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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 95/5/3164    most recent 00400.2005v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (8) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Van Camp, N. Articles by Van der Linden, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Van Camp, N. Articles by Van der Linden, A.

Light Stimulus Frequency Dependence of Activity in the Rat Visual System as Studied With High-Resolution BOLD fMRI

¹Bio-Imaging Lab, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium; ²Visielab, University of Antwerp; ³Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus Medical College, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Submitted 19 April 2005; accepted in final form 22 December 2005

The neurophysiology of the rodent visual system has mainly been investigated by invasive and ex-vivo techniques providing fragmented data. This area of research has been deprived of functional MRI studies based on blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) contrast, which allows a whole brain approach with a high spatial and temporal resolution. In the present study, we looked at the neurovascular response properties of the visual system of the pigmented rat, focusing on the visual cortex (VC), the superior colliculus (SC) and the flocculus-paraflocculus of the cerebellum (FL-PFL), using BOLD fMRI under domitor anesthesia. Visual stimulation was performed monocularly or binocularly while flashing light from a strobe unit was presented. For each structure, we assessed the flashing frequency that evoked the optimal BOLD response: Neither the VC nor the FL-PFL displayed frequency dependence during monocular visual stimulation, but were most sensitive to low frequencies (1–5 Hz) when flashing light was provided binocularly. The SC responded optimally to high flashing rates (8–12 Hz) during both monocular and binocular stimulation. The signal intensity changes in the VC and FL-PFL were locked to the stimulation period, whereas the BOLD response in the SC showed a similar onset but a very slow recovery at offset. The VC and FL-PFL, but not the SC, showed signs of binocular competition. The observed correlation between frequency-dependent responses of different visual areas during binocular visual presentation suggests a functional relationship between the VC and FL-PFL rather than between the SC and FL-PFL.

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