Training Dogs for Awake, Unrestrained Functional Magnetic Resonance ImagingLily R. Strassberg *1, L. Paul Waggoner *2, Gopikrishna Deshpande *1,3,4,5, Jeffrey S. Katz *1,3,4,5
1Department of Psychology, Auburn University, 2Canine Performance Sciences Program, College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, 3AU MRI Research Center, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Auburn University, 4Alabama Advanced Imaging Consortium, 5Center for Neuroscience, Auburn University
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on unrestrained awake dogs is a new method with several advantages over imaging with physical or chemical restraint. This protocol introduces a cost-effective training method that minimizes training in the MRI environment, which can be expensive, and maximizes the subject pool available for canine functional MRI.