Peer-Reviewed Publications:

Korponay, C., Janes, A., and Frederick, B. (2024) Brain-wide functional connectivity artifactually inflates throughout functional magnetic resonance imaging scans. Nature human behaviour

We discover that fMRI-based estimates of functional brain connectivity artifactually inflate at spatially heterogeneous rates during resting-state and task-based scans. This produces false positive connection strength changes and spatial distortion of brain connectivity maps. We demonstrate that this artefact is driven by temporal inflation of the non-neuronal, systemic low-frequency oscillation (sLFO) blood flow signal during fMRI scanning and is not addressed by standard denoising procedures. We provide evidence that sLFO inflation reflects perturbations in cerebral blood flow by respiration and heart rate changes that accompany diminishing arousal during scanning. Finally, we show that adding a specialized sLFO denoising procedure to fMRI processing pipelines mitigates the artifactual inflation of functional connectivity, enhancing the validity and within-scan reliability of fMRI findings. Full Article.

Korponay, C. (2022) Snapping Out of Autopilot: Overriding Habits in Real Time and the Role of Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex. Perspectives on Psychological Science.

What are the mechanisms underlying the capacity to stop the execution of a cued habit that is goal conflicting? Here, I first posit a model by which goal-relevant stimuli can (a) bring unfolding habits and their projected outcomes into awareness, (b) prompt evaluation of the habit outcome with respect to current goals, and (c) trigger cessation of the habit response if it is determined to be goal conflicting. Second, I propose a modified stop-signal task to test this model of goal-directed stopping of habit execution. Finally, I marshal evidence indicating that the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, situated at the nexus of salience detection, action-plan assessment, and motor inhibition networks, is uniquely positioned to coordinate the overriding of habitual behaviors in real time. Full Article

Korponay, C., Stein, E., and Ross, T. (2022) Misconfigured striatal connectivity profiles in smokers. Neuropsychopharmacology, 1-9.

Striatal nodes receive appreciable input from numerous cortical areas, and the combinational properties of these multivariate “connectivity profiles” play a predominant role in shaping their activity and function. Here, we develop a novel “connectivity profile analysis” (CPA) approach to detect “misconfigured” connectivity profiles and apply it in nicotine-dependent smokers. Full Article

Korponay, C., (2022) The next frontier of combating drug addiction in America. MIT Science Policy Review, 3.

While pre-COVID-19 data indicated that the massive public health effort to fight the opioid epidemic was beginning to gain ground, the record-breaking surge of overdose deaths during the pandemic revealed that the underlying state of our addiction prevention and care system remains insufficient. This reality has demanded a rethinking of approaches–both policy-based and scientific–to accelerate the reversal of the crisis. Evolving harm reduction policies based in a greater appreciation for the neuroscience of addiction represent a positive shift in our approach to addressing addiction. Yet, there is still much opportunity for improvement, especially in expanding the use of medication assisted treatment (MAT) to treat opioid addiction. Moreover, emerging neuroscience research may offer new paths to treatment and prevention. Collectively, these efforts have the potential to significantly tip the balance in the battle against drug addiction in America. Full Article

Korponay, C., Stein, E., and Ross, T. (2021) Laterality hotspots in the striatum. Cerebral Cortex, bhab392.

Striatal loci receive input from ipsilateral and contralateral frontal cortex. How different are these connectivity profiles, how does this dissimilarity vary spatially, and how do interindividual differences relate to performance of lateralized functions? Full Article

Korponay, C., and Koenigs, M. (2021) Gray matter correlates of impulsivity in psychopathy and in the general population differ by kind, not by degree: A comparison of systematic reviews. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 16 (7), 683-695.

Impulsivity is a trait that varies in the general population and manifests severely in disorders like psychopathy. Is the neural profile of severe impulsivity in psychopathy an extreme but continuous manifestation of the neural profile of high impulsivity in the general population (different by degree)? Or is it discontinuous and unique (different by kind)? Full Article

Korponay, C., Choi, E.Y., Haber, S.N. (2020) Corticostriatal Projections of Macaque Area 44. Cerebral Cortex Communications 1(1), tgaa079.

