Hemodynamic response to activation of excitatory and inhibitory neurons under awake and different anesthetic conditions

Motivation: Understanding hemodynamic activity is essential for blood-based brain mapping techniques like fMRI. Goal(s): Many studies have demonstrated that excitatory activity leads to an increase in hemodynamic response. However, how inhibitory neurons regulate the brain blood’s supply is less understood. Also, how hemodynamic response is modulated by brain status induced by different anesthetic is still unclear. Approach: To investigate that, we used optical intrinsic signal imaging to investigate the roles of excitatory and inhibitory activity under awake and different anesthetic conditions. Results: Our findings revealed that different conditions not only shape the response time and peak change but also causes different hemodynamic response. Impact: We investigated the hemodynamic response of excitatory and inhibitory neurons by optogenetic stimulation under awake and 3 commonly used anesthetics. Our study may have an impact on investigating neurovascular coupling in different brain conditions.