Implantable Coils Enable High-Resolution Functional MRI in Awake Mice

This study utilizes implantable RF coils affixed to mouse heads which are used as head fixation points to minimize motion and remove B1-related artifacts due to motion-induced loading change during scanning. This method increases SNR significantly and enables high-resolution EPI-based functional imaging in awake mice at 14T, highlighting both cortical and subcortical activation following visual and whisker stimulation. Furthermore, this high-resolution awake mouse fMRI setup enables high sensitivity to map brain activation from subcortical nuclei and extends the detection of associated brain regions related to the stimulation.