Abstract #3538

Spontaneous Fluctuations of BOLD Signal: Effect of Anesthesia and Functional Significance

Robert N.S Sachdev¹, Basavaraju G. Sanganahalli², Peter Herman^2,3, Fahmeed Hyder^2,4

¹Neurobiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States; ²Diagnostic Radiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States; ³Human Physiology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary; ⁴Biomedical Engineering, Yale University

We measured spontaneous fluctuations of BOLD signal together with whisker functional stimulation in rat cortex with two slightly different baseline states: lightly anesthetized with domitor and awakened animals (from domitor) to explore the connection between power of spontaneous fluctuations and magnitude of functional response. The same experimental paradigm was applied during the anesthesia and the waking the rats. Both anesthetized and awakened rodents showed similar power in the frequency spectrum of spontaneous fluctuations, but the awakened animals showed higher variability in their functional responses. Therefore difference in functional response cannot be explained by the effect of baseline.