Functional connectivity in the pharmacologically activated brain: resolving networks of correlated responses to d-amphetamine

Magn Reson Med. 2007 Apr;57(4):704-13. doi: 10.1002/mrm.21179.

Abstract

We investigated the functional connectivity structure underlying the widespread relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) response to d-amphetamine in the rat brain by systematically analyzing the intersubject correlations between the response amplitudes in 48 atlas-defined brain structures. A cluster analysis resolved three distinct networks of brain regions that exhibited closely coupled responses: one corresponding to primary dopamine projections from the midbrain to the striatum, a second consisting predominantly of forebrain cortical and basal ganglia regions that share a widespread correlation pattern resembling the univariate group response, and a third including structures in the periventricular dopamine system. These results suggest that different functional networks underlie the brain's response to d-amphetamine. This approach may provide important new insights regarding the central systems that underlie pharmacological action.

MeSH terms

  • Amphetamines / pharmacology*
  • Animals
  • Blood Volume
  • Brain / drug effects*
  • Brain Mapping / methods*
  • Cerebrovascular Circulation / drug effects
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods*
  • Male
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Substances

  • Amphetamines