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Abstract #3283

MRI of Bilateral Sensorimotor Network Activation by Direct Intracortical Stimulation in Rats After Unilateral Stroke

Maurits Pieter Adriaan van Meer1,2, Kajo van der Marel1, Willem Maarten Otte1, Jan Willem Berkelbach van der Sprenkel2, Rick Michiel Dijkhuizen1

1Image Sciences Institute, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands; 2Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands


Functional MRI is increasingly applied to investigate rearrangement of ipsi- and contralesional functional brain fields during recovery from stroke. However, these studies typically employ a peripheral stimulation paradigm. In this study we applied BOLD and CBV-weighted fMRI during direct intracortical stimulation (DICS) of the contralesional primary motor cortex in rats acutely after stroke in order to assess changes in central functional connectivity. DICS-fMRI enabled detection of activation responses in bilateral functional networks and we found loss of ipsilesional activation and occasional increased excitability in contralesional sensorimotor regions at 24 h after stroke.