Recording the neuro-vascular activity in the central nervous system with intrinsic optical imaging

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The focus of this research proposal is related in the ability to record the neuro-vascular activation in the rat lumbar spinal cord and the cortex using intrinsic optical imaging techniques. The intrinsic optical imaging was developed in collaboration with Dr. F. Lesage from Ecole Polytechnique. This technology allows us to precisely determine the neuro-vascular activation in the entire lumbar spinal cord and the cortex simultaneously, giving us the possibility to study the function and the interaction between different neuronal populations. Conventional in-vivo electrophysiology using sharp electrodes allows precise measurements of neuronal electrical activity, but the possibility to record from multiple neuronal populations in the spinal cord is virtually impossible. We tried to use a matrix of multiple electrodes to record from different areas in the spinal cord simultaneously, but the trauma induced in the spinal cord by the penetration of those electrodes provided questionable data. This optical imaging project is novel and important, since it will allow us to examine the excitation in the lumbar spinal cord and the cortex without altering the integrity of the nervous tissue.