Pichon Swann, Garibotto Valentina, Wissmeyer Michael, Seimbille Yann, Antico Lia, Ratib Osman, Vuilleumier Patrik, Haller Sven, Picard Fabienne
Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Distance Learning University, Brig, Switzerland; Geneva School of Health Sciences, HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland, Geneva, Switzerland.
Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Division, Department of Medical Imaging, University Hospitals of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Faculty of Medicine, Geneva University, Geneva, Switzerland.
Neuroimage. 2020 Jul 1;214:116729. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116729. Epub 2020 Mar 9.
Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are widely distributed in the human brain and play an important role in the neuromodulation of brain networks implicated in attentional processes. Previous work in humans showed that heteromeric α4β2 nAChRs are abundant in the cingulo-insular network underlying attentional control. It has been proposed that cholinergic neuromodulation by α4β2 nAChRs is involved in attentional control during demanding tasks, when additional resources are needed to minimize interference from task-irrelevant stimuli and focus on task-relevant stimuli. Here we investigate the link between the availability of α4β2 nAChRs in the cingulo-insular network and behavioral measures of interference control using two versions of the Stroop paradigm, a task known to recruit cingulo-insular areas. We used a previously published PET dataset acquired in 24 non-smoking male subjects in the context of a larger study which investigated the brain distribution of nAChRs in two clinical groups using 2-[(18)F]F-A-85380 PET. We found that higher availability of α4β2 nAChRs in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) predicted better interference control independently of group and age. In line with animal models, our results support the view that the availability of α4β2 nAChRs in the dorsal ACC is linked with more efficient attentional control.
烟碱型乙酰胆碱受体（nAChRs）广泛分布于人类大脑中，并在涉及注意力过程的脑网络神经调节中发挥重要作用。先前对人类的研究表明，异聚体α4β2 nAChRs在注意力控制所依赖的扣带回 - 脑岛网络中大量存在。有人提出，在需要额外资源以最小化来自任务无关刺激的干扰并专注于任务相关刺激的高要求任务期间，α4β2 nAChRs的胆碱能神经调节参与了注意力控制。在此，我们使用两种版本的Stroop范式（一种已知会激活扣带回 - 脑岛区域的任务）来研究扣带回 - 脑岛网络中α4β2 nAChRs的可用性与干扰控制行为指标之间的联系。我们使用了先前在一项更大规模研究中获取的PET数据集，该研究在24名非吸烟男性受试者中使用2 - [（18）F]F - A - 85380 PET研究了两个临床组中nAChRs的脑部分布。我们发现，背侧前扣带回皮质（ACC）中α4β2 nAChRs的可用性较高，预示着与组和年龄无关的更好的干扰控制。与动物模型一致，我们的结果支持这样一种观点，即背侧ACC中α4β2 nAChRs的可用性与更有效的注意力控制有关。
