Traditional Poster Session - fMRI
  fMRI: Acquisition Methods 2041-2072
  fMRI Analysis 2073-2092
  fMRI Connectivity Analysis 2093-2102
  fMRI: Brain Connectivity Studies 2103-2128
  fMRI: Cognitive Neuroscience 2129-2147
  Human fMRI: Systems Neuroscience 2148-2161
  fMRI: Animal Neuroscience 2162-2183
  fMRI Physiology 2184-2205
     

fMRI: Acquisition Methods
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Thursday 10 May 2012
Exhibition Hall  13:30 - 15:30

2041.   Simultaneous Measurement of Signal Fluctuations in GE and SE BOLD data during Resting State fMRI at 7T
Jack Harmer1, Richard Bowtell1, and Susan Francis1
1SPMMRC, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom

 
Spontaneous, low frequency fluctuations in connected networks have been identified in T2*-weighted gradient-echo (GE) BOLD data. Here, we use a dual GE-SE-EPI sequence at 7T to identify functional connectivity maps in SE and GE BOLD data using ICA analysis. We assess the correlation of signal fluctuations in the SE and GE time-series, showing a higher correlation in the DMN than in global grey matter. We calculate the ratio of the changes in relaxation rates underlying the signal fluctuations, δR2*/δR2, to be 1.910.30 in grey matter, in good agreement with the value of ~2.1 found for task-induced changes in motor cortex.

 
2042.   BOLD fMRI using a cryogenic RF probe: A concept for studying temperature perception in transgenic mouse models
Henning Matthias Reimann1, Jan Hentschel1, Babette Wagenhaus1, Andreas Pohlmann1, and Thoralf Niendorf1,2
1Berlin Ultrahigh Field Facility (B.U.F.F.), Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Berlin, Germany, 2Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC), a joint cooperation between the Charité Medical Faculty and the Max-Delbrück-Center, Berlin, Germany

 
Only little is known about the temperature perception and regulation mechanisms in mammals. The combination of fMRI and genetic modifications in rodents has great potential to help elucidating the role of the various proteins involved in the underlying pathways. Here we demonstrate the successful adaptation of an MR-optimized thermo-stimulation system to mice fMRI, which is of particular interest considering the numerous transgenic strains used in biomedical research of thermal perception. Moreover this report is the first that demonstrates fMRI activations for cold stimuli in mice. Signal-to-noise ratio was enhanced by using a cryogenic RF probe. Based on the concepts and results reported here we anticipate to extend our fMRI explorations into temperature perception and regulation mechanisms in mice with the ultimate goal to characterize the cold sensing transient receptor potential channel TRPM8.

 
2043.   A Brain Resting State fMRI Connectivity Study Using High-Temperature Superconducting RF Coil Platform in A 7T Rat MRI Imager
Yen-Liang Liu1,2, Yun-An Huang1, In-Tsang Lin1, Hong-Chang Yang3, and Jyh-Horng Chen1,2
1Interdisciplinary MRI/MRS Lab, Department of Electrical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, 2Graduate Institute of Biomedical Electronics and Bioinformatics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, 3Department of Physics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

 
A 4cm high-temperature superconducting (HTS) radio-frequency (RF) coil platform was applied on the fMRI study in a 7T MRI system. Not only the image SNR but also the functional SNR were improved due to reduced thermal noise. Compared to a similar home-made copper RF coil, this study obtained an approximate twice SNR gain in both fast spin echo and echo planar imaging (EPI) sequences. The time-series analysis of the resting state fMRI study showed that not only the functional SNR was raised but also the functional connectivity was improved.

 
2044.   Feasibility of Using Simultaneous BOLD-ASL to Estimate the Magnitude of the CBF Response to an Unknown Stimulus
Aaron Benjamin Simon1, and Richard Buxton2
1Department of Bioengineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States, 2Department of Radiology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States

 
We analyzed a novel method of quantitatively measuring CBF fluctuations during complex behavior without knowledge of stimulus dynamics, based on the combined measurement of BOLD and CBF time series. We hypothesized that projection of the ASL time series onto the BOLD time series would separate ASL fluctuations due to CBF from those due to noise. This method was tested on data from a visual stimulus experiment and was found to significantly remove noise from the ASL data, although it produced a small underestimate of CBF fluctuations due to the presence of noise in the BOLD signal.

 
2045.   MRI evaluation of metal acupuncture needles
Ling Mei1,2, Xiaojing Long*1, Qian Huang2, Haibo Yu3, Yanjun Diao1,3, Wanzhang Yang4, and Bensheng Qiu*1,5
1Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China,2Department of Electronic and Information Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, 3Shenzhen Hospital of TCM Affiliated Guangzhou University of TCM, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China, 4Shenzhen Nanshan Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China, 5Department of Radiology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, United States

 
Three types of metal acupuncture needles were evaluated with respect to MR imaging artifact and RF-induced heating effect. The gold needle generated little artifact, and the Austenitic stainless steel needle produced moderate artifacts in both phantom and in-vivo experiments. However, the traditional stainless steel needle produced huge artifacts. The temperature of the three needles in the phantom have no significant change during a long time MR scanning. In conclusion, gold and Austenitic stainless steel acupuncture needles are MR compatible and safe, which can be used for systemic research on the ancient acupuncture using a modern and powerful MR imaging modality.

 
2046.   Sinusoidal echo-planar imaging with parallel acquisition technique for reduced acoustic noise in auditory fMRI
Jascha Zapp1, Sebastian Schmitter2, and Lothar R Schad1
1Computer Assisted Clinical Medicine, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany, 2Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, United States

 
Acoustic scanner noise causes an unwanted BOLD signal in the auditory cortex during fMRI and also poses a safety issue. Conventional EPI produces high sound pressure level (SPL) due to fast switching of trapezoidal gradients. The aim of this work is to present an enhanced sinusoidal EPI (sEPI) with PAT for reduced SPL. We provide a comprehensive comparison of SPL measurements between sEPI and conventional EPI for their most feasible configurations. The sEPI PAT sequence provides a reduction in SPL of up to 11.1dB and 5.1dB compared to EPI PAT at 3T for matrix sizes of 64x64 and 128x128pixels, respectively.

 
2047.   Sensitivity and Specificity Enhancement in High-Speed FMRI using Multi-Echo Echo-Volumar Imaging
Stefan Posse1,2, and Elena Ackley1
1Neurology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States, 2Electrical and Computer Engineering, Physics and Astronomy, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States

 
We introduce high-speed multi-echo EVI with 241 ms temporal resolution and investigate the BOLD contrast characteristics of parametric EVI images during visual and motor tasks. Average T2* values in cortical areas ranged from 30-60 ms, consistent with multi-echo EPI. First and second echo images, T2* maps and weighted echo average maps showed strong BOLD activation in visual and motor cortex and supplementary motor area. The S0 maps showed much smaller activation, predominantly in large blood vessels, consistent with localized in-flow effects. Multi-echo multi-slab EVI enables rapid mapping of T2* and sensitive detection of brain activation and in-flow effects.

 
2048.   Brain fMRI with dual echo steady-state (DESS) imaging: preliminary findings on signal behavior and flip-angle dependency
Pei-Hsin Wu1, Hsiao-Wen Chung1,2, Ming-Long Wu3,4, Tzu-Chao Chuang5, and Tzu-Cheng Chao3,4
1Department of Electrical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, 2Institute of Biomedical Electronics and Bioinformatics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, 3Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan, 4Institute of Medical Informatics, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan, 5Department of Electrical Engineering, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

 
Previous study demonstrates that optimization of image contrast for morphological depiction using DESS imaging. The sensitivity of DESS signals to functional brain activations, however, has not been explored. In this study, we report the preliminary results from phantom and human experiments to investigate the relationship between functional contrast and the imaging parameters for S+ and S- images, respectively.

 
2049.   Direct SENSE imaging for fast, multi-echo fMRI over a restricted field of view
Mark Chiew1,2, and Simon J Graham1,3
1Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2Rotman Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 3Imaging Research, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

 
We present a novel method for fast acquisition of densely-sampled multi-echo fMRI data over a restricted field of view. The DSI (Direct SENSE Imaging) technique employs a modified STEAM localization method for selective excitation of a small number of voxels, and uses direct sensitivity encoding for spatial separation of measured signals. The readout requires no imaging gradients as no Fourier encoding is performed, and the received signals contain both T2 and T2* contrast. This method is proposed as a promising alternative to whole-brain approaches for fast imaging in targeted, ROI-based fMRI.

 
2050.   Compressed Sensing Improves BOLD Sensitivity at both the Individual & Group Levels
Steven D. Beyea1,2, Dan Holland3, Careesa Liu1, Xiaowei Song1, Ryan C.N. D'Arcy1,4, Tynan Stevens1,5, Andy Sederman3, Lynn Gladden3, and Chris V. Bowen1,2
1Institute for Biodiagnostics (Atlantic), National Research Council Canada, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 2Physics & Radiology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 3Department of Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 4Neuroscience & Radiology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 5Physics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

 
Compressed Sensing (CS) reconstruction of variable density spiral fMRI acquisitions are evaluated. CS is shown to improve fMRI sensitivity relative to conventional density compensated re-gridding. Using CS, it was demonstrated that, even when using a matched TR, it is possible to obtain data using a 28% under-sampled 1-shot acquisition which exhibits no loss in fMRI sensitivity compared to a uniformly sampled 2-shot acquisition.

 
2051.   Compressed Sensing Enabled Ultra-High Resolution Optogenetic Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (ofMRI)
Nguyen Van Le1, Thanh Hai Nguyen1, Xiaoyi Yu1, Zhongnan Fang1, and Jin Hyung Lee1,2
1Department of Electrical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Califorinia, United States, 2Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States

 
ofMRI is a powerful new technology that enables precise control of brain circuit elements while monitoring its causal output. To bring ofMRI to it’s full potential, it is essential to achieve high-spatial resolution with minimal distortions. To this end, we combined compressed sensing (CS) reconstruction with under-sampled ultra-high-resolution b-SSFP fMRI, and fast spiral readout. Under-sampling was performed by random selection of 1 in 3 spiral interleaves. The CS object function was designed to optimize data consistency and L1 norm minimization in spatial and temporal dimensions. The results demonstrate achievement of high-quality high-resolution images with precise temporal dynamics necessary for fMRI.

 
2052.   Curved Slice Functional Imaging
Hans Weber1, Daniel Gallichan1, Jakob Assländer1, Jürgen Hennig1, and Maxim Zaitsev1
1Department of Radiology, Medical Physics, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

 
The ExLoc concept enables excitation and geometrically matched spatial encoding of curved slices with variable curvature, orientation and position. This allows a better adaptation of the slice geometry to the anatomy under investigation. In this study we apply the ExLoc concept to echo planar imaging and present preliminary results from a curved slice fMRI experiment.

