMID: 33798786 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.03.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2021] [Revised: 03/12/2021] [Accepted: 03/17/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Anxiety Disorders are prevalent and often chronic, recurrent conditions that reduce quality of life. The first-line treatments, such as serotonin reuptake inhibitors and cognitive behavioral therapy, leave a significant proportion of patients symptomatic. As psychiatry moves toward targeted circuit-based treatments, there is a need for a theory that unites the phenomenology of anxiety with its underlying neural circuits. The Alarm, Belief, Coping (ABC) theory of anxiety describes how the neural circuits associated with anxiety interact with each other and domains of the anxiety symptoms, both temporally and spatially. The latest advancements in neuroimaging techniques offer the ability to assess these circuits in vivo. Using Neurosynth, a large open-access meta-analytic imaging database, the association between terms related to specific neural circuits was explored within the ABC theory framework. Alarm-related terms were associated with the amygdala, anterior cingulum, insula, and bed nucleus of stria terminalis. Belief-related terms were associated with medial prefrontal cortex, precuneus, bilateral temporal poles, and hippocampus. Coping-related terms were associated with the ventrolateral and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices, basal ganglia, and anterior cingulate. Neural connections underlying the functional neuroanatomy of the ABC model were observed. Additionally, there was considerable interaction and overlap between circuits associated with the symptom domains. Further neuroimaging research is needed to explore the dynamic interaction between the functional domains of the ABC theory. This will pave the way for probing the neuroanatomical underpinnings of anxiety disorders and provide an evidence-based foundation for the development of targeted treatments, such as neuromodulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Bystritsky
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA; BrainSonix Corporation, Sherman Oaks, CA, USA.
| | - Norman M Spivak
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA; David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Bianca H Dang
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Sergio A Becerra
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Margaret G Distler
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Sheldon E Jordan
- Neurology Management Associates - Los Angeles, Santa Monica, CA, USA
| | - Taylor P Kuhn
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA; David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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9
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From Desire to Dread-A Neurocircuitry Based Model for Food Avoidance in Anorexia Nervosa. J Clin Med 2021; 10:jcm10112228. [PMID: 34063884 PMCID: PMC8196668 DOI: 10.3390/jcm10112228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2021] [Revised: 05/18/2021] [Accepted: 05/19/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Anorexia nervosa is a severe psychiatric illness associated with food avoidance. Animal models from Berridge et al. over the past decade showed that environmental ambience, pleasant or fear inducing, can trigger either appetitive (desire) or avoidance (dread) behaviors in animals via frontal cortex, nucleus accumbens dopamine D1 and D2 receptors, and hypothalamus. Those mechanisms could be relevant for understanding anorexia nervosa. However, models that translate animal research to explain the psychopathology of anorexia nervosa are sparse. This article reviews animal and human research to find evidence for whether this model can explain food avoidance behaviors in anorexia nervosa. Research on anorexia nervosa suggests fear conditioning to food, activation of the corticostriatal brain circuitry, sensitization of ventral striatal dopamine response, and alterations in hypothalamic function. The results support the applicability of the animal neurocircuitry derived model and provide directions to further study the pathophysiology that underlies anorexia nervosa.
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10
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Shi J, Teng J, Du X, Li N. Multi-Modal Analysis of Resting-State fMRI Data in mTBI Patients and Association With Neuropsychological Outcomes. Front Neurol 2021; 12:639760. [PMID: 34079510 PMCID: PMC8165539 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2021.639760] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2020] [Accepted: 03/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Various cognitive disorders have been reported for mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) patients during the acute stage. This acute stage provides an opportunity for clinicians to optimize treatment protocols, which are based on the evaluation of brain structural connectivity. So far, most brain functional magnetic resonance imaging studies are focused on moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). In this study, we prospectively collected resting state data on 50 mTBI within 3 days of injury and 50 healthy volunteers and analyzed them using Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF), Regional Homogeneity (ReHo), graph theory methods and behavior measure, to explore the dysfunctional brain regions in acute mTBI. In our study, a total of 50 patients suffering <3 days mTBI and 50 healthy subjects were tested in rs-fMRI, as well as under neuropsychological examinations including the Wechsler Intelligence Scale and Stroop Color and Word Test. The correlation analysis was conducted between graph theoretic parameters and neuropsychological results. For the mTBI group, the ReHo of the inferior temporal gyrus and the cerebellum superior are significantly lower than in the control group, and the ALFF of the left insula, the cerebellum inferior, and the middle occipital gyrus were significantly higher than in the control group, which implies the dysfunctionality usually observed in Parkinson's disease. Executive function disorder was significantly correlated with the global efficiencies of the dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus and the anterior cingulate cortex, which is consistent with the literature: the acute mTBI patients demonstrate abnormality in terms of motor speed, association, information processing speed, attention, and short-term memory function. Correlation analysis between the neuropsychological outcomes and the network efficiency for the mTBI group indicates that executive dysfunction might be caused by local brain changes. Our data support the idea that the cerebral internal network has compensatory reactions in response to sudden pathological and neurophysiological changes. In the future, multimode rs-fMRI analysis could be a valuable tool for evaluating dysfunctional brain regions after mTBI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jian Shi
- Department of Spine Surgury, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Jing Teng
- School of Control and Computer Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, China
| | - Xianping Du
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, United States
| | - Na Li
- Department of Radiology, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
