Nan Li1, 2, John
Downey3, Amnon Bar-Shir4,5, Assaf A. Gilad4,5,
Piotr Walczak4,5, Heechul Kim4,5, Suresh E. Joel3,4,
James J. Pekar3, 4, Nitish V. Thakor2, Galit Pelled3,
4
1F. M. Kirby
Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Kennedy Krieger Institute,
Baltimore, MD, USA; 2The Department of Biomedical Engineering,
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA; 3F.
M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Kennedy Krieger
Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA; 4The Russell H. Morgan Department
of Radiology & Radiological Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of
Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA; 5Cellular Imaging Section, Vascular
Biology Program, Institute for Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
Ipsilateral neuronal responses originating from the transcallosal pathway following peripheral nerve injury have been suggested to be negatively correlated to rehabilitation. The goal of this study was to decrease the cortical inhibition in a rat forepaw injury model. The neuronal firing rates in the healthy cortex of halorhodopsin engineered rats were optogeneticly manipulated. Electrophysiology, optical imaging and fMRI were used to evaluate the functional responses. The results demonstrate that decreased in the inhibitory activity within the deprived cortex can be achieved using optogenetics manipulations. This offers novel therapeutic strategies to facilitate rehabilitation.