Setup and data analysis for functional magnetic resonance imaging of awake cat visual cortex

Abstract

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is one of the most commonly used methods in cognitive neuroscience on humans. In recent decades, fMRI has also been used in the awake monkey experiments to localize functional brain areas and to compare the functional differences between human and monkey brains. Several procedures and paradigms have been developed to maintain proper head fixation and to perform motion control training. In this study, we extended the application of fMRI to awake cats without training, receiving a fl ickering checkerboard visual stimulus projected to a screen in front of them in a block-design paradigm. We found that body movement-induced non-rigid motion introduced artifacts into the functional scans, especially those around the eye and neck. To correct for these artifacts, we developed two methods: one for general experimental design, and the other for studies of whether a checkerboard task could be used as a localizer to optimize the motioncorrection parameters. The results demonstrated that, with proper animal fixation and motion correction procedures, it is possible to perform fMRI experiments with untrained awake cats.

Association of Optic Radiation Integrity with Cortical Thickness in Children with Anisometropic Amblyopia

“…Electrophysiological studies have also shown that the visual cortical response to stimulation at higher spatial frequencies is reduced in anisometropic amblyopia [11]. Global brain gray matter [12], including the visual cortex [13], has been investigated physiologically and psychopathologically using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Furthermore, recent fMRI studies have shown that amblyopia is associated with deactivation in the striate cortex (Brodmann area 17), the occipitotemporal cortex, and the LGN [14,15].…”

Applications in Awake Animal Magnetic Resonance Imaging

“…Over time there have been several publications across numerous mammalian species on methods and applications for awake imaging. These include mice ( Ferris et al, 2014 ), rats ( Febo, 2011 ), voles ( Yee et al, 2016 ), rabbits ( Weiss et al, 2018 ), cats ( Ma et al, 2013 ), dogs ( Berns et al, 2012 ), pigeons ( Behroozi et al, 2020 ) common marmosets monkeys ( Ferris et al, 2001 ; Papoti et al, 2013 ; Silva, 2017 ), and rhesus macaques ( Goense et al, 2010 ). Each of these species, most obviously rhesus monkey, have general or unique attributes that provide a better understanding of the human condition.…”