 
2053.   
A Flexible Framework of Perfusion fMRI using Asymmetric Label and Control Acquisitions with Background Suppressed pCASL GRASE
Lirong Yan1, Emily Kilroy1, and Danny JJ Wang1
1Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States

 
Perfusion fMRI using arterial spin labeling (ASL) is advantageous for quantifying perfusion both at rest and during task activation. However, it is limited by low temporal resolution and sensitivity. With pseudo-continuous ASL (pCASL) with background suppressed (BS) 3D GRASE, the temporal resolution and sensitivity of perfusion fMRI can be improved by skipping control acquisitions without compromising the quantification of cerebral blood flow. In this study, a flexible framework of perfusion fMRI was introduced by using asymmetric label and control acquisitions in pCASL with BS 3D GRASE which was validated using visual cortex stimulation.

 
2054.   Inherent and Dynamic B0 Mapping and Deblurring in SENSE Spiral Imaging and Application to Resting-State fMRI
Trong-Kha Truong1, and Nan-kuei Chen1
1Brain Imaging and Analysis Center, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States

 
Spiral imaging is vulnerable to spatial and temporal variations of the static magnetic field (B0) caused by susceptibility effects, subject motion, physiological noise, and/or system instabilities, resulting in image blurring. Previously proposed deblurring methods rely on separately acquired B0 maps, which increases the scan time and precludes the correction of temporal B0 variations. Here, we propose a novel k-space energy spectrum analysis method that can inherently and dynamically generate a B0 map from SENSE spiral k-space data at each time point, without requiring any additional data acquisition or pulse sequence modification, and demonstrate its effectiveness in resting-state fMRI experiments.

 
2055.   Dynamic unwarping of EPI geometric distortions using Interleaved Dual Echo with Acceleration (IDEA) EPI
Benedikt Andreas Poser1, and V Andrew Stenger1
1UH-QMC Neuroscience and MR Research Program, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

 
BOLD fMRI usually employs EPI, which suffers from distortions caused by field inhomogeneity. Most correction methods rely on some form of reference data acquired at the start. Subject motion during the scan may invalidate this reference as distortion changes with head position. Ability to dynamically update correction parameters may therefore be beneficial. We show that dynamic correction can achieved using IDEA EPI, originally intended for Nyquist ghost compensation. Two images are simultaneously sampled under the positive and negative readout gradients. Their ΔTE of one echospacing (0.5–0.9ms) allows fieldmaps to be calculated from each volume. Phantom and in vivo examples are shown and compared to conventional fieldmap correction.

 
2056.   
Moving Fluid Suppressed BOLD Signals Using DANTE Prepared Multislice EPI
Linqing Li1, Christine Law1, Yazhuo Kong1, Michael Kelly1, Jamie Near1, and Peter Jezzard1
1FMRIB, Clinical Neurology Department, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

 
We propose the employment of DANTE prepared multislice EPI (DANTE-EPI) for whole brain BOLD signal measurement. Based on the flow suppression feature of DANTE, we hypothesize that the intravascular BOLD signal will be largely suppressed and thus the venous blood contamination reduced. As such, the BOLD signal from DANTE-EPI may be more accurately located to the site of neuronal activity.

 
2057.   Steady State Free Precession (SSFP) and fMRI: Expressions Accounting for Reversible vs Irreversible Transverse Relaxation Effects
Robert V. Mulkern1, Mukund Balasubramanian1, Dimitrios Mitsouras2, and Stephen Haker2
1Department of Radiology, Children's Hospital Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 2Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States

 
Reversible relaxation processes resulting from inherent frequency distributions have been incorporated into SSFP signal analyses to separately examine how changes in either reversible or irreversible transverse relaxation affect SSFP based fMRI signal intensities. The analytic expressions obtained for Lorentzian, Gaussian and square distributions were derived using a single sum series expansion previously unnoted which allowed for a closed form solution for the Lorentzian and rapidly converging solutions for Gaussian and square distributions. The expressions should be useful for allowing detailed investigations of mechanisms affecting SSFP based fMRI studies in either transition band or passband modes.

 
2058.   Blipped “yz-Shimming” to Correct for Geometric Distortions in Echo-Planar Imaging of the Human Spinal Cord
Jürgen Finsterbusch1,2
1Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany, 2Neuroimage Nord, University Medical Centers Hamburg-Kiel-Lübeck, Hamburg-Kiel-Lübeck, Germany

 
Magnetic field inhomogeneities and susceptibility differences cause geometric distortions in echo-planar imaging that are related to the phase modulation induced during the echo train. Here, an approach involving additional blip gradient pulses in the phase and readout direction (“yz-shimming”) is presented that aims to compensate these unwanted phase modulations and, thus, corrects for the geometric distortions. Its feasibility is demonstrated in a phantom and the human spinal cord in vivo.

 
2059.   Simulation of optimal echo times to maximize BOLD sensitivity in the orbitofrontal cortex for fMRI
Sebastian Domsch1, and Lothar R. Schad1
1Computer Assisted Clinical Medicine, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany

 
The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), important for decision-making and reward processing, is affected by susceptibility gradients (SG) causing signal drop outs and image distortions in fMRI using EPI. In subcortical brain areas, BOLD sensitivity (BS) depends critically on echo time (TE). In this work, optimal TE for single EPI slices are calculated via BS simulations considering local T2star and SG values to maximize BS in the OFC. It shows that optimal TEs increase in foot-head direction from about 20ms to 40ms for AC-PC section orientation. Further, the results show good consistency over all subjects.

 
2060.   T2*-Weighted Echo-Planar Imaging of Inner Fields-of-View Using 2D-Selective RF Excitations
Jürgen Finsterbusch1,2
1Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany, 2Neuroimage Nord, University Medical Centers Hamburg-Kiel-Lübeck, Hamburg-Kiel-Lübeck, Germany

 
With spatially 2D-selective RF excitations rectangular profiles can be excited which can be used to acquire inner fields-of-view without phase-encoding aliasing. Thus, geometric distortions in echo-planar imaging that are caused by magnetic field and susceptibility inhomogeneities, can be reduced for small target regions. In the present study, two approaches are investigated that either involve a FID sequence or a spin-echo-based acquisitions with an echo train shift. The feasibility of both approaches to acquire high-resolution T2*-weighted echo-planar images of inner fields-of-view with minimum distortions is shown. Furthermore, their applicability to functional neuroimaging is demonstrated.

 
2061.   Reduced image distortions in fMRI using accelerated EPIK sequence at 3T
Seong Dae Yun1, Martina Reske1, Kaveh Vahedipour1, Tracy Warbrick1, and N. Jon Shah1,2
1Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine - 4, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany, 2JARA - Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

 
EPI is in widespread use in MR studies acquiring time series data due to its capability of achieving a relatively high temporal resolution. However, the fact that EPI acquires echoes with evolving time delays makes it prone to severe image distortions. To overcome this issue, EPIK (EPI with Keyhole) accelerated using GRAPPA was tested at 3T. This EPIK variant offers a higher temporal resolution and robustness against field inhomogeneities when compared to interleaved EPI and single-shot EPI, respectively. The performance of the method was validated with human functional MRI measurements as well as MRI simulation results using JEMRIS.

 
2062.   Improvement of 3D PRESTO-SENSE fMRI sensitivity using 32-channel head coil
Renaud Lopes1, Aurelien Monnet1, and Xavier Leclerc1
1CHRU Lille, Neuroradiology service, Lille, Nord, France

 
In this study, we assess the potential impact of 32-channel head coil on the results of a fMRI paradigm with 3D PRESTO-SENSE sequence. fMRI results obtained with 32-channel head coil were compared to those obtained with 8-channel head coil. Model-based and data-driven analyses were used in order to compare the statistical power of activity detection for each coil. In this study, it was demonstrated that 3D PRESTO-SENSE with 32-channel head coil can be used for fMRI studies. Higher fMRI sensitivity was found compared to the same sequence with 8-channel head coil.

 
2063.   Multi-echo magnetic resonance inverse imaging improves the sensitivity of BOLD signal detection
Kevin Wen-Kai Tsai1, Thomas Witzel2, Wei-Jui Kuo3, and Fa-Hsuan Lin1,2
1Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Taiwan, 2Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States, 3Institute of Neuroscience, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, Taiwan

 
Functional MRI experiments using EPI should tune the echo time (TE) to local T2* value in order to optimize the BOLD signal sensitivity. Since the T2* values are different across the whole brain, acquisitions using one single TE may not be optimal. Using experimental data, we demonstrate that, the InI can use different TEs across acquisitions to improve the sensitivity of detecting BOLD signal and obtain hemodynamic response estimates of 100 ms temporal sampling, reasonable spatial resolution, and whole-brain coverage.

 
2064.   Robustness and Reproducibility of PTX 3DTRF Pulse Design for Ultra High Field fMRI
Hai Zheng1, Lei Sheu2,3, Tiejun Zhao4, Yongxian Qian5, Tamer Ibrahim1,5, Howard Aizenstein1,2, and Fernando Boada1,5
1Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 2Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 3Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 4Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 5Radiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

 
T2* weighted BOLD fMRI in ultra high field (UHF) is hampered by susceptibility-induced signal loss between air cavities and brain tissues. In this article, we proposed a new RF pulse design strategy, dubbed as PTX 3DTRF, by combing 3DTRF method and PTX technique to simultaneously and precisely recover multi-slice signal loss and improve BOLD signal. Significant improvement in UHF human study can be observed when the proposed methods are applied. Robustness and reproducibility are proved by scanning multiple subjects (N=5) and multiple times on one subject (two of the five subjects were scanned twice, respectively).

 
2065.   Frontal Cortex fMRI at 7T: Escaping Flat Minimum Traps in Higher-Order B0 Shimming Algorithms
Ariane Fillmer1, Milan Scheidegger1,2, Peter Boesiger1, and Anke Henning1
1Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University and ETH Zurich, Zurich, ZH, Switzerland, 2Clinic of Affective Disorders and General Psychiatry, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, Zurich, ZH, Switzerland

 
To make use of the full capacity of fMRI applications in ultra-high field strengths, an excellent B0 shimming is inevitable. Usually these applications suffer from major distortions and signal drop-outs in the frontal cortex area. This work presents a modified approach of B0 shimming, which enables the restoration of signal in the frontal cortex and therefore renders fMRI applications in the frontal cortex possible.

 
2066.   Integration of Concurrent Real-time fMRI and EEG data: Simultaneous Real-time fMRI and EEG Neurofeedback
Jerzy Bodurka1, Vadim Zotev1, Raquel Phillips1, and Han Yuan1
1Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States

 
We describe the system we implemented on commercial MRI and EEG equipment in which we achieved integration of concurrent real-time fMRI (rtfMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG) data for the purpose of simultaneous rtfMRI-EEG neurofeedback. This first-of-its-kind real-time simultaneous fMRI and EEG multimodal neurofeedback (rtfMRI-EEG-mnf) approach allows research participants to receive information about their cerebral electrophysiological and hemodynamic activity in real-time and to then use this information to volitionally self-regulate neural responses. This system can be used in the development of novel cognitive neuroscience research paradigms and novel enhanced cognitive therapeutic approaches for major psychiatric disorders.

