Functional connectivity associations with menstrual pain characteristics in adolescents: an investigation of the triple network model.

Menstrual pain is associated with deficits in central pain processing, yet neuroimaging studies to date have all been limited by focusing on group comparisons of adult women with vs without menstrual pain. This study aimed to investigate the role of the triple network model (TNM) of brain networks in adolescent girls with varied menstrual pain severity ratings. One hundred participants (ages 13-19 years) completed a 6-min resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan and rated menstrual pain severity, menstrual pain interference, and cumulative menstrual pain exposure.

A network correspondence toolbox for quantitative evaluation of novel neuroimaging results.

Decades of neuroscience research has shown that macroscale brain dynamics can be reliably decomposed into a subset of large-scale functional networks, but the specific spatial topographies of these networks and the names used to describe them can vary across studies. Such discordance has hampered interpretation and convergence of research findings across the field. To address this problem, we have developed the Network Correspondence Toolbox (NCT) to permit researchers to examine and report spatial correspondence between their novel neuroimaging results and sixteen widely used functional brain atlases, consistent with recommended reporting standards developed by the Organization for Human Brain Mapping.

Population-level normative models reveal race- and socioeconomic-related variability in cortical thickness of threat neurocircuitry.

The inequitable distribution of economic resources and exposure to adversity between racial groups contributes to mental health disparities within the United States. Consideration of the potential neurodevelopmental consequences, however, has been limited particularly for neurocircuitry known to regulate the emotional response to threat. Characterizing the consequences of inequity on threat neurocircuitry is critical for robust and generalizable neurobiological models of psychiatric illness.

Association of Lower Rostral Anterior Cingulate GABA+ and Dysregulated Cortisol Stress Response With Altered Functional Connectivity in Young Adults With Lifetime Depression: A Multimodal Imaging Investigation of Trait and State Effects.

Objective: Preclinical work suggests that excess glucocorticoids and reduced cortical γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) may affect sex-dependent differences in brain regions implicated in stress regulation and depressive phenotypes. The authors sought to address a critical gap in knowledge, namely, how stress circuitry is functionally affected by glucocorticoids and GABA in current or remitted major depressive disorder (MDD).

Methods: Multimodal imaging data were collected from 130 young adults (ages 18-25), of whom 44 had current MDD, 42 had remitted MDD, and 44 were healthy comparison subjects.

Controversies and progress on standardization of large-scale brain network nomenclature.

Progress in scientific disciplines is accompanied by standardization of terminology. Network neuroscience, at the level of macroscale organization of the brain, is beginning to confront the challenges associated with developing a taxonomy of its fundamental explanatory constructs. The Workgroup for HArmonized Taxonomy of NETworks (WHATNET) was formed in 2020 as an Organization for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM)-endorsed best practices committee to provide recommendations on points of consensus, identify open questions, and highlight areas of ongoing debate in the service of moving the field toward standardized reporting of network neuroscience results.

Removal of site effects and enhancement of signal using dual projection independent component analysis for pooling multi-site MRI data.

Combining magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from multi-site studies is a popular approach for constructing larger datasets to greatly enhance the reliability and reproducibility of neuroscience research. However, the scanner/site variability is a significant confound that complicates the interpretation of the results, so effective and complete removal of the scanner/site variability is necessary to realise the full advantages of pooling multi-site datasets. Independent component analysis (ICA) and general linear model (GLM) based harmonisation methods are the two primary methods used to eliminate scanner/site effects.

Harmonization of multi-site functional MRI data with dual-projection based ICA model.

Modern neuroimaging studies frequently merge magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from multiple sites. A larger and more diverse group of participants can increase the statistical power, enhance the reliability and reproducibility of neuroimaging research, and obtain findings more representative of the general population. However, measurement biases caused by site differences in scanners represent a barrier when pooling data collected from different sites.

Individual Differences in Hemispheric Emotional Valence by Computerized Test Correlate with Lateralized Differences in Nucleus Accumbens, Hippocampal and Amygdala Volumes.

Purpose: Conventional theories of hemispheric emotional valence (HEV) postulate fixed hemispheric differences in emotional processing. Schiffer's dual brain psychology proposes that there are prominent individual differences with a substantial subset showing a reversed laterality pattern. He further proposed that hemispheric differences were more akin to differences in personality than in emotional processing.

Discovering hidden brain network responses to naturalistic stimuli via tensor component analysis of multi-subject fMRI data.

The study of brain network interactions during naturalistic stimuli facilitates a deeper understanding of human brain function. To estimate large-scale brain networks evoked with naturalistic stimuli, a tensor component analysis (TCA) based framework was used to characterize shared spatio-temporal patterns across subjects in a purely data-driven manner. In this framework, a third-order tensor is constructed from the timeseries extracted from all brain regions from a given parcellation, for all participants, with modes of the tensor corresponding to spatial distribution, time series and participants.

Impact of Substance Use Disorder on Between-Network Brain Connectivity in Early Psychosis.

The Triple Network Model of psychopathology identifies the salience network (SN), central executive network (CEN), and default mode network (DMN) as key networks underlying the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders. In particular, abnormal SN-initiated network switching impacts the engagement and disengagement of the CEN and DMN, and is proposed to lead to the generation of psychosis symptoms. Between-network connectivity has been shown to be abnormal in both substance use disorders (SUD) and psychosis.

Four-Week Mentalizing Imagery Therapy for Family Dementia Caregivers: A Randomized Controlled Trial with Neural Circuit Changes.

Introduction: Family caregivers of patients with dementia suffer a high burden of depression and reduced positive emotions. Mentalizing imagery therapy (MIT) provides mindfulness and guided imagery skills training to improve balanced mentalizing and emotion regulation.

