Title
Anticorrelated resting-state functional connectivity in awake rat brain
UMMS Affiliation
Department of Psychiatry
Date
1-16-2012
Document Type
Article
Medical Subject Headings
Algorithms; Animals; *Artifacts; Brain; Image Enhancement; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Nerve Net; Neural Pathways; Rats; Rats, Long-Evans; Reproducibility of Results; Rest; Sensitivity and Specificity; Statistics as Topic; Wakefulness
Disciplines
Neuroscience and Neurobiology | Psychiatry | Psychiatry and Psychology
Abstract
Resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging has played an essential role in understanding neural circuitry and brain diseases. The vast majority of RSFC studies have been focused on positive RSFC, whereas our understanding about its conceptual counterpart - negative RSFC (i.e. anticorrelation) - remains elusive. To date, anticorrelated RSFC has yet been observed without the commonly used preprocessing step of global signal correction. However, this step can induce artifactual anticorrelation (Murphy et al., 2009), making it difficult to determine whether the observed anticorrelation in humans is a processing artifact (Fox et al., 2005). In this report we demonstrated robust anticorrelated RSFC in a well characterized frontolimbic circuit between the infralimbic cortex (IL) and amygdala in the awake rat. This anticorrelation was anatomically specific, highly reproducible and independent of preprocessing methods. Interestingly, this anticorrelated relationship was absent in anesthetized rats even with global signal correction, further supporting its functional significance. Establishing negative RSFC independent of data preprocessing methods will significantly enhance the applicability of RSFC in better understanding neural circuitries and brain networks. In addition, combining the neurobiological data of the IL-amygdala circuit in rodents, the finding of the present study will enable further investigation of the neurobiological basis underlying anticorrelation.
Comments
Citation: Neuroimage. 2012 Jan 16;59(2):1190-9. Epub 2011 Aug 12. Link to article on publisher's site