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Diurnal rhythms have been observed in human behaviors as diverse as sleep, olfaction, and learning. Despite its potential impact, time of day is rarely considered when brain responses are studied by neuroimaging techniques. To address this issue, we explicitly examined the effects of circadian and homeostatic regulation on functional connectivity (FC) and regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in healthy human volunteers, using whole-brain resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and arterial spin labeling (ASL). In common with many circadian studies, we collected salivary cortisol to represent the normal circadian activity and functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Intriguingly, the changes in FC and rCBF we observed indicated fundamental decreases in the functional integration of the default mode network (DMN) moving from morning to afternoon. Within the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), our results indicate that morning cortisol levels are negatively correlated with rCBF. We hypothesize that the homeostatic mechanisms of the HPA axis has a role in modulating the functional integrity of the DMN (specifically, the ACC), and for the purposes of using fMRI as a tool to measure changes in disease processes or in response to treatment, we demonstrate that time of the day is important when interpreting resting-state data.
Pubmed ID: 24938404
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The Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism stands at the interface between basic and clinical neurovascular research, and features timely and relevant research highlighting experimental, theoretical, and clinical aspects of brain circulation, metabolism and imaging. The journal is relevant to any physician or scientist with an interest in brain function, cerebrovascular disease, cerebral vascular regulation and brain metabolism, including neurologists, neurochemists, physiologists, pharmacologists, anesthesiologists, neuroradiologists, neurosurgeons, neuropathologists and neuroscientists. On this website, you will find the full text of articles published online weekly, in advance of print, the current issue and an archive of previous issues. You can also find general information about the journal, and more detailed information for readers, authors, referees, librarians, advertisers, and journalists. Most articles are published online before they appear in print. New papers are uploaded weekly to the Advance online publication (AOP) page. The online publication date is specified for each paper; these versions are identical to the printed version in every respect and may be cited using the digital object identifier (DOI).
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