An approach for identifying brainstem dopaminergic pathways using resting state functional MRI.
Here, we present an approach for identifying brainstem dopaminergic pathways using resting state functional MRI. In a group of healthy individuals, we searched for significant functional connectivity between dopamine-rich midbrain areas (substantia nigra; ventral tegmental area) and a striatal region (caudate) that was modulated by both a pharmacological challenge (the administration of the dopaminergic agonist bromocriptine) and a dopamine-sensitive cognitive trait (an individual's working memory capacity). A significant inverted-U shaped connectivity pattern was found in a subset of midbrain-striatal connections, demonstrating that resting state fMRI data is sufficiently powerful to identify brainstem neuromodulatory brain networks.
Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America ; Department of Psychology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America.
Jason
J
Vytlacil
Ernest Gallo Clinic & Research Center, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
Andrew
A
Kayser
Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America.
Asako
A
Miyakawa
Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America ; Department of Psychology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America.
Mark
M
D'Esposito
D000293:Adolescent; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D001971:Bromocriptine / Q000494:pharmacology; D002421:Caudate Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism; D018491:Dopamine Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D059290:Dopaminergic Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008636:Mesencephalon / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D012146:Rest / Q000502:physiology; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D017557:Ventral Tegmental Area / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
D018491:Dopamine Agonists; D001971:Bromocriptine; D004298:Dopamine