 
2067.   Optimization of diffusion-weighted fMRI at 3T MRI compare with BOLD-fMRI
Li-Ming Hsu1, Kuan-Hung Cho2, Cyril Poupon3, Denis Le Bihan3, and Ching-Po Lin1,4
1Department of Biomedical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, 2Instrumentation Resource Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, 3NeuroSpin, IFR 49 CEA Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France, 4Institute of Neuroscience, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan

 
To optimize the diffusion-fMRI at different b-values by considering the signal performance compared with BOLD-fMRI during visual stimulation. The results show that the DfMRI at b-value = 1,200 s/mm2 should be a better choice than b-value = 600 and 1,800 s/mm2. DfMRI could provides the chance to approach the neuron activation than hemodynamic response.

 
2068.   High spatial and temporal resolution fcMRI with BOLD selectivity using multiecho simultaneous multislice EPI
Valur Olafsson1, Jia Guo1, Chi Wah Wong1, Prantik Kundu2, Souheil Inati3, Wen-Ming Luh3, Vinai Roopchansingh3, Noah Brenowitz2, Peter Bandettini2,3, Eric Wong1, and Thomas Liu1
1UCSD Center for Functional MRI, La Jolla, CA, United States, 2Section on Functional Imaging Methods, NIMH, Bethesda, MD, United States, 3Functional MRI Facility, NIMH, Bethesda, MD, United States

 
Motion and physiological noise confounds are key factors that limit the sensitivity of resting-state functional connectivity MRI (fcMRI) measures. The acquisition of multiple echoes has been shown to be effective for automatically identifying and removing these confounds. However, the acquisition of multiple echoes requires additional readout time and leads to a decrease in temporal resolution. To address this issue, we have used a simultaneous multislice excitation strategy to compensate for the extra readout time and achieve whole brain coverage with 3 echoes, 2 mm isotropic resolution, and a TR of 2 seconds.

 
2069.   Brain Circuit Analysis with Real-Time Optogenetic Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (rt-ofMRI)
Zhongnan Fang1, and Jin Hyung Lee1,2
1Department of Electrical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States, 2Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States

 
Here we present a novel real-time optogenetic functional magnetic resonance imaging (ofMRI) method. ofMRI is a novel technology, which enables systematic analysis of brain circuits by using optogenetic stimulation as input, and fMRI readout as output. Real-time ofMRI (rt-ofMRI) aims to provide real-time brain circuit analysis capabilities using ofMRI. Our goal is to acquire, reconstruct, motion correct, and analyze ofMRI images in real-time. This approach enables high-throughput ofMRI studies with live activation feedback on image quality, motion characteristics, and optogenetic stimulation response. It prevents long offline processing and facilitates interactive experiment parameter selection (e.g. stimulation frequency, isoflurane level, etc.).

 
2070.   The Origins of fMRI Contrast in SPEN Imaging at Ultra High Magnetic Fields
Eddy Solomon1, Nadya Pyatigorskaya2, Peter Bendel1, Denis Le Bihan2, Luisa Ciobanu2, and Lucio Frydman1
1Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel, 2Neurospin, CEA, Saclay, France

 
This presentation examines the origin of the function-derived activation detected by SPEN fMRI, with a series of preclinical high (7T) and ultra-high (17.2T) magnetic field studies. Artifact-free images of a rat’s head with good resolution in all areas and localized activation maps were obtained in a single scan using a variety of SPEN sequences. Our data shows that, besides the normal T2*-weighted BOLD contribution which arises in non-refocused sequences, fMRI SPEN signals contains a strong component caused by apparent T1-related inflow effects. This contribution can be modulated by varying the scanning repetition rate; measurements at 7T support this finding.

 
2071.   
Significant reduction in ADC during enhanced neuronal activity in isolated spinal cord of newborn rat
Nitzan Tirosh1, and Uri Nevo1
1Biomedical Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

 
Isolated and viable spinal cords of newborn rats were used to investigate whether the changes in DWI signal during neuronal activation originate from biophysical mechanisms linked to neuronal activity or related to vascular effects. DW images were acquired with three diffusion times and along three diffusion directions during three physiological phases: Spontaneous activity, chemically induced enhanced activity and return to baseline activity. Reduction of 18-27% in the average ADC was observed during elevated neuronal activity. These results suggest that electrical activity affects water displacement in neurons and these changes are not an MR artifact due to a vascular effect.

 
2072.   
Susceptibility-induced increase of apparent diffusion coefficient: BOLD effect behind diffusion fMRI
Dmitry S. Novikov1, Marco Reisert2, and Valerij G. Kiselev2
1Radiology, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States, 2Radiology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Germany

 
NMR diffusion measurements are confounded by heterogeneous microscopic magnetic susceptibility. It is known that apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) is smaller in this case than the genuine diffusivity when diffusion is slow. We discover a more general effect: ADC over- or underestimates the genuine diffusivity when diffusion is fast depending on the pulse sequence. Our theory agrees with Monte Carlo simulations in computer-generated capillary network. The ~5% change in the simulated ADC quantitatively explains the observed DWI signal changes both in hypercapnia and under neuronal activation, suggesting that BOLD effect is sufficient for rationalizing the “diffusion fMRI” phenomenon.
 
Traditional Poster Session - fMRI

fMRI Analysis
Click on to view the abstract pdf. Click on to view the poster (Not all posters are available for viewing.)
 
 
Thursday 10 May 2012
Exhibition Hall  13:30 - 15:30

2073.   A Distributed Dipole Model for Estimating Epileptiform Magnetic Fields in Brain Tissue
Padmavathi Sundaram1, Darren Orbach1, Robert Mulkern1, Mukund Balasubramanian1, and William Wells2
1Radiology, Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States, 2Radiology, Brigam and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States

 
In past work, we imaged epileptiform events using gradient-echo EPI and found fast MR phase changes that suggested 183 nT local magnetic fields inside neuronal tissue. Here we attempt to determine whether these fields are compatible with electrophysiology in epilepsy. Nature and strengths of magnetic fields inside the brain are largely unknown. All empirical measurements are done using MEG and are of magnetic fields outside the brain.

 
2074.   Voxel-wise Tissue Segmentation and Partial Volume Quantification in Experimental EPI Space to Inform fMRI and fcMRI Analysis
Daniel L Shefchik1, Andrew S Nencka1, Andrzej Jesmanowicz1, and James S Hyde1
1Biophysics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States

 
Tissue segmentation for functional MRI studies is normally performed with FreeSurfer, which utilizes T1 weighted anatomical images to provide tissue separation maps. The anatomical separation maps have a different image warping than EPI images and can lead to incorrect image registration. A different tissue separation method utilizes the GREASE-II sequence to produce T1, T2, and T2’ relaxivity maps in the same EPI space as functional studies. The three EPI relaxivity maps produce CSF, gray and white matter maps by using their mean relaxivity values. Tissue maps are combined to view the Partial volume effect throughout the brains gray matter.

 
2075.   A real-time event-related hyperscan-fMRI software system
Sebastian Baecke1, Michael Luehrs1, Ralf Luetzkendorf1, and Johannes Bernarding1
1Biometrics and Medical Informatics, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany

 
We have developed an adaptive hyper-scanning software system, that combine two (or more) MR scanner in real time. The activation of the two volunteers can be analysed in real time and used on a brain-computer interface for controlling various paradigms. The biggest advantage here is the direct feedback to the subjects which may then influence their own brain activity and thus the development and optimization of their own strategies to increase their neural response. Here we present the first results of a feasibility study for social interaction connecting a 3T and 7T MR scanners.

 
2076.   A novel temporal filtering strategy for functional MRI using UNFOLD
Sebastian Domsch1, Andreas Lemke1, Sebastian Weingärtner1, and Lothar R. Schad1
1Computer Assisted Clinical Medicine, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany

 
UNFOLD to increase sampling rates in fMRI to detect transient BOLD signal modulations requires temporal filtering before statistical mapping in the time domain is carried out. Low-pass filtering and zero-filling has been proposed. Both strategies are non-optimal since low-pass filtering degrades temporal resolution and zero-filling leads to serial correlations (non-white noise) known to bias linear modeling of neuronal responses. We propose a more sophisticated temporal filtering strategy intrinsically avoiding non-white noise to increase statistical inference.

 
2077.   Effect of Distortion Correction on Group Level Statistics in FMRI of Medial Temporal Lobe
Jarle Ladstein1, Hallvard Røe Evensmoen2, Asta Kristine Håberg2, Anders Kristoffersen3, Dominic Holland4, Anders M Dale4,5, and Pål Erik Goa3
1MI Lab and Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway, 2Department of Neuroscience, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway, 3Clinic of Radiology, St. Olavs University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway, 4Department of Neurosciences, The University of California, San Diego, United States, 5Department of Radiology, The University of California, San Diego, United States

 
Geometric distortions in functional EPI scans cause local misregistration between functional and anatomical images. This can decrease the power of functional group level analysis in regions with much distortion. To evaluate the effect of applying a distortion correction to the functional data, 25 subjects were scanned during a special encoding paradigme and the data analyzed both with and without applying a correction estimated from reverse gradient scans. In regions of interest in the entorhinal cortex the degree of distortion was high and using distortion corrected data had a positive effect in terms of increased activation volume and peak z-volume.

 
2078.   Influence of the choice of the impulse response function in statistical analysis of diffusion fMRI time series at high b-value
Emilie Vallée1, Live Eikenes2, Anders Kristoffersen3, and Asta K Håberg2,3
1MI Lab, Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway, 2Department of Neuroscience, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway, 3MI Lab, Department of Medical Imaging, St. Olavs Hospital, Trondheim, Norway

 
Diffusion functional MRI has been proposed as a method that detects true neuronal activity as changes in the grey matter diffusion properties. Due to the high level of noise present in the data, the origin of the diffusion signal remains uncertain. Data was analyzed using a response function modeling the diffusion process (DRF) and the vascular process (HRF). Though the average time-course from DRF analysis showed a 3s earlier and steeper rise than the one from HRF analysis (= BOLD signal), noise measurements suggested that the observed shift was caused by correlated noise (physiological and artefactual) present in the data.

 
2079.   Small scale functional activations using a non-linear, population-specific brain model and 3D EPI at 7 Tesla
Günther Grabner Grabner1,2, Benedikt Andreas Poser2, Siegfried Trattnig1, and Markus Barth2
1Department of Radiology, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Vienna, Austria, 2Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands

 
Due to the availability of high field scanners and novel imaging methods, high resolution, whole brain fMRI becomes feasible. However, for performing fMRI group analyses spatial smoothing is necessary to account for inter-individual anatomical variation. Here, we investigate the possibility to build a high resolution, group specific anatomical template (model) directly from the functional T2* weighted data acquired at 7 Tesla. The purpose of this model is two fold; first, spatial smoothing can be kept at a low level and second, misregistration between distorted functional and anatomical data is avoided.

