Whole-Brain 3D Activation and Functional Connectivity Mapping in Mice using Transcranial Functional Ultrasound Imaging

Functional ultrasound (fUS) imaging is a novel brain modality that relies on the high-sensitivity measure of cerebral blood volume achieved by ultrafast doppler angiography. As perfusion strongly linked to local neuronal activity, this technique allows whole-brain 3D mapping task-induced regional activation as well resting-state functional connectivity, non-invasively, with unmatched spatio-temporal resolution and operational simplicity. In comparison fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging), main advantage fUS consists in enabling complete compatibility awake behaving animal experiments. Moreover, mice, most used preclinical model Neuroscience, remains technically challenging due small size difficulty maintain stable physiological conditions. Here we present simple, reliable robust protocol for anesthetized mice using an off-the-shelf commercial system motorized linear transducer, yielding significant cortical following sensory stimulation reproducible connectivity pattern network identification.