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The power of using functional fMRI on small rodents to study brain pharmacology and disease

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is an excellent tool to study the effect of pharmacological modulations on brain function in a non-invasive and longitudinal manner. We introduce several blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) fMRI techniques, including resting state (rsfMRI), stimulus-...

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Autores principales: Jonckers, Elisabeth, Shah, Disha, Hamaide, Julie, Verhoye, Marleen, Van der Linden, Annemie
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4612660/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26539115
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2015.00231
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author Jonckers, Elisabeth
Shah, Disha
Hamaide, Julie
Verhoye, Marleen
Van der Linden, Annemie
author_facet Jonckers, Elisabeth
Shah, Disha
Hamaide, Julie
Verhoye, Marleen
Van der Linden, Annemie
author_sort Jonckers, Elisabeth
collection PubMed
description Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is an excellent tool to study the effect of pharmacological modulations on brain function in a non-invasive and longitudinal manner. We introduce several blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) fMRI techniques, including resting state (rsfMRI), stimulus-evoked (st-fMRI), and pharmacological MRI (phMRI). Respectively, these techniques permit the assessment of functional connectivity during rest as well as brain activation triggered by sensory stimulation and/or a pharmacological challenge. The first part of this review describes the physiological basis of BOLD fMRI and the hemodynamic response on which the MRI contrast is based. Specific emphasis goes to possible effects of anesthesia and the animal’s physiological conditions on neural activity and the hemodynamic response. The second part of this review describes applications of the aforementioned techniques in pharmacologically induced, as well as in traumatic and transgenic disease models and illustrates how multiple fMRI methods can be applied successfully to evaluate different aspects of a specific disorder. For example, fMRI techniques can be used to pinpoint the neural substrate of a disease beyond previously defined hypothesis-driven regions-of-interest. In addition, fMRI techniques allow one to dissect how specific modifications (e.g., treatment, lesion etc.) modulate the functioning of specific brain areas (st-fMRI, phMRI) and how functional connectivity (rsfMRI) between several brain regions is affected, both in acute and extended time frames. Furthermore, fMRI techniques can be used to assess/explore the efficacy of novel treatments in depth, both in fundamental research as well as in preclinical settings. In conclusion, by describing several exemplary studies, we aim to highlight the advantages of functional MRI in exploring the acute and long-term effects of pharmacological substances and/or pathology on brain functioning along with several methodological considerations.
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spelling pubmed-46126602015-11-04 The power of using functional fMRI on small rodents to study brain pharmacology and disease Jonckers, Elisabeth Shah, Disha Hamaide, Julie Verhoye, Marleen Van der Linden, Annemie Front Pharmacol Pharmacology Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is an excellent tool to study the effect of pharmacological modulations on brain function in a non-invasive and longitudinal manner. We introduce several blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) fMRI techniques, including resting state (rsfMRI), stimulus-evoked (st-fMRI), and pharmacological MRI (phMRI). Respectively, these techniques permit the assessment of functional connectivity during rest as well as brain activation triggered by sensory stimulation and/or a pharmacological challenge. The first part of this review describes the physiological basis of BOLD fMRI and the hemodynamic response on which the MRI contrast is based. Specific emphasis goes to possible effects of anesthesia and the animal’s physiological conditions on neural activity and the hemodynamic response. The second part of this review describes applications of the aforementioned techniques in pharmacologically induced, as well as in traumatic and transgenic disease models and illustrates how multiple fMRI methods can be applied successfully to evaluate different aspects of a specific disorder. For example, fMRI techniques can be used to pinpoint the neural substrate of a disease beyond previously defined hypothesis-driven regions-of-interest. In addition, fMRI techniques allow one to dissect how specific modifications (e.g., treatment, lesion etc.) modulate the functioning of specific brain areas (st-fMRI, phMRI) and how functional connectivity (rsfMRI) between several brain regions is affected, both in acute and extended time frames. Furthermore, fMRI techniques can be used to assess/explore the efficacy of novel treatments in depth, both in fundamental research as well as in preclinical settings. In conclusion, by describing several exemplary studies, we aim to highlight the advantages of functional MRI in exploring the acute and long-term effects of pharmacological substances and/or pathology on brain functioning along with several methodological considerations. Frontiers Media S.A. 2015-10-21 /pmc/articles/PMC4612660/ /pubmed/26539115 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2015.00231 Text en Copyright © 2015 Jonckers, Shah, Hamaide, Verhoye and Van der Linden. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Pharmacology
Jonckers, Elisabeth
Shah, Disha
Hamaide, Julie
Verhoye, Marleen
Van der Linden, Annemie
The power of using functional fMRI on small rodents to study brain pharmacology and disease
title The power of using functional fMRI on small rodents to study brain pharmacology and disease
title_full The power of using functional fMRI on small rodents to study brain pharmacology and disease
title_fullStr The power of using functional fMRI on small rodents to study brain pharmacology and disease
title_full_unstemmed The power of using functional fMRI on small rodents to study brain pharmacology and disease
title_short The power of using functional fMRI on small rodents to study brain pharmacology and disease
title_sort power of using functional fmri on small rodents to study brain pharmacology and disease
topic Pharmacology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4612660/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26539115
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2015.00231
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