Juha-Pekka Niskanen1,2, Antti Markku Airaksinen1, Joanna Katariina Huttunen1, Olli Heikki Grhn1
1Department of Neurobiology, A.I. Virtanen
Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland; 2Department
of Physics, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland
A major concern in animal fMRI studies is the use of anesthesia. Urethane
produces a long-lasting level of surgical anesthesia and preserves cardiorespiratory
function along with intense skeletal muscle relaxation. We measured fMRI data
from rats under urethane anesthesia during electrical forepaw stimulation and
resting-state for evaluating the feasibility of urethane for resting-state fMRI
experiments. Previous studies in rats have shown that there exists strong
resting-state connectivity between somatosensory cortices under Domitor
anesthesia. Our findings indicate that this bilateral coupling between
hemispheres is also preserved under urethane anesthesia.