Antti Markku Airaksinen1, Juha-Pekka Niskanen1,2, Joanna Katariina Huttunen1, Ryan Chamberlain3, Michael Garwood3, Asla Pitknen4,5, Olli Grhn1
1Department of Neurobiology, A. I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland; 2Department of Physics, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland; 3Center for Magnetic Resonance Research and Department of Radiology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA; 4Epilepsy Research Laboratory, A. I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland; 5Department of Neurology, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland
fMRI of medetomidine anesthetised rats was performed using RASER and simultaneous FP measurements in response to kainic acid (KA) induced seizures. The image distortion caused by measuring electrode was clearly seen in EPI image, whereas no artefact was seen in the RASER image. Robust BOLD responses were observed in the hippocampus during KA induced seizures. The recurrent epileptic seizures were detected in the FP signal after KA injection. The presented combination of deep electrode FP measurements and fMRI in medetomidine anesthesia that is not suppressing KA induced seizures provide a unique tool for studying abnormal brain activity in rat.