Associating resting-state connectivity with trait impulsivity

Abstract

Psychometric research has identified stable traits that predict inter-individual differences in appetitive motivation and approach behavior. Behavioral Inhibition System/Behavioral Activation System (BIS/BAS) scales have been developed to quantitatively assess these traits. However, neural mechanisms corresponding to the proposed constructs reflected in BIS/BAS are still poorly defined. The ventral striatum (VS) and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) are implicated in subserving reward-related functions that are also associated with the BAS. In this study, we examined whether functional connectivity between these regions predicts components of these scales. We employed resting-state functional connectivity and BIS/BAS scores assessed by a personality questionnaire. Participants completed a resting state run and the Behavioral Inhibition and Activation Systems (BIS/BAS) Questionnaire. Using resting-state BOLD, we assessed correlations between two basal ganglia ROIs (caudate and putamen) and bilateral OFC ROIs, establishing single subject connectivity summary scores. Summary scores were correlated with components of BIS/BAS scores. Results demonstrate a novel correlation between BAS-fun seeking and resting-state connectivity between middle OFC and putamen, implying that spontaneous synchrony between reward-processing regions may play a role in defining personality characteristics related to impulsivity.

Neurobiological correlates of impulsivity in healthy adults: Lower prefrontal gray matter volume and spontaneous eye-blink rate but greater resting-state functional connectivity in basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical circuitry

“…One interpretation of these findings is that more impulsive individuals have a basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical system that is more primed for action at baseline; these individuals may thus have difficulty inhibiting this prepotent urge to act. These findings may be consistent with a recent study finding that self-reported “fun-seeking” as measured by the Behavioral Inhibition and Activation Systems (BIS/BAS) Questionnaire was positively correlated with RSFC between the putamen and middle orbitofrontal cortex (Angelides et al, 2017), though this study also found a negative correlation between self-reported “drive” and RSFC between the caudate and mid-cingulate cortex. The present findings also appear to be consistent with a pharmacological challenge study that found that a decrease in RSFC between the ventral putamen and pregenual cingulate cortex was associated with a decrease in impulsivity on a delay-discounting task (Kayser et al, 2012).…”

“…A few recent studies in healthy adults have also found evidence for relationships between impulsivity and resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC), which measures the degree of correlated neural activity between different brain regions while the brain is at rest and is thought to reflect the strength of functional connections. These studies have examined associations between RSFC and self-reported impulsivity (Angelides et al, 2017), delay discounting (Li et al, 2013), and whether changes in RSFC and impulsivity co-occur in response to pharmacological dopamine challenges (Kayser et al, 2012; Cole et al, 2013). In one such study, up-regulation of dopamine levels via tolcapone resulted in a co-occurrence of decreased RSFC between the ventral putamen and pregenual cingulate cortex and decreased delay-discounting (Kayser et al, 2012).…”

Reward network connectivity “at rest” is associated with reward sensitivity in healthy adults: A resting-state fMRI study

“…This variability in the functioning of these areas could be studied by measuring the functional connectivity (FC) between them using resting-state fMRI. As far as we know, only one previous study investigated the FC between striatal and cortical areas, including the prefrontal and cingulate cortex, based on a BAS measure (Angelides, Gupta, & Vickery, 2017). In this article, the authors reported a positive correlation between BAS-fun seeking and the FC between the middle OFC and the putamen, and a negative correlation between BAS-drive and the rs-FC between the middle cingulate cortex and the caudate.…”

Static and Dynamic Aspects of Cerebro-Cerebellar Functional Connectivity are Associated with Self-reported Measures of Impulsivity: A Resting-State fMRI Study

“…Another study has reported significant associations between basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical FC and BIS-11 motor and non-planning impulsivity in healthy adults (Korponay et al, 2017). In addition, fronto-striatal FC has been observed to be strongly associated with BAS fun-seeking (Angelides et al, 2017). Moreover, significant associations have been observed between the sensitivity to immediate or delayed reward and FC intensity within networks involving the striatum, PCC, medial and lateral prefrontal regions, and the anterior cingulate cortex (Li et al, 2013).…”