Abstract
The orbitofrontal cortex extends into the laterally adjacent inferior frontal gyrus. We analyzed how voxel-level functional connectivity of the inferior frontal gyrus and orbitofrontal ...cortex is related to depression in 282 people with major depressive disorder (125 were unmedicated) and 254 controls, using FDR correction P < 0.05 for pairs of voxels. In the unmedicated group, higher functional connectivity was found of the right inferior frontal gyrus with voxels in the lateral and medial orbitofrontal cortex, cingulate cortex, temporal lobe, angular gyrus, precuneus, hippocampus and frontal gyri. In medicated patients, these functional connectivities were lower and toward those in controls. Functional connectivities between the lateral orbitofrontal cortex and the precuneus, posterior cingulate cortex, inferior frontal gyrus, ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the angular and middle frontal gyri were higher in unmedicated patients, and closer to controls in medicated patients. Medial orbitofrontal cortex voxels had lower functional connectivity with temporal cortex areas, the parahippocampal gyrus and fusiform gyrus, and medication did not result in these being closer to controls. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the orbitofrontal cortex is involved in depression, and can influence mood and behavior via the right inferior frontal gyrus, which projects to premotor cortical areas.
Creativity is imperative to the progression of civilization and is central to cultural life. Many neuroimaging studies have investigated the patterns of functional activity in the brain during ...different creative tasks, and the structural and functional characteristics of the highly creative individuals. However, few studies have investigated resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) in the brain related to individual differences in creativity, and it is still unclear whether the RSFC underlying creativity can be changed by training. The present study therefore used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (Rs-fMRI) to investigate the relationship between RSFC and creativity (divergent thinking, measured by the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking) to explore whether RSFC can be influenced by cognitive stimulation. The results of 269 adults showed that creativity was positively correlated with the strength of RSFC between the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the middle temporal gyrus (mTG). In addition, behavioral data showed that cognitive stimulation was successful in enhancing originality in a subset of the original participants (n = 34). Most interesting, we found that there was also a significantly increased RSFC between the mPFC and the mTG by analyzing the data of Rs-fMRI after creativity training. Taken together, these results suggest that increased RSFC between mPFC and mTG, which belong to the default mode network might be crucial to creativity, and that RSFC between the mPFC and mTG can be improved by means of cognitive stimulation (reflecting creativity training-induced changes in functional connectivity, especially in the lower creativity individuals who had lower scores of Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking).
Interoception refers to the perception of the internal bodily states. Recent accounts highlight the role of the insula in both interoception and the subjective experience of anxiety. The current ...study aimed to delve deeper into the neural correlates of cardiac interoception; more specifically, the relationship between interoception-related insular activity, interoceptive accuracy, and anxiety. This was done using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in an experimental design in which 40 healthy volunteers focused on their heartbeat and anxious events. Interoceptive accuracy and anxiety levels were measured using the Heartbeat Perception Task and State Trait Anxiety Inventory, respectively. The results showed posterior, mid and anterior insular activity during cardiac interoception, whereas anxiety-related activation showed only anterior insular activity. Activation of the anterior insula when focused on cardiac interoception was positively correlated to state and trait anxiety levels, respectively. Moreover, the mid-insular activity during the cardiac attention condition not only related to individuals' interoceptive accuracy but also to their levels of state and trait anxiety, respectively. These findings confirm that there are distinct neural representations of heartbeat attention and anxious experience across the insular regions, and suggest the mid-insula as a crucial link between cardiac interoception and anxiety.
Studies have demonstrated that there are widespread significant differences in spontaneous brain activity between eyes-open (EO) and eyes-closed (EC) resting states. However, it remains largely ...unclear whether spontaneous brain activity is effectively related to EO and EC resting states. The amplitude, local functional concordance, inter-hemisphere functional synchronization, and network centrality of spontaneous brain activity were measured by the fraction amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (fALFF), regional homogeneity (ReHo), voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) and degree centrality (DC), respectively. Using the public Eyes-open/Eyes-closed dataset, we employed the support vector machine (SVM) and bootstrap technique to establish linking models for the fALFF, ReHo, VMHC and DC dimensions. The classification accuracies of linking models are 0.72 (0.59, 0.82), 0.88 (0.79, 0.97), 0.82 (0.74, 0.91) and 0.70 (0.62, 0.79), respectively. Specifically, we observed that brain activity in the EO condition is significantly greater in attentional system areas, including the fusiform gyrus, occipital and parietal cortex, but significantly lower in sensorimotor system areas, including the precentral/postcentral gyrus, paracentral lobule (PCL) and temporal cortex compared to the EC condition from the four dimensions. The results consistently indicated that spontaneous brain activity is effectively related to EO and EC resting states, and the two resting states are of opposite brain activity in sensorimotor and occipital regions. It may provide new insight into the neural substrate of the resting state and help computational neuroscientists or neuropsychologists to choose an appropriate resting state condition to investigate various mental disorders from the resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technique.
