Functional Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy of the Rat Barrel Cortex

Nathalie Just¹, Rolf Gruetter¹

In the past, Trigeminal nerve electrical stimulation was shown to be a robust model for the investigation of the BOLD fMRI changes in the rat barrel cortex. In the present study, reproducible BOLD fMRI changes were obtained during sustained 10-minute trigeminal nerve stimulation. Current observations suggest that sustained neuronal activation of the rat barrel cortex permits the investigation of the neurochemical consequences of cortical activation.