TY  - JOUR
AU  - Just, Nathalie
AU  - Hoehn, Mathias
TI  - To intubate or not? Balancing anesthesia in rodent fMRI: strategies to mitigate confounding effects
JO  - Cerebral cortex
VL  - 35
IS  - 2
SN  - 1047-3211
CY  - Oxford
PB  - Oxford Univ. Press
M1  - FZJ-2025-00583
SP  - bhae499
PY  - 2025
N1  - This work was supported by the Lundbeck Foundation (Experi-ment grant, grant nr. R370-2021-402) to N.J
AB  - More than a decade ago, the introduction of intubation and mechanical ventilation for performing blood oxygen level–dependent functional MRI studies in the rodent brain allowed an improved control over the physiological conditions during scanning sessions. An accurate understanding of respiratory parameters permits to respect the 3Rs in animal research, improves significantly the fMRI outcome, and promises improved translational studies. Developments also prompted a better comprehension on anesthetics and their impact on rodent brain physiology and function, bringing new insights on the buildup of carbon dioxide, interhemispheric connectivity, or arousal, which understanding are paramount for maturing better fMRI protocols in awake rodents. Despite many arguments in favor of intubation and subsequent mechanical ventilation, there are also many valid against it. Most importantly, the choice to intubate depends on the anesthesia protocol, where in some cases intubation is essential and impractical in others. This review does not advocate for one approach over the other. Instead, by examining the literature from the past two decades, we aim to provide a comprehensive review of the pros and cons of intubation and mechanical ventilation in fMRI studies, offering arguments for an informed decision tailored to the respective research question.
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
DO  - DOI:10.1093/cercor/bhae499
UR  - https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/1037250
ER  -