The use of BOLD fMRI is rapidly increasing for probing the effects of antipsychotics in schizophrenia. Since fMRI BOLD is an indirect measurement of neural activities, it is critical to examine the effect of antipsychotics on neurovascular coupling to prevent misinterpretation of MR data. Acutely treated haloperidol (0.2mg/kg, i.v.) increased BOLD fMRI to the somatosensory stimulation in the 1.5% isoflurane-anesthetized rats (n=5). In parallel with the BOLD results, evoked CBF and LFP by somatosensory stimuli were increased after haloperidol administration (n=8). Our results indicate that acutely treated haloperidol could influence somatosensory responses and the increased BOLD signal is coupled with enhanced neural activities.
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