Neuroimaging of the effects of drug exposure or self-administration in rodents: A systematic review

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.