Activation mapping in multi-center retrospective rat sensory-evoked functional MRI datasets using a unified pipeline

Galteau ME, Broadwater M, Chen Y, Desrosiers-Gregoire G, Gil R, Käßer J, Kim E, Kıryağdı P, Lambers H, Liu YY, López-Gil X, MacNicol E, Mohebkhodaei P, De Oliveira RX, Pereira CA, Reimann HM, Rivera-Olvera A, Selingue E, Sirmpilatze N, Strobelt S, Sumiyoshi A, Tham C, Tudela R, Vrooman RM, Wank I, Zhang Y, van Engelenburg WA, Baudewig J, Boretius S, Cash D, Chakravarty MM, Chuang KH, Ciobanu L, Devenyi GA, Faber C, Heß A, Homberg JR, Jelescu IO, Justicia C, Kawashima R, Niendorf T, Scheenen TW, Shemesh N, Soria G, Todd N, Wachsmuth L, Yu X, Zhang BB, Shih YYI, Lee SH, Grandjean J (2025)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2025

Journal

Book Volume: 3

Article Number: IMAG.a.157

DOI: 10.1162/IMAG.a.157

Abstract

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) in rodents is pivotal for understanding the mechanisms underlying Blood Oxygen Level-Dependent (BOLD) signals and phenotyping animal models of disorders, among other applications. Despite its growing use, comparing rodent fMRI results across different research sites remains challenging due to variations in experimental protocols. Here, we aggregated and analyzed 22 sensory-evoked rat fMRI datasets from 12 imaging centers, totaling scans from 220 rats, to get a snapshot of the current acquisitions in the field. This retrospective analysis highlights common practices and parameters to inform future cross-laboratory standardization efforts. We applied a standardized preprocessing pipeline and evaluated the impact of different hemodynamic response function models on group- and individual-level activity patterns. Our analysis revealed inter-dataset variability attributed to differences in experimental design, anesthesia protocols, and imaging parameters. We identified robust activation clusters in all (22/22) datasets. The comparison between stock human models implemented in software and rat-specific models showed significant variations in the resulting statistical maps. Our findings emphasize the necessity for standardized protocols and collaborative efforts to improve the reproducibility and reliability of rodent fMRI studies. We provide open access to all datasets and analysis code to foster transparency and further research in the field.

Authors with CRIS profile

Additional Organisation(s)

Involved external institutions

Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour Netherlands (NL) King’s College London United Kingdom (GB) Max-Delbrück-Centrum für Molekulare Medizin in der Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft / Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC) Germany (DE) Deutsches Primatenzentrum (DPZ), Leibniz-Institut für Primatenforschung Germany (DE) Tohoku University Japan (JP) Universitat de Barcelona (UB) / University of Barcelona Spain (ES) Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität (WWU) Münster Germany (DE) Harvard University United States (USA) (US) Institute of Automation (CASIA) / 自动化研究所 China (CN) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill United States (USA) (US) University of Queensland Australia (AU) Lausanne University Hospital / Centre hospitalier universitaire vaudois (CHUV) Switzerland (CH) Institut d'investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS) Spain (ES) Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre / Radboudumc of voluit Radboud Universitair Medisch Centrum (UMC) Netherlands (NL) Champalimaud Foundation / Fundação Champalimaud Portugal (PT) Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) United States (USA) (US) Max-Planck-Institut für biologische Kybernetik / Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics Germany (DE) Douglas Mental Health University Institute Canada (CA) McGill University Canada (CA)

How to cite

APA:

Galteau, M.E., Broadwater, M., Chen, Y., Desrosiers-Gregoire, G., Gil, R., Käßer, J.,... Grandjean, J. (2025). Activation mapping in multi-center retrospective rat sensory-evoked functional MRI datasets using a unified pipeline. Imaging Neuroscience, 3. https://doi.org/10.1162/IMAG.a.157

MLA:

Galteau, Marie E., et al. "Activation mapping in multi-center retrospective rat sensory-evoked functional MRI datasets using a unified pipeline." Imaging Neuroscience 3 (2025).

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