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Neurobiology of Behavior: Influences of Neuropsychiatric Disorders on Neurobiology and Behavior

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A special issue of Biology (ISSN 2079-7737). This special issue belongs to the section "Neuroscience".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 April 2023) | Viewed by 58504

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Michael Fritz

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Guest Editor

Department of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ulm University, 89312 Guenzburg, Germany
Interests: behavioral neuroscience; psychoneuroimmunology; addiction research
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Marc Fakhoury

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Guest Editor

Department of Biological Sciences, Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon
Interests: behavioral neuroscience; psychiatry; mood disorders
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

In this Special Issue, we aim to provide a collection of papers discussing the influences of neuropsychiatric disorders on neurobiology and behavior, with a focus on preclinical research. Key questions addressed include the following: What are the neurobiological mechanisms underlying some psychiatric disorders? How do neuropsychiatric disorders manifest themselves at the behavioral level? Do neuropsychiatric disorders induce neurobiological and behavioral alterations? Can safer and more effective treatments be developed?

This research topic welcomes all types of articles, including original research papers, reviews, and short communications.

Dear Colleagues,

Virtually all psychiatric disorders manifest themselves through deviant behavioral patterns. During the last several decades advances have been made in isolating factors on a cellular, receptor, neuroanatomical and connectivity level that contribute to the manifestation of clinically recognized pathological behavior. However, further gain of knowledge through basic research is essential to understand more aspects of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the behavioral dimension of psychiatric disorders and improve their prediction and treatment options.

In this Special Issue we propose to ask the transdisciplinary questions of how and why do neuropsychiatric disorders manifest themselves on a behavioral level; what are the archetypical molecular mechanisms underlying them; and how can we create safer and more effective treatments through a common, interdisciplinary effort? Hence your expert opinion mixed with a portion of looking-beyond-the-boundaries enthusiasm is needed and can manifest itself in original research articles, reviews, and short communications contributions. Novel, controversial and provocative points of view are most welcome.

The convergence of different viewpoints on neuropsychiatric disorders such as genetic mutations, epigenetics, gene expression, pharmacology, behavioral neuroscience, opto- and chemogenetics, proteomics, immunology, functional imaging, connectivity, and whole-brain metabolism may be essential to extend our knowledge in understanding neuropsychiatric pathology as a whole. Such an approach could be key in creating novel and innovative diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic strategies.

Dr. Michael Fritz
Dr. Marc Fakhoury
Guest Editors

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Keywords

behavior
neurobiology
neurophysiology
genes
imaging
depression
trauma
aggression
addiction
schizophrenia
immunology
opto- and chemogenetics

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Published Papers (14 papers)

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Editorial

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5 pages, 200 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Neurobiology of Behavior—Influences of Neuropsychiatric Disorders on Neurobiology and Behavior

by Marc Fakhoury and Michael Fritz

Biology 2023, 12(6), 807; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology12060807 - 2 Jun 2023

Viewed by 2429

Abstract

The field of neuroscience continues to unravel the mysteries of the human brain and its association with neuropsychiatric disorders [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurobiology of Behavior: Influences of Neuropsychiatric Disorders on Neurobiology and Behavior)

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14 pages, 2141 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Comparative Event-Related Potentials Study between Alcohol Use Disorder, Gambling Disorder and Healthy Control Subjects through a Contextual Go/NoGo Task

by Macha Dubuson, Xavier Noël, Charles Kornreich, Catherine Hanak, Mélanie Saeremans and Salvatore Campanella

Biology 2023, 12(5), 643; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology12050643 - 24 Apr 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1701

