Alterations in brain connectivity in three sub-regions of the anterior cingulate cortex in heroin-dependent individuals: Evidence from resting state fMRI. (22nd January 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhang, Y.; Gong, J.; Xie, C.; Ye, E.M.; Jin, X.; Song, H.; Yang, Z.; Shao, Y.
• Is Part Of: Neuroscience. Volume 284(2015)
• Page Start: 998
• Page End: 1010
• Publication Date: 2015-01-22
• Subjects: ACC anterior cingulate cortex -- AFC ACC functional connectivity -- dACC dorsal anterior cingulate cortex -- dAFC dorsal AFC -- EPI echo planar image -- fMRI functional magnetic resonance imaging -- IFG inferior frontal gyrus -- OFC orbital frontal cortex -- rACC rostral anterior cingulate cortex -- rAFC rostral AFC -- ROI region of interest -- sACC subcallosal anterior cingulate cortex -- sAFC subcallosal ACC functional connectivity -- SFG superior frontal gyrus -- SPGR spoiled gradient-recalled echo -- vACC ventral anterior cingulate cortex; heroin addiction -- anterior cingulate cortex -- functional connectivity -- resting-state magnetic resonance imaging; Neurochemistry -- Periodicals; Neurophysiology -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Neurochimie -- Périodiques; Neurophysiologie -- Périodiques; Neurochemistry; Neurophysiology; Electronic journals; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 612.8
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.11.007
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0306-4522

Abstract

Highlights: The ACC was divided into three sub-regions as seed regions of interest. Variation in the ACC-striatal circuits might be associated with heroin addiction. Both cerebellum and amygdala exhibited distinct alteration trends in rAFC and sAFC. The OFC and SFG exhibited distinct alteration trends in dAFC and sAFC. Abstract: Previous studies that utilized task-based approaches have demonstrated that the chronic use of heroin is associated with altered activity of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). However, few studies have focused on examining the variation in resting-state functional connectivity in heroin-dependent individuals, which might help further understanding the mechanisms underlying heroin addiction. Due to the structural and functional heterogeneity of the ACC, we systematically mapped the resting-state functional connectivity patterns of three sub-regions of the ACC in heroin-dependent individuals, wondered whether the partition of three sub-regions of the ACC is feasible in heroin-dependent individuals, and identified how heroin affected the correlated activities among three sub-regions of the ACC using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In the present study, fMRI data were acquired from 21 heroin-dependent individuals (Her group) and 15 non-addicted controls (CN group). Compared to controls, there were reduced functional connectivities in the dorsal ACC (dACC) and rostral ACC (rACC) networks with different areas of the dorsal striatum (the caudate and the putamen) in the Her group. Meanwhile, there exhibited an inverted alteration of pattern for orbital frontal cortex (OFC) and superior frontal gyrus (SFG) in the functional connectivity network with the dACC and subcallosal ACC (sACC), and a different alteration of the cerebellum and the amygdala in the functional connectivity network with the rACC and the sACC. In addition, we also found reduced connectivities between dACC and rACC, as well as reduced connectivities between sACC and dACC. Our findings of variations of functional connectivities in three sub-regions of ACC in Her group implied that these sub-regions of the ACC together with other key brain areas (such as dorsal striatum, OFC, SFG, cerebellum, amygdale, etc.) might potentially play independent and/or overlapping roles in heroin addiction, which might indicate the potential direction of future research.