Decreased Functional Connectivity After Acute Cocaine Administration: A Feasibility Study of Resting-State fMRI in Awake Non-Human Primates

Kaundinya Gopinath¹, Kevin Murnane², Leonard Howell²

Non-human primates afford distinct advantages in translational neuroimaging studies of drug addiction. To date, fcMRI studies in non-human primates have been exclusively conducted in subjects under anesthesia. In this study, resting state functional connectivity in these networks were assessed in three awake nonhuman primates, before and after acute cocaine administration. Primates exhibited a marked decrease in functional connectivity between frontal and striatal regions after acute cocaine administration, indicating impairment of neurocircuitry underlying drug addiction. Results demonstrate the feasibility of acquiring resting state functional connectivity data from awake monkeys, and provide a translational model for studying the changes induced by cocaine.