Optogenetic fMRI dissection of brain-wide vestibular pathways

Abstract

The vestibular system is essential to our sense of balance and spatial orientation. fMRI mapping of the vestibular system has been challenging due to the physical constraints limiting a subject’s ability to perform motion, balance and orientation related tasks within an MRI scanner. At present, our knowledge of the brain-wide cortical and subcortical regions that participate in processing the vestibular sense is scarce. Here, we combine fMRI and optogenetic stimulation of vestibular excitatory neurons and, for the first time, successfully map the multiple brain-wide vestibular pathways.