Article
Neurosciences
Tiago Bortolini, Bruno Melo, Rodrigo Basilio, Ronald Fischer, Roland Zahn, Ricardo de Oliveira-Souza, Brian Knutson, Jorge Moll
Summary: This study explores the intrinsic motivation of humans to bond with others and the role of reward circuitry in the anticipation and response to affiliative rewards. The findings suggest a general appetitive response in the Nucleus Accumbens to different types of rewards, while a more specific response is seen in the septo-hypothalamic region to affiliative rewards. The new task presented in this work allows for distinguishing between neural responses to affiliative and non-affiliative rewards.
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Lieneke K. Janssen, Iris Duif, Anne E. M. Speckens, Ilke van Loon, Joost Wegman, Jeanne H. M. de Vries, Roshan Cools, Esther Aarts
Summary: This study examined the effects of an 8-week mindful eating intervention on reward anticipation using fMRI. The results showed that mindful eating reduced caloric reward responses in the midbrain, but not in the striatum. The study also found temporary beneficial effects of the control intervention on BMI, waist circumference, and diet quality.
FRONTIERS IN NUTRITION
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Iris Ka-Yi Chat, Erin E. Dunning, Corinne P. Bart, Ann L. Carroll, Mora M. Grehl, Katherine S. F. Damme, Lyn Y. Abramson, Robin Nusslock, Lauren B. Alloy
Summary: This study found that individuals with high trait reward sensitivity and individuals with moderate trait reward sensitivity exhibit different neural reward anticipation responses following reward-relevant life events, which has implications for understanding psychopathology.
CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Su Hyoun Park, Anne K. Baker, Vinit Krishna, Sean C. Mackey, Katherine T. Martucci
Summary: The brain corticostriatal circuits play a crucial role in understanding chronic pain. In this study, the authors investigated the connectivity of the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) - medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) circuit in patients with fibromyalgia. They found that the connectivity of this circuit was significantly reduced in fibromyalgia patients compared to healthy controls. The connectivity between the NAcc and subcortical brain regions was also reduced in fibromyalgia. These findings provide novel evidence of altered corticostriatal and mesolimbic circuits in chronic pain.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Sedigheh Naghel, Antonino Vallesi, Hassan Sabouri Moghadam, Mohammad Ali Nazari
Summary: This event-related potential (ERP) study compared the electrophysiological correlates associated with different stages of reward processing in risk-seeking and risk-averse groups. The results revealed that risk-seekers exhibited a attenuated stimulus-preceding negativity (SPN) response to low-risk options during the anticipation stage, and an increased feedback-related negativity (FRN) response to greater losses during the outcome stage, compared to risk-averse individuals. These findings suggest that there are neural differences in reward processing between individuals with different risk preferences.
Article
Neurosciences
Tara Srirangarajan, Leili Mortazavi, Tiago Bortolini, Jorge Moll, Brian Knutson
Summary: The study found that compared to single-band scanning, using multi-band scanning significantly reduces the detection of reward anticipation activity in the NAcc. Additionally, reductions in the temporal signal-to-noise ratio may account for compromised detection of task-related responses in regions such as the NAcc.
Review
Psychology, Clinical
Xinyang Yu, Sylvane Desrivieres
Summary: Functional neuroimaging studies have found differential neural activation patterns during anticipation-related paradigms in participants with eating disorders compared to controls, but conflicting results on the directionality and location of the abnormal activations have been reported. This study conducted a meta-analysis to quantitatively review functional neuroimaging studies and found potential pathophysiological mechanisms underlying anticipatory responses to rewarding and aversive cues in eating disorders.
EUROPEAN EATING DISORDERS REVIEW
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Chun-Yi Lee, Joshua Oon Soo Goh, Susan Shur-Fen Gau
Summary: This study examined altered neural processing of stimuli values associated with risk-taking decision behavior in adults with ADHD. The results showed that adults with ADHD had slower response times and tended to accept more stakes with a middle-to-low probability of winning compared to healthy controls. Adults with ADHD also exhibited lower activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and reduced sensitivity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex in response to linear changes in probability.
JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY & NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Manivel Rengasamy, Melissa Nance, Kristen Eckstrand, Erika Forbes
Summary: Adolescent depression is associated with dysfunction in neural reward processing and peripheral inflammatory markers. Few studies have examined the associations of neural-inflammatory markers and associated behavioral correlates in adolescents, which would contribute to better understanding of depression development.
JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS
(2023)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Julia P. Dunn, Bidhan Lamichhane, Gordon I. Smith, Amy Garner, Michael Wallendorf, Tamara Hershey, Samuel Klein
Summary: This study found that insulin resistance in the dorsal striatum contributes to overeating. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, taste-induced activation was assessed in different groups. The results showed that metabolically healthy lean individuals had a positive BOLD response, while metabolically unhealthy obese individuals had a predominantly negative response. Food craving was predicted by taste-induced activation. After weight loss, taste-induced activation increased in the metabolically unhealthy obese group. These findings suggest that insulin resistance and obesity contribute to abnormal responses to taste, which may hinder weight loss.
Article
Biology
Federica Lucantonio, Eunyoung Kim, Zhixiao Su, Anna J. Chang, Bilal A. Bari, Jeremiah Y. Cohen
Summary: Predictions about future rewards or punishments are influenced by prior experiences, with exposure to aversive stimuli leading to hyperactivity in medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) neurons projecting to the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT), resulting in a negative behavioral bias towards motivationally relevant cues. Mimicking this hyperactive response recapitulates the bias induced by aversive stimuli, while inactivating these neurons prevents the development of the negative bias, highlighting the critical role of the mPFC -> PVT circuit in predicting motivationally-relevant outcomes based on prior experience.
Article
Gerontology
Holly J. Bowen, Mary B. Hargis, Diane H. Moon, Sara N. Gallant
Summary: Remembering and forgetting are important processes of memory, with both showing age-related decline. Reward anticipation improves memory in both younger and older adults, but its effects on forgetting are unclear. In four online experiments, researchers investigated the impact of reward motivation on intentional remembering and forgetting in different age groups. The results showed that both age groups demonstrated directed forgetting effects, but there was no evidence that reward incentives improved forgetting. Younger adults consistently showed reward-modulated memory, while older adults displayed inconsistent effects, particularly when reward anticipation occurred closer to the middle of the trial. Overall, reward anticipation enhanced memory more consistently in younger adults compared to older adults.
PSYCHOLOGY AND AGING
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Indu Dubey, Simon Brett, Liliana Ruta, Rahul Bishain, Sharat Chandran, Supriya Bhavnani, Matthew K. Belmonte, Georgia Lockwood Estrin, Mark Johnson, Teodora Gliga, Bhismadev Chakrabarti
Summary: Children typically prefer social stimuli over non-social stimuli, which is crucial for their social skills and development. However, different measurement paradigms may yield different results, highlighting the importance of choosing appropriate methods to accurately assess this construct.
Article
Psychiatry
Oliver Grimm, Daan van Rooij, Asya Tshagharyan, Dilek Yildiz, Jan Leonards, Ahmed Elgohary, Jan Buitelaar, Andreas Reif
Summary: In this study, MRI scans and reward system testing revealed that ADHD patients with comorbid disorders may have less intrastriatal connectivity, indicating that greater comorbidity severity could result in impaired reward and decision-making abilities in patients.
TRANSLATIONAL PSYCHIATRY
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Krishna T. Patel, Michael C. Stevens, Amanda Dunlap, Alana Gallagher, Stephanie S. O'Malley, Kelly DeMartini, Marc N. Potenza, John H. Krystal, Godfrey D. Pearlson
Summary: The study used a Fyn/Src inhibitor to investigate the differences in ventral striatal activation during task performance between individuals with and without familial alcohol use disorder. The results suggest that elevated signaling in striatal protein kinase A-dependent pathways may contribute to familial AUD risk by amplifying the neural response to reward prospect. These findings also indicate a potential therapeutic role for Src/Fyn kinase inhibitors in AUD risk.
NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Neurosciences
Martine Hoogman, Daan van Rooij, Marieke Klein, Premika Boedhoe, Iva Ilioska, Ting Li, Yash Patel, Merel C. Postema, Yanli Zhang-James, Evdokia Anagnostou, Celso Arango, Guillaume Auzias, Tobias Banaschewski, Claiton H. D. Bau, Marlene Behrmann, Mark A. Bellgrove, Daniel Brandeis, Silvia Brem, Geraldo F. Busatto, Sara Calderoni, Rosa Calvo, Francisco X. Castellanos, David Coghill, Annette Conzelmann, Eileen Daly, Christine Deruelle, Ilan Dinstein, Sarah Durston, Christine Ecker, Stefan Ehrlich, Jeffery N. Epstein, Damien A. Fair, Jacqueline Fitzgerald, Christine M. Freitag, Thomas Frodl, Louise Gallagher, Eugenio H. Grevet, Jan Haavik, Pieter J. Hoekstra, Joost Janssen, Georgii Karkashadze, Joseph A. King, Kerstin Konrad, Jonna Kuntsi, Luisa Lazaro, Jason P. Lerch, Klaus-Peter Lesch, Mario R. Louza, Beatriz Luna, Paulo Mattos, Jane McGrath, Filippo Muratori, Clodagh Murphy, Joel T. Nigg, Eileen Oberwelland-Weiss, Ruth L. O'Gorman Tuura, Kirsten O'Hearn, Jaap Oosterlaan, Mara Parellada, Paul Pauli, Kerstin J. Plessen, J. Antoni Ramos-Quiroga, Andreas Reif, Liesbeth Reneman, Alessandra Retico, Pedro G. P. Rosa, Katya Rubia, Philip Shaw, Tim J. Silk, Leanne Tamm, Oscar Vilarroya, Susanne Walitza, Neda Jahanshad, Stephen Faraone, Clyde Francks, Odile A. van den Heuvel, Tomas Paus, Paul M. Thompson, Jan K. Buitelaar, Barbara Franke
Summary: Neuroimaging has been extensively used to study brain structure and function in individuals with ADHD and ASD. However, there have been limitations in the current literature, such as small sample sizes and heterogeneous methods. To address these limitations, the ENIGMA-ADHD and ENIGMA-ASD working groups were established to collaborate on large-scale neuroimaging projects. The findings so far have shown overlap and unique differences in cortical structures between ASD and ADHD. Ongoing work is exploring other research questions.
HUMAN BRAIN MAPPING
(2022)
Review
Behavioral Sciences
Mayank Aggarwal, Jeffery R. Wickens
Summary: This study reviews the expression of blocking in sign trackers and goal trackers during appetitive classical conditioning, using a qualitative model with two parallel learning processes to reconcile the opposing predictions of psychological theory and the neurophysiological correlates of appetitive classical conditioning. These models provide a better framework for understanding the psychological associative structures acquired during learning, their interactions contributing to the conditioned response, and how they affect subsequent learning and the expression of the Kamin blocking effect.
NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOBEHAVIORAL REVIEWS
(2021)
Editorial Material
Biology
Mayank Aggarwal, Jeffery R. Wickens
PHYSICS OF LIFE REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Merel C. Postema, Martine Hoogman, Sara Ambrosino, Philip Asherson, Tobias Banaschewski, Cibele E. Bandeira, Alexandr Baranov, Claiton H. D. Bau, Sarah Baumeister, Ramona Baur-Streubel, Mark A. Bellgrove, Joseph Biederman, Janita Bralten, Daniel Brandeis, Silvia Brem, Jan K. Buitelaar, Geraldo F. Busatto, Francisco X. Castellanos, Mara Cercignani, Tiffany M. Chaim-Avancini, Kaylita C. Chantiluke, Anastasia Christakou, David Coghill, Annette Conzelmann, Ana I. Cubillo, Renata B. Cupertino, Patrick de Zeeuw, Alysa E. Doyle, Sarah Durston, Eric A. Earl, Jeffery N. Epstein, Thomas Ethofer, Damien A. Fair, Andreas J. Fallgatter, Stephen V. Faraone, Thomas Frodl, Matt C. Gabel, Tinatin Gogberashvili, Eugenio H. Grevet, Jan Haavik, Neil A. Harrison, Catharina A. Hartman, Dirk J. Heslenfeld, Pieter J. Hoekstra, Sarah Hohmann, Marie F. Hovik, Terry L. Jernigan, Bernd Kardatzki, Georgii Karkashadze, Clare Kelly, Gregor Kohls, Kerstin Konrad, Jonna Kuntsi, Luisa Lazaro, Sara Lera-Miguel, Klaus-Peter Lesch, Mario R. Louza, Astri J. Lundervold, Charles B. Malpas, Paulo Mattos, Hazel McCarthy, Leyla Namazova-Baranova, Rosa Nicolau, Joel T. Nigg, Stephanie E. Novotny, Eileen Oberwelland Weiss, Ruth L. O'Gorman Tuura, Jaap Oosterlaan, Bob Oranje, Yannis Paloyelis, Paul Pauli, Felipe A. Picon, Kerstin J. Plessen, J. Antoni Ramos-Quiroga, Andreas Reif, Liesbeth Reneman, Pedro G. P. Rosa, Katya Rubia, Anouk Schrantee, Lizanne J. S. Schweren, Jochen Seitz, Philip Shaw, Tim J. Silk, Norbert Skokauskas, Juan C. Soliva Vila, Michael C. Stevens, Gustavo Sudre, Leanne Tamm, Fernanda Tovar-Moll, Theo G. M. van Erp, Alasdair Vance, Oscar Vilarroya, Yolanda Vives-Gilabert, Georg G. von Polier, Susanne Walitza, Yuliya N. Yoncheva, Marcus V. Zanetti, Georg C. Ziegler, David C. Glahn, Neda Jahanshad, Sarah E. Medland, Paul M. Thompson, Simon E. Fisher, Barbara Franke, Clyde Francks
Summary: Recent large-scale analysis found no evidence of altered caudate nucleus asymmetry in ADHD, but children with ADHD showed less rightward asymmetry of total hemispheric surface area. Adults with ADHD also exhibited altered globus pallidus asymmetry. However, the effects were small and not significant after correcting for multiple testing, suggesting that altered structural brain asymmetry may not serve as a useful biomarker for ADHD.
JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY
(2021)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Catarina Sodre de Castro Prado, Pedro Maranhao Gomes Lopes, Jorge Moll, Antonio DeSalles, Ricardo de Oliveira-Souza
Summary: A 65-year-old man with behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia exhibited pedophilic behavior several years prior to symptom onset, suggesting that preexisting developmental pedophilia was unmasked by the underlying progressive frontotemporal degeneration.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Livia Goto-Silva, Michele Martins, Jimmy Rodriguez Murillo, Leticia R. Q. Souza, Gabriela Vitoria, Julia T. Oliveira, Juliana M. Nascimento, Erick Correia Loiola, Fabio C. S. Nogueira, Gilberto B. Domont, Marilia Zaluar P. Guimaraes, Fernanda Tovar-Moll, Stevens Kastrup Rehen, Magno Junqueira
Summary: This study identified quantitative changes in the proteome of neurospheres during differentiation, showing that human neurospheres have a molecular profile resembling the fetal brain. Upregulated pathways during differentiation include neuronal development, differentiation, cell adhesion, and axonal guidance, while cell proliferation pathways are downregulated.
BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-PROTEINS AND PROTEOMICS
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Mychael Lourenco, Felipe C. Ribeiro, Luis E. Santos, Danielle Beckman, Helen M. Melo, Felipe K. Sudo, Claudia Drummond, Naima Assuncao, Bart Vanderborght, Fernanda Tovar-Moll, Fernanda G. De Felice, Paulo Mattos, Sergio T. Ferreira
Summary: The study aimed to determine concentrations of multiple cytokines, chemokines, and neurotransmitters in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of AD and LBD patients. Results showed alterations in levels of noradrenaline, homovanillic acid, and vascular endothelial growth factor in the CSF of these patients, suggesting possible pathogenic features and diagnostic tools for these disorders. Further studies are needed to replicate these findings in larger, multicenter cohorts.
JOURNAL OF ALZHEIMERS DISEASE
(2021)
Review
Behavioral Sciences
Paul J. Eslinger, Silke Anders, Tommaso Ballarini, Sydney Boutros, Soren Krach, Annalina V. Mayer, Jorge Moll, Tamara L. Newton, Matthias L. Schroeter, Ricardo de Oliveira-Souza, Jacob Raber, Gavin B. Sullivan, James E. Swain, Leroy Lowe, Roland Zahn
Summary: Social feelings are conceptually and empirically linked to affect and emotion, and play a significant role in interpersonal relationships, parent-child attachments, moral sentiments, and other aspects. Neuroscience research has identified brain regions involved in social feelings and highlights the increasing importance of studying social feelings for overall brain development and mental health.
NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOBEHAVIORAL REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Guilherme Brockington, Ana Paula Gomes Moreira, Maria Stephani Buso, Sergio Gomes da Silva, Edgar Altszyler, Ronald Fischer, Jorge Moll
Summary: Storytelling has a positive impact on the physiological and psychological well-being of children in intensive care units, leading to increased oxytocin levels, decreased cortisol levels, reduced pain perception, and improved psychological state when describing their hospital experience.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Andrew J. Lawrence, Daniel Stahl, Suqian Duan, Diede Fennema, Tanja Jaeckle, Allan H. Young, Paola Dazzan, Jorge Moll, Roland Zahn
Summary: This study explores the potential of multimodal signatures of self-blaming biases to predict individual recurrence risk and calls for external validation in an independent sample.
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY-COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Dvyne Nosaka, Jeffery R. Wickens
Summary: Cholinergic interneurons of the striatum play a role in signaling by releasing acetylcholine. The prevailing theory suggests that these interneurons transmit signals through volume transmission rather than rapid synaptic transmission, as supported by evidence and mathematical modeling. The temporospatial distribution of acetylcholine is found to be short-range and short-lived, dominated by diffusion. The signaling is consistent with point-to-point transmission and allows faithful transmission of spike timing to the postsynaptic cell. Further evidence is needed for a better understanding of synaptic transmission by cholinergic interneurons in the striatum.
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Takashi Nakano, Shakila B. Rizwan, David M. A. Myint, Jason Gray, Sean M. Mackay, Paul Harris, Christopher G. Perk, Brian I. Hyland, Ruth Empson, Eng Wui Tan, Keshav M. Dani, John N. J. Reynolds, Jeffery R. Wickens
Summary: This study demonstrates a novel drug delivery system based on hollow-gold nanoparticles tethered to liposomes, which can release drugs in high concentration to inhibit neurons and suppress seizure activity when activated by optical or acoustic stimulation. The system allows precise temporal control over drug exposure.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
John N. J. Reynolds, Riccardo Avvisati, Paul D. Dodson, Simon D. Fisher, Manfred J. Oswald, Jeffery R. Wickens, Yan-Feng Zhang
Summary: Dopamine-dependent long-term plasticity is a cellular mechanism underlying reinforcement learning. The coincidence of phasic dopamine activation and pauses in striatal cholinergic interneuron firing plays a critical role in long-term potentiation of corticostriatal synapses.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Letter
Psychology, Developmental
Patricia Bado, Julia Schafer, Andre R. Simioni, Rodrigo A. Bressan, Ary Gadelha, Pedro M. Pan, Euripedes C. Miguel, Luis A. Rohde, Giovanni A. Salum
EUROPEAN CHILD & ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Letter
Ophthalmology
Daniel Araujo Ferraz, Fernanda Tovar-Moll, Rubens Belfort
ARQUIVOS BRASILEIROS DE OFTALMOLOGIA
(2021)