Artifacts in fMRI data, primarily those related to motion and physiological sources, negatively impact the functional signal-to-noise ratio in fMRI studies, even after conventional fMRI preprocessing. Independent component analysis’ demonstrated capacity to separate sources of neural signal, structured noise, and random noise into separate components might be utilized in improved procedures to remove artifacts from fMRI data. Such procedures require a method for labeling independent components (ICs) as representing artifacts to be removed or neural signals of interest to be spared. Visual inspection is often considered an accurate method for such labeling as well as a standard to which automated labeling methods are compared. However, detailed descriptions of methods for visual inspection of ICs are lacking in the literature. Here we describe the details of, and the rationale for, an operationalized fMRI data denoising procedure that involves visual inspection of ICs (96% inter-rater agreement). We estimate that dozens of subjects/sessions can be processed within a few hours using the described method of visual inspection. Our hope is that continued scientific discussion of and testing of visual inspection methods will lead to the development of improved, cost-effective fMRI denoising procedures.

Background Although cocaine dependence involves abnormalities in drug-related reward-based decision-making, it is not well understood whether these abnormalities generalize to non-drug-related cues and rewards, and how neural functions underlying reward processing in cocaine abusers relate to treatment outcome. Methods Twenty cocaine dependent (CD) patients before treatment and 20 matched healthy control (HC) subjects participated in fMRI while performing a Monetary Incentive Delay Task (MIDT). Outcomes through eight weeks were assessed via percent cocaine-negative urine toxicology, self-reported cocaine abstinence, and treatment retention. Results Amongst the whole sample, anticipation of working for monetary reward (i.e., reward anticipation) was associated with activation in the ventral striatum (VS), medial frontal gyrus, thalamus, right subcallosal gyrus, right insula, and left amygdala. CD as compared with HC participants exhibited greater activation during notification of rewarding outcome (i.e., reward receipt) in left and right VS, right caudate, and right insula. In CD participants during reward anticipation, activation in left and right thalamus and right caudate correlated negatively with percent cocaine-negative urine toxicology, activation in thalamus bilaterally correlated negatively with self-reported abstinence measures, and activation in left amygdala and parahippocampal gyrus correlated negatively with treatment retention. During reward notification, activation in right thalamus, right VS and left culmen correlated negatively with abstinence and with urine toxicology. Conclusions These findings suggest that in treatment-seeking CD participants, cortico-limbic reward circuitry is relatively over-activated during MIDT performance and specific regional activations related to reward processing may predict aspects of treatment outcome and represent important targets for treatment development in CD.

Temporal correlates of the brain circuit underlying reward processing in healthy adults remain unclear. The current study investigated the P3 and contingent negative variation (CNV) as putative reward-related temporal markers. The effect of sustained monetary reward on these event-related potentials and on behavior was assessed using a warned reaction-time paradigm in 16 young healthy subjects. Monetary reward (0, 1 and 45 cents) varied across blocks of trials. While the CNV was unaffected by money, P3 amplitude was significantly larger for 45 than the 1 and 0 cent conditions. This effect corresponded to the monotonically positive subjective ratings of interest and excitement on the task (45>1>0). These findings suggest a difference between the P3 and CNV; the P3 is sensitive to the sustained effect of relative reward value while the CNV does not vary with reward magnitude. DESCRIPTOR TERMS

Stress and alcohol context cues are each associated with alcohol-related behaviors, yet neural responses underlying these processes remain unclear. The present study investigated the neural correlates of stress and alcohol context cue experiences and examined sex differences in these responses. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, brain responses were examined while 43 right-handed, socially drinking, healthy individuals (23 females) engaged in brief guided imagery of personalized stress, alcohol-cue and neutral-relaxing scenarios. Stress and alcohol-cue exposure increased activity in the cortico-limbic-striatal circuit (p<.01, corrected), encompassing the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), left anterior insula, striatum and visuomotor regions (parietal and occipital lobe, and cerebellum). Activity in the right dorsal striatum increased during stress, while bilateral ventral striatum activity was evident during alcohol-cue exposure. Men displayed greater stress-related activations in the mPFC, rostral ACC, posterior insula, amygdala and hippocampus than women, whereas women showed greater alcohol-cue related activity in the superior and middle frontal gyrus (SFG/MFG) than men. Stress-induced anxiety was positively associated with activity in emotion modulation regions, including the medial OFC, ventromedial PFC, left superior-medial PFC and rostral ACC in men, but in women with activation in the SFG/MFG, regions involved in cognitive processing. Alcohol craving was significantly associated with the striatum (encompassing dorsal and ventral) in men, supporting its involvement in alcohol ‘urge’ in healthy men. These results indicate sex differences in neural processing of stress and alcohol-cue experiences, and have implications for sex-specific vulnerabilities to stress- and alcohol-related psychiatric disorders.