Fig. 7From: STAT3 inhibitor mitigates cerebral amyloid angiopathy and parenchymal amyloid plaques while improving cognitive functions and brain networksSTAT3 inhibition improves functional CBF and brain functional connectivity (FC) in 5XE4 mouse model of AD. A Mice underwent somatosensory cortex CBF measurement via laser-Doppler flowmetry (% change after whisker stimulation). Functional connectivity was measured via functional connectivity optical intrinsic signal imaging. B Maps of FC in motor, somatosensory and cingulate cortices of both groups. Notice increased positive correlation magnitude (reds) in LLL-12 treated animals. C Quantification of homotopic (bilateral) functional connectivity reveals significantly increased FC somatosensory and cingulate cortices following STAT3 inhibition. D The number of functional connections in each group displayed as node degree (see methods). In the LLL-12 treated group, both somatosensory and cingulate cortices exhibited more positive correlations across both hemispheres compared to aged 5XE4 mice. Data is presented as mean ± SEM. #,*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, #- as compared to veh + WT, *- as compared to veh + 5XE4; n = 9–10 in each group for CBF experiment; n = 5 in each group for functional connectivity experiment, veh- vehicle, WT- wild-typeBack to article page