ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors present the state-of-the-art optical techniques developed in their labs, focusing on the technical capabilities that enable simultaneous recordings and dynamic measurements to capture the physiological changes from the cortex of a living brain. They summarize the application to drug abuse and drug addiction—one of the common but serious brain diseases to study the complex neurovascular and cellular activity changes in the brain induced by stimulants such as cocaine. Separation of the cellular effects from the vascular effects of cocaine is crucial to understanding the mechanisms that lead to neurovascular toxicity in cocaine abusers. Neuroimaging studies on the hemodynamic effects of cocaine are crucial to elucidating the mechanisms underlying its neurotoxicity including microcirculatory pathology and hemodynamic dysfunction. The value of simultaneous imaging of neurovascular and cellular functions has been illustrated with cocaine that clearly differentiates cocaine-induced cellular effects from neurovascular effects. Substance abuse results in profound and wide-ranging changes in brain chemistry, morphology, physiology, and function.
