The mouse cradle minimizes head motion in awake fMRI at 15.2T without habituation

Motivation: Conducting awake-state fMRI experiments in mice is ideal. However, controlling head motions in awake mouse is challenging. Goal(s): To develop and validate a head-motion-minimizing cradle setup for awake mouse fMRI without need for habituation training. Approach: Visual stimulation fMRI was conducted on both awake and anesthetized mice at 15.2T using a newly designed cradle, which fixed head at three points while allowing free movement of the paws. Results: The head motion was effectively controlled, and the BOLD response in the awake mouse visual fMRI dataset was found to be reliable. Impact: We have developed and validated a head-motion-minimized cradle setup that enables awake mouse fMRI without pre-training. The proposed cradle setup reduces the effort required to minimize head motion for conducting awake mouse fMRI experiments.