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Imbalanced functional link between valuation networks in abstinent heroin-dependent subjects

Molecular Psychiatry volume 19, pages 10–12 (2014)Cite this article

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The distinguishing feature of drug addiction is loss of volition to control drug-taking behaviors. At the neural system levels, however, the precise mechanisms underlying the failure are far from clear. Recent advances in neuroeconomic studies with task-driven functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) methods have identified two distinct brain networks that jointly influence decision-making processes.1, 2 One, the ventral valuation network, or the β-network in neuroeconomic terms, mediates for immediate rewards, and involves the orbitofrontal cortex, ventral striatum and ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). The other is the executive control network, or δ-network, which is related to delayed rewards, and involves the lateral prefrontal and parietal cortices.2 It is challenging to understand how changes in valuation networks could result in irrational addictive behaviors.3 Using neuroeconomic approaches,1, 2 we hypothesized that the underlying duality of the β-δ-discounting networks that jointly influence valuation was impaired to a pathogenic state in abstinent heroin dependents (HD). To test this hypothesis, we first employed the intrinsic spontaneous blood oxygenation level-dependent (iBOLD) signal measured by the resting-state fMRI (R-fMRI) to replace the traditional BOLD signal activated by task-driven paradigms.4 Second, we applied the temporal binding model5 with seed-based iBOLD signals to establish the link between the β- and δ-networks, and measure their imbalanced interaction with a large-scale network analysis method.2

The improper function between aI/fO and NAc regions in HD subjects is only one aspect of loss of volition. We examined the functional synchrony between the regional iBOLD signals in the left caudate (lCau) and NAc. As illustrated in Figure 1a (bottom row), the synchronization of lCau–NAc pair in the HD group is significantly higher than in the CN group. The strong link between the ventral (that is, NAc) and the dorsal (that is, lCau) region of striatum through so-called ‘spiraling’ connections9 in the HD group indicated the strong trait of motivational drive, as demonstrated previously in animal study.10

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Acknowledgements

We thank Ms Carrie M O’Connor, MA, for editorial assistance, Mr B Douglas Ward, MS, for discussions on the statistical analysis. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China No. 81271470, AWS12J003 (ZY) and National Institutes of Health grant, RO1 DA10214 (SJL).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cognitive and Mental Health Research Center, Beijing Institute of Basic Medical Science, Beijing, China

    C Xie, Y Shao, T Zhai, E Ye, L Fu, G Bi & Z Yang

  2. Department of Biophysics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    C Xie, T Zhai, G Chen, A Cohen, W Li, G Chen & S-J Li

  3. Department of Radiology, The General Hospital of the People’s Liberation Army, Beijing, China

    L Ma

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  1. C Xie
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Correspondence to Z Yang or S-J Li.

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Xie, C., Shao, Y., Ma, L. et al. Imbalanced functional link between valuation networks in abstinent heroin-dependent subjects. Mol Psychiatry 19, 10–12 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2012.169

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