 
2080.   Optimization of ICA for detection of weak and focal activations in fMRI
Waqas Majeed1,2, Feng Wang1,2, Robert M Friedman3, Chaohui Tang1,2, and Malcolm J Avison1,2
1Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science (VUIIS), Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, 2Department of Radiology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, 3Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States

 
In this study, we describe an approach for detecting weak and focal activity patterns in fMRI data. High resolution cerebral blood volume weighted images were acquired from squirrel monkeys during tactile stimulation of digits 1 and 3. The data were preprocessed to enhance effective contrast-to-noise ratio, and the model order was estimated in a data-driven fashion (based upon stability of the principal modes). Activation patterns associated with stimulation of individual digits were successfully detected using ICA. In future, we intend to use this approach to investigate the presence of local functional connectivity networks within the somatosensory cortex of squirrel monkeys.

 
2081.   Parameter Estimation of the BOLD fMRI model within a general Particle Filter framework
Imali Thanuja Hettiarachchi1, Shady Mohamed1, and Saeid Nahavandi1
1Centre for Intelligent Systems Research, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia

 
This work demonstrates a novel Bayesian learning approach for model based analysis of Functional Magnetic Resonance (fMRI) data. We use a physiologically inspired hemodynamic model and investigate a method to simultaneously infer the neural activity together with hidden state and the physiological parameter of the model. This joint estimation problem is still an open topic. In our work we use a Particle Filter accompanied with a kernel smoothing approach to address this problem within a general filtering framework. Simulation results show that the proposed method is a consistent approach and has a good potential to be enhanced for further fMRI data analysis.

 
2082.   Retinotopy using multifocal fMRI with a correlation-based approach
Yao-Wen Chang1, and Teng-Yi Huang1
1Dept. of EE, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei city, Taiwan

 
This study investigated the multifocal fmri method for retinotopy mapping. Different from the previous studies employing m-sequence, we utilized a correlation approach to create stimulus series. This approach can be used to comprise the hemodynamic response function of BOLD effect in the generated series. In our preliminary result, we were able to acquire local signals in V1 from each of the 60 stimulated regions.

 
2083.   Modelling and Removing the Gradient Artefact using a Gradient Model Fit (GMF)
Glyn S Spencer1, Karen J Mullinger1, Andrew Peters1, and Richard Bowtell1
1SPMMRC, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom

 
The EEG gradient artefact (GA) is formed from a linear superposition of individual artefacts generated by the orthogonal gradients. Variations in position of the head and/or EEG leads scale the relative weighting of the artefact contribution from the different gradient channels. Here we verify this concept and use it to introduce a novel GA correction method, which is based on a gradient model fit (GMF). Our results show that GMF performs better than conventional GA correction methods at high frequency when subject movement occurs, potentially providing a more robust method for GA correction when investigating gamma (30-150Hz) frequency neuronal activity.

 
2084.   Short TE fMRI data: removing motion and physiological noise confounds from BOLD fMRI
Molly Gallogly Bright1, and Kevin Murphy1
1CUBRIC, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom

 
FMRI data reflect noise sources in addition to neuronal activation, and their relative contributions depend on the echo time (TE). Short TE data may contain information related to motion and physiology, and could potentially correct BOLD-weighted fMRI data for these confounds. We used a dual-echo sequence to simultaneously record fMRI data at short and BOLD-weighted TEs, introducing head nodding, breathing challenges, and visual stimulation to characterize their effects on both datasets. Significant correlations were observed between short TE data and “noise” regressors. Using short TE data to correct BOLD-weighted data (replacing motion correction regressors) increased the significance of activation maps.

 
2085.   Characterization of the effects of task-correlated facial and head movements in fMRI
Jeremy F Maglandd1, and Anna Rose Childress2
1Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States, 2Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States

 
It is generally assumed that facial movements occur randomly throughout the fMRI scan. However, since humans use facial movements to express emotion, task-correlated movement cannot be ruled out. Eight healthy volunteers were instructed to move systematically during fMRI examinations, with various types of movements of the eyes (open/close, squint), face (smile/frown, clench jaw), and body. Standard fMRI analyses were performed to identify ‘false activations’. The facial movements resulted in several brain regions having high statistical significance. Jaw clenching yielded the characteristic false activation in the region surrounding the temporal muscles. These data may be used to characterize the potential confounding effects of systematic movements during an fMRI exam.

 
2086.   Sub-volume utilization method for retrospective motion correction in long acquisition fMRI
Joong Il Kim1,2, Haewon Nam3, Jeong Hoon Ko2, and Hae-Jeong Park1,2
1BK21 Project for Medical Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea, 2Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Research Institute of Radiological Science, Seoul, Korea, 3Medical Research Institute, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea

 
Motion during long-acquisition interleaved EPI sequence was detected using both discontinuity measure defined by the authors and realignment parameters. Retrospective correction of motion artifact was achieved by sub-volume utilization, which takes advantage of the interleaved characteristics of the acquired sequences. Discontinuity measure and realignment parameter respectively detected inter-volume and intra-volume motion, and thereby complemented each other. The proposed method is especially useful in long-acquisition studies where motion can severely affect image quality..

 
2087.   Regression of Physiological Signals Using Phase-Constrained Inverse Imaging in Functional MRI
Rasim Boyacioglu1, and Markus Barth1
1Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands

 
Phase-constrained inverse imaging (pcInI) combines inverse imaging (InI) and phase-constrained reconstruction. Performance of pcInI is assessed with a moving dots functional paradigm. A phase regressor is obtained for each coil channel and used as confound regressors in the analysis (either individually or after averaging). On group average, cluster size and maximum z-scores increase 52% and 10% (average regressor) and 534% and 36% (individual regressors) with respect to the case with no regressors.

 
2088.   Comparison of Thermal and Physiological Noise Amplification in Accelerated and Segmented EPI Acquisitions
Christina Triantafyllou1,2, Jonathan R Polimeni2, Jennifer A McNab2, Thomas Witzel2, and Lawrence L Wald2,3
1A.A. Martinos Imaging Center, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States, 2A.A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, MGH, Charlestown, MA, United States, 3Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States

 
In this study, we compare two different acquisitions; Accelerated (GRAPPA) single-shot and non-accelerated mutli-shot EPI with matched effective echo spacing. Our findings demonstrate that in both thermal and physiological noise dominated acquisitions, when the temporal sampling interval is matched, by temporally smoothing the single-shot time-series, the single-shot accelerated time-series result in higher tSNR. But if the fixed duration scan can afford reduced temporal resolution (sampling interval not matched), then the slower multi-shot strategy provides slightly higher tSNR than the distortion matched single-shot acquisition.

 
2089.   Physiological noise covariance across receiver channels explains time-series SNR model for RF coil array fMRI data
Jonathan R. Polimeni1, Christina Triantafyllou1,2, and Lawrence L. Wald1,3
1Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States, 2A. A. Martinos Imaging Center, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States, 3Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States

 
The original model for relating image SNR to temporal SNR demonstrated that physiological noise scales linearly with signal level, providing a quantitative relationship between image SNR and temporal SNR. Recently it has been demonstrated that fMRI data acquired with multi-channel array coils deviates from the standard model and the deviation appears to increase with element count. Here we consider the effects of physiological noise correlations across coil channels. Extending the physiological noise model to include a physiological covariance matrix can explain the observed deviation of the data from the Kruger model and provides an interpretation of the recently proposed models.

 
2090.   Cardiac artifacts around the brainstem in fMRI studies
Chisato Suzuki1, Kenichi Ueno1, R. Allen Waggoner2, and Kang Cheng1,2
1fMRI Support Unit, RIKEN-Brain Science Institute, Wako-shi, Saitama, Japan, 2Laboratory for Cognitive Brain Mapping, RIKEN-Brain Science Institute, Wako-shi, Saitama, Japan

 
Cardiac artifacts are a major contributor to noise in BOLD studies of deep brain structures. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of this artifact with MPRAGE and EPI images. By reordering the k-space data based on the cardiac cycle timing, we revealed signal components synchronized to cardiac pulses. In contrast to EPI data that showed widely distributed artifacts in and around the brainstem, no heartbeat-synchronized signal was found in T1W data. These results suggest that rather than physical motion the main component of the artifacts is from sources such as CSF flow and the vessel pulsation.

 
2091.   Retrospective Corrections for 3D FMRI: RETROICOR or RETROKCOR?
Rob H.N. Tijssen1,22, and Karla L. Miller1
1FMRIB Centre, Oxford University, Oxford, United Kingdom, 2University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands

 
Recent renewed interest in 3D acquisition methods for FMRI poses the question whether retrospective corrections are better performed in image space (RETROICOR or k-space (RETROKCOR). As 3D acquisitions typically use multi-shot readouts in which the data are combined over a period of several seconds one could argue that a k-space based correction is more appropriate. It was found, however, that RETROICOR performs equally well compared to RETROKCOR suggesting that a single cardiac/respiratory phase for the entire volume is sufficient to generate suitable nuisance regressors for an effective correction of the data.

 
2092.   Brain Tissue Specific Spatial Distribution of fMRI Physiological Noise: CSF Noise High or Low?
Maryam Falahpour1,2, Hazem Refai2, and Jerzy Bodurka1
1Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States, 2Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States

 
It has been consistently shown that physiological noise contribution in BOLD fMRI data is significantly greater in gray matter than in white matter and with evidence of the largest noise in CSF. Here, we investigate brain-tissue-specific physiological noise spatial distributions, along with further investigations for CSF compartments noise level. T1-based tissue segmentation has been used for generating appropriate masks. We showed that the physiological noise in CSF compartments is highly spatially dependent. It is higher for inferior and superior axial slices where it has more overlap with GM and brain vasculature, and lowest in the slices containing ventricles.
 
Traditional Poster Session - fMRI

fMRI Connectivity Analysis
Click on to view the abstract pdf. Click on to view the poster (Not all posters are available for viewing.)
 
 
Thursday 10 May 2012
Exhibition Hall  13:30 - 15:30

2093.   Independent sources of spontaneous BOLD fluctuation along the visual pathway
Jacco A de Zwart1, Peter van Gelderen1, Zhongming Liu1, and Jeff H Duyn1
1Advanced MRI section, LFMI, NINDS, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States

 
BOLD fMRI experiments of spontaneous brain activity in humans have found inter-hemispheric correlation between homologous regions, and suggested involvement of a direct callosal connection. We studied spontaneous activity in human Lateral Geniculate Nuclei (LGN), with no direct commissural connections. High-resolution 7 T fMRI was performed during visual stimulation and rest. Correlation analysis was performed between left and right LGN, and left and right visual cortex. Substantial specific left-right LGN correlation was found, which was not merely driven by visual cortex, or the result of global fluctuations. Strong signal coherence was thus found not indicative of a direct neuronal connection.

