Neurology
January 13, 2011
Jeffrey R. Petrella, Forrest Sheldon, Steven E. Prince et al.
291 citations
Default mode network (DMN) connectivity, measured by fMRI during a face-name memory task, distinguishes people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) who later develop Alzheimer disease (AD) from those who remain stable over 2 to 3 years. In a cohort of 68 subjects (25 normal controls, 31 MCI, 12 AD), DMN connectivity goodness-of-fit indices were highest in controls, intermediate in MCI, and lowest in AD. Among MCI subjects, baseline connectivity correlated with later decline in functional status, but added no predictive value beyond baseline delayed recall scores. The findings suggest different functional brain connectivity patterns for early versus late MCI.
Human Brain Mapping
February 10, 2009
Alexandre R. Franco, Aaron Pritchard, Vince D Calhoun et al.
129 citations
Near perfect agreement was found between human raters selecting the default mode network (DMN) component from resting-state fMRI data, but agreement between human raters and an automated template-matching method was only moderate. The automated method's performance improved significantly when a weighted combination of anterior and posterior cingulate nodes was used. The study involved 42 healthy controls and compared interrater and intermethod reliability for identifying DMN activation, highlighting the need for careful template design in automated component selection.
Addiction Biology
November 22, 2021
Dusan Hirjak, Mike M. Schmitgen, Florian Werler et al.
33 citations
Heavy cannabis use (HCU) is linked to changes in both brain structure and function, even in individuals without a cannabis-use disorder or other major mental illnesses. This study used multimodal MRI to examine grey matter volume and intrinsic neural activity in 24 heavy users and 16 controls. Two distinct brain component patterns differed between groups: one involving the cerebellum, temporal, and thalamic regions (structural), and another involving frontal and parietal regions (functional). These patterns correlated with specific cannabis-use behaviors. Additionally, the structural changes were associated with the serotonergic system, while functional changes were linked to serotonergic, dopaminergic, and μ-opioid receptor systems, offering new insights into the neural mechanisms of heavy cannabis use.
Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science
November 1, 2024
Isaac N Treves, Hilary A Marusak, Alexandra Decker et al.
7 citations
A significant finding reveals that adolescents with higher trait mindfulness experience lower anxiety and depression symptoms. An analysis of 106 adolescents, ages 12 to 15, identified a reliable brain state characterized by hyperconnectivity, showing an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.65. This state, marked by elevated positive connectivity between networks, was positively correlated with self-reported trait mindfulness. While most dynamic brain states were unreliable across scans, this hyperconnected state may reflect enhanced awareness and arousal in those exhibiting higher mindfulness traits.
Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging
April 1, 2025
Saampras Ganesan, Fernando A Barrios, Ishaan Batta et al.
6 citations
Meditation practices, which have shown therapeutic benefits for conditions like depression, pain, addiction, and anxiety, have been studied with neuroimaging over the past decade. However, existing neuroscientific models are based on small, heterogeneous datasets, limiting generalizability and replicability. The ENIGMA-Meditation consortium is the first worldwide collaborative effort to conduct systematic meta- and mega-analyses of globally distributed neuroimaging data using standardized methods. This framework aims to improve statistical power and address multidomain heterogeneity in meditation practice types, experience, and experimental design. The consortium will generate rigorous neuroscientific insights into the mechanisms underlying meditation's therapeutic effects on psychological and cognitive attributes.
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
July 4, 2024
Isaac N Treves, Hilary A Marusak, Alexandra Decker et al.
3 citations
preprint
A highly reliable brain state linked to trait mindfulness was identified in adolescents, highlighting its potential role in mental health. In a study of 106 participants aged 12 to 15, one hyperconnected state showed good reliability (ICC=0.65) and correlated positively with self-reported trait mindfulness. Adolescents exhibiting higher trait mindfulness experienced lower anxiety and depression symptoms. While most dynamic brain states were unreliable across scans, this particular state suggests that increased mindfulness may enhance awareness and arousal, offering insights into adolescent mental well-being.
European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience
May 21, 2024
Zack Y Shan, Adem T. Can, Abdalla Z Mohamed et al.
