Neuroimaging and the NRLC

The NRLC actively collaborates with the Research Imaging Institute (RII) at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA). Researchers at the NRLC use state of the art neuroimaging techniques to better understand the neural circuitry underlying maladaptive behaviors, with a current focus on substance use disorder research in both addicted and at risk populations.

Neuroimaging Techniques used by the NRLC

 

• Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI): fMRI takes advantage of rapid changes in blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signaling accompanying neural activations to noninvasively identify brain regions activated while performing specific behavioral tasks or passively resting.

 

• Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) MRI: DTI takes advantage of water naturally diffusing more readily along axons to determine primary directions of neural fibers. DTI can be used for tractography (inferring axon connectivity patterns) to compare axonal connections between populations.

• Positron Emission Topography (PET): PET images are constructed from gamma rays emitted from positron-releasing radionuclide tracers. Tracers used to measure brain activity include 18fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), which assays glucose utilization, and oxygen-15 (O-15) labeled water, which assays blood flow.

Neuroimaging Resources

• Magnetic Resonance Imaging

• Positron Emission Tomography

• Biomedical Image Analysis Division

 

Links:

• Organization for Human Brain Mapping  

• BrainMap

• Society for Neuroscience  
  

 

NRLC Neuroimaging Bibliography

Differential activation of the anterior cingulate cortex and caudate nucleus in persons with a family history of alcoholism during a gambling simulation: Studies from the Oklahoma Family Health Patterns Project. Acheson A, Robinson JL, Glahn DC, Lovallo WR, Fox PT (2009). Drug and Alcohol Dependence 100, 17-23.

Increased baseline activity in reward networks in young adults with a family history of alcoholism. Acheson A., Cykowski, M. D., Laird, A. R., Glahn, D. C., Fox, P. T., Lovallo, W. R. (2010) Poster presented at the Organization for Human Brain Mapping 16th Annual Meeting, Barcelona, Spain.

Differences in resting state brain glucose uptake in young adults with a family history of alcoholism. Acheson, A., Cykowski, M. D., Glahn, D. C., Fox, P. T., Lovallo, W. R. (2009). Poster presented at the Society for Neuroscience 39th Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.

Neural substrates of reward, emotion, memory and impulsivity in adolescent marijuana users. Acheson, A., Dawes, M.A., Mathias, C. W., and Dougherty, D. M. (2009) Poster presented at the International Society for Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology 14th Scientific Meeting, Seattle, WA.

Impulsivity and BOLD fMRI activation in MDMA users and healthy control subjects. Valdes, I. H., Steinberg, J. L., Narayana, P. A., Kramer, L. A., Dougherty, D. M., Swann, A. C., Barratt, E. S., and Moeller, F. G. (2006). Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 147, 239-242.

Reduced anterior corpus callosum white matter integrity is related to increased impulsivity and reduced discriminability in cocaine-dependent subjects: diffusion tensor imaging.  Moeller, F. G., Hasan, K. M., Steinberg, J. L., Kramer, L. A., Dougherty, D. M., Santos, R. M., Valdes, I., Swann, A. C., Barratt, E. S., and Narayana, P. A.  (2005). Neuropsychopharmacology, 30, 610-617.

Functional MRI study of working memory in MDMA users.  Moeller, F. G., Steinberg, J. L., Dougherty, D. M., Narayana, P. A., Kramer, L., and Renshaw, P. F.  (2004).  Psychopharmacology, 177, 185-194.

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