Abstract

(1) Background: Inhibitory and rewarding processes that mediate attentional biases to addiction-related cues may slightly differ between patients suffering from alcohol use (AUD) or gambling (GD) disorder. (2) Methods: 23 AUD inpatients, 19 GD patients, and 22 healthy controls performed four separate Go/NoGo tasks, in, respectively, an alcohol, gambling, food, and neutral long-lasting cueing context during the recording of event-related potentials (ERPs). (3) Results: AUD patients showed a poorer inhibitory performance than controls (slower response latencies, lower N2d, and delayed P3d components). In addition, AUD patients showed a preserved inhibitory performance in the alcohol-related context (but a more disrupted one in the food-related context), while GD patients showed a specific inhibitory deficit in the game-related context, both indexed by N2d amplitude modulations. (4) Conclusions: Despite sharing common addiction-related mechanisms, AUD and GD patients showed different patterns of response to (non-)rewarding cues that should be taken into account in the therapeutic context. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurobiology of Behavior: Influences of Neuropsychiatric Disorders on Neurobiology and Behavior)

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15 pages, 1998 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Ingestion of Soybean Sprouts Containing a HASPIN Inhibitor Improves Condition in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s Disease

by Hiromitsu Tanaka, Hiroaki Matsushita, Keizo Tokuhiro, Atsushi Fukunari and Yukio Ando

Biology 2023, 12(2), 320; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology12020320 - 16 Feb 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2280

Abstract

The MATP/tau protein is hyperphosphorylated in Alzheimer’s patients. Therefore, research into the regulation of tau protein phosphorylation is important for understanding Alzheimer’s disease. HASPIN is a serine/threonine kinase that is expressed in various cells. To examine whether HASPIN is involved in the onset of Alzheimer’s disease through tau protein phosphorylation, we investigated the effects of a diet including soybean sprouts rich in the HASPIN inhibitor coumestrol in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease (5xFAD). The results showed that HASPIN was expressed in the hippocampus and phosphorylated tau protein, while the ingestion of soybean sprouts containing coumestrol suppressed the development of spatial cognitive dysfunction in 5xFAD. These results indicate that HASPIN may be one of the target molecules for the repression of tau phosphorylation in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurobiology of Behavior: Influences of Neuropsychiatric Disorders on Neurobiology and Behavior)

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16 pages, 3804 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Neurobiological Signatures of Auditory False Perception and Phantom Perception as a Consequence of Sensory Prediction Errors

by Min-Hee Ahn, Nour Alsabbagh, Hyo-Jeong Lee, Hyung-Jong Kim, Myung-Hun Jung and Sung-Kwang Hong

Biology 2022, 11(10), 1501; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11101501 - 13 Oct 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2196

Abstract

In this study, we hypothesized that top-down sensory prediction error due to peripheral hearing loss might influence sensorimotor integration using the efference copy (EC) signals as functional connections between auditory and motor brain areas. Using neurophysiological methods, we demonstrated that the auditory responses to self-generated sound were not suppressed in a group of patients with tinnitus accompanied by significant hearing impairment and in a schizophrenia group. However, the response was attenuated in a group with tinnitus accompanied by mild hearing impairment, similar to a healthy control group. The bias of attentional networks to self-generated sound was also observed in the subjects with tinnitus with significant hearing impairment compared to those with mild hearing impairment and healthy subjects, but it did not reach the notable disintegration found in those in the schizophrenia group. Even though the present study had significant constraints in that we did not include hearing loss subjects without tinnitus, these results might suggest that auditory deafferentation (hearing loss) may influence sensorimotor integration process using EC signals. However, the impaired sensorimotor integration in subjects with tinnitus with significant hearing impairment may have resulted from aberrant auditory signals due to sensory loss, not fundamental deficits in the reafference system, as the auditory attention network to self-generated sound is relatively well preserved in these subjects. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurobiology of Behavior: Influences of Neuropsychiatric Disorders on Neurobiology and Behavior)

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12 pages, 845 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Methylphenidate Differentially Affects Intrinsic Functional Connectivity of the Salience Network in Adult ADHD Treatment Responders and Non-Responders

by Martin Ulrich, Katharina Heckel, Markus Kölle and Georg Grön

Biology 2022, 11(9), 1320; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11091320 - 6 Sep 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2905

