scholarly journals Repeated noninvasive stimulation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex reveals cumulative amplification of pleasant compared to unpleasant scene processing: a single subject pilot study

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Constantin Winker ◽  
Maimu A. Rehbein ◽  
Dean Sabatinelli ◽  
Markus Junghofer
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Cue Reactivity ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Single Subject ◽  
Cumulative Impact ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Emotional Bias

AbstractThe ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is a major hub of the reward system and has been shown to activate specifically in response to pleasant / rewarding stimuli. Previous studies demonstrate enhanced pleasant cue reactivity after single applications of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to the vmPFC. Here we present a pilot case study in which we assess the cumulative impact of multiple consecutive vmPFC-tDCS sessions on the processing of visual emotional stimuli in an event-related MEG recording design. The results point to stable modulation of increased positivity biases (pleasant > unpleasant stimulus signal strength) after excitatory vmPFC stimulation and a reversed pattern (pleasant < unpleasant) after inhibitory stimulation across five consecutive tDCS sessions. Moreover, cumulative effects of these emotional bias modulations were observable for several source-localized spatio-temporal clusters, suggesting an increase in modulatory efficiency by repeated tDCS sessions. This pilot study provides evidence for improvements in the effectiveness and utility of a novel tDCS paradigm in the context of emotional processing.

Emotional bias and inhibitory control processes in mania and depression

1999 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 1307-1321 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. C. MURPHY ◽  
B. J. SAHAKIAN ◽  
J. S. RUBINSZTEIN ◽  
A. MICHAEL ◽  
R. D. ROGERS ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Neuropsychological Functioning ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Depressed Patients ◽  
Planning Ability ◽  
Affective Bias ◽  
Emotional Bias ◽  
Manic Patients

Background. Despite markedly different clinical presentations, few studies have reported differences in neuropsychological functioning between mania and depression. The disinhibited behaviour characteristic of mania and evidence that subgenual prefrontal cortex is differentially activated in mania and depression both suggest that dissociable deficits will emerge on tasks that require inhibitory control and are subserved by ventromedial prefrontal cortex.Methods. Manic patients and controls undertook computerized neuropsychological tests of memory and planning ability. In addition, manic and depressed patients were directly compared with controls on a novel affective shifting task that requires inhibitory control over different components of cognitive and emotional processing.Results. Manic patients were impaired on tests of memory and planning. Importantly, affective shifting performance of manic patients differed from that of depressed patients. Manic patients were impaired in their ability to inhibit behavioural responses and focus attention, but depressed patients were impaired in their ability to shift the focus of attention. Depressed patients exhibited an affective bias for negative stimuli, and we believe this to be the first demonstration of an affective bias for positive stimuli in manic patients.Conclusions. Observed impairments on tests of memory and planning suggest a global pathology for mania consistent with previous profiles for this disorder and similar to established profiles for depression. The results on the affective shifting task demonstrate the presence of mood-congruent bias and dissociable components of inhibitory control in mania and depression. Against a background of memory and planning impairments in the two groups, these findings are consistent with a role for the ventromedial prefrontal cortex in mediating mood–cognition relationships.

scholarly journals Transdiagnostic Effects of Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Cue Reactivity

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (7) ◽  
pp. 599-609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tonisha E. Kearney-Ramos ◽  
Logan T. Dowdle ◽  
Daniel H. Lench ◽  
Oliver J. Mithoefer ◽  
William H. Devries ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Cue Reactivity ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex

Nicotine enhances modulation of food-cue reactivity by leptin and ghrelin in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 832-844 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nils B. Kroemer ◽  
Franziska Wuttig ◽  
Martin Bidlingmaier ◽  
Ulrich S. Zimmermann ◽  
Michael N. Smolka
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Cue Reactivity ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex

GABA-ergic Modulation of Prefrontal Spatio-temporal Activation Pattern during Emotional Processing: A Combined fMRI/MEG Study with Placebo and Lorazepam

2002 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 348-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georg Northoff ◽  
Thomas Witze ◽  
Andre Richter ◽  
Matthias Gessner ◽  
Florian Schlagenhauf ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Activation Pattern ◽  
Cortical Function ◽  
Gaba A ◽  
Emotional Function ◽  
Prefrontal Cortical ◽  
Cortical Motor ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Cortical Regions

Various prefrontal cortical regions have been shown to be activated during emotional stimulation, whereas neurochemical mechanisms underlying emotional processing in the prefrontal cortex remain unclear. We therefore investigated the influence of the GABA-A potentiator lorazepam on prefrontal cortical emotional—motor spatio-temporal activation pattern in a combined functional magnetic resonance imaging/magnetoencephalography study. Lorazepam led to the reversal in orbito-frontal activation pattern, a shift of the early magnetic field dipole from the orbito-frontal to medial prefrontal cortex, and alterations in premotor/motor cortical function during negative and positive emotional stimulation. It is concluded that negative emotional processing in the orbito-frontal cortex may be modulated either directly or indirectly by GABA-A receptors. Such a modulation of orbito-frontal cortical emotional function by lorazepam has to be distinguished from its effects on cortical motor function as being independent from the kind of processing either emotional or nonemotional.

scholarly journals State-Dependent Effects of Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Continuous Thetaburst Stimulation on Cocaine Cue Reactivity in Chronic Cocaine Users

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tonisha E. Kearney-Ramos ◽  
Logan T. Dowdle ◽  
Oliver J. Mithoefer ◽  
William Devries ◽  
Mark S. George ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Cue Reactivity ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
State Dependent ◽  
Chronic Cocaine ◽  
Cocaine Users

Risk-Taking on Tests Sensitive to Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Dysfunction Predicts Early Relapse in Alcohol Dependency: A Pilot Study

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrietta Bowden-Jones ◽  
Mike McPhillips ◽  
Robert Rogers ◽  
Sam Hutton ◽  
Eileen Joyce
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Alcohol Dependency ◽  
Early Relapse

scholarly journals Ventromedial prefrontal cortex activity and pathological worry in generalised anxiety disorder

2018 ◽  
Vol 213 (1) ◽  
pp. 437-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Via ◽  
M. A. Fullana ◽  
X. Goldberg ◽  
D. Tinoco-González ◽  
I. Martínez-Zalacaín ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Qualitative Difference ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Generalised Anxiety Disorder ◽  
Conditioning Paradigm ◽  
Pathological Worry ◽  
Learned Safety ◽  
Hallmark Feature

BackgroundPathological worry is a hallmark feature of generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), associated with dysfunctional emotional processing. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is involved in the regulation of such processes, but the link between vmPFC emotional responses and pathological v. adaptive worry has not yet been examined.AimsTo study the association between worry and vmPFC activity evoked by the processing of learned safety and threat signals.MethodIn total, 27 unmedicated patients with GAD and 56 healthy controls (HC) underwent a differential fear conditioning paradigm during functional magnetic resonance imaging.ResultsCompared to HC, the GAD group demonstrated reduced vmPFC activation to safety signals and no safety–threat processing differentiation. This response was positively correlated with worry severity in GAD, whereas the same variables showed a negative and weak correlation in HC.ConclusionsPoor vmPFC safety–threat differentiation might characterise GAD, and its distinctive association with GAD worries suggests a neural-based qualitative difference between healthy and pathological worries.Declaration of interestNone.

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