title: Functionally Brain Network Connected to the Retrosplenial Cortex of Rats Revealed by 7T fMRI.
abstract: Functional networks are regarded as important mechanisms for increasing our understanding of brain function in healthy and diseased states, and increased interest has been focused on extending the study of functional networks to animal models because such models provide a functional understanding of disease progression, therapy and repair. In rodents, the retrosplenial cortex (RSC) is an important cortical region because it has a large size and presents transitional patterns of lamination between the neocortex and archicortex. In addition, a number of invasive studies have highlighted the importance of the RSC for many functions. However, the network based on the RSC in rodents remains unclear. Based on the critical importance of the RSC, we defined the bilateral RSCs as two regions of interest and estimated the network based on the RSC. The results showed that the related regions include the parietal association cortex, hippocampus, thalamus nucleus, midbrain structures, and hypothalamic mammillary bodies. Our findings indicate two possible major networks: a sensory-cognitive network that has a hub in the RSCs and processes sensory information, spatial learning, and episodic memory; and a second network that is involved in the regulation of visceral functions and arousal. In addition, functional asymmetry between the bilateral RSCs was observed.
authors.affiliation: Division of Nuclear Technology and Applications, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|Beijing Engineering Research Center of Radiographic Techniques and Equipment, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jingjuan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Division of Nuclear Technology and Applications, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|Beijing Engineering Research Center of Radiographic Techniques and Equipment, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Binbin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nie
authors.affiliation: Division of Nuclear Technology and Applications, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|Beijing Engineering Research Center of Radiographic Techniques and Equipment, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Shaofeng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.affiliation: Division of Nuclear Technology and Applications, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|Beijing Engineering Research Center of Radiographic Techniques and Equipment, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Haitao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Division of Nuclear Technology and Applications, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|Beijing Engineering Research Center of Radiographic Techniques and Equipment, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Division of Nuclear Technology and Applications, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|Beijing Engineering Research Center of Radiographic Techniques and Equipment, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Baoci
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D011859:Radiography; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley