Browsing by Author "Butcher, Tarah J."
Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Brain responses during delay discounting in youth at high-risk for substance use disorders(Elsevier, 2021) Butcher, Tarah J.; Dzemidzic, Mario; Harezlak, Jaroslaw; Hulvershorn, Leslie A.; Oberlin, Brandon G.; Psychiatry, School of MedicineOffspring of parents with substance use disorders (SUD) discount future rewards at a steeper rate on the monetary delay discounting task (DD) than typically developing youth. However, brain activation during DD has yet to be studied in drug naïve youth with a family history (FH) of SUD. Here, we investigate brain activation differences in high-risk youth during DD. We recruited substance naïve youth, aged 11–12, into three groups to compare brain activation during DD: (1) High-risk youth (n = 35) with a FH of SUD and externalizing psychiatric disorders, (2) psychiatric controls (n = 25) who had no FH of SUD, but with equivalent externalizing psychiatric disorders as high-risk youth, and (3) a healthy control group (n = 24) with no FH of SUD and minimal psychopathology. A whole-brain voxel wise analysis of the [Delay > Baseline], [Immediate > Baseline], and [Control > Baseline] contrasts identified functional regions of interest, from which extracted parameter estimates were tested for significant group differences. Relative to control youth, high-risk youth showed stronger activation in the left posterior insula and thalamus when making delayed choices, and stronger activation of the parahippocampal gyrus when making both delayed and control choices (ps < 0.05). Activation in the left posterior insula negatively correlated with both subscales of the Emotion Regulation Checklist, and positively correlated with the Stroop interference effect (ps < 0.05). Our findings suggest possible heritable SUD risk neural markers that distinguish drug naïve high-risk youth from psychiatric and healthy controls.Item Cerebral Blood Flow in the Salience Network of Individuals with Alcohol Use Disorder(Oxford University Press, 2022) Butcher, Tarah J.; Chumin, Evgeny J.; West, John D.; Dzemidzic, Mario; Yoder, Karmen K.; Radiology and Imaging Sciences, School of MedicineAims: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have identified structural and functional differences in salience network nodes of individuals with alcohol use disorders (AUDs) after chronic exposure to alcohol. However, no studies have investigated cerebral blood flow (CBF) in nontreatment-seeking (NTS) individuals with AUD. Methods: In this work, we sought to quantify putative CBF deficits in NTS individuals relative to social drinking (SD) controls and determine if CBF in the salience network is associated with AUD severity. Fifteen NTS (36.5 ± 11.2 years old, 30.0 ± 22.7 drinks/week) and 22 SD (35.6 ± 11.9 years old, 9.1 ± 5.7 drinks/week) underwent pseudocontinuous arterial spin labeling MRI. Results: Compared with social drinkers, NTS individuals had significantly lower CBF in the right and left dorsal anterior insula, and the left ventral anterior and posterior insula. The Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) score showed a significant negative relationship with CBF in the bilateral caudal anterior cingulate cortex. In addition, a significant negative correlation was present between number of standard drinks consumed per week and the left frontal opercular CBF. Conclusion: These results provide evidence that insular CBF is negatively associated with heavy drinking, and that severity of alcohol use is related to CBF deficits in key nodes of the salience network. Longitudinal data are needed to understand if disruptions of CBF in the insula and the salience network are a predisposition for or a consequence of chronic AUD.Item Changes in substance use, recovery, and quality of life during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic(Public Library of Science, 2024-05-22) Lewandowski, Megayn E.; Delawalla, Colette N.; Butcher, Tarah J.; Oberlin, Brandon G.; Psychiatry, School of MedicineBackground: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted lives on a massive scale. While the pandemic appeared to worsen mental health outcomes broadly, its effects on alcohol/substance use and recovery are unclear. Many studies convolved the sociopolitical unrest beginning in May 2020 with the pandemic. We assessed pandemic-related changes in substance use, recovery involvement, and quality of life among US adults at two specified time periods that isolated pandemic effects from potentially confounding sociopolitical factors. Objectives: We tested the following hypotheses: the pandemic and consequent policies (1) increased use of alcohol and illicit substances in active users; (2) increased use of alcohol/substances among people in early recovery; (3) reduced participation in recovery activities among those in early recovery, and that (4) use amount and use events correlated with impulsivity in both groups and that (5) substance use and abstinence correlated with resilience. Methods: We recruited 1,685 participants through Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk). We assessed demographics, quality of life, alcohol/substance use, recovery activities, and measures of impulsivity and resilience at two time points, pre-pandemic and (early) during-pandemic. Only n = 45 (Active Users; males n = 32) and n = 34 (Recovery; males n = 20) passed data quality checks and were included in the primary analyses. Results: Among Active Users, weekly alcohol consumption and days spent using alcohol and illicit substances decreased during the pandemic. Resilience negatively correlated with pandemic-related substance use in early recovering participants. Significant reduction in the quality of life was coincident with a trend of lower recovery activity participation (31% decline) during the pandemic. Conclusions: The reduced alcohol/substance use and participation in recovery activities might be expected from conditions that promote social isolation. The high prevalence of low-quality data from MTurk cautions for careful use of online data sourcing.Item Delay discounting and alcohol consumption correlate with dorsal anterior insula activation during choice in non‐treatment‐seeking heavy drinkers(Wiley, 2022) Halcomb, Meredith; Dzemidzic, Mario; Shen, Yitong I.; Lin, Zikai; Butcher, Tarah J.; Yoder, Karmen K.; Oberlin, Brandon; Radiology and Imaging Sciences, School of MedicineBackground The anterior insular cortex (AIC), a prominent salience network node, integrates interoceptive information and emotional states into decision-making. While AIC activation during delay discounting (DD) in alcohol use disorder (AUD) has been previously reported, the associations between AIC activation, impulsive choice, alcohol consumption, and connectivity remain unknown. We therefore tested AIC brain responses during DD in heavy drinkers and their association with DD performance, alcohol drinking, and task-based connectivity. Methods Twenty-nine heavy drinkers (12 females; 31.5±6.1 years; 40.8±23.4 drinks/week) completed a DD task during functional MRI. Regions activated during delay discounting decision-making were tested for correlations with DD behavior and alcohol drinking. Psychophysiological interaction (PPI) models assessed task-dependent functional connectivity (FC) of activation during choice. Results DD choice activated bilateral anterior insular cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and left precentral gyrus. Right dorsal (d) AIC activation during choice negatively correlated with discounting of delayed rewards and alcohol consumption. PPI analysis revealed FC of right dAIC to both anterior and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)—key nodes in the midline default mode network. Conclusions Greater dAIC involvement in intertemporal choice may confer more adaptive behavior (lower impulsivity and alcohol consumption). Moreover, salience network processes governing discounting may require midline default mode (precuneus/PCC) recruitment. These findings support a key adaptive role for right dAIC in decision-making involving future rewards and risky drinking.