Whole-Brain Functional Ultrasound Imaging Reveals Brain Modules for Visuomotor Integration

Émilie Macé, Gabriel Montaldo, Stuart Trenholm, Cameron Cowan, Alexandra Brignall, Alan Urban, Botond Roska
2018 Neuron  
Large numbers of brain regions are active during behaviors. A high-resolution, brain-wide activity map could identify brain regions involved in specific behaviors. We have developed functional ultrasound imaging to record whole-brain activity in behaving mice at a resolution of ∼100 μm. We detected 87 active brain regions during visual stimulation that evoked the optokinetic reflex, a visuomotor behavior that stabilizes the gaze both horizontally and vertically. Using a genetic mouse model of
more » ... ngenital nystagmus incapable of generating the horizontal reflex, we identified a subset of regions whose activity was reflex dependent. By blocking eye motion in control animals, we further separated regions whose activity depended on the reflex's motor output. Remarkably, all reflex-dependent but eye motion-independent regions were located in the thalamus. Our work identifies functional modules of brain regions involved in sensorimotor integration and provides an experimental approach to monitor whole-brain activity of mice in normal and disease states.
doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2018.11.031 pmid:30521779 pmcid:PMC6292977 fatcat:f5lwn5e2ijdw3jw6bnh4ts5qcq