 
2094.   Power density distribution of spontaneous BOLD fluctuations
Wen-Ju Pan1, Matthew Magnuson1, Garth Thompson1, and Shella Keilholz1
1Biomedical Engineering, Emory University/Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States

 
The power density distribution in BOLD fluctuations of intrinsic brain activity may be a potential index of neural excitability. The present study examined resting state activity in an animal model and demonstrated a spatially-varying BOLD power distribution across brain regions under light anesthesia. Variations were observed across cortical areas, but much larger differences were present between cortical and subcortical regions.

 
2095.   An objective autoselection of resting-state networks based on time course correlation
Hsin-Long Hsieh1,2, Pin-Yu Chen2, Jhih-Wei He1, Yao-Chia Shih1,2, Fu-Shan Jaw1, and Wen-Yih Isaac Tseng2
1Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Taiwan, 2Center for Optoelectronic Biomedicine, National Taiwan Univerity College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, Taiwan

 
Independent component analysis (ICA) has recently been employed in the detection of the resting-state networks (RSNs) which are consistent and highly reproducible across healthy subjects. However, the identification of RSNs often involves visual inspection and/or correlating spatial maps derived from ICA with templates or seed-based results. To avoid bias caused by investigators, we employed a more objective and template-free approach to select and classify components derived from ICA as RSNs based on the component's time course correlation. Our proposed method adds value to the data-driven approach in defining RSNs, and is potentially useful in the connectome research.

 
2096.   T1/T2 Ratio Maps for the Production of fcMRI Seed Region Based on Gray Matter Myeloarchitecture
Daniel L Shefchik1, Andrew S Nencka1, Andrzej Jesmanowicz1, Edgar A DeYoe1, and James S Hyde1
1Biophysics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States

 
Preliminary data show that a T1 to T2 ratio map can be used to generate a seed region for fcMRI analysis. The acquisition of T1 and T2 maps in the same EPI space as fcMRI data allows a direct, one-to-one relationship between the ratio map and the functional data for a precise definition of the regions of interest. fcMRI analysis based upon seeds from mCytoarchitecture removes the need for functional scout scans from fcMRI studies, while avoiding potential confounds associated with template-based seed determination or independent component analysis.

 
2097.   A Method to Determine the Necessity for Global Signal Regression in Resting-State fMRI Studies
Gang Chen1, Guangyu Chen1, Chunming Xie1, B. Douglas Ward1, Wenjun Li1, Piero Antuono2, and Shi-Jiang Li1
1Biophysics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States, 2Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States

 
In resting-state functional MRI studies, the efficacy of the global signal regression method remains questionable. We demonstrate that the accuracy of the estimated global signal is determined by the level of global noise. A method to quantify global noise levels was then introduced. We show that a criteria to determine the necessity for global signal regression can be found based on the method.

 
2098.   Effects of low pass filtering and autocorrelation on resting state fMRI as investigated using a regression model in SPM8
Kayako Matsuo1, Yung-Chin Hsu2, and Wen-Yih I Tseng1
1National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, 2Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences, National Tsing Hua University, Taipei, Taiwan

 
We examined an interaction between the low pass filtering (LPF) and the first degree autocorrelation (AR(1)) on SPM8 platform using resting state fMRI. We set 2 different procedures for the same data: with or without an LPF at 0.1Hz. Time courses were extracted from 3 cognitive mode network (CMN) regions as well as 3 default mode network (DMN) regions. We set 2 different GLMs for both of LPF and no LPF data: with or without AR(1). The LPF and the AR(1) acted in an opposite way with each other; specifically, the LPF enhanced DMN activity, whereas the AR(1) decreased.

 
2099.   Correction of hemodynamic latency based on breath holding improves Granger causality obtained from fMRI data
Zhihao Li1, Behnaz Yousefi1, Gopikrishna Deshpande2,3, and Xiaoping Hu1
1Biomedical Engineering, Emory University & Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States, 2Electrical and Computer Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, United States, 3Psychology, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, United States

 
Granger causality analysis of fMRI data suffers from spatial variability of the hemodynamic response. The present study attempted to correct this variance by signal latency values derived from breath holding. With fMRI data acquired during face perception, our correction showed improved effective connectivity from the primary visual cortex to the fusiform face area. The present results demonstrated the utility of breath holding based signal latency correction for Granger causality analysis.

 
2100.   Grading resting-state fMRI datasets by reweighted L1 regression
Chia-Jung Yeh1, Yu-Sheng Tseng1, Teng-Yi Huang1, and Shang-Yueh Tsai2,3
1Dept. of EE, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan, 2Graduate Institute of Applied Physics, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan,3Reasearch Center for Mind, Brain and Learning, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan

 
The rest-state fMRI (rsfMRI) detects the dynamic neuronal activity using a long series of BOLD imaging and measures the “connectivity” of brain functional areas using either correlation analysis or independent component analysis. However, in our experience, rsfMRI sometimes shows unstable results even if we preformed study using the same imaging protocols and data analysis methods. In this study, we proposed to use reweighted L1 regression, a form of robust regression, to find the “outliers” of the rsfMRI time series in the default-mode network (DMN) and developed a grading method for rsfMRI datasets.

 
2101.   Resting state functional networks VS. Structural networks: What do their differences tell us?
Jose Angel Pineda-Pardo1,2, Elena Molina1, Ana Beatriz Solana1, Kenia Martinez3, Roberto Colom3, Javier Martin Buldu4, Juan Antonio Hernandez Tamames1, and Francisco del Pozo Guerrero2
1Laboratory of Neuroimaging, Center for Biomedical Technology - Universidad Politecnica de Madrid and Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Pozuelo de Alarcon, Madrid, Spain,2Laboratory of Biosignal and Brain Connectivity Analysis, Center for Biomedical Technology - UPM, Pozuelo de Alarcon, Madrid, Spain, 3Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain,4Laboratory of Biological Networks, Center for Biomedical Technology - UPM, Pozuelo de Alarcon, Madrid, Spain

 
In this work we present a new comparative approach aiming to find differences between structural connectivity and resting state functional connectivity (SC-rsFC) networks focusing in the organization of their connections. We compare weights distribution, normalized graph metrics, links orientation, and Rentian scaling in order to find out how rsFC differs from SC network. Structural connectivity was obtained by means of a graph based tractography method instead of usual deterministic tractography. We found out that rsFC network was less spatially optimized than SC in terms of Rentian scaling and normalized graph metrics. We also observed different tendencies in the links orientations when the weights distributions of the networks are compared.

 
2102.   Resolving resting state correlations in noncompliant subjects using short TE fMRI data
Molly Gallogly Bright1, and Kevin Murphy1
1CUBRIC, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom

 
Characterization of resting state networks may provide insight into clinical populations. However, patients often exhibit increased motion artifacts, obscuring resting state correlations. Short echo time (TE) fMRI data reflect several noise sources, and may assist in mapping correlated networks in these scenarios. We used a dual-echo sequence to acquire fMRI data at very short (~3ms) and BOLD-weighted TEs. Cued head motion was introduced to simulate noncompliant patient behavior. The short TE data were used as voxelwise noise regressors to correct the BOLD-weighted data. This correction recovered seed correlation maps of the default mode network in data with gross motion artifacts.
 
Traditional Poster Session - fMRI

fMRI: Brain Connectivity Studies

Click on to view the abstract pdf. Click on to view the poster (Not all posters are available for viewing.)
 

Thursday 10 May 2012
Exhibition Hall  13:30 - 15:30

2103.   Suppression of Functional Connectivity in Somatosensory and Attention Networks During Strong Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation
K Gopinath1,2, W Ringe3, L Ouyang2, K Carter3, L Butler2, B Thapa-Chhetry2, A Goyal2, P Gandhi2, H Dinse4, R Haley5, and R Briggs2,5
1Department of Radiology & Imaging Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States, 2Department of Radiology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States, 3Department of Psychiatry, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States, 4Institut für Neuroinformatik, Ruhr-University, Bochum, Germany,5Department of Internal Medicine, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States

 
Resting-state functional connectivity networks are influenced by the conditions under which fcMRI is conducted. Previous reports have demonstrated increased striatal functional connectivity to somatosensory and attention networks during minimally perceptible transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TENS-Lo), compared to eyes open resting (REST) conditions. In this study the functional connectivity to somatosensory and attention networks were assessed during strongly perceptible (but not painful) TENS (TENS-Hi), as well as REST conditions. During TENS_Hi dorsal striatal functional connectivity to somatosensory and attention networks was significantly weaker compared to REST. Combined with previous reports from TENS-Lo, results indicate a need for systematic graded TENS fcMRI studies.

 
2104.   Anticorrelated Resting-state Functional Connectivity in Awake Rat Brain
Zhifeng Liang1, Jean King1, and Nanyin Zhang1
1Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States

 
Anticorrelated resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) has yet been observed without the commonly used preprocessing step of global signal correction. In this study we reported robust anticorrelated RSFC that is independent of preprocessing procedures within a well documented frontolimbic circuit between the infralimbic cortex and amygdala. The finding of this study makes it possible to uncover the neurophysiologic basis of anticorrelated RSFC when combining with other techniques such as neuron recording.

 
2105.   Uncovering Intrinsic Connectional Architecture of Functional Networks in Awake Rat Brain
Zhifeng Liang1, Jean King1, and Nanyin Zhang1
1Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States

 
Intrinsic connectional architecture of the brain is a crucial element in understanding the governing principle of brain organization. However, this research topic is significantly underexplored in animals. By utilizing an awake animal imaging model in this study we explored the intrinsic connectional architecture of the rat brain. Our data suggested that the rat brain network exhibited typical features of small-worldness and strong community structures as shown in the human brain The results of this work provided a functional ‘atlas’ of the rat brain at both intra- and inter-region levels. More importantly, the current work revealed that functional networks in rats are organized in a non-trivial manner and conserved fundamental topological properties as the human brain.

 
2106.   Optical Imaging of Functional Connectivity in the Mouse Brain
Adam Q Bauer1, Brian R White1, Abraham Z Snyder1, Bradley L Schlaggar1, Jin-Moo Lee2, and Joseph P Culver1
1Radiology, Washington University in Saint Louis, Saint Louis, MO, United States, 2Neurology, Washington University in Saint Louis, Saint Louis, MO, United States

 
We combined resting-state functional connectivity mapping with optical intrinsic signal imaging (fcOIS). We demonstrate functional connectivity in mice through highly detailed fcOIS mapping of resting-state networks across most of the cerebral cortex. Synthesis of multiple network connectivity patterns through iterative parcellation and clustering provides a comprehensive map of the functional neuroarchitecture and demonstrates identification of the major functional regions of the mouse cerebral cortex.

 
2107.   Baseline-dependent neurovascular coupling and its implications for resting-state fMRI
Peter Herman1, Robert N. S. Sachdev2, Basavaraju G. Sanganahalli1, Hal Blumenfeld2,3, David A. McCormick2, and Fahmeed Hyder1,4
1Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States, 2Department of Neurobiology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States, 3Department of Neurology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States, 4Department of Biomedical Engineering, Yale UNiversity, New Haven, Connecticut, United States

 
A long-standing hypothesis is that tasks or stimuli that evoke neural activity also trigger cerebral blood flow (CBF). Here we examined whether spontaneously occurring cortical fluctuations triggered changes in local blood flow in head-fixed awake and anesthetized rodents. While the linear correlations were rarely significant, using a convolution model of neurovascular coupling we found non-linear correlation between the neural and hemodynamic signals. The calculated transfer functions were significantly different in awake and anesthetized states. In particular the intensity of neurovascular signals decreases with deeper anesthesia and, the response time of the neurovascular coupling slows down.

 
2108.   Dynamics of resting-state functional connectivity associated with heart rate variability
Catie Chang1, Coraline D. Metzger2, Gary H. Glover3, and Martin Walter2
1Advanced MRI section, NINDS, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States, 2Department of Psychiatry, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany,3Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States

 
It was previously observed that functional connectivity exhibits dynamic changes over the course of a resting-state fMRI scan. The origins and relevance of such fluctuations, however, are not clear. Here, we examine whether heart rate variability, an index of psycho-physiological state, covaries with changes in the seed-based functional connectivity maps of regions involved in salience processing (dACC, amygdala). Significant effects were found in multiple cortical and subcortical regions, including thalamus, brainstem, basal ganglia, and insula, suggesting that fluctuations in autonomic or emotional processes may constitute one source of spontaneous connectivity variation.

 
2109.   Olfactory fMRI Connectivity Analysis Based On Granger Causality With Application in Anosmia Assessment
Elena Molina1, Susana Borromeo1, Guillermo Luna1, Jose Angel Pineda-Pardo1, Ana Beatriz Solana1, Cristina Gómez2, Adolfo Toledano3, and Juan Antonio Hernández-Tamames1
1Neuroimaging Lab., Center for Biomedical Technology - Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid, Spain, 2CC. Salud Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Móstoles, Madrid, Spain, 3Servicio Otorrino Fundación Hospital de Alcorcón, Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain

 
In this work, we describe hubs organization within the olfactory network with Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). Granger causality analyses were applied in preselected regions of interest (ROIs) involved in olfactory tasks. We found differences between healthy subjects and patients with different types of anosmia: viral, idiopathic and traumatic. The study of the hubs organization conducted us to an accurate description of the strength of the nodes within the olfactory network and which of them are impaired in different anosmic pathologies.

 
2110.   
Reliable Detection of Default Mode Network in Resting-state Perfusion fMRI using pCASL 3D GRASE with Background Suppression
Lirong Yan1, Yong Fan2, and Danny JJ Wang1
1Neurology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, United States, 2Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

 
Resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) analysis of ASL perfusion fMRI may improve the understanding of the biophysical mechanism of resting connectivity, and may provide a quantitative alternative to resting state BOLD fMRI. In this study, pseudo-continuous ASL (pCASL) with 3D background suppressed (BS) GRASE readout was used to detect RSFC arising from spontaneous perfusion fluctuations. By comparison with a standard resting-state BOLD fMRI scan and a pCASL GRASE scan with compromised BS, the present study shows that the default mode network can be reliably detected in resting-state perfusion image series without BOLD contamination.

 
2111.   Prediction of Vascular Dementia brain in distinct frequency bandwidths with whole-brain functional connectivity patterns
Delong Zhang1, Bo Liu2,3, Jun Chen2,3, Xiaoling Peng1, Xian Liu2,3, and Ruiwang Huang1
1Center for Studies of Psychological Application, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China,2Department of Radiology, Guangdong Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China, 3Department of Radiology, Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China

 
Here we used support vector machines (SVM) method to predict the Vascular Dementia (VaD), one of the most common types of dementia, from the functional brain scans according to the whole-brain functional networks, and compared the detection efficiency at different frequency bandwidths, slow-5 (0.01~0.27 Hz), slow-4 (0.027~0.073 Hz), and whole band (0.01~0.073 Hz). The result suggested that whole-brain functional connectivity contain adequate information about neurobiological changes in VaD patients, and the detection efficiency related to the slow-5 was more prominent. These contribute to the understanding of VaD and may facilitate discovery of biomarkers for the diagnosis of individual VaD patient.

 
2112.   The brain default mode network in patients with type 1 diabetes and hypoglycemia unawareness under different blood glucose levels
Silvia Mangia1, Federico De Martino1,2, Anjali Kumar3, Amir Moheet3, Pete Kollasch1, Lynn Eberly4, and Elizabeth Seaquist3
1CMRR - Dept. of Radiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, 2Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Maastricht, Maastricht, Netherlands, 3Dept. of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, 4Div. of Biostatistics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

 
We measured the brain default mode network (DMN) in six subjects with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) and hypoglycemia unawareness and in seven healthy controls with similar age and body-mass-index, by using resting-state fMRI while blood glucose levels were controlled by hyperinsulinemic clamps. Decreased functional connectivity of some DMN regions was observed in T1DM subjects as compared to controls in euglycemia. Furthermore, whereas the prefrontal cortex had basically no functional connectivity to the other areas of the DMN during hypoglycemia in controls, such response was largely reduced in T1DM unaware patients, likely reflecting differences their perception of the stress of hypoglycemia.

 
2113.   A resting-state fMRI study in chronic obstruction pulmonary disease
Ai Wern Chung1, James W. Dodd2, Rebecca A. Charlton3, Paul W. Jones2, and Thomas R. Barrick1
1Stroke and Dementia Research Centre, St George's University of London, London, London, United Kingdom, 2Division of Clinical Science, St George's University of London, London, United Kingdom, 3Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States

 
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a heterogeneous condition increasingly recognised to be a multi-system disorder associated with a wide range of extra pulmonary comorbidities such as heart disease. Brain pathology and cognitive dysfunction is a potential systemic occurrence in COPD. Using functional MRI, we sought to identify differences in the underlying functional connectivity between stable COPD patients and controls, under the resting-state condition. We found wide-spread decrease in resting-state functional connectivity across the brain including the default mode and pre-frontal networks, suggesting global differences between patients and controls.

 
2114.   Altered Baseline Oxygenation and Blood Flow Perturb Resting-state Functional Connectivity – a Nonhuman Primate Study
Hsiao-Ying Wey1,2, Jinqi Li2, and Timothy Q Duong2,3
1Department of Radiology, A. A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, MGH/Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States, 2Research Imaging Institute, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States, 3Department of Radiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States

 
Recent advances in resting-state functional connectivity highlight its potential utility in clinical populations. In this study, we aimed to systematically investigate the effects of different basal oxygenation and blood flow conditions on fc measurements in non-human primate. Our results showed that cerebral connectivity, when compared to normal air condition, was reduced under hypercapnia and hyperoxia but remained comparable under hypoxia. These findings could have strong implications when applying resting-state fMRI in disease states in which baseline oxygenation and blood flow are markedly altered.

 
2115.   Differential Resting-State Network Connectivity of Extrastriate Body Area and Lateral Occipital Complex
Kaundinya Gopinath1,2, Aman Goyal2, Richard Briggs2, and K Sathian3
1Department of Radiology & Imaging Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States, 2Department of Radiology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States, 3Department of Neurology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States

 
A number of areas in the human occipitotemporal cortex are specialized for processing particular types of sensory stimuli. Among these areas are the lateral occipital complex (LOC), an object-selective area and the extrastriate body area (EBA), a body part-selective area. This study used seed-based and graph theory approaches to test whether these areas connect to distinct resting-state networks. LOC and EBA exhibited different functional connectivity patterns. LOC interacted more with motor regions and lateral frontoparietal regions involved in processing external stimuli. In contrast EBA interacted more with somatic sensorimotor regions and DMN regions involved in self-referential processing.

 
2116.   Differential effect of medetomidine on functional activation and connectivity: electrophysiology validation
Si Kang Lew1, Fatima Nasrallah1, Amanda Low1, and Kai Hsiang Chuang1
1MRI Group, Singapore Bioimaging Consortium, Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

 
Previous study on medetomidine showed dosage dependent suppression of functional connectivity without changing BOLD activation. We used electrophysiology measurements including somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) and resting electroencephalography (EEG) to understand the underlying neural correlate. The neurovascular coupling was investigated in the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) using forepaw stimulation. The SEP shows similar response under different medetomidine doses and correlated well with BOLD activation. The coherence of resting EEG between the bilateral S1 didn’t change except for gamma band. The link between BOLD fluctuation and EEG synchrony has yet to be determined.

 
2117.   Adrenergic receptor agonist vs antagonist tuning functional connectivity in resting state
Fatima Ali Nasrallah1, Amanda Simin1, Chen Kaina1, and Kai-Hsiang Chuang1
1MRI Group, Singapore Bioimaging Consortium, Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

 
Receptor targeted pharmaceuticals are applied to modulate neurotransmission to investigate the neural correlate of resting state functional connectivity. The á2 adrenergic receptor agonist, Medetomidine, and antagonist, Atipamezole, were used to understand the role of the adrenergic system in modulating functional connectivity. Activation of the á2 receptor caused a dosage dependant loss of interhemispheric connectivity compared to deactivation of the receptor by the antagonist which resulted in an increase in functional connectivity. This study provides an insight into the underlying basis of functional connectivity.

 
2118.   Anterior-Posterior Dissociation of the Default Mode Network in Dogs
Sreenath Pruthviraj Kyathanahally1, Oleg Mykolajovych Pustovyy2, Paul Waggoner3, Ronald Beyers1, John Schumacher4, Jay Barrett5, Edward E Morrison2, Robert L Gillette4, Thomas S Denney1,6, Vitaly J Vodyanoy5, and Gopikrishna Deshpande1,6
1AU MRI Research center,Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, United States, 2Department of Anatomy,Physiology & Pharmacology, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, United States, 3Canine Detection Research Institute, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, United States, 4Department of Clinical Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, United States, 5College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, United States, 6Department of Psychology, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, United States

 
The Default mode network (DMN) has been observed in humans and monkeys, but not in rodents. In order to investigate the evolutionary hierarchy of the DMN, we obtained resting state fMRI data in dogs and performed independent component analysis (ICA). Dogs, being lower than humans/monkeys, but higher than rodents in evolution, showed localized correlations in the posterior cingulate region in one ICA component while in the medial frontal regions in another ICA component. This shows that there is anterior-posterior dissociation and localized synchrony in DMN in dogs, which is a strikingly similar result to the one obtained in young children.

 
2119.   Finding thalamic BOLD correlates to cortical alpha modulation
Zhongming Liu1, Jacco A de Zwart1, Bing Yao1, Peter van Gelderen1, Li-Wei Kuo1, and Jeff H Duyn1
1Advanced MRI Section, LFMI, NINDS, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States

 
Simultaneous EEG-fMRI data were analyzed to reveal the thalamocortical networks associated with the modulation of cortical alpha (8-12Hz) EEG. The occipital alpha rhythm was found to be negatively correlated with the BOLD signals at both the visual cortex and the visual thalamus but positively at the anterior dorsal nuclei, which was neither structurally nor functionally connected with the visual cortex. Negative thalamic BOLD-alpha correlation was mostly found at Pulvinar, as confirmed by comparison with reference locations defined through functional localizer with visual stimulation as well as high-resolution anatomical images with gradient echo phase contrast at 7T.

