CHAPTER 16: In vivo Brain Functional Imaging Using Oxygenation-related Optical Signal

Over the last two decades brain optical imaging methods have yielded a number of revolutionary results when applied to the functional mapping of the cerebral cortex. The purpose of this review is to analyze research capabilities and limitations of the different optical imaging techniques based on the visualization of oxygenation and deoxygenation processes in the brain tissue, and the main capabilities and findings provided by these methods in experimental neuroscience. Starting with the general introduction of brain tissue physiology, we will describe the intrinsic optical imaging technique and several other optical oxygen imaging methods introduced during the last years, and then focusing on the phosphorescence quenching methods. So far, these methods, which operate in the different experimental settings and perform different analytical tasks, have been validated in the experiments with model animals, and some of them have potential for use under clinical settings with human patients.