The disengaging brain: Dynamic transitions from cognitive engagement and alcoholism risk
Enrico Amico,
Mario Dzemidzic,
Brandon G. Oberlin,
Claire R. Carron,
Jaroslaw Harezlak,
Joaquín Goñi,
David A. Kareken
Affiliations
Enrico Amico
Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience, Purdue University, USA; School of Industrial Engineering, Purdue University, USA
Mario Dzemidzic
Department of Neurology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indiana Alcohol Research Center, USA
Brandon G. Oberlin
Department of Neurology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indiana Alcohol Research Center, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, USA
Claire R. Carron
Department of Neurology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indiana Alcohol Research Center, USA
Jaroslaw Harezlak
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Indiana University, USA
Joaquín Goñi
Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience, Purdue University, USA; School of Industrial Engineering, Purdue University, USA; Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, USA; Corresponding author. Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience, Purdue University, USA.
David A. Kareken
Department of Neurology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indiana Alcohol Research Center, USA; Corresponding author. Indiana Alcohol Research Center, Indiana University, USA.
Human functional brain connectivity is usually measured either at “rest” or during cognitive tasks, ignoring life’s moments of mental transition. We propose a different approach to understanding brain network transitions. We applied a novel independent component analysis of functional connectivity during motor inhibition (stop signal task) and during the continuous transition to an immediately ensuing rest. A functional network reconfiguration process emerged that: (i) was most prominent in those without familial alcoholism risk, (ii) encompassed brain areas engaged by the task, yet (iii) appeared only transiently after task cessation. The pattern was not present in a pre-task rest scan or in the remaining minutes of post-task rest. Finally, this transient network reconfiguration related to a key behavioral trait of addiction risk: reward delay discounting. These novel findings illustrate how dynamic brain functional reconfiguration during normally unstudied periods of cognitive transition might reflect addiction vulnerability, and potentially other forms of brain dysfunction.