 
2120.   The “foot-print” of memory encoding on the brain
Deng Mao1, Kuang-Chi Tung1, Peiying Liu1, Yong He2, Jinhui Wang2, and Hanzhang Lu1
1Advanced Imaging Research Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, United States, 2State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

 
A number of evidences have suggested that the resting brain can be modulated by recent experience. However, few reports have demonstrated the feasibility to measure brain changes after merely minutes of use. Here, we used a 20-min memory encoding task to stimulate the brain, and collected fcMRI data (under resting state) before and after the task. We compared resting brain networks between these two time points and demonstrated that fcMRI brain networks can be modified in the acute phase using a memory task. Finally, we correlated the extent of connectivity change with the behavioral data of memory scores across individuals.

 
2121.   Modulation of hypothalamic connectivity by food ingestion
Claudia Huerta1, Jinqi Li1, Hsiao-Ying Wey2, and Timothy Q Duong1
1UTHSCSA, San Antonio, TX, United States, 2Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, Massachussetts, United States

 
The hypothalamus plays a pivot role in the regulation of satiety and hunger. This study optimized imaging parameters to ensure reliable detection and stability of EPI signals from the hypothalamic and applied rsfMRI to identify hypothalamic network regulating hunger and satiety in healthy lean subjects. We identified common and different activated structures before and after food ingestion, some are established and some appeared novel. Future studies will focus on validation, extend this approach to study hypothalamic connectivity in obese subjects to attempt to undercover pathological neural mechanisms regulating satiety.

 
2122.   Resting-State Functional Connectivity during Pregnancy
Russell Wade Chan1,2, Iris Y. Zhou1,2, Leon C. Ho1,2, and Ed X. Wu1,2
1Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging and Signal Processing, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China, 2Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China

 
This study explores the effects of pregnancy on resting-state functional connectivity in the rat brain. The results show that pregnancy alters the strength and spatial distribution of the fcMRI signals. Specifically, the effects of pregnancy at G17 increase the spontaneous fluctuations in fcMRI signal in the caudate putamen, hippocampus and thalamus; whereas the spontaneous fluctuations in fcMRI signal were similar in the motor cortex for the pregnant and non-pregnant group. The longitudinal effects of pregnancy, as well as, the effects on other functional networks are to be explored.

 
2123.   Brain Networks Modulated by Menstrual Cycle: a Resting State Study
Xinyuan Miao1, Thomas Zeffiro2, Jing Chen1, Xiaohong Joe Zhou3, and Yan Zhuo1
1Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, Beijing, China, 2Neural Systems Group, Massachusetts General Hospital, 3Department of Radiology and Center for MR Research, University of Illinois Medical Center, United States

 
n this resting state study, we examined the effect of the menstrual cycle on six major functional brain networks as well as the hippocampus and amygdala, regions which may play an important role in spatial cognition and emotion processing throughout the menstrual cycle. We utilized 160 meta-analysis derived ROIs to parcellate the cortex and cerebellum into six networks: cingulo-opercular, frontoparietal, default mode, sensorimotor, occipital, and cerebellar. It was observed that the inter-regional correlations among some of these networks as well as the hippocampus and amygdala were differentially modulated during phases of the menstrual cycle.

 
2124.   Prior cognitive state can influence functional connectivity networks at the individual and group level.
Chris Tailby1,2, David F Abbott1,3, and Graeme D Jackson1,3
1Brain Research Institute, Florey Neuroscience Institutes, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia,3Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

 
Previous work demonstrated that resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) measured in an individual can vary with prior cognitive state. The analysis of large multicentre data sets using RSFC is becoming increasingly widespread. It is therefore important to determine whether the dependence of RSFC on a given prior cognitive state is consistent across individuals, as this would have the potential to bias large multicentre RSFC analyses. By comparing, across 25 healthy participants, RSFC maps obtained following performance of two cognitive tasks we show that RSFC networks vary heterogeneously across subjects. Such effects can produce weak effects at the group level.

 
2125.   Seed-based functional connectivity analysis of the emotional circuitry: Improving the signal of vulnerable regions with spin-echo EPI
Roberto Goya-Maldonado1, Brice Fernandez1,2, Victor Spoormaker1, and Michael Czisch1
1MPI of Psychiatry, Munich, BY, Germany, 2GE Healthcare, Global Applied Science Laboratory, Munich, Germany

 
Functional connectivity (fc) analysis allows monitoring specific regional brain changes in activation along time. The susceptibility artifacts commonly present during the acquisition of fMRI with GRE-EPI can drastically limit the investigation of the emotional circuitry. We tested the applicability of SE-EPI for fc analysis at 3T. The seeds placed in the emotional circuitry presented robust and anatomically reliable connectivity patterns in the differential contrast SE>GRE. This suggests a potential benefit to be further explored in functional studies addressing the affective system.

 
2126.   Investigation of the large-scale functional brain networks modulated by long-time transcutaneous electric acupoint stimulation
Yin Jiang1, Yue Zhang2, Jing Wang2, Jing Fang2, Jisheng Han1, Xiaoping Hu3, Cailian Cui1, and Jue Zhang2
1Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Neurobiology, Peking University, beijing, China, 2Biomedical Engineering, Peking University, beijing, China, 3Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States

 
Acupuncture has been worldwide used to against many disorders. However, the neural mechanism underlying acupuncture is still unclear. Many studies have investigated to the sustained effects using short-time acupuncture (no more than 6 min) for healthy subjects, which may be not long enough to satisfy the treatment effects. This is the first study, to our knowledge, to investigate small-world properties of brain functional networks modulated by long-time acupuncture(30 minutes). A tendency of increasing local efficiency was demonstrated in TEAS(transcutaneous electric acupoint stimulation) when compared with MTEAS(minimal TEAS),which suggest higher fault-tolerance for brain network after long-time acupuncture.

 
2127.   
Resting-state functional connectivity predicts the amplitude of the BOLD response to thermal pain stimulation in humans
Stephen D Mayhew1, Nicholas Hylands-White2, Camillo Porcaro3, and Andrew P Bagshaw1
1Birmingham University Imaging Centre, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, West Mids, United Kingdom, 2Pain Management Group, Faculty of Health, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, United Kingdom, 3Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

 
Here we define pain regions of interest (ROIs) from brain areas exhibiting a very significant BOLD response to thermal stimulation: ACC, SII and anterior insula. We compare the strength of functional connectivity between these ROIs during rest with the mean amplitude of the BOLD response in these ROIs during the stimulation runs. We observed that subjects who had greater resting connectivity between pain-responsive regions had a larger BOLD response to thermal pain stimulation. This work provides a novel demonstration that part of the inter-subject variability in evoked BOLD responses is explained by the intrinsic resting properties of the pain network.

 
2128.   Graph theoretical Network Analysis of Pain Processing: Pain is more than Sensation
Silke Kreitz1, Marina Sergejeva1, and Andreas Hess1
1Institute of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany

 
The investigation of the neural basis of pain perception using modern neuroimaging techniques, such as functional MRI, has shown that nociceptive stimuli commonly elicit activity within a wide range of brain structures. In this study, we used functional MRI and graph theoretical network analysis methods to investigate the connectivity between mouse brain structures that are activated by thermal nociceptive and non nociceptive stimuli. The resulting stimulus specific interregional connectivity networks demonstrate the rebuilding of connections between brain structures during nocicpetive processing and give us a deeper insight into the functionality of the brain under pain.
 
Traditional Poster Session - fMRI

fMRI: Cognitive Neuroscience

Click on to view the abstract pdf. Click on to view the poster (Not all posters are available for viewing.)
 

 
Thursday 10 May 20122
Exhibition Hall  13:30 - 15:30

2129.   Load Dependency of Correlation between Intrinsic Brain Activity and Brain Activation Induced by Working Memory Task
Qihong Zou1,2, Thomas J. Ross2, Hong Gu2, Xiujuan Geng2, Xi-Nian Zuo3, Elliot L. Hong4, Jia-Hong Gao1,5, Elliot A. Stein2, Yu-Feng Zang6,7, and Yihong Yang2
1MRI Research Center and Beijing City Key Lab for Medical Physics and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, Beijing, China, 2Neuroimaging Research Branch, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, United States, 3Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, Beijing, China, 4Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States, 5Brain Research Imaging Center, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States, 6Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders and The Affiliated Hospital, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, 7State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, Beijing

 
There is no consensus whether spontaneous activity predicts task activation, and it is unknown whether rest-task relationship is dependent on task load. Here, we investigate these issues on forty subjects with a resting-state scan and following N-back verbal working memory task scans. We show that fALFF during resting state can predict activation during working memory task. We further demonstrate that such rest-task correlations are modulated by cognitive load of working memory task. These findings suggest that resting-state activity facilitate specific brain circuit engagement for performing a cognitive task, and that resting-state activity can load dependently predict task-induced brain responses.

 
2130.   Quantification of Load Dependent Brain Activity in Parametric N-Back Working Memory Tasks using pCASL Perfusion Imaging
Qihong Zou1,2, Hong Gu2, Jiongjiong Wang3, Jia-Hong Gao1,4, and Yihong Yang2
1MRI Research Center and Beijing City Key Lab for Medical Physics and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, Beijing, China, 2Neuroimaging Research Branch, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, United States, 3Department of Neurology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, 4Brain Research Imaging Center, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States

 
Brain activation and deactivation induced by N-back working memory tasks and load effects have been investigated using PET and BOLD fMRI. However, mechanisms of BOLD fMRI are not completely understood and PET requires injection of radioactive tracers. Here, a pCASL technique was used to quantify CBF, a well understood index reflective of cerebral metabolism. We showed activation in fronto-parietal cortices and deactivation in PCC and MPFC during working memory tasks. Most of the activated/deactivated brain regions showed approximately linear relationship between CBF and task loads. These results demonstrate feasibility of ASL techniques to quantify brain activity during high cognitive tasks.

 
2131.   Differential neural activation in field dependent and field independent subjects for a camouflage detection task: An fMRI study
Shilpi Modi1, Janani Rajagopalan2, Pawan Kumar1, Rajendra P Tripathi1, Subash Khushu1, and Manas K Mandal2
1Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), Delhi, Delhi, India, 2Defence Institute of Psychological Research, Delhi, Delhi, India

 
An fMRI paradigm was designed to obtain the neural correlates of camouflage detection with real life photographs. The study accentuates on the comparative study between Field-dependent and Field-independent individuals in accordance to their neural correlates derived upon camouflage detection. A widespread activation of the dorsal stream of visual processing was obtained with a greater activation in field dependent subjects as compared to the field independent ones suggesting a greater effort required by them for task performance. However, additional recruitment of superior parietal, thalamic and cerebellar regions in field independent subjects might explain their capability to better perform the task.

