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Abstract #0457

Primary neurotransmitter variations upon forepaw stimulation revealed by functional Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in the rat

Tal Shemesh1 and Noam Shemesh1

1Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Lisbon, Portugal

Functional Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (fMRS) could potentially provide much information on neurotransmitters, and hence, could shed light into excitation / inhibition imbalances. However, it was scarcely used, in particular in rodents, presumably due to low SNR. Here, we used a cryoprobe at 9.4T to record fMRS spectra in the rat in just a few minutes. SNR>50 was documented for the N-acetylaspartate resonance. We show statistically significant increases in Glutamate and decrease in GABA upon forepaw stimulation. Our results are suggestive of differential relaxation between vesicular and synaptic neurotransmitter pools, and are promising for more detailed investigations, e.g., using optogenetics.

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