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Techniques

OPTICAL INTRINSIC SIGNAL IMAGING (OIS) OF CORTICAL SPREADING DEPRESSION
-OIS is our primary tool to image CSD, as it allows us to record over wide areas, with high spatiotemporal resolution.

CORTICAL MAPPING WITH OIS
-OIS also allows the mapping of sensory cortex in rodents and humans. We use sensory optical maps as a baseline to measure changes after CSD and other disturbances.

OPTICAL SPECTROSCOPY
-We use optical spectroscopy to measure cortical hemoglobin oxygenation, which gives us an additional measure of the functional state of the cortex.

IMAGING OF STROKE AND PERI-INFARCT DEPOLARIZATIONS (PID)
-PID are nearly identical to CSD, but occur around infarcts in rodents and humans. As PID worsen stroke outcome, we are investigating ways of modulating them to reducedamage.

MULTIMODAL OPTICAL IMAGING OF CSD IN BRAIN SLICES
-CSD occurs in brain slices as well as the intact brain. Slice preparations allow greater mechanistic insight into the phenomenon, through greater experimental control.

COMBINED OIS AND VOLTAGE SENSITIVE DYE IMAGING (VSDI)
-VSDI allows direct imaging of electrophysiological activity in the brain, at much higher temporal resolution than OIS. We are developing VSDI as a tool to measure the excitatory state of cortex around CSD.