Pasupathy, N. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2026

Cortical vasodynamics exhibit multiscale propagation structure in the awake mouse

Spontaneous vasomotor rhythms and fluctuations are recognized contributors to functional MRI (fMRI) signals. Yet the spatial evolution of vasomotor contributions, which bear on the interpretation of fMRI signals in terms of functionally connected brain regions, remains unresolved. To clarify this issue, we analyze the 0.01 - 0.20 Hz space-frequency modes of 14T cerebral blood volume (CBV)-weighted fMRI across the awake mouse cortex. High-resolution CBV-fMRI identified single-vessel-aligned, frequency-specific modes of vasodynamic propagation, and ultra-fast CBV-fMRI enabled mapping of phase-gradients along tangential and radial axes. Tangential gradients extended maps of vasomotor traveling waves across the entire cortical mantle, with a median speed of 0.9 - 1.3 mm/s. Radial gradients revealed approximately three-fold slower changes in timing that support lamina-dependent regulation of perfusion. Region-specific differences in propagation speed and direction occur across cortical areas and between mice. These findings reframe vascular fluctuations as a feature of brain-wide physiology, as opposed to residual noise.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2026

Neural Activity Related Sodium (NARS) fMRI Resolves Millisecond Neuronal Dynamics in the Rodent Cortex

Brain-wide, noninvasive methods that directly resolve neuronal activity on millisecond timescales are still lacking in neuroimaging. Hemodynamic fMRI (1H-based) provides whole-brain maps of activity, yet its vascular origin creates spatial and temporal displacements from neuronal events that complicate interpretation, especially in disease conditions where neurovascular coupling is altered. Here, we developed an ultrafast 23Na fMRI platform at 14 T that combines a reshuffled k-t 3D gradient echo readout (TR/TE, 10ms/1ms) with an implantable RF coil and respiration-gated acquisition. This configuration provides the sampling rate and SNR needed to probe quadrupolar T2*-weighted single quantum sodium dynamics on the neuronal timescale. Across rats and mice, somatosensory forepaw stimulation produced a localized 23Na signal decrease of ~2-3% in the FP-S1, peaking ~10-30 ms post-stimulus. The activity pattern is well matched with conventional BOLD-fMRI maps acquired in the same animals. Trial-by-trial measurements during simultaneous iGluSnFR glutamate fiber photometry demonstrated that larger evoked glutamate transients coincided with larger NARS decreases, supporting a neuronal origin of the NARS contrast. We interpret the negative NARS response as a transient activity-dependent redistribution of sodium ions toward restricted, protein-rich microdomains, where more restricted rotational dynamics may accelerate T2*short decay and produce a 2-3% signal decrease without requiring large changes in bulk sodium concentration. Together, these results establish neural activity-related sodium (NARS) fMRI as a viable approach for direct, mesoscale neuronal mapping with MRI at millisecond resolution. Graphical AbstractA reshuffled k-t 3D gradient echo (GRE) readout with an implantable figure-8 RF coil and respiration-gated trials captures a ~2-3% negative 23Na response peaking 10-30 ms after forepaw stimulation in the FP-S1. NARS fMRI responses co-localize with BOLD-fMRI and scale with iGluSnFR glutamate transients, consistent with activity-dependent shifts toward short-T2* sodium microenvironments. Table of Contents (TOC) BlurbYu et al. introduce NARS-fMRI, an ultrafast 23Na method that resolves millisecond neuronal dynamics in rodent FP-S1. The negative sodium response (10-30 ms) co-localizes with BOLD and correlates with glutamate photometry, supporting a direct neuronal origin.

biophysics↗