PMID- 34974523
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20220517
LR  - 20220919
IS  - 1476-5578 (Electronic)
IS  - 1359-4184 (Print)
IS  - 1359-4184 (Linking)
VI  - 27
IP  - 3
DP  - 2022 Mar
TI  - A thalamo-centric neural signature for restructuring negative self-beliefs.
PG  - 1611-1617
LID - 10.1038/s41380-021-01402-9 [doi]
AB  - Negative self-beliefs are a core feature of psychopathology. Despite this, we 
      have a limited understanding of the brain mechanisms by which negative 
      self-beliefs are cognitively restructured. Using a novel paradigm, we had 
      participants use Socratic questioning techniques to restructure negative beliefs 
      during ultra-high resolution 7-Tesla functional magnetic resonance imaging (UHF 
      7 T fMRI) scanning. Cognitive restructuring elicited prominent activation in a 
      fronto-striato-thalamic circuit, including the mediodorsal thalamus (MD), a group 
      of deep subcortical nuclei believed to synchronize and integrate prefrontal 
      cortex activity, but which has seldom been directly examined with fMRI due to its 
      small size. Increased activity was also identified in the medial prefrontal 
      cortex (MPFC), a region consistently activated by internally focused mental 
      processing, as well as in lateral prefrontal regions associated with regulating 
      emotional reactivity. Using Dynamic Causal Modelling (DCM), evidence was found to 
      support the MD as having a strong excitatory effect on the activity of regions 
      within the broader network mediating cognitive restructuring. Moreover, the 
      degree to which participants modulated MPFC-to-MD effective connectivity during 
      cognitive restructuring predicted their individual tendency to engage in 
      repetitive negative thinking. Our findings represent a major shift from a 
      cortico-centric framework of cognition and provide important mechanistic insights 
      into how the MD facilitates key processes in cognitive interventions for common 
      psychiatric disorders. In addition to relaying integrative information across 
      basal ganglia and the cortex, we propose a multifaceted role for the MD whose 
      broad excitatory pathways act to increase synchrony between cortical regions to 
      sustain complex mental representations, including the self.
CI  - (c) 2021. The Author(s).
FAU - Steward, Trevor
AU  - Steward T
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-3116-8175
AD  - Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of 
      Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia. trevor.steward@unimelb.edu.au.
AD  - Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, 
      VIC, Australia. trevor.steward@unimelb.edu.au.
FAU - Kung, Po-Han
AU  - Kung PH
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-4583-8993
AD  - Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of 
      Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
AD  - Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, 
      VIC, Australia.
FAU - Davey, Christopher G
AU  - Davey CG
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-1431-3852
AD  - Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of 
      Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
FAU - Moffat, Bradford A
AU  - Moffat BA
AD  - The Melbourne Brain Centre Imaging Unit, Department of Medicine and Radiology, 
      The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
FAU - Glarin, Rebecca K
AU  - Glarin RK
AD  - The Melbourne Brain Centre Imaging Unit, Department of Medicine and Radiology, 
      The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
FAU - Jamieson, Alec J
AU  - Jamieson AJ
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-5598-0240
AD  - Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of 
      Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
FAU - Felmingham, Kim L
AU  - Felmingham KL
AD  - Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, 
      VIC, Australia.
FAU - Harrison, Ben J
AU  - Harrison BJ
AD  - Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of 
      Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20220101
PL  - England
TA  - Mol Psychiatry
JT  - Molecular psychiatry
JID - 9607835
SB  - IM
MH  - Basal Ganglia
MH  - Cognition/physiology
MH  - Humans
MH  - Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods
MH  - Neural Pathways
MH  - *Prefrontal Cortex
MH  - *Thalamus
PMC - PMC9095461
COIS- The authors declare no competing interests.
EDAT- 2022/01/03 06:00
MHDA- 2022/05/18 06:00
PMCR- 2022/01/01
CRDT- 2022/01/02 20:40
PHST- 2021/06/24 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2021/11/24 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2021/11/13 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2022/01/03 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2022/05/18 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2022/01/02 20:40 [entrez]
PHST- 2022/01/01 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 10.1038/s41380-021-01402-9 [pii]
AID - 1402 [pii]
AID - 10.1038/s41380-021-01402-9 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Mol Psychiatry. 2022 Mar;27(3):1611-1617. doi: 10.1038/s41380-021-01402-9. Epub 
      2022 Jan 1.