Kevin C. Chan1,2, Matthew Man Hin Cheung1,2, Ed X. Wu1,2
1Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging and Signal Processing, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China; 2Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
This study employs blood oxygenation level-dependent functional MRI to evaluate the visual responses in the rat superior colliculi 2 months after neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Results showed a smaller BOLD signal amplitude increase in the contralateral superior colliculus of the HIE group in the stimulation period than in the normal group upon either side of eye stimulation. Our results constitute the first fMRI report in evaluating the visual responses of the rat superior colliculus upon neonatal HI insults. These can be potentially useful in establishing the links between the changes related to the visual sensory development after neonatal injury.