Fig. 7

STAT3 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-type