Functional MRI of Somatosensory Cortical Reorganization in the Rat Brain

xin Yu¹, Shumin Wang¹, Stephen Dodd¹, Der-yow Chen¹, Alan Koretsky¹

A 3D somatotopic map in the rat primary somatosensory cortex (S1) was characterized with BOLD-fMRI, including forepaw, hindpaw, whisker pad, and nose S1 regions. These maps enabled analysis of the topographic cortical reorganization following sensory deprivation of the whisker barrel cortex. It is well known that functional MRI maps vary largely depending on the t-threshold used. Here we show that the location of center of mass in S1 subdivisions is highly consistent regardless of t statistics. Utilizing mass-center as anchor points to model BOLD response enabled a quantitative analysis of cortical reorganization in the rat brain with BOLD-fMRI.