Mapping BOLD Activation by Pharmacologically Evoked Tremor in Swine

Jeyeon Lee, Hang Joon Jo, Inyong Kim, Jihyun Lee, Hoon Ki Min, Myung Ho In, Emily J. Knight, Su Youne Chang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Harmaline-induced tremor is one of the most commonly utilized disease models for essential tremor (ET). However, the underlying neural networks involved in harmaline-induced tremor and the degree to which these are a representative model of the pathophysiologic mechanism of ET are incompletely understood. In this study, we evaluated the functional brain network effects induced by systemic injection of harmaline using pharmacological functional magnetic resonance imaging (ph-fMRI) in the swine model. With harmaline administration, we observed significant activation changes in cerebellum, thalamus, and inferior olivary nucleus (ION). In addition, inter-regional correlations in activity between cerebellum and deep cerebellar nuclei and between cerebellum and thalamus were significantly enhanced. These harmaline-induced effects gradually decreased with repeated administration of drug, replicating the previously demonstrated ‘tolerance’ effect. This study demonstrates that harmaline-induced tremor is associated with activity changes in brain regions previously implicated in humans with ET. Thus, harmaline-induction of tremor in the swine may be a useful model to explore the neurological effects of novel therapeutic agents and/or neuromodulation techniques for ET.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number985
JournalFrontiers in Neuroscience
Volume13
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 18 2019

Keywords

  • essential tremor
  • harmaline-induced tremor
  • pharmacological fMRI
  • pig
  • swine model
  • tremor

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Neuroscience

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Mapping BOLD Activation by Pharmacologically Evoked Tremor in Swine'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this