Default mode network functional connectivity as a transdiagnostic biomarker of cognitive function.

The default mode network (DMN) is intricately linked with processes such as self-referential thinking, episodic memory recall, goal-directed cognition, self-projection, and theory of mind. Over recent years, there has been a surge in examining its functional connectivity, particularly its relationship with frontoparietal networks (FPN) involved in top-down attention, executive function, and cognitive control. The fluidity in switching between these internal and external modes of processing-highlighted by anti-correlated functional connectivity-has been proposed as an indicator of cognitive health.

Connectome-Based Predictive Modeling of Trait Mindfulness.

Trait mindfulness refers to one's disposition or tendency to pay attention to their experiences in the present moment, in a non-judgmental and accepting way. Trait mindfulness has been robustly associated with positive mental health outcomes, but its neural underpinnings are poorly understood. Prior resting-state fMRI studies have associated trait mindfulness with within- and between-network connectivity of the default-mode (DMN), fronto-parietal (FPN), and salience networks.

Dissociable Default Mode Network Connectivity Patterns Underlie Distinct Symptoms in Psychosis Risk.

The Clinical High Risk (CHR) stage of psychosis is characterized by subthreshold symptoms of schizophrenia including negative symptoms, dysphoric mood, and functional deterioration. Hyperconnectivity of the default-mode network (DMN) has been observed in early schizophrenia, but the extent to which hyperconnectivity is present in CHR, and the extent to which such hyperconnectivity may underlie transdiagnostic symptoms, is not clear. As part of the Shanghai At-Risk for Psychosis (SHARP) program, resting-state fMRI data were collected from 251 young adults (158 CHR and 93 controls, M = 18.

Shared and unique lifetime stressor characteristics and network connectivity predict adolescent anxiety and depression.

Background: Exposure to major life stressors and aberrant functional connectivity have been linked to anxiety and depression, especially during adolescence. However, whether specific characteristics of life stressors and functional network connectivity act together to differentially predict anxiety and depression symptoms remains unclear.

Methods: We utilized baseline lifetime stressor exposure and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data in a longitudinal sample of 107 adolescents enriched for anxiety and depressive disorders.

Mindfulness-based Neurofeedback: A Systematic Review of EEG and fMRI studies.

Neurofeedback concurrent with mindfulness meditation may reveal meditation effects on the brain and facilitate improved mental health outcomes. Here, we systematically reviewed EEG and fMRI studies of mindfulness meditation with neurofeedback (mbNF) and followed PRISMA guidelines. We identified 10 fMRI reports, consisting of 177 unique participants, and 9 EEG reports, consisting of 242 participants.

Psychiatric Symptoms, Cognition, and Symptom Severity in Children.

Importance: Mental illnesses are a leading cause of disability globally, and functional disability is often in part caused by cognitive impairments across psychiatric disorders. However, studies have consistently reported seemingly opposite findings regarding the association between cognition and psychiatric symptoms.

Objective: To determine if the association between general cognition and mental health symptoms diverges at different symptom severities in children.

Resting-State Functional Connectivity Change in Frontoparietal and Default Mode Networks After Acute Exercise in Youth.

Background: A single bout of aerobic exercise can provide acute benefits to cognition and emotion in children. Yet, little is known about how acute exercise may impact children's underlying brain networks' resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC).

Objective: Using a data-driven multivariate pattern analysis, we investigated the effects of a single dose of exercise on acute rsFC changes in 9-to-13-year-olds.

Neuroimaging for precision medicine in psychiatry.

Although the lifetime burden due to mental disorders is increasing, we lack tools for more precise diagnosing and treating prevalent and disabling disorders such as major depressive disorder. We lack strategies for selecting among available treatments or expediting access to new treatment options. This critical review concentrates on functional neuroimaging as a modality of measurement for precision psychiatry, focusing on major depressive and anxiety disorders.

Connectome predictive modeling of trait mindfulness.

Introduction: Trait mindfulness refers to one's disposition or tendency to pay attention to their experiences in the present moment, in a non-judgmental and accepting way. Trait mindfulness has been robustly associated with positive mental health outcomes, but its neural underpinnings are poorly understood. Prior resting-state fMRI studies have associated trait mindfulness with within- and between-network connectivity of the default-mode (DMN), fronto-parietal (FPN), and salience networks.

Targeting the superior temporal gyrus with real-time fMRI neurofeedback: A pilot study of the indirect effects on self-referential processes in schizophrenia.

Background: Individuals with schizophrenia (SZ) and auditory hallucinations (AHs) display a distorted sense of self and self-other boundaries. Alterations of activity in midline cortical structures such as the prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) during self-reference as well as in the superior temporal gyrus (STG) have been proposed as neuromarkers of SZ and AHs.

Methods: In this randomized, participant-blinded, sham-controlled trial, 22 adults (18 males) with SZ spectrum disorders (SZ or schizoaffective disorder) and frequent medication-resistant AHs received one session of real-time fMRI neurofeedback (NFB) either from the STG (n = 11; experimental group) or motor cortex (n = 11; control group).

Excessive interstitial free-water in cortical gray matter preceding accelerated volume changes in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis.

Recent studies show that accelerated cortical gray matter (GM) volume reduction seen in anatomical MRI can help distinguish between individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis who will develop psychosis and those who will not. This reduction is suggested to represent atypical developmental or degenerative changes accompanying an accumulation of microstructural changes, such as decreased spine density and dendritic arborization. Detecting the microstructural sources of these changes before they accumulate into volume loss is crucial.

