Mapping cortical and subcortical asymmetries in substance dependence: Findings from the ENIGMA Addiction Working Group

Zhipeng Cao; Jonatan Ottino-Gonzalez; Renata B Cupertino; Nathan Schwab; Colin Hoke; Orr Catherine; Janna Cousijn; Alain Dagher; John J Foxe; Anna E Goudriaan; Robert Hester; Kent Hutchison; Chiang-Shan R Li; Edythe D London; Valentina Lorenzetti; Maartje Luijten; Rocio Martin-Santos; Reza Momenan; Martin P Paulus; Lianne Schmaal; Rajita Sinha; Zsuzsika Sjoerds; Nadia Solowij; Dan J Stein; Elliot A Stein; Anne Uhlmann; Ruth J van Holst; Dick J Veltman; Reinout W Wiers; Murat Yücel; Sheng Zhang; Neda Jahanshad; Paul M Thompson; Patricia Conrod; Scott Mackey; Hugh Garavan

doi:10.1111/adb.13010

Mapping cortical and subcortical asymmetries in substance dependence: Findings from the ENIGMA Addiction Working Group

Addict Biol. 2021 Sep;26(5):e13010. doi: 10.1111/adb.13010. Epub 2021 Jan 28.

Authors

Zhipeng Cao¹, Jonatan Ottino-Gonzalez¹, Renata B Cupertino¹, Nathan Schwab¹, Colin Hoke¹, Orr Catherine², Janna Cousijn³, Alain Dagher⁴, John J Foxe⁵, Anna E Goudriaan⁶, Robert Hester⁷, Kent Hutchison⁸, Chiang-Shan R Li⁹, Edythe D London¹⁰, Valentina Lorenzetti¹¹, Maartje Luijten¹², Rocio Martin-Santos¹³, Reza Momenan¹⁴, Martin P Paulus^{15

16}, Lianne Schmaal^{17

18}, Rajita Sinha⁹, Zsuzsika Sjoerds¹⁹, Nadia Solowij²⁰, Dan J Stein²¹, Elliot A Stein²², Anne Uhlmann²³, Ruth J van Holst⁶, Dick J Veltman⁶, Reinout W Wiers²⁴, Murat Yücel²⁵, Sheng Zhang⁹, Neda Jahanshad²⁶, Paul M Thompson²⁷, Patricia Conrod²⁸, Scott Mackey¹, Hugh Garavan¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, Vermont, USA.
² Department of Psychological Sciences, School of Health Sciences, Swinburne University, Melbourne, Australia.
³ Departments of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
⁴ Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
⁵ Department of Neuroscience and The Ernest J. Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York, USA.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, Location AMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
⁷ Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
⁸ Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA.
⁹ Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
¹⁰ David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA.
¹¹ Neuroscience of Addiction and Mental Health Program, Healthy Brain and Mind Research Centre, School of Behavioural and Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Sydney, Australia.
¹² Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands.
¹³ Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
¹⁴ Clinical NeuroImaging Research Core, Division of Intramural Clinical and Biological Research, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
¹⁵ VA San Diego Healthcare System and Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA.
¹⁶ Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
¹⁷ Orygen, Parkville, Australia.
¹⁸ Centre for Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
¹⁹ Institute of Psychology and Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands.
²⁰ School of Psychology and Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia.
²¹ SA MRC Unit on Risk & Resilience in Mental Disorders, Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
²² Neuroimaging Research Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
²³ Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
²⁴ Addiction Development and Psychopathology (ADAPT)-lab, Department of Psychology and Center for Urban Mental Health, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
²⁵ BrainPark, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, and Monash Biomedical Imaging Facility, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
²⁶ Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, Marina del Rey, California, USA.
²⁷ Imaging Genetics Center, Stevens Institute for Neuroimaging and Informatics, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Marina del Rey, Californis, USA.
²⁸ Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montreal, CHU Ste Justine Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Abstract

Brain asymmetry reflects left-right hemispheric differentiation, which is a quantitative brain phenotype that develops with age and can vary with psychiatric diagnoses. Previous studies have shown that substance dependence is associated with altered brain structure and function. However, it is unknown whether structural brain asymmetries are different in individuals with substance dependence compared with nondependent participants. Here, a mega-analysis was performed using a collection of 22 structural brain MRI datasets from the ENIGMA Addiction Working Group. Structural asymmetries of cortical and subcortical regions were compared between individuals who were dependent on alcohol, nicotine, cocaine, methamphetamine, or cannabis (n = 1,796) and nondependent participants (n = 996). Substance-general and substance-specific effects on structural asymmetry were examined using separate models. We found that substance dependence was significantly associated with differences in volume asymmetry of the nucleus accumbens (NAcc; less rightward; Cohen's d = 0.15). This effect was driven by differences from controls in individuals with alcohol dependence (less rightward; Cohen's d = 0.10) and nicotine dependence (less rightward; Cohen's d = 0.11). These findings suggest that disrupted structural asymmetry in the NAcc may be a characteristic of substance dependence.

Keywords: brain asymmetry; mega-analysis; substance dependence.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Alcoholism / diagnostic imaging
Behavior, Addictive / diagnostic imaging
Brain / pathology
Brain Cortical Thickness
Cerebellar Cortex / pathology*
Female
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Middle Aged
Neuroimaging
Nucleus Accumbens / pathology
Substance-Related Disorders / diagnostic imaging*
Tobacco Use Disorder / diagnostic imaging
Young Adult

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding