An MRI-guided multiple degree-of-freedom robotic arm positioning system is developed to guide the fiber optic insertion inside a small animal MRI scanner. The fiber optic is positioned at different depth in the rat thalamus to deliver light pulses for optogenetic fMRI. The corresponding functional spatial patterns and time courses can be achieved in a stepwise manner. The MgRA positioning system provides an alternative way to study global functional projections by mapping fMRI signals driven optogenetically from different brain nuclei.
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