Unlocking brain secrets: New insights into how our minds control impulses
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BRAIN ACTIVATION MAPS FOR GENERAL RESPONSE INHIBITION ON WHOLE BRAIN LEVEL (CONTRAST: NOGO > GO; P < 0.05 FWE, PEAK LEVEL). L, LEFT; R, RIGHT. THE COLOR BAR REPRESENTS THE T-VALUES OF THE BOLD SIGNAL AND REFLECT THE SIGNIFICANCE LEVEL OF THE CONTRAST.
view moreCREDIT: PSYCHORADIOLOGY
Published in the 2023 Volume 3 issue of Psychoradiology a team of dedicated researchers from The University of Hong Kong and The University of Electronic Science and Technology of China has conclusively identified the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) as a key input and causal regulator within the subcortical response inhibition nodes. This right-lateralized inhibitory control circuit, characterized by its significant intrinsic connectivity, highlights the crucial role of the rIFG in orchestrating top-down cortical-subcortical control, underscoring the intricate dynamics of brain function in response inhibition.
In this comprehensive study, researchers employed dynamic causal modeling (DCM-PEB) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with a substantial sample size (n = 250) to explore inhibitory circuits in the brain, particularly focusing on the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG), caudate nucleus (rCau), globus pallidum (rGP), and thalamus (rThal). This approach treated the brain as a nonlinear dynamical system, enabling the estimation of directed causal influences among these nodes, influenced by task demands and biological variables. Findings revealed a high intrinsic connectivity within this neural circuit, with response inhibition notably enhancing causal projections from the rIFG to both rCau and rThal, particularly amplifying the regulatory role of the rIFG during such tasks. The study also uncovered that sex and performance metrics significantly affect the circuit's functional architecture; for instance, women exhibited increased self-inhibition in the rThal and reduced modulation to the GP, while better inhibitory performance was linked to more robust communication from the rThal to the rIFG. Interestingly, these communication patterns were not mirrored in a left-lateralized model, highlighting a hemispheric asymmetry. The research indicates that different brain processes might mediate similar behavioral performances in response inhibition across genders, particularly in thalamic loops, with higher response inhibition accuracy associated with stronger information flow from the rThal to the rIFG.
These insights into the brain's inhibitory control mechanisms have significant implications for understanding a range of mental and neurological disorders characterized by response inhibition deficits. The study's findings could guide the development of targeted neuromodulation strategies and personalized interventions to address these deficits, enhancing the treatment and management of such conditions.
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References
DOI
Original Source URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/psyrad/kkad016
Funding information
The National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFA0701400), The National Natural Science Foundation of China (31530032, 91632117, 32200904), The Key Technological Projects of Guangdong Province (2018B030335001).
About Psychoradiology
Psychoradiology is an open-access journal co-published by Oxford University Press and West China Hospital. It has been indexed by DOAJ and the APC is waived during its early stage. We welcome interdisciplinary submissions in the fields of radiology, psychology, psychiatry, neurology and neuroscience, as well as medical imaging, interventional medicine, artificial intelligence, and computer science, etc. A fast-track production mode will be adopted to ensure the manuscript is published as soon as possible.
Location of regions included in the right model and group-level connectivity parameters.
(a) Location of regions included in the right model. The A matrix: intrinsic connectivity across all experimental conditions (b, f). The B matrix: modulatory effect on effective connectivity between regions and self-inhibitions from NoGo (c, g) and Go condition (d, h). The C matrix: Driving inputs in ROI in the NoGo and Go condition (e, i). Values in matrices reflect the connectivity parameters.
CREDIT
Psychoradiology
JOURNAL
Psychoradiology
SUBJECT OF RESEARCH
Not applicable
ARTICLE TITLE
The right inferior frontal gyrus as pivotal node and effective regulator of the basal ganglia-thalamocortical response inhibition circuit
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