Simultaneous high-resolution BOLD and fiber photometry of awake mice whisking shows neuromodulation response of acetylcholine

Motivation: Anesthesia causes alterations in brain functional data and internal brain states affect sensory perception. Goal(s): We sought to investigate how the Blood Oxygen Level Dependence (BOLD) response from spontaneous and stimulated whisker motion in awake mice is related to cerebral arousal state monitored by acetylcholine. Approach: Mice with implanted RF coils and fiber optic cable were simultaneously imaged and acetylcholine signals were monitored to measure correlation between BOLD and acetylcholine signals. Results: We found stimulating the whiskers produced the expected contralateral BOLD response in awake animals but also an acetylcholine spike in the ipsilateral side indicating whole-brain dynamic activation occurs in awake mice. Impact: This work shows feasibility of simultaneous high-resolution EPI-based functional imaging and fiber photometry of acetylcholine response to whisker stimulation in awake mice as a multimodal method for investigating brain state from external sensory stimulation using implantable RF coils.