Teena Moody - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Teena Moody

Anorexia nervosa (AN) and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) are characterized by distorted perceptio... more Anorexia nervosa (AN) and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) are characterized by distorted perception of appearance, yet no studies have directly compared the neurobiology associated with body perception. We compared brain activation and connectivity in relevant networks when viewing images of others’ bodies and tested their relationships with clinical symptoms and subjective appearance evaluations. We acquired fMRI data from 64 unmedicated females (20 weight-restored AN, 23 BDD, 21 controls) during a matching task using photos of others’ bodies that were unaltered or spatial-frequency filtered. With general linear model and independent components analyses we compared brain activation and connectivity in visual, striatal, and parietal networks and performed univariate and partial least squares multivariate analyses to investigate relationships with clinical symptoms and appearance evaluations. BDD but not AN demonstrated hypoactivity in dorsal visual and parietal networks compared to c...

Background. Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) and anorexia nervosa (AN) are both characterized by di... more Background. Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) and anorexia nervosa (AN) are both characterized by distorted perception of appearance. Previous studies in BDD suggest abnormalities in visual processing of own and others' faces, but no study has examined visual processing of faces in AN, nor directly compared the two disorders in this respect. Method. We collected functional magnetic resonance imaging data on 60 individuals of equivalent age and gender in each of three groups-20 BDD, 20 weight-restored AN, and 20 healthy controls (HC)while they viewed images of others' faces that contained only high or low spatial frequency information (HSF or LSF). We tested hypotheses about functional connectivity within specialized sub-networks for HSF and LSF visual processing, using psychophysiological interaction analyses. Results. The BDD group demonstrated increased functional connectivity compared to HC between left anterior occipital face area and right fusiform face area (FFA) for LSF faces, which was associated with symptom severity. Both BDD and AN groups had increased connectivity compared to HC between FFA and precuneous/posterior cingulate gyrus for LSF faces, and decreased connectivity between FFA and insula. In addition, we found that LSF connectivity between FFA and posterior cingulate gyrus was significantly associated with thoughts about own appearance in AN. Conclusions. Results suggest similar abnormal functional connectivity within higher-order systems for face processing in BDD and AN, but distinct abnormal connectivity patterns within occipito-temporal visual networks. Findings may have implications for understanding relationships between these disorders, and the pathophysiology underlying perceptual distortions.

Individuals with gender dysphoria experience serious distress due to incongruence between their g... more Individuals with gender dysphoria experience serious distress due to incongruence between their gender identity and birth-assigned sex. Sociological, cultural, interpersonal, and biological factors are likely contributory, and for some individuals medical treatment such as cross-hormone therapy and gender affirming surgery can be helpful. Cross-hormone therapy can be effective for reducing body incongruence, but responses vary, and there is no reliable way to predict therapeutic outcomes. We used clinical and MRI data before cross-sex hormone therapy as features to train a machine learning model to predict individuals' post-therapy body congruence (the degree to which photos of their bodies match their self-identities). Twenty-five trans women and trans men with gender dysphoria participated. The model significantly predicted post-therapy body congruence, with the highest predictive features coming from the fronto-parietal and cingulo-opercular networks. This study provides evid...

PLOS ONE, 2019

We acquired magnetic resonance (MR) images using a Siemens Trio 3T scanner equipped with a 12-cha... more We acquired magnetic resonance (MR) images using a Siemens Trio 3T scanner equipped with a 12-channel head coil. We acquired T1-weighted images with an MP-RAGE sequence and blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal changes from task-based fMRI using body visual stimuli. We preprocessed participant data with high-pass temporal filtering and nonlinear boundary-based registration, and then performed independent component analysis (ICA)-based Automatic Removal Of Motion Artifacts (ICA-AROMA) with non-aggressive de-noising (Pruim et al , 2015). Using FEAT (part of FMRIB's Software Library, or FSL), fMRI network coherence analysis was carried out in a two-stage process using Multivariate Exploratory Linear Optimized Decomposition into Independent Components (MELODIC) (Beckmann and Smith, 2004) .

Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, Jan 20, 2017

Depression is a commonly occurring symptom in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and is associa... more Depression is a commonly occurring symptom in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and is associated with worse functional impairment, poorer quality of life, and poorer treatment response. Understanding the underlying neurochemical and connectivity-based brain mechanisms of this important symptom domain in OCD is necessary for development of novel, more globally effective treatments. To investigate biopsychological mechanisms of comorbid depression in OCD, we examined effective connectivity and neurochemical signatures in the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pACC), a structure known to be involved in both OCD and depression. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) data were obtained from participants with OCD (n=49) and healthy individuals of equivalent age and sex (n=25). Granger causality-based effective (directed) connectivity was used to define causal networks involving the right and left pACC. The interplay be...

Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2015

Background: Intensive cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) can effectively reduce symptoms in obses... more Background: Intensive cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) can effectively reduce symptoms in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, many relapse after treatment. Few studies have investigated biological markers predictive of follow-up clinical status. The objective was to determine if brain network connectivity patterns prior to intensive CBT predict worsening of clinical symptoms during follow-up. Methods: We acquired resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 17 adults with OCD prior to and following 4 weeks of intensive CBT. Functional connectivity data were analyzed to yield graph-theory metrics. We examined the relationship between pre-treatment connectome properties and OCD clinical symptoms before and after treatment and during a 12-month follow-up period. Results: Mean OCD symptom decrease was 40.4 ± 16.4% pre-to post-treatment (64.7% responded; 58.8% remitted), but 35.3% experienced clinically significant worsening during follow-up. From pre-to post-treatment, small-worldness and clustering coefficient significantly increased. Decreases in modularity correlated with decreases in OCD symptoms. Higher pre-treatment small-world connectivity was significantly associated with worsening of OCD symptoms during the follow-up period. Psychometric and neurocognitive measures pre-and post-treatment were not significant predictors. Conclusion: This is the first graph-theory connectivity study of the effects of CBT in OCD, and the first to test associations with follow-up clinical status. Results show functional network efficiency as a biomarker of CBT response and relapse in OCD. CBT increases network efficiency as it alleviates symptoms in most patients, but those entering therapy with already high network efficiency are at greater risk of relapse. Results have potential clinical implications for treatment selection.

Journal of Neuroscience, 2010

Recent evidence suggests that putting feelings into words activates the prefrontal cortex (PFC) a... more Recent evidence suggests that putting feelings into words activates the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and suppresses the response of the amygdala, potentially helping to alleviate emotional distress. To further elucidate the relationship between brain structure and function in these regions, structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data were collected from a sample of 20 healthy human subjects. Structural MRI data were processed using cortical pattern-matching algorithms to produce spatially normalized maps of cortical thickness. During functional scanning, subjects cognitively assessed an emotional target face by choosing one of two linguistic labels (label emotion condition) or matched geometric forms (control condition). Manually prescribed regions of interest for the left amygdala were used to extract percentage signal change in this region occurring during the contrast of label emotion versus match forms. A correlation analysis between left amygdala activation and cortical thickness was then performed along each point of the cortical surface, resulting in a color-coded r value at each cortical point. Correlation analyses revealed that gray matter thickness in left ventromedial PFC was inversely correlated with task-related activation in the amygdala. These data add support to a general role of the ventromedial PFC in regulating activity of the amygdala.

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2013

Despite increasing emphasis on the potential of dietary antioxidants in preventing memory loss an... more Despite increasing emphasis on the potential of dietary antioxidants in preventing memory loss and on diet as a precursor of neurological health, rigorous studies investigating the cognitive effects of foods and their components are rare. Recent animal studies have reported memory and other cognitive benefits of polyphenols, found abundantly in pomegranate juice. We performed a preliminary, placebo-controlled randomized trial of pomegranate juice in older subjects with age-associated memory complaints using memory testing and functional brain activation (fMRI) as outcome measures. Thirty-two subjects (28 completers) were randomly assigned to drink 8 ounces of either pomegranate juice or a flavor-matched placebo drink for 4 weeks. Subjects received memory testing, fMRI scans during cognitive tasks, and blood draws for peripheral biomarkers before and after the intervention. Investigators and subjects were all blind to group membership. After 4 weeks, only the pomegranate group showed...