Abstract

Positron emission tomography (PET) studies have shown involvement of the striatum when treating adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with methylphenidate (MPH). Results from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) for the same issue were less unequivocal. Here, a new analytical framework was set up to investigate medication effects using seed-based rs-fMRI analysis to infer brain regions with alterations in intrinsic functional connectivity (IFC) corresponding with ADHD symptom reduction. In a within-subjects study design, 53 stimulant-naïve adult ADHD patients were investigated before and after 6 weeks of MPH treatment, using two major clinical symptom scales and rs-fMRI. The same data were acquired in a sample of 50 age- and sex-matched healthy controls at baseline. A consensual atlas provided seeds for five predefined major resting-state networks. In order to avoid biasing of medication effects due to putative treatment failure, the entire ADHD sample was first categorized into treatment Responders (N = 36) and Non-Responders (N = 17) using machine learning-based classification with the clinical scales as primary data. Imaging data revealed medication effects only in Responders. In that group, IFC of bilateral putamen changed significantly with medication and approached almost normal levels of IFC. Present results align well with results from previous PET studies, with seed-based rs-fMRI as an entirely different neuroimaging method. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurobiology of Behavior: Influences of Neuropsychiatric Disorders on Neurobiology and Behavior)

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14 pages, 1292 KiB

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Comparison of Neural Correlates of Reactive Inhibition in Cocaine, Heroin, and Polydrug Users through a Contextual Go/No-Go Task Using Event-Related Potentials

by Clémence Dousset, Christie Chenut, Hendrik Kajosch, Charles Kornreich and Salvatore Campanella

Biology 2022, 11(7), 1029; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11071029 - 8 Jul 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2199

Abstract

Recent global data indicates a worldwide increase in polydrug use associated with a shift from recreational to productive habits of consumption. Such non-responsible abuse of substances (alcohol, cocaine, heroin, etc.) is likely to lead to addictive disorders that are characterized by various neuropsychopharmacological effects. A main cognitive function involved in the onset and long-term maintenance of addiction is reactive inhibition, i.e., the ability to withhold a prepotent motor dominant response. In the present study, 63 (poly)drug user patients who were undergoing a detoxification program, in addition to 19 healthy controls matched for gender, age, and education, were subjected to a “contextual Go/No-Go task” with concomitant electroencephalography. Stimuli were superimposed on three contextual backgrounds: control (black screen), drug-unrelated (neutral pictures), or drug-related (pictures related to drug consumption). Of these patients, 23 were cocaine users (CU), 21 were heroin users (HU), and 19 were polydrug users (PDU). The main results showed that (1) at the behavioral level, more commission errors occurred with the PDU patients compared to the healthy controls; (2) at the neurophysiological level, specific alterations were found on classical event-related potentials that index reactive inhibition. Indeed, the higher rate of errors in the PDU group was subtended by both reduced amplitude and latency on the ∆N2 component and increased ∆P3 latency compared to controls. These data clearly suggest a more deleterious impact of polydrug use on inhibitory functions. In addition, our results provide evidence of reduced ERN amplitude in cocaine users, suggesting that impaired performance monitoring and error-processing may support impaired awareness, thereby preventing these patients from changing their behaviors. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurobiology of Behavior: Influences of Neuropsychiatric Disorders on Neurobiology and Behavior)

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11 pages, 2888 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Enhanced Anxiety and Olfactory Microglial Activation in Early-Stage Familial Alzheimer’s Disease Mouse Model

by Keerthana Chithanathan, Fang-Ling Xuan, Miriam Ann Hickey and Li Tian

Biology 2022, 11(6), 938; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11060938 - 20 Jun 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2574

