Repeated blast mild traumatic brain injury and oxycodone self‐administration produce interactive effects on neuroimaging outcomes

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and drug addiction are common comorbidities, but it is unknown if the neurological sequelae of TBI contribute to this relationship. We have previously reported elevated oxycodone seeking after drug self-administration in rats that received repeated blast TBI (rbTBI). TBI and exposure to drugs of abuse can each change structural and functional neuroimaging outcomes, but it is unknown if there are interactive effects of injury and drug exposure. To determine the effects of TBI

Repetitive mild closed-head injury induced synapse loss and increased local BOLD-fMRI signal homogeneity

“…To et al observe an increase in ReHo in similar brain regions including the hippocampus, thalamus, and midbrain 79 . On the other hand, a more recent study on drug seeking mice at a later timepoint (7 weeks post-injury), using a different injury mechanism (3 repeated blast injuries), uncovers very sparse (or negligible) increases in ReHo, but more widespread increases when the interaction between injury and drug seeking behavior is considered 80 . Given the potential for translation to the clinic, future work is needed to determine the effects of injury mechanism, and time, on BOLD-fMRI measures of ReHo in animal models of (rm)TBI.…”