Relationship between functional connectivity between the ventral striatum and right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and individual differences in goal-engagement dimensions of impulsive sensation seeking

Publication date: Available online 21 December 2018

Source: Cortex

Author(s): Henry W. Chase, Simona Graur, Jay C. Fournier, Michele Bertocci, Tsafrir Greenberg, Haris Aslam, Richelle Stiffler, Jeanette Lockovich, Genna Bebko, Satish Iyengar, Mary L. Phillips

Abstract

Impulsive sensation seeking (ISS) is a multifaceted construct, related to psychiatric disorders such as substance abuse and bipolar disorder, and is characterized by a tendency towards rash, risky or impatient decisions. However, another aspect of this construct relates to striving for rewards or goals, which may be beneficial to the individual. In the present work, we explored the multivariate relationships between ISS and the resting state functional connectivity of the ventral striatum with the rest of the brain in groups of distressed young adults and healthy controls. We employed a hybrid analytical pipeline including Independent Components Analysis (ICA) to derive networks reflecting whole brain connectivity patterns, followed by Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression to identify components which explained a significant proportion of shared brain/behavior variability. The key observation was that functional connectivity between the ventral striatum and the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex was positively associated with a component which may reflect goal-directed motivation. The findings require replication and suggest potential directions for future experimentation. In particular, we propose a model in which the identified circuit plays a critical role in the contextual optimization of goal-directed behavior, and we offer potential strategies to evaluate such a model empirically.

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