Thermal images of somatic sensory cortex obtained through the skull of rat and gerbil

• Published in: Experimental brain research Vol. 106; no. 1; pp. 7 - 18
• Main Authors: BRUGGE, J. F, POON, P. W. F, SO, A. T. P, WU, B.-M, CHAN, F. H. Y, LAM, F. K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin Springer 01-09-1995
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Diagnostic Imaging; Face; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects. Models. Methods; Gerbillinae; Infrared Rays; Physical Stimulation; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Skull - anatomy & histology; Skull - physiology; Somatosensory Cortex - anatomy & histology; Temperature; Thermography; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; Vibrissae - physiology; Temperature; Rat; Rodentia; Central nervous system; Activation; Imagery; Somatosensory cortex; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Somesthetic pathway; Technique; Infrared photography; Brain (vertebrata)
• ISSN: 0014-4819; 1432-1106
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00241352

Infrared images of the skull surface were obtained in urethane-anesthetized rats and gerbils before, during and after mechanical stimulation of the face and mystacial vibrissae on one side. Areas of increased temperature on the skull, localized mainly over the face area of the primary somatosensory cortex contralateral to the side of stimulation, appeared within 4-5 s after the onset of stimulation. Rarely, such temperature change was recorded bilaterally. Temperatures did not remain high on the intact skull in rats, but fell to baseline within minutes after stimulus onset regardless of stimulus duration. In rats in which the skull had been thinned and in gerbils with intact skull, temperatures remained elevated during the course of stimulation. We were unable to resolve the activation of individual vibrissae.