Abstract

Anxiety is a known comorbidity and risk factor for conversion to neuroinflammation-mediated dementia in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Here, we investigated if anxiety occurred as an early endophenotype of mutant familial AD (5 × FAD) male mice and the underlying neuroinflammatory mechanisms. We observed that compared to wildtype (WT) littermates, 5 × FAD mice showed enhanced anxiety at as early as 2 months old (mo). Interestingly, these 5 × FAD male mice had concomitantly increased mRNA levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin 1 beta (Il1b) and tumor necrosis factor (Tnf) in the olfactory bulb (OB) but not the frontal cortex (FC). Increased expression of Tnf in the OB was significantly correlated with the anxious behavior in the FAD but not WT mice. Furthermore, we found more prominent microglial activation and morphological changes in the OB of 2 mo 5 × FAD mice, while only microglial ramification was seen in the FC. To understand if neuroinflammatory changes in the FC could occur at a later stage, we studied 5~6 mo male mice and found that Il1b, interleukin 18 (Il18), and Tnf were upregulated in the FC at this older age. Furthermore, we observed that numbers of microglia and macrophage as well as microglial synaptic pruning, as indicated by phagocytosis of presynaptic component of vesicular glutamate transporter-2, were increased in the OB but not the FC of 5~6 mo 5 × FAD mice. Our findings demonstrated the OB as a more sensitive brain region than the cerebral cortex for microglia-mediated neuroinflammation in association with anxiety in FAD mice and supported the notion that the OB can be an early-stage biomarker in AD. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurobiology of Behavior: Influences of Neuropsychiatric Disorders on Neurobiology and Behavior)

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10 pages, 602 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Cohousing Mice and Rats on Stress Levels, and the Attractiveness of Dyadic Social Interaction in C57BL/6J and CD1 Mice as Well as Sprague Dawley Rats

by Gerald Zernig, Hussein Ghareh and Helena Berchtold

Biology 2022, 11(2), 291; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11020291 - 11 Feb 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2724

Abstract

Rats, including those of the Sprague Dawley strain, may kill mice. Because of this muricidal behavior, it is standard practice in many research animal housing facilities to separate mice from rats (i.e., the predators) to minimize stress for the mice. We tested the effect of cohousing on the stress levels of mice from either the C57BL/6J (BL6) or the CD1 strain and Sprague Dawley rats (SD rat) by quantifying their fecal corticosterone and metabolites (FCM) concentration. We also investigated cohousing impacts a behavioral assay, i.e., conditioned place preference for intragenus (i.e., mouse–mouse or rat–rat) dyadic social interaction (DSI CPP) that was shown be sensitive to social factors, especially to handling by humans. We found that the two delivery batches of BL6 mice or SD rats, respectively, had different stress levels at delivery that were statistically significant for the BL6 mice. Even so, the BL6 mice cohoused with rats had significantly increased FCM concentrations, indicative of higher stress levels, as compared to (1) BL6 mice housed alone or (2) BL6 mice at delivery. In contrast to their elevated stress levels, the attractiveness of contextual cues associated with mouse–mouse social interaction (DSI CPP) even increased in rat-cohoused BL6 mice, albeit non-significantly. Thus, cohousing BL6 mice and rats did not impair a behavioral assay in BL6 mice that was proven to be sensitive to handling stress by humans in our laboratory. SD rats cohoused with BL6- or CD1 mice, and CD1 mice cohoused with SD rats, showed DSI CPP that was not different from our previously published data on SD rats and BL6 mice of the Jackson- or NIH substrain obtained in the absence of cohousing. CD1 mice cohoused with rats did not show an increased FCM concentration compared to delivery. Our findings suggest that the effect of cohousing rats and mice under the conditions described above on their stress levels as opposed to their behavior might be less clearcut than generally assumed and might be overriden by conditions that cannot be controlled, i.e., different deliveries. Our findings can help to use research animal housing resources, which are usually limited, more efficiently. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurobiology of Behavior: Influences of Neuropsychiatric Disorders on Neurobiology and Behavior)

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13 pages, 2623 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Systemic Administration of the TLR7/8 Agonist Resiquimod (R848) to Mice Is Associated with Transient, In Vivo-Detectable Brain Swelling

by Natalie May Zahr, Qingyu Zhao, Ryan Goodcase and Adolf Pfefferbaum

Biology 2022, 11(2), 274; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11020274 - 10 Feb 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3342