Objective: Our aims were to test the hypotheses that MIT for family caregivers would reduce depression symptoms and improve positive psychological traits more than a support group (SG), and would increase dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) connectivity and reduce subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) connectivity.

Perceived stress and rejection associated with functional network strength during memory retrieval in adolescents.

The brain undergoes substantial structural and functional remodeling during adolescence, including alterations in memory-processing regions influenced by stress. This study evaluated brain activation using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during spatial memory performance using a virtual Morris water task (MWT) and examined the associations between default mode network (DMN) activation, task performance, and perceived stress and rejection. Functional magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired at 3 Tesla from 59 (34 female) adolescents (13-14 years).

Large-scale brain network activation during emotional inhibitory control: Associations with alcohol misuse in college freshmen.

Background: The transition to college is associated with increased risk of alcohol misuse and a consequent increase in negative, alcohol-related social and health impacts. Traits associated with ongoing brain maturation during this period, including impulsivity in emotional contexts, could contribute to risky alcohol use.

Methods: This functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study examined brain network activation strength during an emotional inhibitory control task (Go-NoGo), which required participants to ignore background images with negative or neutral emotional valence during performance.

Sex-specific neural responses to acute psychosocial stress in depression.

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is characterized by increased stress sensitivity. Emerging findings in healthy adults suggest that stress responses within limbic/striatal-prefrontal regions are moderated by sex and unfold over time. Thus, we hypothesized that stress response abnormalities in MDD might be affected by sex and stress exposure time.

Mentalizing imagery therapy for depressed family dementia caregivers: Feasibility, clinical outcomes and brain connectivity changes.

Background: Family dementia caregivers experience high rates of depression and anxiety that often go untreated due to time demands. We aimed to determine the feasibility of a brief, 4-week Mentalizing Imagery Therapy intervention, which couples mindfulness with guided imagery practices aimed at bolstering mentalizing capacity, to reduce caregiver psychological symptoms and to explore potential impact on dorsolateral prefrontal cortex connectivity.

Methods: Twenty-four family dementia caregivers with moderate depression symptoms (a score of 10 in Patient Health Questionnaire-9) were assigned to either group Mentalizing Imagery Therapy (MIT, = 12) or a waitlist augmented by optional relaxation exercises ( = 12).

Reductions in rostral anterior cingulate GABA are associated with stress circuitry in females with major depression: a multimodal imaging investigation.

The interplay between cortical and limbic regions in stress circuitry calls for a neural systems approach to investigations of acute stress responses in major depressive disorder (MDD). Advances in multimodal imaging allow inferences between regional neurotransmitter function and activation in circuits linked to MDD, which could inform treatment development. The current study investigated the role of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA in stress circuitry in females with current and remitted MDD.

Frequency specific co-activation pattern analysis via sparse nonnegative tensor decomposition.

Background: Traditionally, the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease (PD) has been made based on symptoms. Extensive studies have demonstrated that PD may lead to variation of brain activity in different frequency bands. However, frequency specific dynamic alterations of PD have not yet been explored.

Identifying Subgroups of Major Depressive Disorder Using Brain Structural Covariance Networks and Mapping of Associated Clinical and Cognitive Variables.

Background: Identifying data-driven subtypes of major depressive disorder (MDD) holds promise for parsing the heterogeneity of MDD in a neurobiologically informed way. However, limited studies have used brain structural covariance networks (SCNs) for subtyping MDD.

Methods: This study included 145 unmedicated patients with MDD and 206 demographically matched healthy control subjects, who underwent a structural magnetic resonance imaging scan and a comprehensive neurocognitive battery.

Abnormal Brain Bioenergetics in First-Episode Psychosis.

Background: Converging evidence indicates impaired brain energy metabolism in schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. Creatine kinase (CK) is pivotal in providing adenosine triphosphate in the cell and maintaining its levels when energy demand is increased. However, the activity of CK has not been investigated in patients with first-episode schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

Brain Activation during Memory Retrieval is Associated with Depression Severity in Women.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a debilitating disorder that interferes with daily functioning, and that occurs at higher rates in women than in men. Structural and functional alterations in hippocampus and frontal lobe have been reported in MDD, which likely contribute to the multifaceted nature of MDD. One area impacted by MDD is hippocampal-mediated memory, which can be probed using a spatial virtual Morris water task (MWT).

Snowball ICA: A Model Order Free Independent Component Analysis Strategy for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Data.

In independent component analysis (ICA), the selection of model order (i.e., number of components to be extracted) has crucial effects on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain network analysis.

Acute Posttraumatic Symptoms Are Associated With Multimodal Neuroimaging Structural Covariance Patterns: A Possible Role for the Neural Substrates of Visual Processing in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

Background: Although aspects of brain morphology have been associated with chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), limited work has investigated multimodal patterns in brain morphology that are linked to acute posttraumatic stress severity. In the present study, we utilized multimodal magnetic resonance imaging to investigate if structural covariance networks (SCNs) assessed acutely following trauma were linked to acute posttraumatic stress severity.

Methods: Structural magnetic resonance imaging data were collected around 1 month after civilian trauma exposure in 78 participants.

Denoising scanner effects from multimodal MRI data using linked independent component analysis.

Pooling magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data across research studies, or utilizing shared data from imaging repositories, presents exceptional opportunities to advance and enhance reproducibility of neuroscience research. However, scanner confounds hinder pooling data collected on different scanners or across software and hardware upgrades on the same scanner, even when all acquisition protocols are harmonized. These confounds reduce power and can lead to spurious findings.