Meditation-induced changes in high-frequency heart rate variability predict smoking outcomes

Background: High-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) is a measure of parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) output that has been associated with enhanced self-regulation. Low resting levels of HF-HRV are associated with nicotine dependence and blunted stress-related changes in HF-HRV are associated with decreased ability to resist smoking. Meditation has been shown to increase HF-HRV. However, it is unknown whether tonic levels of HF-HRV or acute changes in HF-HRV during meditation predict treatment responses in addictive behaviors such as smoking cessation. Purpose: To investigate the relationship between HF-HRV and subsequent smoking outcomes. Methods: HF-HRV during resting baseline and during mindfulness meditation was measured within two weeks of completing a 4-week smoking cessation intervention in a sample of 31 community participants. Self-report measures of smoking were obtained at a follow up 17-weeks after the initiation of treatment. Results: Regression analyses indicated that individuals exhibiting acute increases in HF-HRV from resting baseline to meditation smoked fewer cigarettes at follow-up than those who exhibited acute decreases in HF-HRV (b = −4.89, p = 0.008). Conclusion: Acute changes in HF-HRV in response to meditation may be a useful tool to predict smoking cessation treatment response

Spiritual Experiences are Related to Engagement of a Ventral Frontotemporal Functional Brain Network: Implications for Prevention and Treatment of Behavioral and Substance Addictions

Background and aims: Spirituality is an important component of 12-step programs for behavioral and substance addictions and has been linked to recovery processes. Understanding the neural correlates of spiritual experiences may help to promote efforts to enhance recovery processes in behavioral addictions. We recently used general linear model (GLM) analyses of functional magnetic resonance imaging data to examine neural correlates of spiritual experiences, with findings implicating cortical and subcortical brain regions. Although informative, the GLM-based approach does not provide insight into brain circuits that may underlie spiritual experiences. Methods: Spatial independent component analysis (sICA) was used to identify functional brain networks specifically linked to spiritual (vs. stressful or neutral-relaxing) conditions using a previously validated guided imagery task in 27 young adults. Results: Using sICA, engagement of a ventral frontotemporal network was identified that was engaged at the onset and conclusion of the spiritual condition in a manner distinct from engagement during the stress or neutral-relaxing conditions. Degree of engagement correlated with subjective reports of spirituality in the scanner (r = .71, p < .001) and an out-of-the-magnet measure of spirituality (r = .48, p < .018). Discussion and conclusion: The current findings suggest a distributed functional neural network associated with spiritual experiences and provide a foundation for investigating brain mechanisms underlying the role of spirituality in recovery from behavioral addictions

Maternal Neural Responses to Infant Cries and Faces: Relationships with Substance Use

Substance abuse in pregnant and recently post-partum women is a major public health concern because of effects on the infant and on the ability of the adult to care for the infant. In addition to the negative health effects of teratogenic substances on fetal development, substance use can contribute to difficulties associated with the social and behavioral aspects of parenting. Neural circuits associated with parenting behavior overlap with circuits involved in addiction (e.g., frontal, striatal, and limbic systems) and thus may be co-opted for the craving/reward cycle associated with substance use and abuse and be less available for parenting. The current study investigates the degree to which neural circuits associated with parenting are disrupted in mothers who are substance-using. Specifically, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine the neural response to emotional infant cues (faces and cries) in substance-using compared to non-using mothers. In response to both faces (of varying emotional valence) and cries (of varying distress levels), substance-using mothers evidenced reduced neural activation in regions that have been previously implicated in reward and motivation as well as regions involved in cognitive control. Specifically, in response to faces, substance users showed reduced activation in prefrontal regions, including the dorsolateral and ventromedial prefrontal cortices, as well as visual processing (occipital lobes) and limbic regions (parahippocampus and amygdala). Similarly, in response to infant cries, substance-using mothers showed reduced activation relative to non-using mothers in prefrontal regions, auditory sensory processing regions, insula and limbic regions (parahippocampus and amygdala). These findings suggest that infant stimuli may be less salient for substance-using mothers, and such reduced saliency may impair developing infant-caregiver attachment and the ability of mothers to respond appropriately to their infants