Initial romantic attraction (IRA) refers to a series of positive reactions to potential romantic partners at the initial encounter; it evolved to promote mate selection, allowing individuals to focus ...their mating efforts on their preferred potential mates. After decades of effort, we now have a deeper understanding of the evolutionary value and dominant factors of IRA; however, little is known regarding the brain mechanisms related to its generation and evaluation. In this study, we combined classic event-related potential analysis with dipole-source analysis to examine electroencephalogram (EEG) signals generated while participants assessed their romantic interest in potential partners. The EEG signals were categorized into IRA-engendered and unengendered conditions based on behavioral indicators. We found that the faces elicited multiple late positivities, including P300 over the occipital–parietal regions and late positive potentials (LPPs) over the anterior regions. When compared to faces that did not engender IRA, faces that did engender IRA elicited (1) enhanced P300 over the parietal regions and heightened neural activity in the insula and cingulate cortex and (2) larger LPPs over the anterior regions and heightened neural activity in the orbitofrontal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, cingulate cortex, frontal eye field, visual cortex, and insula. These results suggest IRA is generated and evaluated by an extensive brain network involved in emotion processing, attention control, and social evaluations. Furthermore, these findings indicate that P300 and LPP may represent different cognitive processes during IRA.
Anxiety is a multidimensional construct that includes stable trait anxiety and momentary state anxiety, which have a combined effect on our mental and physical well-being. However, the relationship ...between intrinsic brain activity and the feeling of anxiety, particularly trait and state anxiety, remain unclear. In this study, we used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) (amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and regional homogeneity (ReHo)) to determine the effects of intrinsic brain activity on stable inter-individual trait anxiety and intra-individual state anxiety variability in a cross-sectional and test–retest study. We found that at both time points, the trait anxiety score was significantly associated with intrinsic brain activity (both the ALFF and ReHo) in the right ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and ALFF of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex/anterior midcingulate cortex (dACC/aMCC). More importantly, the change in intrinsic brain activity in the right insula was predictive of intra-individual state anxiety variability over a 9-month interval. The test–retest nature of this study's design could provide an opportunity to distinguish between the intrinsic brain activity associated with state and trait anxiety. These results could deepen our understanding of anxiety from a neuroscientific perspective.
•Using the cross-sectional and test-retest study to explore the trait anxiety and intra-individual state anxiety.•Test-retest study distinguishs the stable inter-individual trait anxiety and the intra-individual state anxiety variability.•Inter-individual trait anxiety related to the intrinsic brain activity in the vmPFC and dACC/aMCC at both time-points.•Change of intrinsic brain activity of the right insula was correlated with the intra-individual state anxiety variability.
Although researchers generally concur that creativity involves the production of novel and useful products, the neural basis of creativity remains elusive due to the complexity of the cognitive ...processes involved. Recent studies have shown that highly creative individuals displayed more cognitive flexibility. However, direct evidence supporting the relationship between creativity and cognitive flexibility has rarely been investigated using both structural and functional neuroimaging techniques. We used a combined voxel-based morphometry and resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) analysis to investigate the relationship between individual creativity ability assessed by the creative achievement questionnaire (CAQ), and regional gray matter volume (GMV), as well as intrinsic functional connectivity. Results showed that CAQ scores negatively correlated with GMV in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the bilateral dorsal ACC (dACC) extending to supplementary motor area, but positively correlated with GMV in the bilateral superior frontal gyrus and ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). Further functional connectivity analysis revealed that higher creative achievement was inversely associated with the strength of rsFC between the dACC and medial superior frontal gyrus (mSFG), right middle frontal gyrus, and left orbito-frontal insula. Moreover, the association between the dACC–mSFG connectivity and CAQ scores was mediated by cognitive flexibility, assessed by a task-switching paradigm. These findings indicate that individual differences in creative achievement are associated with both brain structure and corresponding intrinsic functional connectivity involved in cognitive flexibility and deliberate creative processing. Furthermore, dACC–mSFG connectivity may affect creative achievement through its impact on cognitive flexibility.
