The triphasic intrinsic signal: Implications for functional imaging

Intrinsic signal optical imaging with red illumination (ISOI) is used extensively to provide high spatial resolution maps of stimulus-evoked hemodynamic-related signals as an indirect means to map evoked neuronal activity. This evoked signal is generally described as beginning with an undershoot or dip in signal that is faster, more transient, and weaker compared with the subsequent signal overshoot. In contrast, the evoked signal detected with blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is generally described as containing an undershoot after the initial dip and overshoot, even though it, too, detects hemodynamic-related signals and its first two phases appear complementary to those of ISOI. Here, we used ISOI with 635 nm illumination to image over 13.5 s after a 1 s stimulus delivery to detect and successfully use the ISOI undershoot phase for functional mapping. Eight spatiotemporal attributes were assessed per signal phase including maximum areal extent and peak magnitude, both of which were largest for the ISOI overshoot, followed by the undershoot and then the initial dip. Peak activity location did not colocalize well between the three phases; furthermore, we found mostly modest correlations between attributes within each phase and sparse correlations between phases. Extended (13.5 s) electrophysiology recordings did not exhibit a reoccurrence of evoked suprathreshold or subthreshold neuronal responses that could be associated with the undershoot. Beyond the undershoot, additional overshoot/undershoot fluctuations were also mapped, but were typically less spatiotemporally specific to stimulus delivery. Implications for ISOI and BOLD fMRI are discussed.