Abnormalities of Functional Brain Networks in Pathological Gambling: A Graph-Theoretical Approach
Functional neuroimaging studies of pathological gambling demonstrate alterations in frontal and subcortical regions of the mesolimbic reward system. However, most investigations were performed using tasks involving reward processing or executive functions. Little is known about brain network abnorma...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2013-09-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00625/full |
| _version_ | 1818327307232739328 |
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| author | Melanie eTschernegg Julia Sophia eCrone Tina eEigenberger Philipp eSchwartenbeck Philipp eSchwartenbeck Mira eFauth-Bühler Tagrid eLeménager Karl eMann Natasha eThon Friedrich M Wurst Martin eKronbichler Martin eKronbichler |
| author_facet | Melanie eTschernegg Julia Sophia eCrone Tina eEigenberger Philipp eSchwartenbeck Philipp eSchwartenbeck Mira eFauth-Bühler Tagrid eLeménager Karl eMann Natasha eThon Friedrich M Wurst Martin eKronbichler Martin eKronbichler |
| author_sort | Melanie eTschernegg |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Functional neuroimaging studies of pathological gambling demonstrate alterations in frontal and subcortical regions of the mesolimbic reward system. However, most investigations were performed using tasks involving reward processing or executive functions. Little is known about brain network abnormalities during task-free resting state in pathological gambling. In the present study, graph-theoretical methods were used to investigate network properties of resting state functional MRI data in pathological gambling. We compared 19 patients with pathological gambling to 19 healthy controls using the Graph Analysis Toolbox (GAT). None of the examined global metrics differed between groups. At the nodal level, pathological gambler showed a reduced clustering coefficient in the left paracingulate cortex and the left juxtapositional lobe (SMA), reduced local efficiency in the left SMA, as well as an increased node betweenness for the left and right paracingulate cortex and the left SMA. At an uncorrected threshold level, the node betweenness in the left inferior frontal gyrus was decreased and increased in the caudate. Additionally, increased functional connectivity between fronto-striatal regions and within frontal regions has also been found for the gambling patients.These findings suggest that regions associated with the reward system demonstrate reduced segregation but enhanced integration while regions associated with executive functions demonstrate reduced integration. The present study makes evident that pathological gambling is also associated with abnormalities in the topological network structure of the brain during rest. Since alterations in pathological gambling cannot be explained by direct effects of abused substances on the brain, these findings will be of relevance for understanding functional connectivity in other addictive disorders. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T12:14:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ec9efffb411b49cfb11f54ed95079d33 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5161 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T12:14:11Z |
| publishDate | 2013-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-ec9efffb411b49cfb11f54ed95079d332022-12-21T23:46:46ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Human Neuroscience1662-51612013-09-01710.3389/fnhum.2013.0062558200Abnormalities of Functional Brain Networks in Pathological Gambling: A Graph-Theoretical ApproachMelanie eTschernegg0Julia Sophia eCrone1Tina eEigenberger2Philipp eSchwartenbeck3Philipp eSchwartenbeck4Mira eFauth-Bühler5Tagrid eLeménager6Karl eMann7Natasha eThon8Friedrich M Wurst9Martin eKronbichler10Martin eKronbichler11Centre for Neurocognitive Research and Department of Psychology, University of SalzburgNeuroscience Institute and Centre for Neurocognitive Research, Christian-Doppler-Klinik, Paracelsus Medical University SalzburgDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy II, Christian-Doppler-Klinik, Paracelsus Medical University, SalzburgCentre for Neurocognitive Research and Department of Psychology, University of SalzburgNeuroscience Institute and Centre for Neurocognitive Research, Christian-Doppler-Klinik, Paracelsus Medical University SalzburgDepartment of Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, MannheimDepartment of Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, MannheimDepartment of Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, MannheimDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy II, Christian-Doppler-Klinik, Paracelsus Medical University, SalzburgDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy II, Christian-Doppler-Klinik, Paracelsus Medical University, SalzburgCentre for Neurocognitive Research and Department of Psychology, University of SalzburgNeuroscience Institute and Centre for Neurocognitive Research, Christian-Doppler-Klinik, Paracelsus Medical University SalzburgFunctional neuroimaging studies of pathological gambling demonstrate alterations in frontal and subcortical regions of the mesolimbic reward system. However, most investigations were performed using tasks involving reward processing or executive functions. Little is known about brain network abnormalities during task-free resting state in pathological gambling. In the present study, graph-theoretical methods were used to investigate network properties of resting state functional MRI data in pathological gambling. We compared 19 patients with pathological gambling to 19 healthy controls using the Graph Analysis Toolbox (GAT). None of the examined global metrics differed between groups. At the nodal level, pathological gambler showed a reduced clustering coefficient in the left paracingulate cortex and the left juxtapositional lobe (SMA), reduced local efficiency in the left SMA, as well as an increased node betweenness for the left and right paracingulate cortex and the left SMA. At an uncorrected threshold level, the node betweenness in the left inferior frontal gyrus was decreased and increased in the caudate. Additionally, increased functional connectivity between fronto-striatal regions and within frontal regions has also been found for the gambling patients.These findings suggest that regions associated with the reward system demonstrate reduced segregation but enhanced integration while regions associated with executive functions demonstrate reduced integration. The present study makes evident that pathological gambling is also associated with abnormalities in the topological network structure of the brain during rest. Since alterations in pathological gambling cannot be explained by direct effects of abused substances on the brain, these findings will be of relevance for understanding functional connectivity in other addictive disorders.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00625/fullconnectivityfMRInetworkRewardbehavioral addictiongraph theory |
| spellingShingle | Melanie eTschernegg Julia Sophia eCrone Tina eEigenberger Philipp eSchwartenbeck Philipp eSchwartenbeck Mira eFauth-Bühler Tagrid eLeménager Karl eMann Natasha eThon Friedrich M Wurst Martin eKronbichler Martin eKronbichler Abnormalities of Functional Brain Networks in Pathological Gambling: A Graph-Theoretical Approach Frontiers in Human Neuroscience connectivity fMRI network Reward behavioral addiction graph theory |
| title | Abnormalities of Functional Brain Networks in Pathological Gambling: A Graph-Theoretical Approach |
| title_full | Abnormalities of Functional Brain Networks in Pathological Gambling: A Graph-Theoretical Approach |
| title_fullStr | Abnormalities of Functional Brain Networks in Pathological Gambling: A Graph-Theoretical Approach |
| title_full_unstemmed | Abnormalities of Functional Brain Networks in Pathological Gambling: A Graph-Theoretical Approach |
| title_short | Abnormalities of Functional Brain Networks in Pathological Gambling: A Graph-Theoretical Approach |
| title_sort | abnormalities of functional brain networks in pathological gambling a graph theoretical approach |
| topic | connectivity fMRI network Reward behavioral addiction graph theory |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00625/full |
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