The scientists were led by Rita Z. Goldstein, PhD, and Junqian Xu, PhD. Dr. Goldstein is the Mount Sinai Professor in Neuroimaging of Addiction and Director of the Neuroimaging of Addictions and Related Conditions Research Program at Icahn Mount Sinai. Dr. Xu is Associate Professor of Radiology, and Psychiatry, at Baylor College of Medicine.
” In addition to identifying microstructural differences, particularly minimized coherence in the orientation of the white matter fibers in the cocaine-addicted group that consisted of both present drug users and those with short-term abstaining, we extended outcomes beyond cocaine (a stimulant) to heroin (an opioid), suggesting that irregularities in this path might be generalized in addiction,” said Sarah King, who led the analyses and is very first author of the paper. “Importantly, we found that across all addicted people, greater disability was correlated with earlier age of first drug use, which indicates a prospective role for this circuit in developmental or premorbid danger elements.” King is a PhD student in Neuroscience in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Icahn Mount Sinai.
The results advance ongoing research study in the field by targeting a previously unexplored circuit in the pathophysiology of dependency in people, where deficits may incline an individual to both the development of drug addiction and to relapse and which might be potentially open for individually tailored treatment or prevention efforts.
Reference: “Prefrontal-habenular microstructural disabilities in human drug and heroin dependency” by Sarah G. King, Pierre-Olivier Gaudreault, Pias Malaker, Joo-won Kim, Nelly Alia-Klein, Junqian Xu and Rita Z. Goldstein, 6 October 2022, Neuron.DOI: 10.1016/ j.neuron.2022.09.011.
In animal models of addiction, the habenula has emerged as a key chauffeur of drug-seeking behaviors. Particularly, signaling from the PFC to the habenula is disrupted in rodent drug dependency models, linking this PFC-habenula circuit in withdrawal and cue-induced relapse habits. Dr. Goldstein is the Mount Sinai Professor in Neuroimaging of Addiction and Director of the Neuroimaging of Addictions and Related Conditions Research Program at Icahn Mount Sinai.” In addition to determining microstructural distinctions, particularly minimized coherence in the orientation of the white matter fibers in the cocaine-addicted group that made up both current cocaine users and those with short-term abstinence, we extended results beyond drug (a stimulant) to heroin (an opioid), suggesting that abnormalities in this course might be generalized in dependency,” stated Sarah King, who led the analyses and is very first author of the paper.
A brand-new study reveals that problems in a particular brain circuit in people is connected to dependency to drug or heroin. Credit: Mount Sinai Health System
According to a brand-new study, white matter in the brain that was previously linked in animal studies has actually now been recommended to be specifically impaired in the brains of people with addiction to drug or heroin. The research study, which was released on October 6 in the journal Neuron, was performed by scientists from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Baylor College of Medicine.
In animal models of addiction, the habenula has emerged as an essential motorist of drug-seeking habits. Particularly, signaling from the PFC to the habenula is disrupted in rodent drug dependency designs, implicating this PFC-habenula circuit in withdrawal and cue-induced regression habits.
Microstructural residential or commercial properties of the habenula system were distinctively minimized in people with drug or heroin use condition. Results highlight the prospective uniqueness of unique prefrontal cortical connections to the neuropathology of drug addiction.
For the very first time in the human brain, a group of researchers used diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tractography to examine the microstructural functions of the PFC-habenula circuit in individuals with drug or heroin addiction compared to healthy control participants. Diffusion MRI tractography utilizes noninvasive brain imaging to design fiber packages in the living human brain.
