A comparison of hemodynamic and neural responses in cat visual cortex using complex stimuli. Cereb Cortex

We compare fMRI-BOLD responses in anesthetized cats with local field potentials (LFPs), aggregate high-frequency responses (analog-Mua) and spiking activity recorded in primary and higher visual cortex of alert animals. The similarity of the activations in these elec-trophysiological signals to those in the BOLD is quantified by counting recording sites where different stimuli elicit the same rela-tive activation as in the imaging experiments. Using artificial stimuli, a comparison of BOLD and LFP strongly depends on the frequency range used. Stimulating with complex or natural stimuli reduces this frequency dependence and yields a good match of LFP and BOLD. In general, this match is best between 20 and 50 Hz. The measures of high-frequency activity behave qualitatively different: the responses of the analog-Mua match those of the LFP; the spiking activity shows a low concordance with the BOLD signal. This dissociation of BOLD and spiking activity is most prominent upon stimulation with natural stimuli