Mapping the Cerebral Blood Volume Response to Cocaine with Pharmacological MRI in Mice at 7 T

Adriana Teodora Perles-Barbacaru¹, Daniel Procissi¹, Andrey Valentinovich Demyanenko¹, Russell E. Jacobs¹

This study investigated the region specific cerebral blood volume (CBV) changes in response to cocaine administration in spontaneously breathing, isoflurane-anesthetized mice using a steady state T₂* weighted MRI technique at 7 T with MION as a blood pool contrast agent. A consistent CBV decrease was observed, which lasted for up to 60 minutes after intraperitoneal cocaine injection. Vasodilatation with intraperitoneal Acetazolamide was used to validate the technique and resulted in a CBV increase of shorter duration. We demonstrated the sensitivity and reproducibility of this technique for mapping the cerebrovascular reactivity to cocaine in mice at 7 T.