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Abstract #0658

Deep Brain Stimulation fMRI of the Rat Ventral Posterior Medial Thalamus

SUMMA25Yen-Yu Ian Shih1, Yash Vardhan Tiwari1, William E. Rogers1, Timothy Q. Duong1

1Research Imaging Institute, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States


This study demonstrates thalamocortical connectivity by direct stimulating the ventral posterior medial thalamus in rats. Our results indicate that the barrel cortex is reliably activated and the BOLD responses exhibit frequency and amplitude-dependent properties. Cortical spreading depolarization occasionally occurred, initiating in the barrel cortex and propagating toward the midline, anterior, and posterior part of the cortex within the same hemisphere. DBS-fMRI has potential to explore/validate functional connectivity in the brain and monitor functional plasticity changes in a specific neuroanatomical pathway in vivo.