•Real-life creativity is assessed using creative achievement questionnaire.•Individual with high creative achievement (CA) displays more cognitive flexibility.•CA is related to GMV of brain regions involved in deliberate creative processing.•CA is inversely correlated to dACC–mSFG connectivity within the salience network.•Cognitive flexibility mediates the association between dACC–mSFG connectivity and CA.
Researchers have examined how parenting behavior influences individuals’ brain structure and behavioral development, primarily among people who have experienced maltreatment. However, information ...relating to the anatomical structure associated with the parenting behavior in young healthy individuals who have not experienced maltreatment is scant. Gratitude is an important aspect of human sociality. Both the extent to which parenting behavior influences gratitude and the neural basis of the relationship between parenting behavior and gratitude are unclear. Thus, in the present study, the primary aim was to use voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to investigate the neuroanatomical basis of parenting behavior in young healthy participants. The results showed a significant negative correlation between the maternal emotional warmth and both the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and the lateral rostral prefrontal cortex. Then, we used mediation analysis to investigate the neural basis of the relationship between parenting behavior and gratitude. The results revealed that the volume of the lateral rostral prefrontal cortex mediates the relationship between the maternal emotional warmth and gratitude. Together, these findings suggest that the family environment, specifically parenting behavior, might be associated with the gray matter volume of brain structure. Further, the lateral rostral prefrontal cortex might have an important role in the relationship between the maternal emotional warmth and gratitude.
•Maternal emotional warmth associated with the volume of dmPFC and the lateral rostral prefrontal cortex.•Maternal emotional warmth associated with the disposition gratitude of individuals.•Lateral rostral prefrontal cortex mediates the relationship between maternal emotional warmth and gratitude.
The conglomerate‐sandstone transition (CST) preserved in foreland basins records the stratigraphic equivalent of the gravel to sand transition (GST) which migrates in response to shortening in steady ...state orogen‐foreland basin systems. Two seismic profiles in the southern Junggar foreland basin provide the first seismic record of migrating CSTs and an opportunity to quantify its migration history in response to the growth of the northern Tian Shan. We identify the horizontal positions of the CSTs based on the distinct seismic signature of conglomerate versus sandstone and estimate their ages according to magnetostratigraphic sections. The linear‐regression analysis reveals that the CSTs migrated northward at 0.4 ± 0.1 mm/yr along 84°E from ∼23 to ∼6 Ma and at 4.0 ± 1.2 mm/yr along 87°E from ∼3.1 to ∼0.7 Ma. The discrepancy relates to variations in crustal shortening along strike of the range. Temporal deviations in the CST positions suggest the second‐order impacts of climatic change.
Plain Language Summary
Rivers in foreland basins commonly exhibit a sharp gravel to sand transition of bed sediment (GST), which is preserved in the stratigraphy as the conglomerate‐sandstone transition (CST). Previous studies attribute the migration of the CST in foreland basins to tectonics of the coupled mountain ranges. Migration of the CSTs is considered as a possible archive of long‐term crustal shortening in an orogen‐foreland basin system. In this study, we identify the horizontal position of the CST in the southern Junggar foreland basin north of the Tian Shan based on two seismic profiles. Ages of sedimentary layers imaged by the seismic profiles are estimated according to previous magnetostratigraphic investigations. A linear‐regression analysis between positions and ages of the CSTs indicates the northward migration rates of the CSTs. The rates approximate the long‐term crustal shortening rates in the northern Tian Shan orogen‐foreland basin system. A discrepancy between the migration rates of the CSTs in the eastern and western segments reveals variations in crustal shortening along the range. This work demonstrates that migration of CSTs in a foreland basin setting can act as a proxy of crustal shortening in orogen‐foreland basin systems.
Key Points
We provide the first documentation of the migration of the conglomerate‐sandstone transition (CST) preserved in foreland basin successions
The CST in the southern Junggar foreland basin migrates northward at 0.4 ± 0.1 mm/yr along 84°E and at 4.0 ± 1.2 mm/yr along 87°E
Deviations between the measured and predicted CST positions are modulated by climate change
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