Abstract #3242

Functional MRI and Neural Responses in a Rat Model of Alzheimer's Disease

Basavaraju G. Sanganahalli¹, Peter Herman¹, Kevin L. Behar¹,², Hal Blumenfeld³,⁴, Douglas L. Rothman¹,⁵, Fahmeed Hyder¹,⁵

¹Diagnostic Radiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States; ²Psychiatry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States; ³Neurology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States; ⁴Neuroscience, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States; ⁵Biomedical Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States

Forepaw-stimulation (2mA, 0.3ms, 3 Hz) evoked a positive BOLD signal change in the contralateral cortical (S1FL) and ventral posterior nucleus (VPL) of thalamus in normal healthy control and AD rats. In AD brain we noted a significant reduction in dynamics of BOLD and neural responses in S1FL, whereas evoked BOLD and neural responses in VPL were unaltered. These results suggest that there is a greater potential for cortical energy metabolism to be affected in Alzheimers disease as compared with the control normal rats. These results may have implications for understanding altered brain function in human Alzheimers disease