In this circuit tracing study, we map connections between ventrolateral prefrontal area 44 - a central locus for inhibitory control - and the striatum, a structure necessary for controlling movements. Full Article

Adluru, N., Korponay, C., Norton, D.L., Goldman, R.I., Davidson, R.J. (2020). BrainAGE and regional volumetric analysis of a Buddhist Monk: a longitudinal MRI case study. NeuroCase, 26(2), 79-90.

The last decade has seen a surge of interest in the effects of meditation practice on biological aging. Here, we present a case study of a unique longitudinal MRI data-set from Tibetan Buddhist meditation master Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche (YMR). Using a machine learning framework that estimates a “brain age” from MRI data, we compared the brain-aging profile of YMR to that of the general population. Full Article

Korponay, C., Dentico, D., Kral, T., Ly, M., Kruis, A., Davis, K., Goldman, R., Lutz, A., and Davidson, R. (2019). The effect of mindfulness meditation on impulsivity and its neurobiological correlates in healthy adults. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 11963.

Can mindfulness practice help improve self-control and reduce impulsivity? Here, we first examined the effect of an eight-week mindfulness intervention on 1) self-reported and task-based measures of impulsivity and 2) neurobiological correlates of impulsivity in healthy adults. Second, we compared impulsivity and neurobiological metrics between expert, life-long meditators and non-meditators. Full Article

Korponay, C., Kosson, D.S., Decety, J., Kiehl, K.A. and Koenigs, M. (2017). Brain volume correlates with duration of abstinence from substance abuse in a region-specific and substance-specific manner. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging. 2(7), pp. 626-635.

Prior research indicates that brain volume loss associated with substance abuse may be recovered during abstinence. Brain regions involved in reward and decision-making are among the regions most consistently implicated in damage and recovery from substance abuse. However, the relative capacities of these different brain regions to recover volume during abstinence remains unclear, and it is unknown whether recovery capacities depend on the substance that was abused. Full Article

Korponay, C., Pujara, M., Deming, P., Philippi, C., Decety, J., Kosson, D.S., Kiehl, K.A. and Koenigs, M. (2017). Impulsive-antisocial dimension of psychopathy linked to enlargement and abnormal functional connectivity of the striatum. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, 2(2), pp.149-157.

Psychopathy is a mental health disorder characterized by callous and impulsive antisocial behavior. Present in roughly a quarter of adult prison inmates, psychopathy is associated with a disproportionately high incidence of violent crime, substance abuse, and recidivism. Using a unique mobile MRI machine to perform brain scans on adult male prison inmates, we find that enlarged striatal subnuclei and aberrant functional connectivity between the striatum and other brain regions may contribute to the impulsive/antisocial dimension of psychopathy. Full Article

Korponay, C., Pujara, M., Deming, P., Philippi, C., Decety, J., Kosson, D.S., Kiehl, K.A. and Koenigs, M. (2017). Impulsive-antisocial psychopathic traits linked to increased volume and functional connectivity within prefrontal cortex. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 12, 1169-1178.

Here, we extend our study of psychopathy in adult male prison inmates and find evidence that structural and functional connectivity abnormalities in the prefrontal cortex are linked to the severity of impulsive-antisocial psychopathic traits. Full Article

Korponay, C., Dentico, D., Kral, T., Ly, M., Kruis, A., Goldman, R., Lutz, A., and Davidson, R. (2017). Neurobiological correlates of impulsivity in healthy adults: lower prefrontal gray matter volume and spontaneous eye-blink rate but greater resting-state functional connectivity in basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical circuitry. NeuroImage, 157, 288-296.

What are the neurobiological determinants of individual differences in impulsivity in the general population? In this study of healthy adults, we examined relationships between impulsivity and three neurobiological metrics – gray matter volume, resting-state functional connectivity, and spontaneous eye-blink rate, a physiological indicator of central dopaminergic activity. Full Article

Korponay, C., Nitzburg, G.C., Malhotra, A.K. and DeRosse, P. (2014). Positive and negative subclinical symptoms and MCCB performance in non-psychiatric controls. Schizophrenia Research: Cognition, 1(4), pp.175-179.

Subclinical psychotic symptoms are common in the general population with an estimated prevalence of 7.2%. Here, we surprisingly find that high levels of subclinical positive psychotic symptoms are associated with significantly better performance on measures of working memory, verbal learning, and visual learning. These findings support other work suggesting that genetic risk variants associated with subclinical psychosis may be beneficial in conferring heightened creativity or other intellectual abilities. Full Article

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