BOLD fMRI and hemodynamic responses to somatosensory stimulation in anesthetized mice: spontaneous breathing vs. mechanical ventilation

Mouse functional MRI (fMRI) has been of great interest due to the abundance of transgenic models. Due to a mouse's small size, spontaneous breathing has often been used. Because the vascular physiology affecting fMRI might not be controlled normally, its effects on functional responses were investigated with optical intrinsic signal (OIS) imaging and 9.4 T BOLD fMRI. Three conditions were tested in C57BL/6 mice: spontaneous breathing under ketamine and xylazine anesthesia (KX), mechanical ventilation under KX, and mechanical ventilation under isoflurane. Spontaneous breathing under KX induced an average pCO(2) of 83 mmHg, whereas a mechanical ventilation condition achieved a pCO(2) of 37‐41 mmHg within a physiological range. The baseline diameter of arterial and venous vessels was only 7%‐9% larger with spontaneous breathing than with mechanical ventilation under KX, but it was much smaller than that in normocapnic isoflurane‐anesthetized mice. Three major functional studies were performed. First, CBV‐weighted OIS and arterial dilations to 4‐second forepaw stimulation were rapid and larger at normocapnia than hypercapnia under KX, but very small under isoflurane. Second, CBV‐weighted OIS and arterial dilations by vasodilator acetazolamide were measured for investigating vascular reactivity and were larger in the normocapnic condition than in the hypercapnic condition under KX. Third, evoked OIS and BOLD fMRI responses in the contralateral mouse somatosensory cortex to 20‐second forepaw stimulation were faster and larger in the mechanical ventilation than spontaneous breathing. BOLD fMRI peaked at the end of the 20‐second stimulation under hypercapnic spontaneous breathing, and at ~9 seconds under mechanical ventilation. The peak amplitude of BOLD fMRI was 2.2% at hypercapnia and ~3.4% at normocapnia. Overall, spontaneous breathing induces sluggish reduced hemodynamic and fMRI responses, but it is still viable for KX anesthesia due to its simplicity, noninvasiveness, and well‐localized BOLD activity in the somatosensory cortex.