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The Journal of Neuroscience, August 16, 2006, 26(33):8409-8416; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4615-05.2006
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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Differential Effects of NMDA and AMPA Glutamate Receptors on Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Signals and Evoked Neuronal Activity during Forepaw Stimulation of the Rat
Willy Gsell,1,2,3 *
Michael Burke,1,4
Dirk Wiedermann,1
Gilles Bonvento,5
Afonso C. Silva,6
François Dauphin,2,7
Christian Bührle,1,8
Mathias Hoehn,1 and
Wolfram Schwindt1,9 *
1Max Planck Institute for Neurological Research, 50931 Cologne, Germany, 2Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Recherche 6551, University of Caen, 14032 Caen, France, 37T MR Facility, Wellcome Surgical Institute, University of Glasgow, Glasgow 6G1 1QH, United Kingdom, 4Faculty of Psychology, Section for Experimental and Biological Psychology, Universität Marburg, 35032 Marburg, Germany, 5Commissariat à lEnergie Atomique, Unité de Recherche Associée, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 2210, Service Hospitalier Frédéric Joliot, 91401 Orsay, France, 6Laboratory of Functional and Molecular Imaging, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, 7Pharmacology, Centre dEtudes et de Recherche sur le Médicament de Normandie, University of Caen, 14032 Caen, France, 8Department of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, University of Cologne, 50923 Cologne, Germany, and 9Department of Clinical Radiology, University Hospital Münster, 48129 Münster, Germany
Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Wolfram Schwindt, Department of Clinical Radiology, University Hospital Münster, D-48129 Münster, Germany. Email: wschwindt{at}uni-muenster.de
Most of the currently used methods for functional brain imaging do not visualize neuronal activity directly but rather rely on the elicited hemodynamic and/or metabolic responses. Glutamate, the major excitatory neurotransmitter, plays an important role in the neurovascular/neurometabolic coupling, but the specific mechanisms are still poorly understood. To investigate the role of the two major ionotropic glutamate receptors [NMDA receptors (NMDA-Rs) and AMPA receptors (AMPA-Rs)] for the generation of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) signals, we used fMRI [measurements of blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD), perfusion-weighted imaging (PWI), and cerebral blood volume (CBV)] together with recordings of somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) during electrical forepaw stimulation in the -chloralose anesthetized rat. Intravenous injection of the NMDA-R antagonist MK-801 [(+)-5-methyl-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenzo [a,d] cyclohepten-5,10-imine maleate] (0.06 mg/kg plus 3.6 µg · kg1 · h1) significantly decreased BOLD (51 ± 19%; n = 5) and PWI (57 ± 26%; n = 5) responses but reduced the SEPs only mildly (approximately 10%). Systemic application of the AMPA-R antagonist GYKI-53655 [1-(4-aminophenyl)-3-methylcarbamyl-4-methyl7,8-methylenedioxy-3,4-dihydro-5H-2,3-benzodiazepine] significantly decreased both the hemodynamic response (BOLD, 49 ± 13 and 65 ± 15%; PWI, 22 ± 48 and 68 ± 4% for 5 and 7 mg/kg, i.v., respectively; CBV, 80 ± 7% for 7 mg/kg; n = 4) and the SEPs (up to 60%). These data indicate that the interaction of glutamate with its postsynaptic and/or glial receptors is necessary for the generation of blood flow and BOLD responses and illustrate the differential role of NMDA-Rs and AMPA-Rs in the signaling chain leading from increased neuronal activity to the hemodynamic response in the somatosensory cortex.
Key words: glutamate; AMPA receptors; NMDA receptors; functional magnetic resonance imaging; evoked potentials; somatosensory cortex; rat
Received June 3, 2004;
revised June 27, 2006;
accepted June 28, 2006.
Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Wolfram Schwindt, Department of Clinical Radiology, University Hospital Münster, D-48129 Münster, Germany. Email: wschwindt{at}uni-muenster.de
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