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Foerde K, Walsh BT, Dalack M, Daw N, Shohamy D, Steinglass JE. Changes in brain and behavior during food-based decision-making following treatment of anorexia nervosa. J Eat Disord 2021; 9:48. [PMID: 33865441 PMCID: PMC8052661 DOI: 10.1186/s40337-021-00402-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2021] [Accepted: 03/31/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Anorexia nervosa is a severe illness with a high mortality rate, driven in large part by severe and persistent restriction of food intake. A critical challenge is to identify brain mechanisms associated with maladaptive eating behavior and whether they change with treatment. This study tested whether food choice-related caudate activation in anorexia nervosa changes with treatment. METHODS Healthy women (n = 29) and women hospitalized with anorexia nervosa (n = 24), ages 18 to 40 years, completed a Food Choice Task during fMRI scanning at two timepoints. Among patients, procedures occurred upon hospital admission (Time 1) and again after patients had gained to normal weight (Time 2). Healthy controls were tested twice at an interval group-matched to patients. Choice-related caudate activation was assessed at each timepoint, using parametric analyses in an a priori region of interest. RESULTS Among patients, the proportion of high-fat foods selected did not change over time (p's > 0.47), but decreased neural activity in the caudate after treatment was associated with increased selection of high-fat foods (r23 = - 0.43, p = 0.037). Choice-related caudate activation differed among women with anorexia nervosa vs healthy control women at Time 1 (healthy control: M = 0.15 ± 0.87, anorexia nervosa: M = 0.70 ± 1.1, t51 = - 2.05, p = 0.045), but not at Time 2 (healthy control: M = 0.18 ± 1.0, anorexia nervosa: M = 0.37 ± 0.99, t51 = - 0.694, p = 0.49). CONCLUSIONS Caudate activity was more strongly associated with decisions about food among individuals with anorexia nervosa relative to healthy comparison individuals prior to treatment, and decreases in caudate engagement among individuals with anorexia nervosa undergoing treatment were associated with increases in high-fat food choices. The findings underscore the need for treatment development that more successfully alters both eating behavior and the neural mechanisms that guide it.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karin Foerde
- New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, Unit 98, New York, NY, 10032, USA.,Psychiatry Department, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, 1051 Riverside Drive, Unit 98, New York, NY, 10032, USA
| | - B Timothy Walsh
- New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, Unit 98, New York, NY, 10032, USA.,Psychiatry Department, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, 1051 Riverside Drive, Unit 98, New York, NY, 10032, USA
| | - Maya Dalack
- New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, Unit 98, New York, NY, 10032, USA
| | - Nathaniel Daw
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08540, USA
| | - Daphna Shohamy
- Psychology Department and Zuckerman Mind Brain and Behavior Institute, Columbia University, 3227 Broadway, New York, NY, 10027, USA
| | - Joanna E Steinglass
- New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, Unit 98, New York, NY, 10032, USA. .,Psychiatry Department, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, 1051 Riverside Drive, Unit 98, New York, NY, 10032, USA.
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Is Serum BDNF Altered in Acute, Short- and Long-Term Recovered Restrictive Type Anorexia Nervosa? Nutrients 2021; 13:nu13020432. [PMID: 33572701 PMCID: PMC7910942 DOI: 10.3390/nu13020432] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2020] [Revised: 01/22/2021] [Accepted: 01/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a neurotrophin involved in the regulation of food intake and body weight, has been implicated in the development and maintenance of Anorexia nervosa (AN). The majority of previous studies reported lower BDNF levels in acutely underweight AN patients (acAN) and increasing levels after weight rehabilitation. Here, we investigated serum BDNF concentrations in the largest known AN sample to date, both before and after weight restoration therapy. Serum BDNF was measured in 259 female volunteers: 77 in-patient acAN participants of the restrictive type (47 reassessed after short-term weight rehabilitation), 62 individuals long-term recovered from AN, and 120 healthy controls. We validated our findings in a post-hoc mega-analysis in which we reanalyzed combined data from the current sample and those from our previous study on BDNF in AN (combined sample: 389 participants). All analyses carefully accounted for known determinants of BDNF (age, sex, storage time of blood samples). We further assessed relationships with relevant clinical variables (body-mass-index, physical activity, symptoms). Contrary to our hypotheses, we found zero significant differences in either cross-sectional or longitudinal comparisons and no significant relationships with clinical variables. Together, our study suggests that BDNF may not be a reliable state- or trait-marker in AN after all.
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Wonderlich JA, Bershad M, Steinglass JE. Exploring Neural Mechanisms Related to Cognitive Control, Reward, and Affect in Eating Disorders: A Narrative Review of FMRI Studies. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat 2021; 17:2053-2062. [PMID: 34188475 PMCID: PMC8232881 DOI: 10.2147/ndt.s282554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2021] [Accepted: 06/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have contributed to our understanding of possible neural abnormalities among individuals with eating disorders. Many of these studies have focused on three domains: 1) cognitive control, 2) reward processing, and 3) affective processing. This review attempts to summarize the recent fMRI findings across these domains among the most well-characterized eating disorders: anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and binge eating disorder (BED). Though the literature is a bit murky, a few major themes have emerged. Cognitive control systems are affected among individuals across eating disorder diagnoses, but effects seem least pronounced in AN. Specifically, individuals with all eating disorders appear to show decreased prefrontal activation during cognitive control, but there is less evidence in AN linking decreased prefrontal activation with behavior. There is some evidence that the reinforcing value of food is reduced in AN, but individuals with BN and BED show hyperactivation to rewarding food-related stimuli, suggesting the reinforcing value of food may be enhanced. However, more complex reward processing paradigms show that individuals with BN and BED exhibit hypoactivation to reward anticipation and provide mixed results with regards to reward receipt. There are fewer neuroimaging findings related to affective processing, yet behavioral findings suggest affective processing is important in understanding eating disorders. Though the extant literature is complicated, these studies represent a foundation from which to build and provide insight into potential neurobiological mechanisms that may contribute to the pathophysiology of eating disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph A Wonderlich
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.,Department of Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - Mariya Bershad
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.,Department of Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - Joanna E Steinglass
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.,Department of Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA
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