Functional ultrasound imaging: A useful tool for functional connectomics?

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Systems Neuroscience
• Functional Neuroimaging

Background:

• Functional ultrasound (fUS) is a hemodynamic-based neuroimaging technique with high spatiotemporal resolution, large field of view, and behavioral compatibility.
• Its capabilities make fUS suitable for systems-level brain activity interrogation, particularly in animal models.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the technical capabilities of fUS.
• To discuss fUS contributions to functional connectomics.
• To explore future directions and potential of fUS in neuroscience research.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on functional ultrasound (fUS) applications.
• Discussion of fUS for intrinsic functional connectivity studies.
• Exploration of fUS for mapping brain-wide pathways and circuit manipulations.

Main Results:

• fUS effectively studies intrinsic functional connectivity, tracking changes in disease models, behavioral states, and dynamically.
• fUS maps brain-wide pathways related to external events, sensory systems, and specific behaviors.
• Combining fUS with optogenetics enables mapping of defined neuronal populations' connections.

Conclusions:

• Technological advancements and new analytical tools are enhancing fUS capabilities.
• Increasing brain coverage and behavioral contexts will expand fUS-guided connectomics.
• Multimodal studies integrating fUS with other techniques and tasks represent a promising research avenue.