Behavioral Neuroscience, 2010

Studies of neuropsychological patients and experimental animals have demonstrated that the striat... more Studies of neuropsychological patients and experimental animals have demonstrated that the striatum plays a role in implicit habit learning. Here, we examined the performance of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) on a concurrent discrimination task that can be learned implicitly by neurologically intact individuals. Participants viewed a pair of shapes on each trial and, under a timed deadline, guessed which one concealed a smiling face. About half the control participants exhibited minimal awareness of the cue-reward relationships as assessed by a post-test evaluation. Nevertheless, these participants were able to perform the discrimination task; there was no correlation between awareness and performance on the task. In contrast, minimally aware patients with PD showed no learning, whereas those who were more aware of the relationships performed as well as control participants on the task. There was a significant correlation between awareness and performance in patients with PD. These data support the idea that the basal ganglia play a role in implicit habit learning and underscore the importance of using tests of awareness to assess the content and process of learning in humans.

Behavioral Neuroscience, 2004

Recent studies provide evidence for an interaction between a declarative memory system, dependent... more Recent studies provide evidence for an interaction between a declarative memory system, dependent on the medial temporal lobe (MTL), and a habit memory system, dependent on the basal ganglia. Using functional MRI, the authors studied this interaction when 1 system was compromised by neurological disease. Neural activity when performing a habit-learning task was compared in normal controls and subjects with Parkinson's disease (PD). Patients with PD showed less activation in the caudate nucleus and greater activation in a region of prefrontal cortex that has been associated with explicit memory retrieval. Patients with PD also showed activation of the MTL during the weather-prediction task. These findings are consistent with an interaction between memory systems of the MTL and the striatum. Converging evidence from studies with humans and experimental animals supports the existence of multiple memory systems. Whereas declarative, or explicit, memory depends on the medial temporal lobe, some forms of nondeclarative, or implicit, memory have been shown to depend on neostriatal circuitry (Squire,

Archives of General Psychiatry, 2010

Context: Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a psychiatric disorder in which individuals are preocc... more Context: Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a psychiatric disorder in which individuals are preoccupied with perceived defects in their appearance, often related to their face. Little is known about its pathophysiology, although early research provides evidence of abnormal visual processing. Objective: To determine whether patients with BDD have abnormal patterns of brain activation when visually processing their own face with high, low, or normal spatial resolution.

Methods: We scanned 21 healthy subjects (13 male/8 female; age: 48.33+/-14.3). Brain MRI data wer... more Methods: We scanned 21 healthy subjects (13 male/8 female; age: 48.33+/-14.3). Brain MRI data were acquired using a Philips 3.0 T Achieva scanner supplied with 8-channel head-coil. T1-weighted images were acquired with MPRAGE sequence (FOV= 240mm; TR/TE= 8.4/3.9 ms; flip angle= 8o; voxel size= 1.1 X1. 1X1. 1 mm). DWI images were acquired using SS-SE-EPI sequence (FOV= 240 mm; voxel size= 0.83 X 0.83 X2. 2 mm; TR/TE= 6994/71 ms; flip angle= 90o, 32 gradient directions, b= 700 s/mm2). Parallel imaging was also ...

Cerebral Cortex, 2009

The ability to draw analogies requires 2 key cognitive processes, relational integration and reso... more The ability to draw analogies requires 2 key cognitive processes, relational integration and resolution of interference. The present study aimed to identify the neural correlates of both component processes of analogical reasoning within a single, nonverbal analogy task using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging. Participants verified whether a visual analogy was true by considering either 1 or 3 relational dimensions. On half of the trials, there was an additional need to resolve interference in order to make a correct judgment. Increase in the number of dimensions to integrate was associated with increased activation in the lateral prefrontal cortex as well as lateral frontal pole in both hemispheres. When there was a need to resolve interference during reasoning, activation increased in the lateral prefrontal cortex but not in the frontal pole. We identified regions in the middle and inferior frontal gyri which were exclusively sensitive to demands on each component process, in addition to a partial overlap between these neural correlates of each component process. These results indicate that analogical reasoning is mediated by the coordination of multiple regions of the prefrontal cortex, of which some are sensitive to demands on only one of these 2 component processes, whereas others are sensitive to both.