Abstract

Peripheral administration of the E. coli endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to rats promotes secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and in previous studies was associated with transient enlargement of cortical volumes. Here, resiquimod (R848) was administered to mice to stimulate peripheral immune activation, and the effects on brain volumes and neurometabolites determined. After baseline scans, 24 male, wild-type C57BL mice were triaged into three groups including R848 at low (50 μg) and high (100 μg) doses and saline controls. Animals were scanned again at 3 h and 24 h following treatment. Sickness indices of elevated temperature and body weight loss were observed in all R848 animals. Animals that received 50 μg R848 exhibited decreases in hippocampal N-acetylaspartate and phosphocreatine at the 3 h time point that returned to baseline levels at 24 h. Animals that received the 100 μg R848 dose demonstrated transient, localized, volume expansion (~5%) detectable at 3 h in motor, somatosensory, and olfactory cortices; and pons. A metabolic response evident at the lower dose and a volumetric change at the higher dose suggests a temporal evolution of the effect wherein the neurochemical change is demonstrable earlier than neurostructural change. Transient volume expansion in response to peripheral immune stimulation corresponds with previous results and is consistent with brain swelling that may reflect CNS edema. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurobiology of Behavior: Influences of Neuropsychiatric Disorders on Neurobiology and Behavior)

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18 pages, 3573 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sex Differences in Animal Models of Sodium-Valproate-Induced Autism in Postnatal BALB/c Mice: Whole-Brain Histoarchitecture and 5-HT2A Receptor Biomarker Evidence

by Balaji Gouda, Sukesh Narayan Sinha, Meram Chalamaiah, Validandi Vakdevi, Patangay Shashikala, Bantal Veeresh, Venkata Mullapudi Surekha, Vasudev Kasturi and Naveen Kumar Boiroju

Biology 2022, 11(1), 79; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11010079 - 5 Jan 2022

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 4828

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterised by problems with social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviour. In mice, the 14th postnatal day is believed to correspond to the third trimester of human embryonic development and is considered a vital period for central nervous system development. It has been shown that ASD affects 2 to 3 times more male than female individuals. In the present study, ASD was induced in 14 postnatal day (PND) BALB/c mice using valproic acid (VPA). VPA administration brought about substantial differences in the histoarchitecture of the brain in both male and female mice, linked to behavioural deficits. We observed that both male and female mice showed similar morphological changes in the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and Purkinje cells. We also observed hair loss from PND 17 to 25, which was again similar between male and female mice. However, there were higher rates of change in the cerebral cortex, frontal cortex and temporal lobe and hippocampus in VPA-treated male animals. With respect to the cerebellum, we did not observe any alterations by haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, but detailed morphological observation using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed a higher rate of phenotype changes in VPA-treated male animals. Moreover, 5-HT2A receptor protein levels were upregulated in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus and Purkinje cells in VPA-treated male mice compared with control animals and VPA-treated female mice, as shown by immunohistochemical analysis. Based on all these findings, we conclude that male animals are more susceptible to VPA-induced ASD than females. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurobiology of Behavior: Influences of Neuropsychiatric Disorders on Neurobiology and Behavior)

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23 pages, 1424 KiB

Open AccessReview

Me, Myself and My Insula: An Oasis in the Forefront of Self-Consciousness

by Alice Tisserand, Nathalie Philippi, Anne Botzung and Frédéric Blanc

Biology 2023, 12(4), 599; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology12040599 - 14 Apr 2023

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 7407

Abstract

The insula is a multiconnected brain region that centralizes a wide range of information, from the most internal bodily states, such as interoception, to high-order processes, such as knowledge about oneself. Therefore, the insula would be a core region involved in the self networks. Over the past decades, the question of the self has been extensively explored, highlighting differences in the descriptions of the various components but also similarities in the global structure of the self. Indeed, most of the researchers consider that the self comprises a phenomenological part and a conceptual part, in the present moment or extending over time. However, the anatomical substrates of the self, and more specifically the link between the insula and the self, remain unclear. We conducted a narrative review to better understand the relationship between the insula and the self and how anatomical and functional damages to the insular cortex can impact the self in various conditions. Our work revealed that the insula is involved in the most primitive levels of the present self and could consequently impact the self extended in time, namely autobiographical memory. Across different pathologies, we propose that insular damage could engender a global collapse of the self. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurobiology of Behavior: Influences of Neuropsychiatric Disorders on Neurobiology and Behavior)

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33 pages, 1406 KiB

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Neurobiology of Aggression—Review of Recent Findings and Relationship with Alcohol and Trauma

by Michael Fritz, Sarah-Maria Soravia, Manuela Dudeck, Layal Malli and Marc Fakhoury

