title: Alterations in brain connectivity in three sub-regions of the anterior cingulate cortex in heroin-dependent individuals: Evidence from resting state fMRI.
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.
authors.affiliation: Center for Psychology, Institute of Aviation Medicine, Air Force, 100142 Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, General Hospital of Beijing Command PLA, 100700 Beijing, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: School of Clinical Medicine, Southeast University, 210009 Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Beijing Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, 100850 Beijing, China.
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: Beijing Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, 100850 Beijing, China.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Center for Psychology, Institute of Aviation Medicine, Air Force, 100142 Beijing, China.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Beijing Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, 100850 Beijing, China. Electronic address: Yangzhengjyk@126.com.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, 100850 Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003932:Heroin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006556:Heroin Dependence / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009294:Narcotics / Q000008:administration & dosage; D012146:Rest
chemical_list: D009294:Narcotics; D003932:Heroin
keywords: anterior cingulate cortex; functional connectivity; heroin addiction; resting-state magnetic resonance imaging