Laser Speckle Imaging of Cerebral Blood Flow

Optical imaging of cerebral hemodynamics has been used extensively to investigate the complex interplay between neurons and the blood-borne supply of oxygen and energy substrates. Among several techniques, the so-called laser speckle imaging (LSI) has found widespread applications for studying (patho-)physiological aspects of neurovascular coupling. LSI is a rather simple and cost-effective method to acquire two-dimensional maps of cerebral blood flow from the cortex of experimental animals. In this chapter, we introduce the physical underpinnings as well as the most important technical and practical aspects of its implementation