Biology 2023, 12(3), 469; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology12030469 - 20 Mar 2023

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 11389

Abstract

Aggression can be conceptualized as any behavior, physical or verbal, that involves attacking another person or animal with the intent of causing harm, pain or injury. Because of its high prevalence worldwide, aggression has remained a central clinical and public safety issue. Aggression can be caused by several risk factors, including biological and psychological, such as genetics and mental health disorders, and socioeconomic such as education, employment, financial status, and neighborhood. Research over the past few decades has also proposed a link between alcohol consumption and aggressive behaviors. Alcohol consumption can escalate aggressive behavior in humans, often leading to domestic violence or serious crimes. Converging lines of evidence have also shown that trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) could have a tremendous impact on behavior associated with both alcohol use problems and violence. However, although the link between trauma, alcohol, and aggression is well documented, the underlying neurobiological mechanisms and their impact on behavior have not been properly discussed. This article provides an overview of recent advances in understanding the translational neurobiological basis of aggression and its intricate links to alcoholism and trauma, focusing on behavior. It does so by shedding light from several perspectives, including in vivo imaging, genes, receptors, and neurotransmitters and their influence on human and animal behavior. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurobiology of Behavior: Influences of Neuropsychiatric Disorders on Neurobiology and Behavior)

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30 pages, 507 KiB

Open AccessReview

Chronic Unpredictable Mild Stress Model of Depression: Possible Sources of Poor Reproducibility and Latent Variables

by Dmitrii D. Markov and Ekaterina V. Novosadova

Biology 2022, 11(11), 1621; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11111621 - 6 Nov 2022

Cited by 30 | Viewed by 6745

Abstract

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the most common mood disorders worldwide. A lack of understanding of the exact neurobiological mechanisms of depression complicates the search for new effective drugs. Animal models are an important tool in the search for new approaches to the treatment of this disorder. All animal models of depression have certain advantages and disadvantages. We often hear that the main drawback of the chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) model of depression is its poor reproducibility, but rarely does anyone try to find the real causes and sources of such poor reproducibility. Analyzing the articles available in the PubMed database, we tried to identify the factors that may be the sources of the poor reproducibility of CUMS. Among such factors, there may be chronic sleep deprivation, painful stressors, social stress, the difference in sex and age of animals, different stress susceptibility of different animal strains, handling quality, habituation to stressful factors, various combinations of physical and psychological stressors in the CUMS protocol, the influence of olfactory and auditory stimuli on animals, as well as the possible influence of various other factors that are rarely taken into account by researchers. We assume that careful inspection of these factors will increase the reproducibility of the CUMS model between laboratories and allow to make the interpretation of the obtained results and their comparison between laboratories to be more adequate. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurobiology of Behavior: Influences of Neuropsychiatric Disorders on Neurobiology and Behavior)

24 pages, 1911 KiB

Open AccessReview

Precision Preventive Medicine of Relapse in Smoking Cessation: Can MRI Inform the Search of Intermediate Phenotypes?

by Yolaine Rabat, Sandra Chanraud, Majd Abdallah, Igor Sibon and Sylvie Berthoz

Biology 2022, 11(1), 35; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11010035 - 27 Dec 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3025

Abstract

Chronic tobacco smoking remains a major health problem worldwide. Numerous smokers wish to quit but most fail, even if they are helped. The possibility of identifying neuro-biomarkers in smokers at high risk of relapse could be of incredible progress toward personalized prevention therapy. Our aim is to provide a scoping review of this research topic in the field of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and to review the studies that investigated if MRI defined markers predicted smoking cessation treatment outcome (abstainers versus relapsers). Based on the available literature, a meta-analysis could not be conducted. We thus provide an overview of the results obtained and take stock of methodological issues that will need to be addressed to pave the way toward precision medicine. Based on the most consistent findings, we discuss the pivotal role of the insula in light of the most recent neurocognitive models of addiction. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurobiology of Behavior: Influences of Neuropsychiatric Disorders on Neurobiology and Behavior)

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