Publication Date
9-1-2024
Journal
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
DOI
10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105823
PMID
39094280
PMCID
PMC11374361
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
9-4-2024
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Author MSS
Published Open-Access
yes
Keywords
Animals, Brain, Self Administration, Rodentia, Neuroimaging, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Humans, Positron-Emission Tomography
Abstract
A systematic review of functional neuroimaging studies on drug (self-) administration in rodents is lacking. Here, we summarized effects of acute or chronic drug administration of various classes of drugs on brain function and determined consistency with human literature. We performed a systematic literature search and identified 125 studies on in vivo rodent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (n = 84) or positron emission tomography (n = 41) spanning depressants (n = 27), opioids (n = 23), stimulants (n = 72), and cannabis (n = 3). Results primarily showed alterations in the striatum, consistent with the human literature. The anterior cingulate cortex and (nonspecific) prefrontal cortex were also frequently implicated. Upregulation was most often found after shorter administration and downregulation after long chronic administration, particularly in the striatum. Importantly, results were consistent across study design, administration models, imaging method, and animal states. Results provide evidence of altered resting-state brain function in rodents upon drug administration, implicating the brain's reward network analogous to human studies. However, alterations were more dynamic than previously known, with dynamic adaptation depending on the length of drug administration.