Evidence of cell swelling upon activation has been observed in early diffusion functional MRI studies, and has been attributed to the co-transported water due to transient changes in ionic transmembrane flux. Blood-brain barrier (BBB) water permeability is also believed to be a marker of cerebral metabolism. Here we provide an initial investigation of visual stimulation on BBB water permeability parameters, water extraction fraction (Ew) and permeability surface area product (PSw), using the recently developed Intrinsic Diffusivity Encoding of Arterial Labeled Spins (IDEALS). Significant increase of PSw were observed with no change of Ew in the visual cortex during visual stimulation.
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