Developmental switch in neurovascular coupling in the immature rodent barrel cortex

PLoS One. 2013 Nov 5;8(11):e80749. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0080749. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

Neurovascular coupling (NVC) in the adult central nervous system (CNS) is a mechanism that provides regions of the brain with more oxygen and glucose upon increased levels of neural activation. Hemodynamic changes that go along with neural activation evoke a blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) that can be used to study brain activity non-invasively. A correct correlation of the BOLD signal to neural activity is pivotal to understand this signal in neuronal development, health and disease. However, the function of NVC during development is largely unknown. The rodent whisker-to-barrel cortex is an experimentally well established model to study neurovascular interdependences. Using extracellular multi-electrode recordings and laser-Doppler-flowmetry (LDF) we show in the murine barrel cortex of postnatal day 7 (P7) and P30 mice in vivo that NVC undergoes a physiological shift during the first month of life. In the mature CNS it is well accepted that cortical sensory processing results in a rise in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). We show in P7 animals that rCBF decreases during prolonged multi-whisker stimulation and goes along with multi unit activity (MUA) fatigue. In contrast at P30, MUA remains stable during repetitive stimulation and is associated with an increase in rCBF. Further we characterize in both age groups the responses in NVC to single sensory stimuli. We suggest that the observed shift in NVC is an important process in cortical development that may be of high relevance for the correct interpretation of brain activity e.g. in fMRI studies of the immature central nervous system (CNS).

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Brain / metabolism
  • Central Nervous System / metabolism
  • Cerebrovascular Circulation / physiology*
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Mice
  • Regional Blood Flow / physiology

Grants and funding

HJL was supported by DFG grants, CMZ is supported by a Stufe 1 grant of the University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, ST is supported by the Deutsche Studienstiftung. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.