Resting-state functional connectivity of the rat brain

Christopher P. Pawela, Bharat B. Biswal, Younghoon R. Cho, Dennis S. Kao, Rupeng Li, Seth R. Jones, Marie L. Schulte, Hani S. Matloub, Anthony G. Hudetz, James S. Hyde

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

170 Scopus citations

Abstract

Regional-specific average time courses of spontaneous fluctuations in blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) MRI contrast at 9.4T in lightly anesthetized resting rat brain are formed, and correlation coefficients between time course pairs are interpreted as measures of connectivity. A hierarchy of regional pairwise correlation coefficients (RPCCs) is observed, with the highest values found in the thalamus and cortex, both intra- and interhemisphere, and lower values between the cortex and thalamus. Independent sensory networks are distinguished by two methods: data driven, where task activation defines regions of interest (ROI), and hypothesis driven, where regions are defined by the rat histological atlas. Success in these studies is attributed in part to the use of medetomidine hydrochloride (Domitor) for anesthesia. Consistent results in two different rat-brain systems, the sensorimotor and visual, strongly support the hypothesis that resting-state BOLD fluctuations are conserved across mammalian species and can be used to map brain systems.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1021-1029
Number of pages9
JournalMagnetic Resonance in Medicine
Volume59
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2008
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging

Keywords

  • BOLD resting-state signal
  • Functional connectivity MRI (fcMRI)
  • Rat fMRI
  • Sensorimotor system
  • Visual system

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