Placement of Extracranial Stimulating Electrodes and Measurement of Cerebral Blood Flow and Intracranial Electrical Fields in Anesthetized Mice

The cerebral blood flow can be measured by the degree of saturation of oxy deoxy hemoglobin. This increase in saturation is reduced with aging and in Alzheimer's model. We're estimating the strength of electrical stimulation using both applied currents and the intracranial electrical field density.

The most recent developments include improving extracranial stimulation for application to animal models of Alzheimer's disease. Currently, multiple imaging technologies in animal models, including laser spectral imaging, dual photo microscopy, and the physiological recording are used. The challenge is understanding the mechanistic basis for changes in dynamic cerebral blood flow responses in models of Alzheimer's disease.

We found the deficits in responses to metabolic challenges in Alzheimer's models mice, and applying extra cranial stimulation improves these deficits. The advantage of our protocol is that a stimulation-based approach improves cerebral blood flow.