Enhanced limbic/impaired cortical-loop connection onto the hippocampus of NHE rats: application of resting-state functional connectivity in a preclinical ADHD model.

Enhanced limbic/impaired cortical-loop connection onto the hippocampus of NHE rats: application of resting-state functional connectivity in a preclinical ADHD model. Behav Brain Res. 2017 Jun 24;: Authors: Zoratto F, Palombelli GM, Ruocco LA, Carboni E, Laviola G, Sadile AG, Adriani W, Canese R Abstract Due to a hyperfunctioning mesocorticolimbic system, Naples-High-Excitability (NHE) rats have been proposed to model for the meso-cortical variant of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Compared to Naples Random-Bred (NRB) controls, NHE rats show hyperactivity, impaired non-selective attention (Aspide et al., 1998), and impaired selective spatial attention (Ruocco et al., 2009a, 2014). Alteration in limbic functions has been proposed; however, resulting unbalance among forebrain areas has not been assessed yet. By resting-state functional Magnetic-Resonance Imaging (fMRI) in vivo, we investigated the connectivity of neuronal networks belonging to limbic vs. cortical loops in NHE and NRB rats (n=10 each). Notably, resting-state fMRI was applied using a multi-slice sagittal, gradient-echo sequence. Voxel-wise connectivity maps at rest, based on temporal correlation among fMRI time-series, were computed by seeding the hippocampus (Hip), nucleus accumbens (NAcc), dorsal striatum (dStr), amygdala (Amy) and dorsal/medial prefrontal cortex (PFC), both hemispheres. To summarize patterns of altered connection, clearly directional c...
Source: Behavioural Brain Research - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Behav Brain Res Source Type: research