Nathalie Just1,
Mario Lepore1, Hanne Frenkel1, Rolf Gruetter2,
3
1CIBM-AIT,
EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland; 2CIBM-AIT, cole Polytechnique
Fdrale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; 3Department of
Radiology, Universities of Lausanne and Geneva, Lausanne and Geneva,
Switzerland
Activity-induced Manganese dependent Magnetic Resonance Imaging (AIM-MRI) enables an indirect measurement of neuronal activity following functional challenge. However, difficulties arising from the toxicity of Mn2+ ions and their ability to cross the blood brain barrier prevent a good reproducibility. As a result, AIM MRI has not shown its full value. We increased the physiological follow up of 6 rats by carefully monitoring blood pressure during MnCl2 and mannitol infusions. T1 mapping demonstrated a significant decrease of T1 in the barrel cortex following trigeminal nerve stimulation. Finally, histogram analysis allowed an optimized characterization of the synaptic activity of the barrel cortex.