Common default mode network dysfunction across psychopathologies: A neuroimaging meta-analysis of the n-back working memory paradigm

Abstract

41The National Institute of Mental Health's (NIMH) Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) classifies 42 disorders based on shared aspects of behavioral and neurobiological dysfunction. One common 43 behavioral deficit observed in various psychopathologies, namely ADHD, addiction, bipolar 44 disorder, depression, and schizophrenia, is a deficit in working memory performance. However, 45 it is not known to what extent, if any, these disorders share common neurobiological 46abnormalities that contribute to decrements in performance. The goal of the present study was to 47 for DSM-diagnosed individuals compared to healthy controls. Foci from ADHD, addiction, 56 bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and major depression studies contributed to the formation of this 57 cluster. These results provide evidence that default-mode intrusion may constitute a shared seed 58 of dysregulation across multiple psychopathologies, ultimately resulting in poorer working 59 memory performance. (WORD COUNT: 224) 60Keywords: n-back task, meta-analysis, working memory, psychopathology, ADHD, 61 addiction, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia 62 63 64 neuroimaging studies, namely low statistical power, high false positive rates, and potential for 88 software errors (15). 89The goal of the present study was to examine the convergence and/or divergence of 90 functional neuroimaging findings as it relates to working memory-related load across 91 psychopathologies, namely, ADHD, schizophrenia, addiction, depression, and bipolar disorder. 92We chose to examine working memory-related load across various permutations of the n-back 93 task, which has been extensively validated as a probe for our psychological construct of interest 94 (16). First, we aggregated all peer-reviewed publications meeting our search criteria. All papers 95 had to include contrasts with patients having a DSM diagnosis of interest. Exceptions were made 96 for the 'Addiction' contrast to include illicit substance use more broadly, due to the lack of a 97 pervasive application of DSM criteria in this case. Imaging analyses furthermore had to include a 98 minimum n-back contrast of 2-back > rest. That is, a 2-back (or 3-back) > rest contrast was 99 acceptable for our purposes, but not 1-back > rest, 1-back > 0-back, or 3-back with no baseline. 100Second, we extracted coordinates from all articles reporting within-group contrasts as well as 101 between-group contrasts (e.g., controls > bipolar disorder). Third, we ran each contrast in the 102 GingerALE software to create thresholded ALE images. We examined convergence within 103 psychopathologies to characterize the working memory-related activation patterns specific to 104 each disease. We then examined convergence between psychopathologies to identify regions that 105 showed either shared or unique contributions to the neurobiological differences related to 106 working memory performance. 107

Multimethod investigation of the neurobiological basis of ADHD symptomatology in children aged 9-10: baseline data from the ABCD study

“…The features used by the best EN-Back models suggest that as ADHD symptomatology increases, activation in task positive regions (DLPFC, PPC, and caudal ACC) decreases and activation in task negative regions (VMPFC, posterior cingulate cortex, lateral temporal cortex, precentral, and postcentral gyri) increases. This is highly consistent with the existing literature, which has shown that during working memory tasks, individuals with ADHD show reduced activation in task positive regions 8,38,39 and increased activation in task negative regions 40 . The CSA features identified by the best sMRI model overlapped considerably with those in the EN-Back models; ADHD symptomatology was predicted by less CSA in the DLPFC, caudal ACC, and lateral temporal cortex.…”

“…Even without accounting for sociodemographic factors, the best models for SST and MID were not effective at predicting ADHD symptomatology. Based on literature demonstrating individuals with ADHD symptomatology show poorer performance and different neural activation for working memory 38 , inhibitory control 9,11 , and reward processing 10 , we were surprised to see only working memory activation was able to predict ADHD symptomatology.…”

Multimethod Investigation of the Neurobiological Basis of ADHD Symptomatology in Children Aged 9-10: Baseline Data from the ABCD Study

“…The features used by the best EN-Back models suggest that as ADHD symptomatology increases, activation in task positive regions (DLPFC, PPC, caudal ACC) decreases and activation in task negative regions (VMPFC, posterior cingulate cortex, lateral temporal cortex, precentral and postcentral gyri) increases. This is highly consistent with the existing literature, which has shown that during working memory tasks, individuals with ADHD show reduced activation in task positive regions 8,38,39 and increased activation in task negative regions 40 .…”

“…Even without accounting for sociodemographic factors, the best models for SST and MID were not effective at predicting ADHD symptomatology. Based on literature demonstrating individuals with ADHD symptomatology show poorer performance and different neural activation for working memory 38 , inhibitory control 9,11 , and reward processing 10 , we were surprised to see only working memory activation was able to predict ADHD symptomatology.…”

Cognitive and Socio-emotional Correlates of Psychological Well-being and Mental Health in Guatemalan Adults 

“…Research has shown that people show better executive function capacities when they feel happy, socially supported, and healthy (53). Conversely, de cits in executive function have been associated with depression, and various psychopathologies (54). Our ndings suggest that in this population of Guatemalan adults executive function had little if any association with psychological wellbeing and mental health constructs.…”