Functional imaging of the rat cervical spinal cord

Malisza, Krisztina L.; Stroman, Patrick W.

doi:10.1002/jmri.10185

Cited by 45 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…The first published animal spinal fMRI study 31 employed several key features of current methods: 1) data were acquired at 4.7 T with a fast spin-echo imaging method but 2) a relatively long effective echo time (100 msec) in order to detect the BOLD effect and 3) images were obtained from thin (1 mm) coronal slices with a high in-plane resolution (0.12 mm x 0.23 mm). Malisza et al 48,49 have since demonstrated consistent results in rats at 9.4 T with a fast spin-echo, effective echo time of 85 msec, 2 mm thick transverse slices and in-plane resolution of 0.16 mm x 0.31 mm. All these studies used injection of a noxious substance (formalin or capsaicin) into the paw with fairly consistent results.…”

Section: Animal Studiesmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…All these studies used injection of a noxious substance (formalin or capsaicin) into the paw with fairly consistent results. Porszasz et al 31 demonstrated signal changes of 12.7% upon stimulation and Malisza et al 48,49 reported signal changes of 16% and 20%. Lawrence et al 50 have also carried out a study to compare spinal fMRI results with direct histological assessment of areas of activity using c-fos staining.…”

Section: Animal Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Neuronal Function in the Spinal Cord: Spinal fMRI

Stroman¹

2005

Clinical Medicine & Research

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A review of the current literature on magnetic resonance imaging of neuronal function in the spinal cord (spinal fMRI) is presented.The unique challenges of spinal fMRI are identified as being the small cross-sectional dimensions of the spinal cord, magnetic field inhomogeneity caused by the bone and cartilage in the spine, and motion of cerebrospinal fluid, blood, adjacent tissues and organs and of the spinal cord itself.Techniques have been developed to overcome or compensate for these challenges and the result is a fMRI method which is distinct from that used for mapping function in the brain. Evidence that the current spinal fMRI method provides accurate and sensitive maps of neuronal function is also discussed. Studies presented in the literature have demonstrated areas of neuronal activity corresponding with spinal cord neuroanatomy as a result of thermal and electrical stimuli and motor tasks with the hands, arms and legs. Signal intensity changes detected in active areas have also been demonstrated to depend on the intensity of the stimuli with both thermal stimulation and a motor task, providing evidence of the correspondence between spinal fMRI results and neuronal activity in the spinal cord. Funct ional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the spinal cord has been developed over the past 7 years and now appears to be adequate for practical use as a research tool and for clinical trials assessing spinal cord function. The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method for demonstrating areas of neuronal activity in the brain has received a great deal of attention and has developed at a rapid pace since it was first demonstrated in 1990. [1][2][3] The method has been proven to be a powerful tool for mapping neuronal function with several hundred scientific papers published each year related to fMRI of the brain. The application of fMRI to the spinal cord (spinal fMRI) seems a logical extension of its use in the brain, but in comparison has received relatively little attention. To date there have been approximately 17 scientific papers published on spinal fMRI in humans and animals. The relatively low number of publications appears to be, at least in part, a consequence of the considerable challenge of acquiring MRIs of the spinal cord, in addition to the usual challenges of obtaining high quality fMRI data. Nonetheless, the work that has been published and presented at scientific meetings has shown consistent findings across several groups that are now working on spinal fMRI and demonstrates that the challenges of applying fMRI to the spinal cord can be overcome. Most of the work that has been published with human subjects demonstrates that spinal fMRI can be carried out using current clinical MRI systems without any custom hardware or software. Rationale for Developing Spinal fMRIThe need for an fMRI method adapted for demonstrating function in the spinal cord arises from the fact that the cord is contained within the vertebral column and is therefore relatively inaccessible. Without opening the spinal canal...

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Section: Animal Studiesmentioning

confidence: 81%

Section: Animal Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Neuronal Function in the Spinal Cord: Spinal fMRI

Stroman¹

2005

Clinical Medicine & Research

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“…For the cervical spinal cord, there are the additional problems of respiratory motion and effects of changing lung volume, adding to poor field homogeneity (18). There are now several reports of pain-evoked activity in both the human (19)(20)(21) and rat (22,23) spinal cord imaged with fMRI, but the technique still poses some challenges, including signal localization, and so more work needs to be performed before this can become a widespread method of investigation for pain researchers.…”

Section: Spinal Cord Imagingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pain imaging in health and disease — how far have we come?

Schweinhardt

Bushnell²

2010

J. Clin. Invest.

195

145

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Since modern brain imaging of pain began 20 years ago, networks in the brain related to pain processing and those related to different types of pain modulation, including placebo, have been identified. Functional and anatomical connectivity of these circuits has begun to be analyzed. Imaging in patients suggests that chronic pain is associated with altered function and structural abnormalities in pain modulatory circuits. Moreover, biochemical alterations associated with chronic pain are being identified that provide information on cellular correlates as well as potential mechanisms of structural changes. Data from these brain imaging studies reinforce the idea that chronic pain leads to brain changes that could have functional significance.

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“…fMRI studies are based on the BOLD principle. Blood flow and oxy/deoxyhemoglobin-related changes in activated areas of the cortex produce mild hypointensity on T2* images [50][51][52][53]. Images obtained in the activated and nonactivated state are used to generate activity maps, including sensory or visual cortex mapping in animals [50,54].…”

Section: Functional Mri Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

MRI in Rodent Models of Brain Disorders

et al. 2011

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Summary: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a wellestablished tool in clinical practice and research on human neurological disorders. Translational MRI research utilizing rodent models of central nervous system (CNS) diseases is becoming popular with the increased availability of dedicated small animal MRI systems. Projects utilizing this technology typically fall into one of two categories: 1) true "pre-clinical" studies involving the use of MRI as a noninvasive disease monitoring tool which serves as a biomarker for selected aspects of the disease and 2) studies investigating the pathomechanism of known human MRI findings in CNS disease models. Most small animal MRI systems operate at 4.7-11.7 Tesla field strengths. Although the higher field strength clearly results in a higher signalto-noise ratio, which enables higher resolution acquisition, a variety of artifacts and limitations related to the specific absorption rate represent significant challenges in these experiments. In addition to standard T1-, T2-, and T2*-weighted MRI methods, all of the currently available advanced MRI techniques have been utilized in experimental animals, including diffusion, perfusion, and susceptibility weighted imaging, functional magnetic resonance imaging, chemical shift imaging, heteronuclear imaging, and 1 H or 31 P MR spectroscopy. Selected MRI techniques are also exclusively utilized in experimental research, including manganese-enhanced MRI, and cell-specific/molecular imaging techniques utilizing negative contrast materials. In this review, we describe technical and practical aspects of small animal MRI and provide examples of different MRI techniques in anatomical imaging and tract tracing as well as several models of neurological disorders, including inflammatory, neurodegenerative, vascular, and traumatic brain and spinal cord injury models, and neoplastic diseases.

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Functional imaging of the rat cervical spinal cord

Cited by 45 publications

References 20 publications

Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Neuronal Function in the Spinal Cord: Spinal fMRI

Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Neuronal Function in the Spinal Cord: Spinal fMRI

Pain imaging in health and disease — how far have we come?

MRI in Rodent Models of Brain Disorders

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