BNST neurocircuitry in humans

• Published in: NeuroImage (Orlando, Fla.) Vol. 91; pp. 311 - 323
• Main Authors: Avery, Suzanne N., Clauss, Jacqueline A., Winder, Danny G., Woodward, Neil, Heckers, Stephan, Blackford, Jennifer Urbano
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Inc 01-05-2014; Elsevier; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Addiction; Addictive behaviors; Amygdala - physiology; Anxiety; Biological and medical sciences; Boundaries; Brain; Brain - anatomy & histology; Brain - physiology; Connectivity; Diffusion Tensor Imaging; DTI; fMRI; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Medical imaging; Nerve Net - anatomy & histology; Nerve Net - physiology; Neural Pathways - physiology; Primates; Rest; Resting state; Rodents; Septal Nuclei - anatomy & histology; Septal Nuclei - physiology; Sex Characteristics; Studies; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; DTI; fMRI; Connectivity; Anxiety; Resting state; Addiction; Human; Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; Functional imaging
• ISSN: 1053-8119; 1095-9572
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.01.017

Anxiety and addiction disorders are two of the most common mental disorders in the United States, and are typically chronic, disabling, and comorbid. Emerging evidence suggests the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) mediates both anxiety and addiction through connections with other brain regions, including the amygdala and nucleus accumbens. Although BNST structural connections have been identified in rodents and a limited number of structural connections have been verified in non-human primates, BNST connections have yet to be described in humans. Neuroimaging is a powerful tool for identifying structural and functional circuits in vivo. In this study, we examined BNST structural and functional connectivity in a large sample of humans. The BNST showed structural and functional connections with multiple subcortical regions, including limbic, thalamic, and basal ganglia structures, confirming structural findings in rodents. We describe two novel connections in the human brain that have not been previously reported in rodents or non-human primates, including a structural connection with the temporal pole, and a functional connection with the paracingulate gyrus. The findings of this study provide a map of the BNST's structural and functional connectivity across the brain in healthy humans. In large part, the BNST neurocircuitry in humans is similar to the findings from rodents and non-human primates; however, several connections are unique to humans. Future explorations of BNST neurocircuitry in anxiety and addiction disorders have the potential to reveal novel mechanisms underlying these disabling psychiatric illnesses.
•The BNST is a critical node in brain circuits that mediate anxiety and addiction.•BNST neurocircuitry is well-known in rodents.•Few BNST connections are confirmed in non-human primates and none in humans.•We used MRI methods to examine BNST neurocircuitry in a large group of humans.•We confirm known structural connections and describe two novel connections.•These results provide the first comprehensive map of BNST neurocircuitry in humans.