Alterations in functional networks during cue-reactivity in Internet gaming disorder

Background: Cue-induced brain reactivity has been suggested to be a fundamental and important mechanism explaining the development, maintenance, and relapse of addiction, including Internet gaming disorder (IGD). Altered activity in addiction-related brain regions has been found during cue-reactivity in IGD using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), but less is known regarding the alterations of coordinated whole brain activity patterns in IGD. Methods: To investigate the activity of temporally coherent, large-scale functional brain networks (FNs) during cue-reactivity in IGD, independent component analysis was applied to fMRI data from 29 male subjects with IGD and 23 matched healthy controls (HC) performing a cue-reactivity task involving Internet gaming stimuli (i.e., game cues) and general Internet surfing-related stimuli (i.e., control cues). Results: Four FNs were identified that were related to the response to game cues relative to control cues and that showed altered engagement/disengagement in IGD compared with HC. These FNs included temporo-occipital and temporo-insula networks associated with sensory processing, a frontoparietal network involved in memory and executive functioning, and a dorsal-limbic network implicated in reward and motivation processing. Within IGD, game versus control engagement of the temporo-occipital and frontoparietal networks were positively correlated with IGD severity. Similarly, disengagement of temporo-insula network was negatively correlated with higher game-craving. Discussion: These findings are consistent with altered cue-reactivity brain regions reported in substance-related addictions, providing evidence that IGD may represent a type of addiction. The identification of the networks might shed light on the mechanisms of the cue-induced craving and addictive Internet gaming behaviors

Regional Brain Responses in Nulliparous Women to Emotional Infant Stimuli

Infant cries and facial expressions influence social interactions and elicit caretaking behaviors from adults. Recent neuroimaging studies suggest that neural responses to infant stimuli involve brain regions that process rewards. However, these studies have yet to investigate individual differences in tendencies to engage or withdraw from motivationally relevant stimuli. To investigate this, we used event-related fMRI to scan 17 nulliparous women. Participants were presented with novel infant cries of two distress levels (low and high) and unknown infant faces of varying affect (happy, sad, and neutral) in a randomized, counter-balanced order. Brain activation was subsequently correlated with scores on the Behavioral Inhibition System/Behavioral Activation System scale. Infant cries activated bilateral superior and middle temporal gyri (STG and MTG) and precentral and postcentral gyri. Activation was greater in bilateral temporal cortices for low- relative to high-distress cries. Happy relative to neutral faces activated the ventral striatum, caudate, ventromedial prefrontal, and orbitofrontal cortices. Sad versus neutral faces activated the precuneus, cuneus, and posterior cingulate cortex, and behavioral activation drive correlated with occipital cortical activations in this contrast. Behavioral inhibition correlated with activation in the right STG for high- and low-distress cries relative to pink noise. Behavioral drive correlated inversely with putamen, caudate, and thalamic activations for the comparison of high-distress cries to pink noise. Reward-responsiveness correlated with activation in the left precentral gyrus during the perception of low-distress cries relative to pink noise. Our findings indicate that infant cry stimuli elicit activations in areas implicated in auditory processing and social cognition. Happy infant faces may be encoded as rewarding, whereas sad faces activate regions associated with empathic processing. Differences in motivational tendencies may modulate neural responses to infant cues

An investigation of neural and behavioural substrates of pathological gambling as an addictive disorder

