Biomedical subjects

Galit Pelled

Publications and source records attributed to Galit Pelled.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Observation of two distinct spatial-temporal BOLD clusters during sensory stimulation in rats.

Neuronal activity evokes changes in local CBF and CBV, whose spatial differences are not fully known. We use the Radial Correlation Contrast (RCC) analysis method with high spatial resolution 100 x 100 x 1000 microm3 data collected with an 11.7 T magnet to differentiate two spatial-temporal BOLD clusters during sensory rat forepaw stimulation and hypothesize that each corresponds to either the CBF or the CBV processes. One cluster, obtained during the time segment of stimulation onset, is characterized by a high positive BOLD signal whereas the other, obtained during the simulation decline time segment, is characterized by a lower positive signal and strong post stimulus undershoot. The average volume of stimulation onset clusters is embedded in the stimulation decline clusters with the latter significantly larger and shifted towards deeper cortical layers. Comparison of amplitude-RCC and cross-correlation analyses performed on equivalent time segments (30 s, 40 images) revealed no differences in cluster size or location, demonstrating that temporal locality is more important than spatial locality in distinguishing between stimulation onset and stimulation decline clusters. We hypothesize that clusters characterized by stimulation onset are highly weighted by local changes in CBF whereas clusters characterized by stimulation decline are more CBV weighted. Moreover, the data suggest that the locations of the highest CBF changes are distinct from the locations of the highest CBV changes. While the former located within stimulation decline clusters and its weight is gradually reduced towards cluster's periphery (mainly ventrally), the highest changes in CBV occur in the cluster's periphery with only modest changes towards its center.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Catheter confocal fluorescence imaging and functional magnetic resonance imaging of local and systems level recovery in the regenerating rodent sciatic nerve.

The goal of the present work was to develop minimally invasive imaging techniques to monitor local regeneration of peripheral nerves and to determine the extent of return to function of brain cortical regions associated with that nerve. The sciatic nerve crush model was applied to Sprague-Dawley rats and conventional histological staining for myelin, axons and cell architecture was carried out, as well as traditional behavioral testing, to verify that nerve regeneration was occurring. The rate of sciatic nerve regeneration was measured by determining the distance a lipophilic, fluorescence probe (DiO) would move along the nerve's membrane following a direct injection into the sciatic nerve. This movement was monitored using a catheter based, confocal fluorescence microscope. Two to five days after the crush, the dye moved 1.4 + 0.6 mm/day, as compared to a distance of 5.3 + 0.5 mm/day in the normal nerve. Between 9 and 13 days following the crush, the distance the dye moved increases to 5.5 + 0.5 mm/day, similar to the control, and by 15 days following the crush, the distance increased to 6.5 + 0.9 mm/day. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) measurements were performed on alpha-chloralose anesthetized rats to monitor the return of somatosensory cortical functions, which were activated by the stimulation of the lesioned peripheral nerve. fMRI results showed the return of cortical activation around 15 days following the crush procedure. However, the somatosensory cortical region activated by stimulating the crushed hindpaw was significantly smaller in extent than the intact hindpaw stimulation. These findings demonstrate that fluorescence imaging and fMRI can integrate local and system level correlates of nerve regeneration in a non-destructive manner, thus enabling serial imaging of individual animals.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Reduced basal activity and increased functional homogeneity in sensorimotor and striatum of a Parkinson's disease rat model: a functional MRI study.

Functional neuro-imaging studies of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and animal models show inconsistent cortical responses to sensory stimulation: some present increased sensorimotor cortex activation contradicting classical basal ganglia-cortex circuitry models, whereas others show decreased activation. As functional neuro-imaging activation is defined as the signal difference between stimulation ON and stimulation OFF, reduced 'activation' can point to either increased neuronal activity during stimulation ON or to decreased basal neuronal activity during stimulation OFF. A unique non-invasive method that uses the temporal and the spatial variances of functional magnetic resonance imaging signal is employed here to compare basal neuronal activity levels and 'functional homogeneity' between groups. Based on the assumption that the temporal variance reflects average neuronal activity, the variance of activity within a predefined region is defined as the region's 'functional homogeneity', which is assumed to estimate neuronal synchronization. Comparison of temporal and spatial variances of the sensorimotor cortex and the striatum in the 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) PD rat model and a control rat group show bilaterally decreased temporal and spatial variances in the 6-OHDA rat group, suggesting bilateral reduction of basal neuronal activity levels together with an increase in local neuronal synchronization in line with classical basal ganglia-cortex circuit models.

Adrenergic Agents↗

PubMed2004

Different physiological MRI noise between cortical layers.

Significantly higher temporal fluctuations of the blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signal in the living rat group compared to that in the dead rat group were observed in the cortex, suggesting the existence of physiological information in the signal fluctuations. A similar analysis shows significantly different fluctuations between visual cortical layers. The highest fluctuations were observed in layers 4 and 5 and the lowest in layer 1. Given the consistency with published electrophysiology studies anticipating high spontaneous activity in the deeper layers (particularly layer 4), and low activity in superficial layers, we hypothesize that the BOLD signal temporal fluctuations may reflect cortical neuronal activity. Temporal fluctuations in ultrahigh spatial resolution data of the rat brain were measured in two ways. In the first, analyses were performed according to known layer widths, and in the second equal lines of 117 micro along the cortex were selected. The second approach yielded temporal fluctuations along the cortex that resemble known neuronal density distributions including the intralayer structure, particularly within layer 5.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Bilateral overactivation of the sensorimotor cortex in the unilateral rodent model of Parkinson's disease - a functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is used to investigate the basal ganglia (BG)-cortex circuit using a rat model of Parkinson's disease (PD). The model involves a unilateral destruction of the right substantia nigra by intranigral injection of the dopaminergic neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine. Volume of cortical activity was measured by the blood oxygenation level-dependent contrast method while applying electrical forepaw stimulation. The main findings are the following. (i) Contrary to the predictions of the classic model but in line with recent experimental results (positron emission tomography, fMRI and electrophysiology), an increased cortical activity in the sensorimotor cortex of PD rats compared with sham-operated or normal rats was found. (ii) A diffuse neuronal activity at large cortical areas that were not related directly to the stimulation used, was observed. (iii) No difference was found between the lesion and the nonlesion hemispheres when the left or the right forepaw was stimulated; both cortices show significant overactivation of the sensorimotor cortices in addition to diffuse cortical activation. The last finding could be explained by either corticocortical connections or by bilateral BG-cortex connections. These finding suggest that the mutual influence of the two hemispheres is important in the pathophysiology of the BG-cortex circuit and might be crucial in predicting treatments.

Animals↗