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Abstract #2067

Pharmacological MRI of the Retina: Blood Flow & BOLD Uncoupling During Nitroprusside Infusion

Yen-Yu Ian Shih1, Li Guang1, Timothy Q. Duong1

1Research Imaging Institute, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States


reports demonstrated tremendous advantages of anatomical, physiological, and functional MRI for eye research. The present study, to our knowledge, is the first pharmacological MRI application of the retina. We employed continuous arterial spin labeling MRI at an 11.7T scanner to investigate the effect of nitroprusside infusion on the rat eye. Suprising positive BF with strong negative BOLD response was found in the retina during drug infusion, which may have strong implications for neurovascular coupling and hemodynamic regulation.