Pathological gambling is a maladaptive behaviour associated with diminished self-control over persistent compulsive gambling behaviour despite negative consequences. A significant revision to the clinical perspective of pathological gambling is underway, and the disorder will likely be recognized as a behavioural addiction in the fifth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. However, the neurobiological, cognitive and behavioural processes that drive a ‘behavioural addiction’ are unclear. A series of five studies were conducted to investigate cognitive mechanisms associated with neural and behavioural substrates of addictive processes in disordered gambling. Studies 1 through 3 investigated neurobiological correlates of addiction in individuals with pathological gambling as compared to individuals with cocaine dependence, and as compared to non-addicted healthy controls. Study 1 investigated brain activity associated with anticipatory and consummatory reward processing during slot-machine gambling. Study 2 investigated executive control processes by examining functional brain networks associated with loss-chasing behaviour. Study 3 employed voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to explore alterations in grey-matter volumes in individuals with addictive disorders. Studies 4 and 5 investigated the behavioural substrates of addiction in regular gamblers utilizing emerging and novel research techniques. Study 4 examined continuous hand motion trajectories to explore approach biases and implicit processing. Study 5 employed an adaptive testing methodology to explore the influence of gaming machine preferences on cognitive processes and gambling behaviour. Research identified neurobiological and behavioural substrates of gambling-related beliefs and biases that indicate significant contributions of cognitive mechanisms to the development and persistence of a behavioural addiction. Results suggest addictive disorders may share some common features of anticipatory reward processing and brain structure (Studies 1 and 3), while neural signals associated losing outcomes and decision-making during gambling may be specific to disordered gambling (Studies 1 and 2). Furthermore, cognitive distortions in regular gamblers may influence reinforcement and executive control processes (Study 4), and individual preferences for gaming speed may influence cognitions and behaviour during machine gambling. As additional psychological disorders are being considered for classification as behavioural addictions, and clinicians will be faced with the challenges of treating individuals with these non-substance-related addictive disorders, a better understanding of behavioural addictions, through the study of disordered gambling, will be essential under the new diagnostic framework.</p

An investigation of neural and behavioural substrates of pathological gambling as an addictive disorder

Pathological gambling is a maladaptive behaviour associated with diminished self-control over persistent compulsive gambling behaviour despite negative consequences. A significant revision to the clinical perspective of pathological gambling is underway, and the disorder will likely be recognized as a behavioural addiction in the fifth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. However, the neurobiological, cognitive and behavioural processes that drive a ‘behavioural addiction’ are unclear. A series of five studies were conducted to investigate cognitive mechanisms associated with neural and behavioural substrates of addictive processes in disordered gambling. Studies 1 through 3 investigated neurobiological correlates of addiction in individuals with pathological gambling as compared to individuals with cocaine dependence, and as compared to non-addicted healthy controls. Study 1 investigated brain activity associated with anticipatory and consummatory reward processing during slot-machine gambling. Study 2 investigated executive control processes by examining functional brain networks associated with loss-chasing behaviour. Study 3 employed voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to explore alterations in grey-matter volumes in individuals with addictive disorders. Studies 4 and 5 investigated the behavioural substrates of addiction in regular gamblers utilizing emerging and novel research techniques. Study 4 examined continuous hand motion trajectories to explore approach biases and implicit processing. Study 5 employed an adaptive testing methodology to explore the influence of gaming machine preferences on cognitive processes and gambling behaviour. Research identified neurobiological and behavioural substrates of gambling-related beliefs and biases that indicate significant contributions of cognitive mechanisms to the development and persistence of a behavioural addiction. Results suggest addictive disorders may share some common features of anticipatory reward processing and brain structure (Studies 1 and 3), while neural signals associated losing outcomes and decision-making during gambling may be specific to disordered gambling (Studies 1 and 2). Furthermore, cognitive distortions in regular gamblers may influence reinforcement and executive control processes (Study 4), and individual preferences for gaming speed may influence cognitions and behaviour during machine gambling. As additional psychological disorders are being considered for classification as behavioural addictions, and clinicians will be faced with the challenges of treating individuals with these non-substance-related addictive disorders, a better understanding of behavioural addictions, through the study of disordered gambling, will be essential under the new diagnostic framework.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo