Tzu-Hao Chao1,
Jyh-Horng Chen2, Chen-Tung Yen1
1Institute
of Zoology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; 2Interdisciplinary
MRI/MRS Lab, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, National Taiwan University,
Taipei, Taiwan
The purpose of the present study was to setup a protocol to follow BOLD response by deep brain stimulation longitudinally in the same rat. A pair of tungsten microwire electrode was chronically implanted in the ventroposterior thalamus (VP), and fMRI scan was made under dexmedetomidine anesthesia. We found the electrode caused limited distortion to MR signal in EPI images. VP stimulation-evoked BOLD responses in the primary somatosensory cortex were stable over 2 scan sessions separated by 7 days. Using this protocol, normal and abnormal plasticity change of specific brain pathway can be probed during their development and maintenance stages.