Inhibitory behavioral control: A stochastic dynamic causal modeling study comparing cocaine dependent subjects and controls

Authors

Liangsuo Ma, Virginia Commonwealth UniversityFollow
Joel L. Steinberg, Virginia Commonwealth University
Kathryn A. Cunningham, University of Texas Health Science Center
Scott D. Lane, University of Texas Health Science Center
James M. Bjork, Virginia Commonwealth University
Harshini Neelakantan, University of Texas Health Science Center
Amanda E. Price, University of Texas Health Science Center
Ponnada A. Narayana, UTHSC-H
Thomas R. Kosten, Baylor College of Medicine
Antoine Bechara, University of Southern California
F. Gerard Moeller, Virginia Commonwealth University

Document Type

Article

Original Publication Date

2015

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Neurolmage: Clinical

Volume

7

DOI of Original Publication

10.1016/j.nicl.2015.03.015

Comments

Originally published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2015.03.015

Date of Submission

December 2015

Abstract

Cocaine dependence is associated with increased impulsivity in humans. Both cocaine dependence and impulsive behavior are under the regulatory control of cortico-striatal networks. One behavioral laboratory measure of impulsivity is response inhibition (ability to withhold a prepotent response) in which altered patterns of regional brain activation during executive tasks in service of normal performance are frequently found in cocaine dependent (CD) subjects studied with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). However, little is known about aberrations in specific directional neuronal connectivity in CD subjects. The present study employed fMRI-based dynamic causal modeling (DCM) to study the effective (directional) neuronal connectivity associated with response inhibition in CD subjects, elicited under performance of a Go/NoGo task with two levels of NoGo difficulty (Easy and Hard). The performance on the Go/NoGo task was not significantly different between CD subjects and controls. The DCM analysis revealed that prefrontal–striatal connectivity was modulated (influenced) during the NoGo conditions for both groups. The effective connectivity from left (L) anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) to L caudate was similarly modulated during the Easy NoGo condition for both groups. During the Hard NoGo condition in controls, the effective connectivity from right (R) dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) to L caudate became more positive, and the effective connectivity from R ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) to L caudate became more negative. In CD subjects, the effective connectivity from L ACC to L caudate became more negative during the Hard NoGo conditions. These results indicate that during Hard NoGo trials in CD subjects, the ACC rather than DLPFC or VLPFC influenced caudate during response inhibition.

Rights

© 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Is Part Of

VCU Radiology Publications