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Updated: Apr 30, 2026
Deep Brain Stimulation with Simultaneous fMRI in Rodents
Published on: February 15, 2014
Robust deep brain stimulation functional MRI procedures in rats and mice using an MR-compatible tungsten microwire
Hsin-Yi Lai1, Daniel L Albaugh, Yu-Chieh Jill Kao
1Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
Purpose:
To develop a series of robust and readily adoptable protocols for the application of deep brain stimulation (DBS)-functional MRI (fMRI) in rodents.
Methods:
DBS-fMRI procedures were conducted in rat and mouse under varying anesthetic conditions (isoflurane in rat and mouse, α-chloralose in rat). A homemade two-channel tungsten microwire electrode was used to minimize magnetic susceptibility artifacts, and was targeted to the ventral posteromedial (VPM) thalamus for DBS-fMRI scanning procedures.
Results:
Compared with a commercially available MR-compatible electrode, the tungsten microwire generated greatly reduced magnetic-susceptibility artifacts. In the rat, VPM-DBS using the microwire electrode resulted in robust positive blood-oxygen-level-dependent signal changes in somatosensory cortex that were relatively independent of anesthetic type. In the mouse, VPM-DBS similarly generated large, positive neurovascular responses in somatosensory cortex that were detected using cerebral blood volume measurements.
Conclusion:
Collectively, this work describes reasonable and easily adoptable procedures for conducting DBS-fMRI studies in rodent models. The protocols developed herein may be extended to study DBS effects under numerous experimental conditions and at varying stimulation targets.
