Decipher the functional phenotypes of the transgenic Parkinson disease mouse model using simultaneous optogenetic fMRI and MRS with calcium and dopamine dynamic signal recordings

• Applicant: Professor Klaus Scheffler, Ph.D., since 1/2021
• Subject Area: Medical Physics, Biomedical Technology ; Biomedical Systems Technology ; Cognitive, Systems and Behavioural Neurobiology
• Term: from 2018 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 391998472

• Final Report Year: 2023

Final Report Abstract

During the DFG-supported research period we developed several new methods to study functional brain dynamics in animals using magnetic resonance imaging and optical techniques. A major achievement was the development of magnetic resonance imaging methods with substantially improved spatial and temporal resolution compared to existing techniques. This enabled us to detect distinct responses within the cortical layer on a layerspecific level, for example, spatially correlated oscillation patterns between different layers. Furthermore, we were able to analyze the coupling between neuronal activation and vascular response in more detail. In two further projects we analyzed the dependence and correlation of pupil movement and pupil diameter changes with brain activity in anesthetized rats. A unique positive correlation with pupil dilations was detected near noradrenergic cell groups in the ventral brainstem, which was associated with a specific coupling between spectrally different calcium waves, highlighting unique brain-state dynamics. As mentioned before, our research projects conducted during the DFG funding period represent a significant change compared to our original proposal. The planned work with transgenic Parkinson’s disease mouse models was not possible due to the strict COVID shutdown in China and the resulting inability to collaborate with our Chinese partner.

Publications

• High spatiotemporal vessel-specific hemodynamic mapping with multi-echo single-vessel fMRI. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism, 40(10), 2098-2114.
  He, Yi; Wang, Maosen & Yu, Xin
  
• Mapping optogenetically-driven single-vessel fMRI with concurrent neuronal calcium recordings in the rat hippocampus. Nature Communications, 10(1).
  Chen, Xuming; Sobczak, Filip; Chen, Yi; Jiang, Yuanyuan; Qian, Chunqi; Lu, Zuneng; Ayata, Cenk; Logothetis, Nikos K. & Yu, Xin
  
• MRI-guided robotic arm drives optogenetic fMRI with concurrent Ca2+ recording. Nature Communications, 10(1).
  Chen, Yi; Pais-Roldan, Patricia; Chen, Xuming; Frosz, Michael H. & Yu, Xin
  
• Indexing brain state-dependent pupil dynamics with simultaneous fMRI and optical fiber calcium recording. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(12), 6875-6882.
  Pais-Roldán, Patricia; Takahashi, Kengo; Sobczak, Filip; Chen, Yi; Zhao, Xiaoning; Zeng, Hang; Jiang, Yuanyuan & Yu, Xin
  
• Predicting the fMRI Signal Fluctuation with Recurrent Neural Networks Trained on Vascular Network Dynamics. Cerebral Cortex, 31(2), 826-844.
  Sobczak, Filip; He, Yi; Sejnowski, Terrence J. & Yu, Xin
  
• Decoding the brain state-dependent relationship between pupil dynamics and resting state fMRI signal fluctuation. eLife, 10.
  Sobczak, Filip; Pais-Roldán, Patricia; Takahashi, Kengo & Yu, Xin
  
• Awake Mouse fMRI and Pupillary Recordings in the Ultra-High Magnetic Field. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 16.
  Zeng, Hang; Jiang, Yuanyuan; Beer-Hammer, Sandra & Yu, Xin
  
• Focal fMRI signal enhancement with implantable inductively coupled detectors. NeuroImage, 247, 118793.
  Chen, Yi; Wang, Qi; Choi, Sangcheon; Zeng, Hang; Takahashi, Kengo; Qian, Chunqi & Yu, Xin
  
• Laminar-specific functional connectivity mapping with multi-slice line-scanning fMRI. Cerebral Cortex, 32(20), 4492-4501.
  Choi, Sangcheon; Zeng, Hang; Chen, Yi; Sobczak, Filip; Qian, Chunqi & Yu, Xin
  
• Alpha-180 spin-echo based line-scanning method for high resolution laminar-specific fMRI. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
  Choi, Sangcheon; Hike, David; Pohmann, Rolf; Avdievich, Nikolai; Gomez-Cid, Lidia; Man, Weitao; Scheffler, Klaus & Yu, Xin
  
• Identifying the distinct spectral dynamics of laminar-specific interhemispheric connectivity with bilateral line-scanning fMRI. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism, 43(7), 1115-1129.
  Choi, Sangcheon; Chen, Yi; Zeng, Hang; Biswal, Bharat & Yu, Xin