Development of Ultra-High Resolution in Vivo NMR Methods for Functional Molecular Physiology Studies in Mouse Brain

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This award provides support for development of hardware and software needed for ultra-high resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging (f-MRI) of the mouse brain. Efforts will focus on design of miniature radio-frequency coils and on design of pulse sequences tailored for the unusually small volume element of the mouse brain. Additional work will implement fMRI data processing methods for time-domain analysis and reproducibility optimization to create maps representing changes in functional neuroenergetics at both high spatial and temporal resolution and in both normal and transgenic mice. The proposed tools will facilitate functional molecular physiology studies of a type not now possible with the mouse. Such studies are possible with larger animals such as the rat where the ability of MRI and related techniques to monitor cerebral energetics and hemodynamics has shown that high resolution maps of cerebral energetics provide a direct measure of neuronal function. The existence of techniques that can be used to produce gene knockouts and transgenic animals has made the mouse an attractive target for studies of organismal function at all levels, from that of the gene to that of the whole organ. The ability to combine use of the two technologies should lead to significant advances in detailed understanding of the physiology of the mouse brain and, by extension, brains of other mammals.