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Influence of Diazepam on Clinically Designed fMRI

Received January 11, 2006; revised May 19, 2006; accepted June 3, 2006. Dr. Ragnehed is affiliated with the Department of Neuroscience and Locomotion, the Center for Medical Imaging and Visualization, Linköping University, and the National Board of Forensic Sciences, Linköping, Sweden. Dr. Hakansson is affiliated with the Department of Neuroscience and Locomotion, Linköping University. Dr. Nilsson is affiliated with the National Board of Forensic Sciences, Linköping, Sweden. Dr. Lundberg is affiliated with the Center for Medical Imaging and Visualization and the Departments of Radiology and of Radiation Physics, Linköping University. Dr. Söderfeldt is affiliated with the Department of Clinical Science and Education, Sodersjukhuset, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. Dr. Engström is affiliated with the Center for Medical Imaging and Visualization, and the Department of Radiology, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden. Address correspondence to Dr. Ragnehed, MR-kameran, Avd för Radiologi, Universitetssjukhuset, SE-581 85 Linköping; matra{at}imv.liu.se (e-mail).

The authors investigated the effect of diazepam on clinically relevant measures from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) examinations. Twenty volunteers were scanned twice. Using a double-blind randomized study design, the volunteers received placebo on one occasion, and on the other, 5 mg of diazepam. Three functional tests were used: motor, word generation, and working memory. Images were analyzed individually for each subject and the number of activated voxels and the laterality index were calculated. No significant effects related to the drug were detected. In contrast, the motor and working memory tasks showed a significant decrease in the number of activated voxels between Sessions 1 and 2, independently of diazepam administration. These results indicate that diazepam may be administered for premedication prior to fMRI investigations.

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