Functional Neuroanatomy of Grief: An fMRI Study

Gündel, Harald; O’Connor, Mary Frances; Littrell, Lindsey D.; Fort, Carolyn; Lane, Richard D.

doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.160.11.1946

Cited by 249 publications

(187 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…If one group showed significant activation in a region (p< .005, 10 voxels), we reported the activation from that same coordinate in the other group (Table 1). Each group showed significant activity in pain-related regions (dACC, insula, PAG) in the comparisons of the deceased vs. stranger pictures and grief vs. neutral words (Table 1), as has been previously shown in NCG (Gündel et al, 2003). The only activity in pain-related regions that differed between groups was in the left insula (x=−34, y=14, z=18), which was more active in the NCG group during the viewing of grief-related vs. neutral words (t=4.20, p<0.001, 87 voxels).…”

Section: Pain Network Activationsupporting

confidence: 74%

“…These photos and words were made into 60 composites (Figure 1), each consisting of one picture (deceased or stranger) and one word (grief-related or neutral). Empirical support for the grief-eliciting task has been shown previously using both skin conductance methodology and participants' subjective reports (Gündel, O'Connor, Littrell, Fort, & Lane, 2003). Participants viewed composites through goggles in randomized order.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 92%

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Craving love? Enduring grief activates brain's reward center

et al. 2008

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Complicated grief (CG) occurs when an individual experiences prolonged, unabated grief. The neural mechanisms distinguishing CG from noncomplicated grief (NCG) are unclear, but hypothesized mechanisms include both pain-related activity (related to the social pain of loss) and reward-related activity (related to attachment behavior). Bereaved women (11 CG, 12 NCG) participated in an eventrelated functional magnetic resonance imaging scan, during grief elicitation with idiographic stimuli. Analyses revealed that whereas both CG and NCG participants showed pain-related neural activity in response to reminders of the deceased, only those with CG showed reward-related activity in the nucleus accumbens (NA). This NA cluster was positively correlated with self-reported yearning, but not with time since death, participant age, or positive/negative affect. This study supports the hypothesis that attachment activates reward pathways. For those with CG, reminders of the deceased still activate neural reward activity, which may interfere with adapting to the loss in the present.

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Section: Pain Network Activationsupporting

confidence: 74%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 92%

Craving love? Enduring grief activates brain's reward center

et al. 2008

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“…The rating was completed following scanning so that it did not contaminate emotional experience or its neural substrates. As reported in Gündel et al (2003), the four conditions differed in subjective ratings of grief and skin conductance responses (po0.05), suggesting that the different conditions reliably elicited distinct levels of grief.…”

Section: Task Design and Stimulisupporting

confidence: 51%

“…We have previously used personalized stimuli in eliciting grief in the imaging environment (Gündel et al, 2003). To expand the understanding of the CNS-ANS relationship, the present study investigated the association between the regional brain activity during the evocation of grief in these participants and unpublished data on their baseline parasympathetic activity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Baseline Vagal Tone Predicts BOLD Response during Elicitation of Grief

O’Connor¹,

Gündel

McRae

et al. 2007

Neuropsychopharmacol

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Previous studies of the relationship between autonomic and central nervous system activity using fMRI have primarily utilized cognitive, motor or conditioning tasks. The present study investigated the association between the regional brain activity during the evocation of grief and baseline parasympathetic activity. Eight right-handed women who had experienced the death of a loved one in the past 18 months were scanned during the presentation of personalized pictures and words that evoked grief and had a measure of baseline parasympathetic activity taken. Greater posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) activity was associated with lower parasympathetic activity (eg more arousal). Connectivity has been demonstrated between the ventral PCC (vPCC) and the subgenual ACC (sACC), which then projects to the autonomic nuclei. In the present study, functional connectivity analysis revealed a positive correlation between vPCC and sACC/orbitofrontal cortical activity. Additionally, bilateral cuneus and parahippocampus were associated with higher baseline parasympathetic tone, important to visual perception in emotional processing and episodic memory respectively. Future studies should compare differences between central and peripheral arousal in complicated and non-complicated grief.

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“…Previous studies have also reported altered activity in the cerebellum and posterior inferior temporal cortex bilaterally with grief or sad mood provocation in healthy and depressed subjects (Gundel et al, 2003;Liotti et al, 2002), suggesting that these regions form part of the ventral neural system mentioned above. The increases seen in occipital and superior cerebellar rCBF independent of mood change may suggest that the posterior (visuospatial) attentional system may also be affected by RTD.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Anterior Cingulate and Subgenual Prefrontal Blood Flow Changes Following Tryptophan Depletion in Healthy Males

Talbot

Cooper

2006

Neuropsychopharmacol

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In healthy humans, there is an apparent dissociation between cognitive and affective consequences of reduced brain serotonin (5-HT), as rapid tryptophan depletion (RTD) causes alterations in a consistent constellation of cognitive processes in the general absence of mood deterioration. This study aimed to investigate possible neural mechanisms underlying this relative dissociation by measuring the effects of reduced 5-HT on regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). A total of 16 healthy, euthymic male subjects (mean age 3979 years) without a personal or family history of affective disorder had mood ratings and single photon emission computed tomography scans with the rCBF tracer 99m Tc-HMPAO under reduced 5-HT (RTD) and control conditions. Across individuals, modest positive and negative changes in subjective happiness associated with RTD were significantly correlated with change of rCBF in a cluster comprising subgenual (affective) anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and associated regions (Brodmann's area (BA) 25, posterior BA11 and 47, caudate nucleus and ventral striatum; SPM99 po0.05, corrected). The covariation was such that increasing sadness was associated with increased rCBF and vice versa. Independent of mood change, RTD was associated with reduced rCBF in the dorsal (cognitive) ACC (BA32; SPM99 po0.05, corrected). The subgenual prefrontal cortex and dorsal ACC are important components of the ventral and dorsal neural systems that regulate and integrate affective and cognitive functions. The results therefore suggest that the dissociation between affective and cognitive consequences of RTD may possibly be attributable to differential effects of reduced 5-HT on these neural systems.

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Functional Neuroanatomy of Grief: An fMRI Study

Cited by 249 publications

References 30 publications

Craving love? Enduring grief activates brain's reward center

Craving love? Enduring grief activates brain's reward center

Baseline Vagal Tone Predicts BOLD Response during Elicitation of Grief

Anterior Cingulate and Subgenual Prefrontal Blood Flow Changes Following Tryptophan Depletion in Healthy Males

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