Intrinsic Functional Connectivity between the Anterior Insular and Retrosplenial Cortex as a Moderator and Consequence of Cocaine Self-Administration in Rats

While functional brain imaging studies in humans suggest that chronic cocaine use alters functional connectivity (FC) within and between key large-scale brain networks, including the default mode network (DMN), the salience network (SN), and the central executive network (CEN), cross-sectional studies in humans are challenging to obtain brain FC prior to cocaine use. Such information is critical to reveal the relationship between individual's brain FC and the subsequent development of cocaine dependence and brain changes during abstinence. Here, we performed a longitudinal study examining functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data in male rats ( n = 7), acquired before cocaine self-administration (baseline), on 1 d of abstinence following 10 d of cocaine self-administration, and again after 30 d of experimenter-imposed abstinence. Using repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) with network-based statistics (NBS), significant connectivity changes were found between anterior insular cortex (AI) of the SN, retrosplenial cortex (RSC) of the DMN, somatosensory cortex, and caudate–putamen (CPu), with AI–RSC FC showing the most robust changes between baseline and 1 d of abstinence. Additionally, the level of escalated cocaine intake is associated with AI–RSC and AI–CPu FC changes between 1 d and 30 d of abstinence; further, the subjects’ AI–RSC FC prior to cocaine intake is a significant moderator for the AI–RSC changes during abstinence. These results provide novel insights into the roles of AI–RSC FC before and after cocaine intake and suggest this circuit to be a potential target to modulate large-scale network and associated behavioral changes in cocaine use disorders.