Journal Article

Real-time imaging of brain activity in freely moving rats using functional ultrasound

Martel, Guillaume, Brunner, Clément, Montaldo, Gabriel, Urban, Alan, Dussaux, Clara, Mace, Emilie

2015

Overview

A miniaturized ultrasound probe enables functional brain imaging in freely behaving rats. The large field of view and deep penetration makes this technique complementary to optical imaging approaches. Innovative imaging methods help to investigate the complex relationship between brain activity and behavior in freely moving animals. Functional ultrasound (fUS) is an imaging modality suitable for recording cerebral blood volume (CBV) dynamics in the whole brain but has so far been used only in head-fixed and anesthetized rodents. We designed a fUS device for tethered brain imaging in freely moving rats based on a miniaturized ultrasound probe and a custom-made ultrasound scanner. We monitored CBV changes in rats during various behavioral states such as quiet rest, after whisker or visual stimulations, and in a food-reinforced operant task. We show that fUS imaging in freely moving rats could efficiently decode brain activity in real time.

• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group US,Nature Publishing Group
• Subject: 59 / 59/36 / 631/1647/245/1859 / 631/1647/334/1874/486 / 631/378/2607 / 692/308/2778 / Animal behavior / Animals / Bioinformatics / Biological Microscopy / Biological Techniques / Biomedical Engineering/Biotechnology / Brain / Brain - physiology / Brain Mapping - instrumentation / Computer Systems / Echoencephalography - instrumentation / Equipment Design / Equipment Failure Analysis / Life Sciences / Maze Learning - physiology / Methods / Miniaturization / Monitoring, Ambulatory - instrumentation / Neuroimaging / Proteomics / Rats / Rats, Sprague-Dawley / Reproducibility of Results / Rodents / Sensitivity and Specificity / Ultrasonic imaging / Ultrasound imaging