Targeted Gastric Electrical Stimulation Modulates Functional Connectivity of the Interoceptive Network in the Rat Brain

Gastric Electrical Stimulation (GES) is an FDA approved therapy for gastroparesis with unspecified working mechanisms. One plausible mechanism is that it activates the vagal afferents to engage the brain’s interoceptive network in regulating the stomach. Orientation and location-specific stimulation that targets the vagal-gastric receptors can effectively activate the brainstem. We asked whether and how this type of GES can engage interoceptive regions and modulate their interactions, especially the anterior cingulate (ACC) and insular cortices (IC), the primary visceromotor and viscerosensory processing regions, respectively. Therefore, we evaluated the functional connectivity in the rat brain before, during, and after targeted GES.