The role of astrocytes in neurovascular coupling (NVC) is unclear. Here, we applied a multimodality imaging approach to concomitantly measure synchronized neuronal or astrocytic Ca and hemodynamic changes in the mouse somatosensory cortex at rest and during sensory electrical stimulation. Strikingly, we found that low-frequency stimulation (0.3-1 Hz), which consistently evokes fast neuronal Ca transients (6.0 ± 2.7 ms latency) that always precede vascular responses, does not always elicit astrocytic Ca transients (313 ± 65 ms latency). However, the magnitude of the hemodynamic response is increased when astrocytic transients occur, suggesting a facilitatory role of astrocytes in NVC. High-frequency stimulation (5-10 Hz) consistently evokes a large, delayed astrocytic Ca accumulation (3.48 ± 0.09 s latency) that is temporarily associated with vasoconstriction, suggesting a role for astrocytes in resetting NVC. At rest, neuronal, but not astrocytic, Ca fluctuations correlate with hemodynamic low-frequency oscillations. Taken together, these results support a role for astrocytes in modulating, but not triggering, NVC.
Studying neuronal activity at synapses requires high spatiotemporal resolution. For high spatial resolution in vivo imaging at depth, adaptive optics (AO) is required to correct sample-induced aberrations. To improve temporal resolution, Bessel focus has been combined with two-photon fluorescence microscopy (2PFM) for fast volumetric imaging at subcellular lateral resolution. To achieve both high-spatial and high-temporal resolution at depth, we develop an efficient AO method that corrects the distorted wavefront of Bessel focus at the objective focal plane and recovers diffraction-limited imaging performance. Applying AO Bessel focus scanning 2PFM to volumetric imaging of zebrafish larval and mouse brains down to 500 µm depth, we demonstrate substantial improvements in the sensitivity and resolution of structural and functional measurements of synapses in vivo. This enables volumetric measurements of synaptic calcium and glutamate activity at high accuracy, including the simultaneous recording of glutamate activity of apical and basal dendritic spines in the mouse cortex.
Cerebral hemodynamics are modulated in response to changes in neuronal activity, a process termed neurovascular coupling (NVC), which can be disrupted by neuropsychiatric diseases (e.g., stroke, Alzheimer's disease). Thus, there is growing interest to image long-term NVC dynamics with high spatiotemporal resolutions. Here, by combining the use of a genetically-encoded calcium indicator with optical techniques, we develop a longitudinal multimodal optical imaging platform (MIP) that enabled time-lapse tracking of NVC over a relatively large field of view in the mouse somatosensory cortex at single cell and single vessel resolutions. Specifically, GCaMP6f was used as marker of neuronal activity, which along with MIP allowed us to simultaneously measure the changes in neuronal [Ca] fluorescence, cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFv) and hemodynamics longitudinally for more than eight weeks. We show that [Ca] fluorescence was detectable one week post viral injection and the damage to local microvasculature and perfusion recovered two weeks after injection. By three weeks post viral injection, maximal neuronal and CBFv responses to hindpaw stimulations were observed. Moreover, single neuronal activation in response to hindpaw stimulation was consistently recorded, followed by ∼2 s delayed dilation of contiguous microvessels. Additionally, resting-state spontaneous neuronal and hemodynamic oscillations were detectable throughout the eight weeks of study. Our results demonstrate the capability of MIP for longitudinal investigation of the organization and plasticity of the neurovascular network during resting state and during stimulation-evoked neuronal activation at high spatiotemporal resolutions.
Cocaine affects neuronal activity and constricts cerebral blood vessels, making it difficult to determine whether cocaine-induced changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF) reflect neuronal activation or its vasoactive effects. Here we assessed the effects of acute cocaine on both resting-state and stimulation responses to investigate cocaine’s effects on neurovascular coupling and to differentiate its effects on neuronal activity from its vasoactive actions. We concurrently measured cortical field potentials via thinned skull EEG recordings and CBF with laser Doppler flowmetry in the rat’s somatosensory cortex for both resting state and forepaw stimulation prior to and following cocaine administration (1mg/kg, i.v.). Results show both resting-state field potentials and CBF were depressed after cocaine administration (19.8±4.7% and 52.1±13.4%, respectively) and these changes were strongly correlated with each other (r=0.81, p<0.001) indicating that cocaine did not affect neurovascular coupling at rest and that the reduction in resting CBF reflected reduction in synchronized spontaneous neuronal activity rather than vasoconstriction. In contrast, the forepaw-stimulation-evoked neuronal activity was not changed by cocaine (p=0.244) whereas the CBF to the stimulation was reduced 49.9±2.6% (p=0.028) gradually recovering ~20min post cocaine injection, indicating that neurovascular coupling during stimulation was temporarily disrupted by cocaine. Neurovascular uncoupling by cocaine during stimulation but not during rest indicates that distinct processes might underlie regulation of neurovascular coupling for spontaneous than for stimulation-induced activity. The greater reductions by cocaine to the stimulation-induced CBF increases than to the background CBF should be considered when interpreting fMRI studies comparing activation responses between controls and cocaine abusers. Neurovascular uncoupling could contribute to cocaine’s neurotoxicity particularly for stimulation conditions when CBF might be insufficient to cover for the energetic demands of neuronal tissue.
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