Correlation of functional activation in the rat spinal cord with neuronal activation detected by immunohistochemistry

Lawrence, Jane; Stroman, Patrick W.; Bascaramurty, S.; Jordan, Larry M.; Malisza, Krisztina L.

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.04.001

Cited by 46 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…fMRI experiments performed in the axial plane of the anesthetized rat cord have demonstrated increases in blood flow and volume ipsilateral to the side of electrical stimulation (Lilja et al, 2006;Zhao et al, 2009). Immunolabeling with c-fos has demonstrated a clear ipsilateral response following noxious pinch of the rat hindpaw (Bullitt, 1991) and noxious electrical stimulation of the rat forepaw (Lawrence et al, 2004). It is worth noting that c-fos labeling does not provide information about the type of neuronal processing (excitatory or inhibitory) leading to its accumulation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stimulus Site and Modality Dependence of Functional Activity within the Human Spinal Cord

Brooks¹,

Kong²,

Lee³

et al. 2012

J. Neurosci.

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Chronic pain is thought to arise because of maladaptive changes occurring within the peripheral nervous system and CNS. The transition from acute to chronic pain is known to involve the spinal cord (Woolf and Salter, 2000). Therefore, to investigate altered human spinal cord function and translate results obtained from other species, a noninvasive neuroimaging technique is desirable. We have investigated the functional response in the cervical spinal cord of 18 healthy human subjects (aged 22-40 years) to noxious thermal and non-noxious tactile stimulation of the left and right forearms. Physiological noise, which is a significant source of signal variability in the spinal cord, was accounted for in the general linear model. Group analysis, performed using a mixed-effects model, revealed distinct regions of activity that were dependent on both the side and the type of stimulation. In particular, thermal stimulation on the medial aspect of the wrist produced activity within the C6/C5 segment ipsilateral to the side of stimulation. Similar to data recorded in animals (Fitzgerald, 1982), painful thermal stimuli produced increased ipsilateral and decreased contralateral blood flow, which may reflect, respectively, excitatory and inhibitory processes. Nonpainful punctate stimulation of the thenar eminence provoked more diffuse activity but was still ipsilateral to the side of stimulation. These results present the first noninvasive evidence for a lateralized response to noxious and non-noxious stimuli in the human spinal cord. The development of these techniques opens the path to understanding, at a subjectspecific level, central sensitization processes that contribute to chronic pain states.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stimulus Site and Modality Dependence of Functional Activity within the Human Spinal Cord

Brooks¹,

Kong²,

Lee³

et al. 2012

J. Neurosci.

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“…Porszasz et al 31 demonstrated signal changes of 12.7% upon stimulation and Malisza et al 48,49 reported signal changes of 16% and 20%. Lawrence et al 50 have also carried out a study to compare spinal fMRI results with direct histological assessment of areas of activity using c-fos staining. This study demonstrated good correspondence between areas of activity detected with spinal fMRI and those observed with c-fos labeling in the same animals with noxious electrical stimulation of the forepaw and hindpaw.…”

Section: Animal Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Neuronal Function in the Spinal Cord: Spinal fMRI

Stroman¹

2005

Clinical Medicine & Research

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A review of the current literature on magnetic resonance imaging of neuronal function in the spinal cord (spinal fMRI) is presented.The unique challenges of spinal fMRI are identified as being the small cross-sectional dimensions of the spinal cord, magnetic field inhomogeneity caused by the bone and cartilage in the spine, and motion of cerebrospinal fluid, blood, adjacent tissues and organs and of the spinal cord itself.Techniques have been developed to overcome or compensate for these challenges and the result is a fMRI method which is distinct from that used for mapping function in the brain. Evidence that the current spinal fMRI method provides accurate and sensitive maps of neuronal function is also discussed. Studies presented in the literature have demonstrated areas of neuronal activity corresponding with spinal cord neuroanatomy as a result of thermal and electrical stimuli and motor tasks with the hands, arms and legs. Signal intensity changes detected in active areas have also been demonstrated to depend on the intensity of the stimuli with both thermal stimulation and a motor task, providing evidence of the correspondence between spinal fMRI results and neuronal activity in the spinal cord. Funct ional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the spinal cord has been developed over the past 7 years and now appears to be adequate for practical use as a research tool and for clinical trials assessing spinal cord function. The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method for demonstrating areas of neuronal activity in the brain has received a great deal of attention and has developed at a rapid pace since it was first demonstrated in 1990. [1][2][3] The method has been proven to be a powerful tool for mapping neuronal function with several hundred scientific papers published each year related to fMRI of the brain. The application of fMRI to the spinal cord (spinal fMRI) seems a logical extension of its use in the brain, but in comparison has received relatively little attention. To date there have been approximately 17 scientific papers published on spinal fMRI in humans and animals. The relatively low number of publications appears to be, at least in part, a consequence of the considerable challenge of acquiring MRIs of the spinal cord, in addition to the usual challenges of obtaining high quality fMRI data. Nonetheless, the work that has been published and presented at scientific meetings has shown consistent findings across several groups that are now working on spinal fMRI and demonstrates that the challenges of applying fMRI to the spinal cord can be overcome. Most of the work that has been published with human subjects demonstrates that spinal fMRI can be carried out using current clinical MRI systems without any custom hardware or software. Rationale for Developing Spinal fMRIThe need for an fMRI method adapted for demonstrating function in the spinal cord arises from the fact that the cord is contained within the vertebral column and is therefore relatively inaccessible. Without opening the spinal canal...

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“…These studies have shown activation in the cervical [104] and lumbar [105,106] spinal cord of rats following noxious stimuli. Confirming the robustness of fMRI, Lawrence et al demonstrated agreement between the areas of activation seen with fMRI and c-Fos (upregulated in neurons following repeated stimuli) expression seen on immunochemistry [107]. The c-Fos protein is a known activity biomarker and the protein is deposited in proportion to the intensity of stimuli.…”

Section: Functional Mri Of the Spinementioning

confidence: 85%

Functional MRI of the Spinal Cord: Diffusion-Weighted, Diffusion Tensor Imaging, and Fiber Tractography

Law

Thurnher

Schwartz³

et al. 2011

Functional Neuroradiology

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Correlation of functional activation in the rat spinal cord with neuronal activation detected by immunohistochemistry

Cited by 46 publications

References 17 publications

Stimulus Site and Modality Dependence of Functional Activity within the Human Spinal Cord

Stimulus Site and Modality Dependence of Functional Activity within the Human Spinal Cord

Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Neuronal Function in the Spinal Cord: Spinal fMRI

Functional MRI of the Spinal Cord: Diffusion-Weighted, Diffusion Tensor Imaging, and Fiber Tractography

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