Table 1.

Anesthetic compounds used in mouse functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Each drug addresses distinct receptor types by either agonistic (+) or antagonistic (−) modulation. Single or double symbols are used to indicate whether potentiation or inhibition is mild or strong. Anesthetics are grouped into three classes based on their main target receptors: GABA_A agonists, including injectable drugs and volatile ethers (red and yellow, respectively), α2AR agonists (green), and NMDA antagonists (blue). Alongside these key target receptors, the listed drugs modulate a host of further receptor types and may contribute to specific anesthetic effects (see, e.g., Alkire et al., 2008; Franks, 2008; McKinstry-Wu and Kelz, 2019). Halothane is chemically not an ether, yet it belongs to the group of halogenated vapors, like isoflurane and sevoflurane, which share largely overlapping target sites. Note that only drugs suitable for longitudinal studies are listed; the GABA_A agonists α-chloralose and urethane have also been applied in murine fMRI (Ahrens and Dubowitz, 2001; Xu et al., 2003, 2005; Grandjean et al., 2014; Schroeter et al., 2014) and will be discussed in “Sensory Processing and the Key Challenges in Murine fMRI” and “Functional Connectivity and Murine Resting-State fMRI” sections. References are shortened to first author (and year) to save space and allow for more comprehensive referencing. Asterisks indicate use in multimodal protocols.