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Stimulant medications in children with ADHD normalize the structure of brain regions associated with attention and reward
Children with ADHD show abnormal brain function and structure. Neuroimaging studies found that stimulant medications may improve brain structural abnormalities in children with ADHD. However, prior studies on ...
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Article
Open AccessBrain connectivity changes to fast versus slow dopamine increases
The rewarding effects of stimulant drugs such as methylphenidate (MP) depend crucially on how fast they raise dopamine in the brain. Yet how the rate of drug-induced dopamine increases impacts brain network co...
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Article
Disrupted brain state dynamics in opioid and alcohol use disorder: attenuation by nicotine use
Substance use disorder (SUD) is a chronic relapsing disorder with long-lasting changes in brain intrinsic networks. While most research to date has focused on static functional connectivity, less is known abou...
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Article
Open AccessAssociations between handedness and brain functional connectivity patterns in children
Handedness develops early in life, but the structural and functional brain connectivity patterns associated with it remains unknown. Here we investigate associations between handedness and the asymmetry of bra...
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Open AccessNeural circuit selective for fast but not slow dopamine increases in drug reward
The faster a drug enters the brain, the greater its addictive potential, yet the brain circuits underlying the rate dependency to drug reward remain unresolved. With simultaneous PET-fMRI we linked dynamics of...
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Article
Effects of family income on brain functional connectivity in US children: associations with cognition
Higher family income (FI) is associated with larger cortical gray matter volume and improved cognitive performance in children. However, little is known about the effects of FI on brain functional and structur...
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Open AccessTime-varying SUVr reflects the dynamics of dopamine increases during methylphenidate challenges in humans
Dopamine facilitates cognition and is implicated in reward processing. Methylphenidate, a dopamine transporter blocker widely used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, can have rewarding and addi...
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Open AccessStriatal D1 and D2 receptor availability are selectively associated with eye-blink rates after methylphenidate treatment
Eye-blink rate has been proposed as a biomarker of the brain dopamine system, however, findings have not been consistent. This study assessed the relationship between blink rates, measured after oral placebo) ...
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Open AccessCortical D1 and D2 dopamine receptor availability modulate methylphenidate-induced changes in brain activity and functional connectivity
Dopamine signaling plays a critical role in sha** brain functional network organization and behavior. Prominent theories suggest the relative expression of D1- to D2-like dopamine receptors shapes excitatory...
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Open AccessSex differences in methylphenidate-induced dopamine increases in ventral striatum
Sex differences in the prevalence of dopamine-related neuropsychiatric diseases and in the sensitivity to dopamine-boosting drugs such as stimulants is well recognized. Here we assessed whether there are sex d...
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Open AccessAssociations of family income with cognition and brain structure in USA children: prevention implications
Poverty, as assessed by several socioeconomic (SES) factors, has been linked to worse cognitive performance and reduced cortical brain volumes in children. However, the relative contributions of the various SE...
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Article
Open AccessSleep disturbances are associated with cortical and subcortical atrophy in alcohol use disorder
Sleep disturbances are prominent in patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and predict relapse. So far, the mechanisms underlying sleep disruptions in AUD are poorly understood. Because sleep-related regions...
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Article
Conscious and unconscious brain responses to food and cocaine cues
Visual presentation of appetitive and negative cues triggers fast responses in the human brain. Here we assessed functional MRI (fMRI) responses to food, cocaine, and neutral cues presented at a subliminal (“u...
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Article
Chronic cannabis users show deficits in gray and white matter structure
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Open AccessBrain structural changes in cannabis dependence: association with MAGL
Cannabis use is rising, yet there is poor understanding of biological processes that might link chronic cannabis use to brain structural abnormalities. To lend insight into this topic, we examined white matter...
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Article
Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy improves brain connectivity in obese patients
Obese individuals have shown functional abnormalities in frontal–limbic regions, and bariatric surgery is an effective treatment for morbid obesity. The aim of the study was to investigate how bariatric surger...
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Bariatric surgery induces alterations in effective connectivity between the orbitofrontal cortex and limbic regions in obese patients
Obese subjects show enhanced brain responses in motivation and reward neurocircuitry encompassing sensory and somatic integration-interception, motivation-reward (striatal), emotion, and memory processes, whic...
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Methylphenidate’s effects on thalamic metabolism and functional connectivity in cannabis abusers and healthy controls
Methylphenidate (MPH) is a first line treatment for ADHD and is also misused as a purported cognitive enhancer, yet its effects on brain function are still poorly understood. Recent functional magnetic resonan...
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Structural changes in brain regions involved in executive-control and self-referential processing after sleeve gastrectomy in obese patients
Obesity-related brain gray (GM) and white matter (WM) abnormalities have been reported in regions associated with food-intake control and cognitive-emotional regulation. Bariatric surgery (BS) is the most effe...
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Ghrelin reductions following bariatric surgery were associated with decreased resting state activity in the hippocampus
Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) is an effective bariatric surgery to treat obesity, and involves removal of the gastric fundus where ghrelin is mainly produced. Ghrelin stimulates appetite and regulates ...
