Functional Mapping of Nervous System Using Optical Imaging Techniques

Bae Hwan Lee; Sun Joon Bai

doi:10.5124/jkma.2009.52.1.69

J Korean Med Assoc > Volume 52(1); 2009 > Article

Lee and Bai: Functional Mapping of Nervous System Using Optical Imaging Techniques

Continuing Education Column

Journal of the Korean Medical Association

Journal of the Korean Medical Association 2009; 52(1): 69-77.

Published online: January 31, 2009

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5124/jkma.2009.52.1.69

Functional Mapping of Nervous System Using Optical Imaging Techniques

Bae Hwan Lee, MD¹, Sun Joon Bai, MD²

¹Department of Physiology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Korea.

²Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Korea. sjbai1@yuhs.ac

Abstract

Functional mapping techniques including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), positron emission tomography (PET), and magnetoencephalography (MEG) can be used to study the function of the nervous system. Optical imaging is an emerging technique for functional imaging of the nervous tissue. Functional optical imaging can be classified into two major streams; intrinsic signal optical imaging (ISO) and voltage-sensitive dye optical imaging (VDO). ISO is related to hemodynamic changes such as hemoglobin concentration and oxygenation changes, cytochrome oxidation change, and light scattering. On the contrary, VOD measures changes in membrane potentials of neural cells. Therefore, ISO reflects metabolic activity of neurons, while VOD directly reflects neural activity. Recent advances in optical imaging opened the possibility of its application to clinical situations as well as basic researches. Further, development of optical imaging may greatly contribute to the understanding of the function of the nervous system.

Optical imaging; Intrinsic signal; Voltage-sensitive dye; Functional mapping

Notes

This work was supported by Korea Science and Engineering Foundation(KOSEF) grant funded by the Korea government(MEST)(R11-2005-014).

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Figure 1

Spatio-temporal characteristics of methodological tools in neuroscience. The property of each technique are depicted by the colored rectangles. Abscissa and ordinate indicate temporal and spatial resolution, respectively. Optical imaging covers almost the entire area (including voltage-sensitive dye imaging, intrinsic signal imaging, ion imaging, confocal imaging, multi-photon imaging, etc.). EEG, electroencephalography; fMRI, functional MRI; MEG, magnetoencephalography; PET, positron emission tomography; 2DG, 2-deoxyglucose autoradiography. (with kind permission from Grinvald and Hildesheim, 2004)

Figure 2

Voltage-sensitive dye imaging from the somatosensory cortex of the rat following electrical stimulation of the sciatic nerve.

(A) Optical imaging of cortical activation and reconstruction of a waveform.

(B) Sequential images of cortical activation following stimulation of the sciatic nerve (from upper left to lower right). Scale bar: 200µm.

Table 1

Comparison of intrinsic signal imaging and voltage-sensitive dye imaging