Response to Deep Brain Stimulation in Three Brain Targets with Implications in Mental Disorders: A PET Study in Rats

Abstract

ObjectiveTo investigate metabolic changes in brain networks by deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and dorsomedial thalamus (DM) using positron emission tomography (PET) in naïve rats.Methods43 male Wistar rats underwent stereotactic surgery and concentric bipolar platinum-iridium electrodes were bilaterally implanted into one of the three brain sites. [18F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-glucose-PET (18FDG-PET) and computed tomography (CT) scans were performed at the 7th (without DBS) and 9th day (with DBS) after surgery. Stimulation period matched tracer uptake period. Images were acquired with a small-animal PET-CT scanner. Differences in glucose uptake between groups were assessed with Statistical Parametric Mapping.ResultsDBS induced site-specific metabolic changes, although a common increased metabolic activity in the piriform cortex was found for the three brain targets. mPFC-DBS increased metabolic activity in the striatum, temporal and amygdala, and reduced it in the cerebellum, brainstem (BS) and periaqueductal gray matter (PAG). NAcc-DBS increased metabolic activity in the subiculum and olfactory bulb, and decreased it in the BS, PAG, septum and hypothalamus. DM-DBS increased metabolic activity in the striatum, NAcc and thalamus and decreased it in the temporal and cingulate cortex.ConclusionsDBS induced significant changes in 18FDG uptake in brain regions associated with the basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical circuitry. Stimulation of mPFC, NAcc and DM induced different patterns of 18FDG uptake despite interacting with the same circuitries. This may have important implications to DBS research suggesting individualized target selection according to specific neural modulatory requirements.

Developing a neurobehavioral animal model of poverty: Drawing cross-species connections between environments of scarcity-adversity, parenting quality, and infant outcome

“…Neurobiology. Infant brain activity in response to maternal odor presentations was assessed using 14 C 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) autoradiography (Boulanger Bertolus et al, 2014;Debiec & Sullivan, 2014;Landers & Sullivan, 1999;Moriceau et al, 2009;Sullivan, Landers, Yeaman, & Wilson, 2000;Sullivan & Wilson, 1995), which provides data that permits functional assessment of the brain that is similar to positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging (Casquero-Veiga et al, 2016;Yan et al, 2017). Five minutes prior to maternal odor presentations, pups were injected with 14 C 2-DG (20 mCi/100g, subcutaneous injection), which allows labeling of cells via 14 C 2-DG uptake into active cells.…”

Deep Brain Stimulation for the Treatment of Dejerine-Roussy Syndrome

“…DBS of the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) in control rats prompted a decreased metabolism in the basal ganglia and periaqueductal gray, while metabolism increased in the subiculum [47]. Stimulation of the dorsomedial thalamus increased metabolism in the striatum, the NAcc, the piriform cortex, and thalamus.…”

“…Stimulation of the dorsomedial thalamus increased metabolism in the striatum, the NAcc, the piriform cortex, and thalamus. Dorsomedial stimulation also decreased metabolism in the temporal and cingulate cortex [47]. In the future, these results should be compared to rat or mouse models of DRS to determine if there are similar patterns of metabolism.…”