The Human Nucleus Accumbens: Where Is It? A Stereotactic, Anatomical and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Neto, Lia Lucas; Oliveira, Edson; Correia, Francisco; Gonçalves-Ferreira, António

doi:10.1111/j.1525-1403.2007.00138.x

Cited by 90 publications

(139 citation statements)

References 35 publications

(50 reference statements)

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“…For the ventral striatum ROIs, centre coordinates were obtained from a recent study [Neto et al, 2008; left ventral striatum: MNI x¼ À9 y¼9 z¼ À8; right ventral striatum: MNI x¼ 9 y¼8…”

Section: Region Of Interest (Roi)mentioning

confidence: 99%

The left hemisphere learns what is right: Hemispatial reward learning depends on reinforcement learning processes in the contralateral hemisphere

2016

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a b s t r a c tOrienting biases refer to consistent, trait-like direction of attention or locomotion toward one side of space. Recent studies suggest that such hemispatial biases may determine how well people memorize information presented in the left or right hemifield. Moreover, lesion studies indicate that learning rewarded stimuli in one hemispace depends on the integrity of the contralateral striatum. However, the exact neural and computational mechanisms underlying the influence of individual orienting biases on reward learning remain unclear. Because reward-based behavioural adaptation depends on the dopaminergic system and prediction error (PE) encoding in the ventral striatum, we hypothesized that hemispheric asymmetries in dopamine (DA) function may determine individual spatial biases in reward learning. To test this prediction, we acquired fMRI in 33 healthy human participants while they performed a lateralized reward task. Learning differences between hemispaces were assessed by presenting stimuli, assigned to different reward probabilities, to the left or right of central fixation, i.e. presented in the left or right visual hemifield. Hemispheric differences in DA function were estimated through differential fMRI responses to positive vs. negative feedback in the left vs. right ventral striatum, and a computational approach was used to identify the neural correlates of PEs. Our results show that spatial biases favoring reward learning in the right (vs. left) hemifield were associated with increased reward responses in the left hemisphere and relatively better neural encoding of PEs for stimuli presented in the right (vs. left) hemifield. These findings demonstrate that trait-like spatial biases implicate hemispherespecific learning mechanisms, with individual differences between hemispheres contributing to reinforcing spatial biases.

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Section: Region Of Interest (Roi)mentioning

confidence: 99%

The left hemisphere learns what is right: Hemispatial reward learning depends on reinforcement learning processes in the contralateral hemisphere

2016

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“…28 The NAC occupies a strategic location. It receives input from the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and limbic structures, such as the hippocampus and amygdala, and sends output to motor control regions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Nucleus Accumbens as a Potential Target for Central Poststroke Pain

Mallory

Abulseoud

Hwang

et al. 2012

Mayo Clinic Proceedings

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Although deep brain stimulation (DBS) has been found to be efficacious for some chronic pain syndromes, its usefulness in patients with central poststroke pain (CPSP) has been disappointing. The most common DBS targets for pain are the periventricular gray region (PVG) and the ventralis caudalis of the thalamus. Despite the limited success of DBS for CPSP, few alternative targets have been explored. The nucleus accumbens (NAC), a limbic structure within the ventral striatum that is involved in reward and pain processing, has emerged as an effective target for psychiatric disease. There is also evidence that it may be an effective target for pain. We describe a 72-year-old woman with a large right hemisphere infarct who subsequently experienced refractory left hemibody pain. She underwent placement of 3 electrodes in the right PVG, ventralis caudalis of the thalamus, and NAC. Individual stimulation of the NAC and PVG provided substantial improvement in pain rating. The patient underwent implantation of permanent electrodes in both targets, and combined stimulation has provided sustained pain relief at nearly 1 year after the procedure. These results suggest that the NAC may be an effective DBS target for CPSP.

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“…The NAc serves as a limbic-motor interface (Floresco, 2015). The shell is more related to the limbic system and the core to the extrapyramidal motor system (Neto, Oliveira, Correia, & Ferreira, 2008). Medium spiny neurons, which constitute >90% of the NAc neurons, are characterized by the combined innervations by glutamatergic afferents from the amygdala, frontal cortex, and hippocampus, and dopaminergic afferents from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) (Russo & Nestler, 2013).…”

Section: T a B L Ementioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying absolute glutamate concentrations in nucleus accumbens of prescription opioid addicts by using ¹H MRS

Liu

et al. 2017

Brain and Behavior

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Introduction The diagnosis of psychoactive substance use disorders has been based primarily on descriptive, symptomatic checklist criteria. In opioid addiction, there are no objective biological indicators specific enough to guide diagnosis, monitor disease status, and evaluate efficacy of therapeutic interventions. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 1 H MRS) of the brain has potential to identify and quantify biomarkers for the diagnosis of opioid dependence. The purpose of this study was to detect the absolute glutamate concentration in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) of patients with prescription opioid dependence using 1 H MRS, and to analyze its clinical associations. Methods Twenty patients with clinically diagnosed definitive prescription opioid dependent (mean age = 26.5 ± 4.3 years) and 20 matched healthy controls (mean age = 26.1 ± 3.8 years) participated in this study. Patients were evaluated with the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS‐11), the Self‐Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and the opiate Addiction Severity Inventory (ASI). We used point‐resolved spectroscopy to quantify the absolute concentrations of metabolites (glutamate, choline, N ‐acetylaspartate, glutamine, creatine) within the NAc. The difference between metabolite levels of groups and Pearson's correlation between glutamate levels and psychometric scores in patients were analyzed statistically. Results Glutamate concentrations in the NAc were significantly higher in prescription opiate addicts than in controls ( t = 3.84, p = .001). None of the other metabolites differed significantly between the two groups (all p s > .05). The glutamate concentrations correlated positively with BIS‐11 scores in prescription opiate addicts ( r = .671, p = .001), but not with SAS score and ASI index. Conclusions Glutamate levels in the NAc measured quantitatively with in vivo 1 H MRS could be used as a biomarker to evaluate disease condition in opioid‐dependent patients.

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The Human Nucleus Accumbens: Where Is It? A Stereotactic, Anatomical and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Cited by 90 publications

References 35 publications

The left hemisphere learns what is right: Hemispatial reward learning depends on reinforcement learning processes in the contralateral hemisphere

The left hemisphere learns what is right: Hemispatial reward learning depends on reinforcement learning processes in the contralateral hemisphere

The Nucleus Accumbens as a Potential Target for Central Poststroke Pain

Quantifying absolute glutamate concentrations in nucleus accumbens of prescription opioid addicts by using ¹H MRS

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The Human Nucleus Accumbens: Where Is It? A Stereotactic, Anatomical and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Cited by 90 publications

References 35 publications

The left hemisphere learns what is right: Hemispatial reward learning depends on reinforcement learning processes in the contralateral hemisphere

The left hemisphere learns what is right: Hemispatial reward learning depends on reinforcement learning processes in the contralateral hemisphere

The Nucleus Accumbens as a Potential Target for Central Poststroke Pain

Quantifying absolute glutamate concentrations in nucleus accumbens of prescription opioid addicts by using 1H MRS

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Quantifying absolute glutamate concentrations in nucleus accumbens of prescription opioid addicts by using ¹H MRS