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Alterations in Volume and Intrinsic Resting-State Functional Connectivity Detected at Brain MRI in Individuals with
Saloni Mehta1, Hannah Peterson1, Jean Ye1
1From the Department of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging (S.M., J.A., F.T., C.L., R.T.C., D.S.), Department of Internal Medicine (A.I., H.Y.), Department of Urology (S.L.), Department of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine (I.K.), Department of Psychiatry (S.W.Y., D.T.B.), Child Study Center (S.W.Y., D.T.B., D.S.), Yale Center for Clinical Investigation (C.A.H.), Department of Neurosurgery (R.T.C.), and Department of Statistics & Data Science (D.S.), Yale School of Medicine, 300 Cedar St, New Haven, CT 06519; Department of Health Policy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn (H.P.); Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University, New Haven, Conn (J.Y., S.W.Y., R.T.C., D.S.); Department of Internal Medicine, Roger Williams Medical Center, Providence, RI (G.S.); Yale School of Nursing, New Haven, Conn (S.L., U.N.E., S.J.); Yale University Program of Aging, Yale University, New Haven Conn (S.T.); Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine, Quinnipiac University, Hamden, Conn (A.R.); Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Mass (A.S.G.); Department of Biomedical Engineering, Yale School of Engineering and Applied Science, New Haven, Conn (R.T.C., D.S.); Department of Research, APT Foundation, New Haven, Conn (D.T.B.); School of Nursing, University of Connecticut, Mansfield, Conn (N.S.R.); and Clinical Epidemiology Research Center, VA CT Health Care Center, West Haven, Conn (H.Y.).
Opioid use disorder (OUD) is linked to brain changes, including smaller thalamus and temporal lobe volumes and altered connectivity in key brain regions. These structural and functional alterations overlap in areas dense with opioid receptors.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Addiction Medicine
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Opioid use disorder (OUD) is associated with brain alterations, but prior studies had limitations.
- Previous research suffered from small sample sizes, underrepresentation of females, and single-modality approaches.
- Understanding these brain changes is crucial for developing effective treatments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate structural and functional brain alterations in individuals with OUD.
- Utilized whole-brain, data-driven methods analyzing T1-weighted MRI and resting-state fMRI (rsfMRI).
- Compared individuals with OUD undergoing methadone treatment to healthy controls.
Main Methods:
- Secondary analysis of the Collaboration Linking Opioid Use Disorder and Sleep study.
- Applied tensor-based morphometry for structural MRI and intrinsic connectivity distribution for rsfMRI.
- Employed voxel-wise linear regression for group comparisons and Pearson partial correlations for structure-function relationships.
Main Results:
- Individuals with OUD exhibited smaller volumes in the thalamus and right medial temporal lobe.
- Larger volumes were observed in the brainstem and cerebellum in the OUD group.
- Increased functional connectivity was found in the thalamus, right medial temporal lobe, cerebellum, and brainstem.
- A sex-by-group interaction indicated smaller medial prefrontal cortex volumes in female participants with OUD.
Conclusions:
- Individuals with OUD demonstrate overlapping structural and functional brain alterations.
- These changes are concentrated in brain regions rich in opioid receptors.
- Findings highlight the complex neurobiological impact of OUD.
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