White matter microstructure in habit and reward circuits in anorexia nervosa: Insights from a neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging study

• Published in: Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica Vol. 147; no. 2; pp. 134 - 144
• Main Authors: Murray, Stuart B., Cabeen, Ryan P., Jann, Kay, Tadayonnejad, Reza, Strober, Michael, Feusner, Jamie D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-02-2023; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Adolescents; Anorexia; anorexia nervosa; Anorexia Nervosa - diagnostic imaging; Brain; Diffusion Tensor Imaging - methods; Eating disorders; Female; Functional morphology; Habits; Humans; Magnetic resonance imaging; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Myelin; neurite orientatio dispersion density imaging; Neurites; Neuroimaging; Nucleus accumbens; Original; Phenotypes; Putamen; Reinforcement; Reward; Substantia alba; Ventral tegmentum; white matter; White Matter - diagnostic imaging; white matter; eating disorders; anorexia nervosa; neurite orientatio dispersion density imaging
• ISSN: 0001-690X; 1600-0447; 1600-0447
• DOI: 10.1111/acps.13521

Background
Behavioral features of anorexia nervosa (AN) suggest abnormalities in reward and habit. Neuroimaging evidence suggests morphometric and functional perturbations within these circuits, although fewer studies have assessed white matter characteristics in AN, and no studies to date have assessed white matter microstructure in AN.
Methods
In this brain imaging study, 29 female adolescents with partially or fully weight‐restored AN and 27 healthy controls, all between 10 and 19 years, underwent whole‐brain multi‐shell diffusion tensor imaging. Utilizing neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging methods, we investigated group differences in white matter neurite density, orientation dispersion, and myelin density in tracts between prominent nodes of the reward circuit (ventral tegmental area (VTA) to nucleus accumbens (NAcc)) and the habit circuit (sensory motor area [SMA] to putamen).
Results
Findings revealed reduced neurite (F = 5.20, p = 0.027) and myelin density (F = 5.39, p = 0.025) in the left VTA‐NAcc tract, and reduced orientation dispersion in the left (F = 7.00, p = 0.011) and right (F = 6.77, p = 0.012) VTA‐NAcc tract. There were no significant group differences in the SMA‐putamen tract. Significant relationships, after corrections, were not evident between tract microstructure and reward responsiveness, compulsive behaviors, illness duration, or BMI.
Conclusions
Adolescents with AN exhibit less dense, undermyelinated, and less dispersed white matter tracts connecting prominent reward system nodes, which could potentially signify underutilization of this part of the reward circuit. These results provide a detailed examination of white matter microstructure in tracts underlying instrumental behavioral phenotypes contributing to illness in AN.