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Mapping Functional Connectivity in the Rodent Brain Using Electric-Stimulation fMRI

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Preclinical MRI

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1718))

Abstract

Since its discovery in the early 90s, BOLD signal-based functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) has become a fundamental technique for the study of brain activity in basic and clinical research. Functional MRI signals provide an indirect but robust and quantitative readout of brain activity through the tight coupling between cerebral blood flow and neuronal activation, the so-called neurovascular coupling. Combined with experimental techniques only available in animal models, such as intracerebral micro-stimulation, optogenetics or pharmacogenetics, provides a powerful framework to investigate the impact of specific circuit manipulations on overall brain dynamics. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a comprehensive protocol to measure brain activity using fMRI with intracerebral electric micro-stimulation in murine models. Preclinical research (especially in rodents) opens the door to very sophisticated and informative experiments, but at the same time imposes important constrains (i.e., anesthetics, translatability), some of which will be addressed here.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) and FEDER funds under grants BFU2015-64380-C2-1-R (S.C.) and BFU2015-64380-C2-2-R (D.M.) and EU Horizon 2020 Program 668863-SyBil-AA grant (S.C.). S.C. acknowledges financial support from the Spanish State Research Agency, through the “Severo Ochoa” Programme for Centres of Excellence in R&D (ref. SEV- 2013-0317).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Neurociencias, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Sant Joan d’Alacant, 03550, Spain

    Laura Pérez-Cervera, José María Caramés, Andrea Moreno, Begoña Fernández, Elena Pérez-Montoyo, Santiago Canals & Jesús Pacheco-Torres

  2. Center for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, 46022, Spain

    Luis Miguel Fernández-Mollá, Andrea Moreno & David Moratal

Authors
  1. Laura Pérez-Cervera
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  2. José María Caramés
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  3. Luis Miguel Fernández-Mollá
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  4. Andrea Moreno
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  5. Begoña Fernández
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  6. Elena Pérez-Montoyo
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  7. David Moratal
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  8. Santiago Canals
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  9. Jesús Pacheco-Torres
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jesús Pacheco-Torres .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. BIONAND, Andalusian Centre for Nanomedicine and Biotechnology, Junta de Andalucía, Universidad de Málaga, Málaga, Spain

    María Luisa García Martín

  2. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas “Alberto Sols”, CSIC/UAM, Madrid, Spain

    Pilar López Larrubia

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Pérez-Cervera, L. et al. (2018). Mapping Functional Connectivity in the Rodent Brain Using Electric-Stimulation fMRI. In: García Martín, M., López Larrubia, P. (eds) Preclinical MRI. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1718. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7531-0_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7531-0_8

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-7530-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-7531-0

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