1. Structural connectivity of neural reward networks in youth at risk for substance use disorders
- Author
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Squeglia, Lindsay M, Sorg, Scott F, Jacobus, Joanna, Brumback, Ty, Taylor, Charles T, and Tapert, Susan F
- Subjects
Biological Psychology ,Psychology ,Drug Abuse (NIDA only) ,Pediatric ,Women's Health ,Brain Disorders ,Behavioral and Social Science ,Neurosciences ,Basic Behavioral and Social Science ,Substance Misuse ,Alcoholism ,Alcohol Use and Health ,Biomedical Imaging ,Mental health ,Good Health and Well Being ,Adolescent ,Alcohol-Related Disorders ,Brain ,Child ,Diffusion Tensor Imaging ,Female ,Humans ,Magnetic Resonance Imaging ,Male ,Nerve Net ,Reward ,Risk-Taking ,Substance-Related Disorders ,White Matter ,Adolescence ,Cognitive control ,Family history of alcohol use disorders ,Nucleus accumbens ,Orbitofrontal cortex ,Probabilistic tractography ,Reward circuitry ,Substance use disorders ,White matter integrity ,Diffusion tensor imaging ,Structural connectivity ,Medical and Health Sciences ,Psychology and Cognitive Sciences ,Psychiatry ,Biological psychology - Abstract
BackgroundHaving a positive family history of alcohol use disorders (FHP), as well as aberrant reward circuitry, has been implicated in the initiation of substance use during adolescence. This study explored the relationship between FHP status and reward circuitry in substance naïve youth to better understand future risky behaviors.MethodsParticipants were 49 FHP and 45 demographically matched family history negative (FHN) substance-naïve 12-14 year-olds (54 % female). Subjects underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging, including diffusion tensor imaging. Nucleus accumbens and orbitofrontal cortex volumes were derived using FreeSurfer, and FSL probabilistic tractography probed structural connectivity and differences in white matter diffusivity estimates (e.g. fractional anisotropy, and mean, radial, and axial diffusivity) between fiber tracts connecting these regions.ResultFHP and FHN youth did not differ on nucleus accumbens or orbitofrontal cortex volumes, white matter tract volumes, or percentages of streamlines (a proxy for fiber tract count) connecting these regions. However, within white matter tracts connecting the nucleus accumbens to the orbitofrontal cortex, FHP youth had significantly lower mean and radial diffusivity (ps
- Published
- 2015