The amygdala as a hub in brain networks that support social life

Bickart, Kevin; Dickerson, Bradford C.; Barrett, Lisa Feldman

doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.08.013

Cited by 309 publications

(285 citation statements)

References 218 publications

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“…One reason for this could be that ventromedial prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and amygdala functional connectivity with the insula is not altered under MDMA (Carhart-Harris et al, 2015), if functional coupling between these regions is even expected in the first place. Indeed, of these anatomical regions, only the dorsal portion of the amygdala is thought to belong to the salience network (Seeley et al, 2007;Bickart et al, 2014). Furthermore, we did not find altered insula connectivity with any of these regions under MDMA in the present study.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 59%

Altered Insula Connectivity under MDMA

Walpola

Nest

Roseman

et al. 2017

Neuropsychopharmacol

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Recent work with noninvasive human brain imaging has started to investigate the effects of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) on large-scale patterns of brain activity. MDMA, a potent monoamine-releaser with particularly pronounced serotonin-releasing properties, has unique subjective effects that include: marked positive mood, pleasant/unusual bodily sensations and pro-social, empathic feelings. However, the neurobiological basis for these effects is not properly understood, and the present analysis sought to address this knowledge gap. To do this, we administered MDMA-HCl (100 mg p.o.) and, separately, placebo (ascorbic acid) in a randomized, doubleblind, repeated-measures design with twenty-five healthy volunteers undergoing fMRI scanning. We then employed a measure of global resting-state functional brain connectivity and follow-up seed-to-voxel analysis to the fMRI data we acquired. Results revealed decreased right insula/salience network functional connectivity under MDMA. Furthermore, these decreases in right insula/salience network connectivity correlated with baseline trait anxiety and acute experiences of altered bodily sensations under MDMA. The present findings highlight insular disintegration (ie, compromised salience network membership) as a neurobiological signature of the MDMA experience, and relate this brain effect to trait anxiety and acutely altered bodily sensations-both of which are known to be associated with insular functioning.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 59%

Altered Insula Connectivity under MDMA

Walpola

Nest

Roseman

et al. 2017

Neuropsychopharmacol

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“…These findings imply that some compensatory reorganization of neural circuitry over the course of development occurs as a consequence of early amygdala damage. Importantly, the amygdala is part of a distributed network (Bickart et al 2014) and influences activity throughout multiple distinct functional brain systems, including regions to which it has no direct anatomical connectivity , bolstering the notion that behavioral recovery would be subserved by distributed changes in neuronal network organization (Kolb and Gibb 2014). The cortical hypertrophy observed in this study indeed suggests that multiple functional areas remote from the initial damage were recruited in the reorganization process.…”

Section: Local and Remote Plasticity Following Lesionssupporting

confidence: 64%

“…This report describes how large-scale primate brain organization is reshaped by early, discrete lesions of the amygdala, a critical hub of emotional brain networks (Bickart et al 2014). While amygdala lesions in adult rhesus monkeys abolish fear learning (Antoniadis et al 2009) and dramatically alter social and emotional behavior (Adolphs 2010), neonatal amygdala lesions lead to eventual recovery of fear learning in adulthood (Kazama et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neural Reorganization Due to Neonatal Amygdala Lesions in the Rhesus Monkey: Changes in Morphology and Network Structure

et al. 2017

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It is generally believed that neural damage that occurs early in development is associated with greater adaptive capacity relative to similar damage in an older individual. However, few studies have surveyed whole brain changes following early focal damage. In this report, we employed multimodal magnetic resonance imaging analyses of adult rhesus macaque monkeys who had previously undergone bilateral, neurotoxic lesions of the amygdala at about 2 weeks of age. A deformation-based morphometric approach demonstrated reduction of the volumes of the anterior temporal lobe, anterior commissure, basal ganglia, and pulvinar in animals with early amygdala lesions compared to controls. In contrast, animals with early amygdala lesions had an enlarged cingulate cortex, medial superior frontal gyrus, and medial parietal cortex. Diffusion-weighted imaging tractography and network analysis were also used to compare connectivity patterns and higher-level measures of communication across the brain. Using the communicability metric, which integrates direct and indirect paths between regions, lesioned animals showed extensive degradation of network integrity in the temporal and orbitofrontal cortices. This work demonstrates both degenerative as well as progressive large-scale neural changes following long-term recovery from neonatal focal brain damage.

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“…different amygdala nuclei). If this proves to be the case, future amygdala theories of ASD need instead to focus on subregions, or on the network behavior of these regions (for example, see Bickart et al, 2012Bickart et al, , 2014. There is a clear need for more research using high-resolution scanning sequences optimized for amygdala signal, so that we may be in a better position to robustly address this question.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anxiety and social deficits have distinct relationships with amygdala function in autism spectrum disorder

Herrington

Miller

Pandey

et al. 2016

Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

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Current neural models of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and anxiety disorders suggest hyperactivation of amygdala in anxiety, but hypoactivation of amygdala in ASD. The objectives of this study were to (i) test the hypothesis that amygdala activity measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) represents a hybrid signal of opposing social functions and anxiety symptoms, and (ii) determine whether longstanding findings of decreased amygdala activation in ASD apply only to those individuals with ASD and low levels of anxiety. During fMRI scanning, 81 youth with ASD and 67 non-ASD control participants completed a face recognition paradigm that elicits robust amygdala activation. Only individuals with ASD and low anxiety levels (a subsample of 28 participants) showed decreased amygdala activation relative to controls. In the ASD group, anxiety symptoms were positively correlated with amygdala activity across the full ASD group, whereas core ASD symptoms (including social deficits) were negatively correlated. Results indicate that hypoactivation of amygdala in ASD, a suggestive finding first reported nearly 20 years ago, can be masked by comorbid anxiety-thus bringing enhanced clarity to this line of work. Amygdala activity represents a hybrid signal of emotion and social processes that cannot be reduced to either alone.

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The amygdala as a hub in brain networks that support social life

Cited by 309 publications

References 218 publications

Altered Insula Connectivity under MDMA

Altered Insula Connectivity under MDMA

Neural Reorganization Due to Neonatal Amygdala Lesions in the Rhesus Monkey: Changes in Morphology and Network Structure

Anxiety and social deficits have distinct relationships with amygdala function in autism spectrum disorder

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