Multimodal 7T imaging reveals enhanced functional coupling between salience and frontoparietal networks in young adult tobacco cigarette smokers.

Tobacco cigarette smoking is associated with disrupted brain network dynamics in resting brain networks including the Salience (SN) and Fronto parietal (FPN). Unified multimodal methods [Resting state connectivity analysis, Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI), neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI), and cortical thickness analysis] were employed to test the hypothesis that the impact of cigarette smoking on the balance among these networks is due to alterations in white matter connectivity, microstructural architecture, functional connectivity and cortical thickness (CT) and that these metrics define fundamental differences between people who smoke and nonsmokers. Multimodal analyses of previously collected 7 Tesla MRI data via the Human Connectome Project were performed on 22 people who smoke (average number of daily cigarettes was 10 ± 5) and 22 age- and sex-matched nonsmoking controls.

Physical activity-related individual differences in functional human connectome are linked to fluid intelligence in older adults.

The study examined resting state functional connectivity (rs-FC) associated with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MV-PA), sedentary time (ST), TV viewing, computer use, and their relationship to cognitive performance in older adults. We used pre-intervention data from 119 participants from the Fit & Active Seniors trial. Multivariate pattern analysis revealed two seeds associated with MV-PA: right superior frontal gyrus (SFG; spanning frontoparietal [FPN] and ventral attention networks [VAN]) and right precentral (PrG) and postcentral gyri (PoG) of the somatosensory network (SN).

Cross-sectional analysis reveals COVID-19 pandemic community lockdown was linked to dysregulated cortisol and salivary alpha amylase in children.

The COVID-19 pandemic altered everyday life starting in March 2020. These alterations extended to the lives of children as their normal routines were disrupted by community lockdowns, online learning, limited in-person social contact, increased screen time, and reduced physical activity. Considerable research has investigated the physical health impact of COVID-19 infection, but far fewer studies have investigated the physiological impact of stressful pandemic-related changes to daily life, especially in children.

Data-driven MRI analysis reveals fitness-related functional change in default mode network and cognition following an exercise intervention.

Previous research has indicated that cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is structurally and functionally neuroprotective in older adults. However, questions remain regarding the mechanistic role of CRF on cognitive and brain health. The purposes of this study were to investigate if higher pre-intervention CRF was associated with greater change in functional brain connectivity during an exercise intervention and to determine if the magnitude of change in connectivity was related to better post-intervention cognitive performance.

Mindfulness-based real-time fMRI neurofeedback: a randomized controlled trial to optimize dosing for depressed adolescents.

Background: Adolescence is characterized by a heightened vulnerability for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) onset, and currently, treatments are only effective for roughly half of adolescents with MDD. Accordingly, novel interventions are urgently needed. This study aims to establish mindfulness-based real-time fMRI neurofeedback (mbNF) as a non-invasive approach to downregulate the default mode network (DMN) in order to decrease ruminatory processes and depressive symptoms.

Brain functional connectivity of hypnosis without target suggestion. An intrinsic hypnosis rs-fMRI study.

Objective: During hypnosis, significant changes in the BOLD signal associated with the anterior default mode network (DMN) and prefrontal attentional systems have been reported as evidence of defined since Charcot. However, it remains uncertain whether these changes are mainly attributable to the hypnotic state or to the target suggestions used to verify subject's state during neuroimaging studies. The aim of the present study is to evidence the brain in hypnosis, contrasting the common resting state versus (hypnosis in the absence of target suggestions).

Cortical and subcortical mapping of the allostatic-interoceptive system in the human brain: replication and extension with 7 Tesla fMRI.

The brain continuously anticipates the energetic needs of the body and prepares to meet those needs before they arise, a process called allostasis. In support of allostasis, the brain continually models the internal state of the body, a process called interoception. Using published tract-tracing studies in non-human animals as a guide, we previously identified a large-scale system supporting allostasis and interoception in the human brain with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at 3 Tesla.

Correction: Mapping the multimodal connectome: On the architects of brain network science.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.

Resting-state MRI functional connectivity as a neural correlate of multidomain lifestyle adherence in older adults at risk for Alzheimer's disease.

Prior research has demonstrated the importance of a healthy lifestyle to protect brain health and diminish dementia risk in later life. While a multidomain lifestyle provides an ecological perspective to voluntary engagement, its association with brain health is still under-investigated. Therefore, understanding the neural mechanisms underlying multidomain lifestyle engagement, particularly in older adults at risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD), gives valuable insights into providing lifestyle advice and intervention for those in need.

Functional connectivity MRI quality control procedures in CONN.

Quality control (QC) for functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging (FC-MRI) is critical to ensure the validity of neuroimaging studies. Noise confounds are common in MRI data and, if not accounted for, may introduce biases in functional measures affecting the validity, replicability, and interpretation of FC-MRI study results. Although FC-MRI analysis rests on the assumption of adequate data processing, QC is underutilized and not systematically reported.

Reducing default mode network connectivity with mindfulness-based fMRI neurofeedback: a pilot study among adolescents with affective disorder history.

Adolescents experience alarmingly high rates of major depressive disorder (MDD), however, gold-standard treatments are only effective for ~50% of youth. Accordingly, there is a critical need to develop novel interventions, particularly ones that target neural mechanisms believed to potentiate depressive symptoms. Directly addressing this gap, we developed mindfulness-based fMRI neurofeedback (mbNF) for adolescents that aims to reduce default mode network (DMN) hyperconnectivity, which has been implicated in the onset and maintenance of MDD.