Duncan Jack Hodkinson1, Carmen de Groote2,
Shane McKie3, John-Francis William Deakin3, Steve R.
Williams1
1Imaging Science and Biomedical
Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom; 2Neuroscience
and Biomedical Systems, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom; 3Neuroscience
and Psychiatry Unit, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
Pharmacological-challenge
MRI (phMRI) is an exciting new tool enabling researchers to examine
underlying circuitry of the brain in response to neuroactive drugs. To avoid
head movements pre-clinical phMRI studies are often conducted under general
anaesthesia. However, interactions between the drug of interest and the
anaesthetic may be a confounding factor. Here we assessed the effect of
α-chloralose and isoflurane anesthesia on the phMRI response to ketamine
challenge. The positive BOLD signal changes observed with α-chloralose
showed areas of activation similar to neuroimaging studies in humans. A
drug-anaesthetic interaction between isoflurane and ketamine compromised the
phMRI response.