ORCID
- Hall, Stephen: 0000-0002-9274-6867
Abstract
Neuronal network oscillations are a unifying phenomenon in neuroscience research, with comparable measurements across scales and species. Cortical oscillations are of central importance in the characterization of neuronal network function in health and disease and are influential in effective drug development. Whilst animal in vitro and in vivo electrophysiology is able to characterize pharmacologically induced modulations in neuronal activity, present human counterparts have spatial and temporal limitations. Consequently, the potential applications for a human equivalent are extensive. Here, we demonstrate a novel implementation of contemporary neuroimaging methods called pharmaco-magnetoencephalography. This approach determines the spatial profile of neuronal network oscillatory power change across the cortex following drug administration and reconstructs the time course of these modulations at focal regions of interest. As a proof of concept, we characterize the nonspecific GABAergic modulator diazepam, which has a broad range of therapeutic applications. We demonstrate that diazepam variously modulates theta (4-7 Hz), alpha (7-14 Hz), beta (15-25 Hz), and gamma (30-80 Hz) frequency oscillations in specific regions of the cortex, with a pharmacodynamic profile consistent with that of drug uptake. We examine the relevance of these results with regard to the spatial and temporal observations from other modalities and the various therapeutic consequences of diazepam and discuss the potential applications of such an approach in terms of drug development and translational neuroscience.
DOI
10.1002/hbm.20889
Publication Date
2010-04-01
Publication Title
Hum Brain Mapp
Volume
31
Issue
4
Organisational Unit
School of Psychology
Keywords
Adult, Brain Mapping, Cerebral Cortex, Diazepam, Electroencephalography, GABA Modulators, Humans, Magnetoencephalography, Male, Middle Aged, Neural Pathways, Neurons, Periodicity, Time Factors, gamma-Aminobutyric Acid
First Page
581
Last Page
594
Recommended Citation
Hall, S. D., Barnes, G., Furlong, P., Seri, S., & Hillebrand, A. (2010) 'Neuronal network pharmacodynamics of GABAergic modulation in the human cortex determined using pharmaco-magnetoencephalography.', Hum Brain Mapp, 31(4), pp. 581-594. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.20889