Cerebral Cortex

Gender identity is a core aspect of self-identity and is usually congruent with birth-assigned se... more Gender identity is a core aspect of self-identity and is usually congruent with birth-assigned sex and own body sex-perception. The neuronal circuits underlying gender identity are unknown, but greater awareness of transgenderism has sparked interest in studying these circuits. We did this by comparing brain activation and connectivity in transgender individuals (for whom gender identity and birth-assigned sex are incongruent) with that in cisgender controls (for whom they are congruent) when performing a body self-identification task during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Thirty transgender and 30 cisgender participants viewed images of their own bodies and bodies morphed in sex toward or opposite to birth-assigned sex, rating each image to the degree they identified with it. While controls identified with images of themselves, transgender individuals identified with images morphed “opposite” to their birth-assigned sex. After covarying out the effect of self-similarity rati...

Frontiers in Psychiatry

Anorexia nervosa (AN) and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) share distorted perceptions of appearanc... more Anorexia nervosa (AN) and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) share distorted perceptions of appearance with extreme negative emotion, yet the neural phenotypes of emotion processing remain underexplored in them, and they have never been directly compared. We sought to determine if shared and disorder-specific fronto-limbic connectivity patterns characterize these disorders. FMRI data was obtained from three unmedicated groups: BDD (n = 32), weight-restored AN (n = 25), and healthy controls (HC; n = 37), while they viewed fearful faces and rated their own degree of fearfulness in response. We performed dynamic effective connectivity modeling with medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC), and amygdala as regions-of-interest (ROI), and assessed associations between connectivity and clinical variables. HCs exhibited significant within-group bidirectional mPFC-amygdala connectivity, which increased across the blocks, whereas BDD participants exhibited only significant mPFC-to-amygdala connectivity (P < 0.05, family-wise error corrected). In contrast, participants with AN lacked significant prefrontal-amygdala connectivity in either direction. AN showed significantly weaker mPFC-to-amygdala connectivity compared to HCs (P = 0.0015) and BDD (P = 0.0050). The mPFC-to-amygdala connectivity was associated with greater subjective fear ratings (R 2 = 0.11, P = 0.0016), eating disorder symptoms (R 2 = 0.33, P = 0.0029), and anxiety (R 2 = 0.29, P = 0.0055) intensity scores. Our findings, which suggest a complex nosological relationship, have implications for understanding emotion regulation circuitry in these related psychiatric disorders, and may have relevance for current and novel therapeutic approaches.

Human Brain Mapping

Own body perception, and differentiating and comparing one's body to another person's body, are c... more Own body perception, and differentiating and comparing one's body to another person's body, are common cognitive functions that have relevance for self-identity and social interactions. In several psychiatric conditions, including anorexia nervosa, body dysmorphic disorder, gender dysphoria, and autism spectrum disorder, self and own body perception, as well as aspects of social communication are disturbed. Despite most of these conditions having skewed prevalence sex ratios, little is known about whether the neural basis of own body perception differs between the sexes. We addressed this question by investigating brain activation using functional magnetic resonance imaging during a Body Perception task in 15 male and 15 female healthy participants. Participants viewed their own body, bodies of same-sex, or opposite-sex other people, and rated the degree that they appeared like themselves. We found that men and women did not differ in the pattern of brain activation during own body perception compared to a scrambled control image. However, when viewing images of other bodies of same-sex or opposite-sex, men showed significantly stronger activations in attention-related and reward-related brain regions, whereas women engaged stronger activations in striatal, medial-prefrontal, and insular cortices, when viewing the own body compared to other images of the opposite sex. It is possible that other body images, particularly of the opposite sex, may be of greater salience for men, whereas images of own bodies may be more salient for women. These observations provide tentative neurobiological correlates to why women may be more vulnerable than men to conditions involving own body perception.