Neuroscience Program, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA; Research Service, Denver VA Medical Center, Denver, CO 80220, USA.
Biochem Pharmacol. 2013 Oct 15;86(8):1163-72. doi: 10.1016/j.bcp.2013.06.011. Epub 2013 Jun 21.
The nicotinic receptor is a promising drug target currently being investigated for the treatment of cognitive symptoms in schizophrenia. A key step in this process is the development of noninvasive functional neuroimaging biomarkers that can be used to determine if nicotinic agents are eliciting their targeted biological effect, ideally through modulation of a fundamental aspect of neuronal function. To that end, neuroimaging researchers are beginning to understand how nicotinic modulation affects "intrinsic" brain networks to elicit potentially therapeutic effects. An intrinsic network is a functionally and (often) structurally connected network of brain areas whose activity reflects a fundamental neurobiological organizational principle of the brain. This review summarizes findings of the effects of nicotinic drugs on three topics related to intrinsic brain network activity: (1) the default mode network, a group of brain areas for which activity is maximal at rest and reduced during cognitive tasks, (2) the salience network, which integrates incoming sensory data with prior internal representations to guide future actions and change predictive values, and (3) multi-scale complex network dynamics, which describe these brain's ability to efficiency integrate information while preserving local functional specialization. These early findings can be used to inform future neuroimaging studies that examine the network effects of nicotinic agents.
烟碱型乙酰胆碱受体是一个有前景的药物靶点，目前正在研究其治疗精神分裂症认知症状的作用。该过程的一个关键步骤是开发非侵入性的功能神经影像学生物标志物，这些标志物可用于确定烟碱类药物是否产生了靶向生物学效应，理想情况下是通过调节神经元功能的基本方面。为此，神经影像学研究人员开始了解烟碱类药物如何调节“固有”大脑网络以产生潜在的治疗效果。固有网络是指一组在功能上和（通常）结构上相互连接的脑区，其活动反映了大脑的基本神经生物学组织原则。这篇综述总结了烟碱类药物对与固有脑网络活动相关的三个主题的影响：（1）默认模式网络，一组在静息状态下活动最大，在认知任务期间减少的脑区；（2）突显网络，它将传入的感觉数据与先前的内部表示整合起来，以指导未来的行动并改变预测值；（3）多尺度复杂网络动力学，描述了大脑在保持局部功能专业化的同时有效整合信息的能力。这些早期发现可用于为未来研究烟碱类药物对神经影像学网络影响的研究提供信息。