3 citations
Ketamine treatment for chronic suicidality alters how brain networks synchronize and transition over time. In a 6-week open-label trial with 29 patients, those who received ketamine showed significantly more transitions among whole-brain connectivity states after treatment. At a 10-week follow-up, patients spent more time in and more frequently visited a highly synchronized brain state, and these changes correlated with reduced suicidal ideation scores. Patients who persistently responded to ketamine had a higher baseline fraction of a cognitive control network state with strong connections, suggesting that pre-treatment brain connectivity patterns may help predict who will benefit from ketamine therapy. These findings point to a biological mechanism for ketamine's suicide-prevention effects.
April 8, 2024
Saampras Ganesan, Aki Tsuchiyagaito, Greg J Siegle et al.
2 citations
preprint
Meditation practices, which have been adapted into manualized interventions for conditions like depression, pain, addiction, and anxiety, show therapeutic promise, but their neuroscientific basis remains unclear. Current neuroimaging studies rely on small, heterogeneous datasets that vary in practice types, participant experience, clinical targets, and imaging methods, limiting generalizability and replicability. To address this, the ENIGMA-Meditation consortium was formed as a global collaboration to conduct systematic meta- and mega-analyses of distributed neuroimaging data using standardized methods. This framework aims to improve statistical power and rigorously characterize the neural mechanisms underlying meditation's effects on psychological and cognitive attributes, advancing the field of contemplative neuroscience.
Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging
May 1, 2026
Zachary Anderson, Matthew Gunn, Emily Jones et al.
A moderate oral dose of THC (7.5 mg) reduced resting-state functional connectivity within several brain networks, including corticostriatal circuits and networks involved in sensory processing, interoception, and spatial reasoning, in 33 healthy occasional young adult cannabis users. THC also decreased connectivity between two specific networks: one involving the anterior cingulate cortex and dorsal insula, and another involving the ventral insula and lingual gyrus. These connectivity changes were not related to subjective drug effects or recent cannabis use. The findings indicate that even a single moderate THC dose broadly disrupts intrinsic brain network connectivity.
Imaging Neuroscience
January 1, 2025
Sacha Haudry, Sophie Dautricourt, Julie Gonneaud et al.
An 18-month meditation training in healthy older adults altered resting-state brain dynamics. Participants who meditated showed more frequent transitions between different brain connectivity states and spent less time in a weakly connected state and more time in a strongly connected state, patterns associated with lower and higher dementia risk, respectively. However, only the increase in transitions was significantly different from a non-native language training group. The small effect sizes and lack of group differences for time spent in states limit the conclusions.
iScience
June 19, 2026
Chuang Liang, Wenhao Jiang, Jiayu Chen et al.
A specific pattern of altered connectivity between the default mode network and the insula, detected via unsupervised fusion of functional and structural MRI, was found in 39 people with end-stage renal disease receiving hemodialysis over one year. This pattern was linked to cognitive performance, and its associated genes were enriched in DNA damage repair, energy metabolism, and cellular activation. The baseline pattern predicted future cognition in this group, and similar brain-cognition associations were validated in independent cohorts with major depressive disorder (n=60), mild cognitive impairment (n=291), and Alzheimer's disease (n=77).
Molecular Psychiatry
April 1, 2026
Qiang Li, Jingyu Liu, Godfrey D Pearlson et al.
Psychotic disorders like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder involve disruptions in the brain's information processing. Using resting-state fMRI and information-theoretic metrics, the authors show that the psychotic brain exhibits states of randomness across both spatial and temporal dimensions. They found a disruption in the balance between redundant and synergistic information, termed brainquake, indicating instability and disorganization in brain networks. Aberrant information interactions were observed in cortical and subcortical intrinsic connectivity networks, particularly in sensorimotor, visual, temporal, default mode, and fronto-parietal networks, as well as hippocampal and amygdalar regions. These findings suggest profound alterations in the brain's complexity and organizational states.
Behavioural Brain Research
January 15, 2018
Hilary A Marusak, Farrah Elrahal, Craig A Peters et al.
In children and adolescents aged 6-17, trait mindfulness is linked to dynamic, time-varying patterns of brain connectivity rather than to static connectivity. More mindful youth transitioned more frequently between different brain states, spent less time in a particular connectivity state, and showed reduced connectivity between salience/emotion and central executive networks in one state. The number of state transitions mediated the link between higher mindfulness and lower anxiety, suggesting a neural mechanism for mindfulness benefits on psychological health in youth.