Functional connectivity in the pharmacologically activated brain: resolving networks of correlated responses to d-amphetamine.
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.
Schwarz
Adam J
AJ
Department of Neuroimaging, Psychiatry Center of Excellence in Drug Discovery, GlaxoSmithKline, Verona, Italy. adam.j.schwarz@gsk.com
Gozzi
Alessandro
A
Reese
Torsten
T
Bifone
Angelo
A
D000662:Amphetamines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D001810:Blood Volume; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000187:drug effects; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
D000662:Amphetamines