 
2132.   Greater activation of brain regions serving abstract reasoning abilities in alcohol dependents: An fMRI study
Deepika Bagga1, Namita Singh1, Shilpi Modi1, Mohan Lal Garg2, Debajyoti Bhattacharyya3, Prabhjot Kaur1, and Subash Khushu1
1NMR Research Centre, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), Delhi, Delhi, India, 2Department of Biophysics, Punjab University, Chandigarh, Punjab, India,3Base Hospital, Army Medical Corps, Delhi, Delhi, India

 
Neuropsychological findings suggest a deficit in abstract reasoning abilities in alcohol dependents. However, this deficit has not been studied so far using BOLD fMRI. We attempted to address this issue by carrying out an fMRI study on alcohol dependents and controls for an abstract reasoning task. Alcoholics showed a greater activation in the fronto-parieto-temporal network implicated in abstract reasoning suggesting a compensatory mechanism to meet the task performance comparable to controls.

 
2133.   Neural plasticity of Brain Motor Networks in Professional Fencers Studied with Functional MRI
Laura Parisi1, Maria A. Rocca1, Letizia Leocani2, Roberto Gatti3, Carlotta Castellani2, Monica Rossi3, Andrea Falini4, Giancarlo Comi5, and Massimo Filippi1
1Neuroimaging Research Unit, Institute of Experimental Neurology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, Italy, 2Dept. of Clinical Neurophysiology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, Italy, 3Rehabilitation Department, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, Italy, 4Department of Neuroradiology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, Italy, 5Department of Neurology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, Italy

 
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we investigated brain motor networks involved in interlimb coordination in 14 young high-level professional fencers in comparison to 15 matched young, untrained subjects while performing three different motor tasks (bimanual anti-phase, right hand-foot in-phase and right hand-foot anti-phase movements). Both single motor task analysis and voxel-wise analysis of functional connectivity with the motor cortex showed an optimization of the recruitment of the brain regions underlying interlimb coordination in fencers in comparison to controls, suggesting that specific intensive motor training can modulate neural plasticity of cerebro-cerebellar-basal ganglia loops and their functional connectivities.

 
2134.   The Study of Deception and Truth Using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
Ajchamon Thammachai1, Suwit Saekho2,3, Nuanlaor Thawinchai4, Taipesrinivasti Bhakdikul5, Uten Yarach2, Sranut Chunpenmongkol2, and Witaya Sungkarat6
1program in Forensic Science, Graduate school, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand, 2Radiological Technology, Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 3Biomedical Engineering Center, Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 4Physical Therapy, Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 5Faculty of Law, Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 6Radiology, Mahidol University, Thailand

 
Deceptive detection using Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is an exciting tool. The Peak of Tension Test (POT) can provoke deceptions about criminal details. We propose a new method to identify deception using the POT along with the fMRI by comparing the differences in brain activities between deception and truth telling in both POT and Relevant questions (R). The results demonstrated that right inferior frontal gyrus was more activated in the POT. Left inferior and middle frontal gyri were more activated during deception than those telling the truth.

 
2135.   Persistent activity in posterior parietal cortex reflects planned changes in orientation during navigation
Peter Brotchie1,2, Shaun Seixas3, Shoane Ip4, Mathew Hughes3, and Graeme Jackson4
1MRI, Geelong Hospital, Geelong, Victoria, Australia, 2Radiology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3Brain and Psychological Research Centre, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4Melbourne Brain Centre, Brain Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

 
Posterior parietal cortex (PPC) has long been known to be involved in spatial processing, forming a key element of the “where” pathway in visual processing. However, its role in navigation has not been well documented with functional imaging studies. In this study we have looked at the role of PPC in navigation using a delayed response paradigm to assess the persistent activity that is known to be present in the neurons of the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) in delayed response tasks. In order to detect orientation specific activity, we used repetition suppression of the subect’s orientation with respect to a virtual environment. We found increased activity predominantly in area PFm of the left PPC that was orientation specific, but present only when the subject was planning a change in orientation. The findings indicate a specialised region in PPC that plans for upcoming changes in orientation.

 
2136.   Bittersweet - neither happy nor sad. An experimental comparision of the neural effects of bittersweet, negative and positive film clips using 7T fMRI
Frank P. Schulte1,2, Stefan Maderwald2, Nicole C. Kraemer3, and Matthias Brand1,2
1General Psychology: Cognition, University Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany, 2Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, University Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany, 3Social Psychology: Media and Communication, University Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany

 
Media psychology suggests that watching sad movies does not only include sad aspects, but also positive messages, and elicits “bittersweet” feelings. Using 7T-fMRI, we examined neural activity during the presentation of positive, negative and bittersweet movies. Data from 10 female participants shows activation differences in the left orbitofrontal cortex (BA 47,11), indicating that this region is crucially involved in integrating the sweet and the bitter component of bittersweet movies. We found no activation differences within key brain structures of the limbic system, indicating that the different presented films seem to have induced equally strong emotional experiences.

 
2137.   Convergence of emotion processing on the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex: Parametric mediation analysis of fMRI
Ikuhiro Kida1, Yoshinobu Iguchi1, and Yoko Hoshi1
1Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan

 
We employed parametric mediation analysis to identify the functional circuits mediating emotion response. Unpleasant pictures induced activity in sub-cortical regions, including the amygdala, as well as in cortical regions, particularly the right inferior frontal gyrus. Parametric mediation analysis of fMRI signals in the activated region revealed that, although the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), BA47, contained no mediators for valence, the region was a mediator for all other predictors. These results suggest that the right VLPFC plays a key role in emotion generation and cognition through the convergence of emotion processing on this region from other cortical and sub-cortical regions.

 
2138.   Differential Consolidation of Motor Memory
Kuang-Chi Tung1, Jinsoo Uh1, and Hanzhang Lu1
1Advanced Imaging Research Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States

 
Resting brain encodes footprint of training effect. The spatial pattern of increase in the amount of spontaneous activity and functional connectivity are strikingly different, based on the amount of neural activity involved during the training. Our present findings show that in two-hand training, consolidation of training effect took place in frontal lobe and mid-brain regions such as hypothalamus and basal nuclei, whereas in one-hand training, it took place primarily in the motor and somatosensory areas.

 
2139.   Investigation of recognition memory in fMRI using optimal stimulus arrangement with behavioral information from pilot studies
Dietmar Cordes1, Grit Herzmann2, Rajesh Nandy3, and Tim Curran2
1University of Colorado, Denver, CO, United States, 2University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States, 3University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States

 
In this study, a new method is proposed for optimization of contrast detection power by including probabilistic behavioral information, based on pilot data, in the genetic algorithm. As a particular application, a recognition memory task is studied and the design matrix optimized for contrasts involving the familiarity of individual items and the recollection of the items' qualitative information. Optimization of contrast efficiency is a complicated issue, especially for recognition memory tasks, because subjects’ responses are not deterministic but probabilistic. Contrast efficiencies are not predictable unless behavioral responses are included in the design optimization.

 
2140.   Brain control performance using single- and dual-ROI’s in real-time fMRI with neurofeedback
Jason G Parker1,2, Jonathan Sackett3, Phani Kidambi2, Lacey Sickinger1, and Cemil Kirbas1,4
1Innovation Center, Kettering Health Network, Kettering, OH - Ohio, United States, 2Biomedical, Industrial, and Human Factors Engineering, Wright State University, Dayton, OH - Ohio, United States, 3Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Malvern, PA, United States, 4Psychiatry, Wright State University, Dayton, OH - Ohio, United States

 
The magnitude and extent by which humans can control brain function remains poorly understood. The purpose of this work was to determine if humans receiving neurofeedback on two brain regions simultaneously were less effective at learning brain control than those receiving feedback from a single region. Ten subjects (2 groups of 5) were imaged during single- and dual-ROI feedback. Performance was quantified as the mean % signal changed weighted by the HRF. No significant differences were found between the two methods, possibly indicating humans can learn to control multiple brain regions at once.

 
2141.   The Dependency of Correlation between the BOLD Based Aging Index and MMSE Score on the Cognitive Contents
Toshiharu Nakai1, Naoki Kamiya1, Makoto Miyakoshi2, and Kayako Matsuo3
1Neuroimaging & Informatics, NCGG, Ohbu, Aichi, Japan, 2JSPS, Tokyo, Japan, 3NTU, Taipei, Taiwan

 
The correlation between the BOLD based aging index (BAI) and MMSE score change two years later was evaluated. It was indicated that age-related augmentation of brain activation observed in early stage of the elderly group (60-75 year old) may be associated with the potential risk of converting to MCI, when BAI was evaluated using a visuo-motor task, while BAI obtained by checker board stimuli did not correlate with MMSE score change. BAI may represent two different types of demand at neuro-physiological and neuronal circuit level, which can be discriminated by the cognitive contents of the tasks.

 
2142.   Multimodal food perception: meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies of food cues
Claudia Huerta1, and Timothy Q Duong1
1UTHSCSA, San Antonio, TX, United States

 
The aim of the present study was to determine the concurrence in the brain regions activated in response to multimodal food cue stimuli in healthy normal weight adults. Activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis was performed for: i) visual food cues, contrasted between food and nonfood pictures, ii) taste food cues, contrasted between food and tasteless solution, and iii) olfactory food cues contrasted between food/pleasant and nonfood/unpleasant odors. Different neural systems were observed to be associated with each modality but the insula was commonly engaged across the different presentations of food cues.we have identified and compared the neural systems involved in different food cue presentations in healthy normal weight adults. These findings have the potential to improve our understanding of food perception, advance research in neurophysiology and neuropathology of hunger and craving, and help develop novel therapeutic strategies targeting obesity.

 
2143.   Covariate effects in verbal working memory fMRI using schizophrenia and control participants
Kayako Matsuo1, S.H. Annabel Chen2, Chih-Min Liu3, Chen-Chung Liu3, Hai-Go Hwu3, and Wen-Yih I Tseng1
1National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, 2Division of Psychology, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 3Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

 
We investigated influences of various covariates on a verbal working memory (VWM) fMRI employing 18 each of schizophrenia and control participants. Six covariates of age, gender, response time (RT), accuracy rate, handedness score, and education year had all no significant differences between the two subject groups. Covariates by the behavioral data (RT and accuracy) specifically showed positive correlations with the DMN activation, which reflect the self-regulating mechanism during the low load condition. The inclusion of covariates into the design matrix was effective to obtain the “true†contrast effects even when the comparison groups were “matched†beforehand.

 
2144.   Functional MRI study of visual processing of affirmative and negative sentences
Uttam Kumar1, and C L Khetrapal1
1CBMR, Center of Biomedical Magnetic Resonance, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India

 
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging technique has been employed to study the expression and interpretation of negation in Hindi language. Hindi is subject-object-verb (SOV) language and has a long tradition of grammar and literature. To account the effect of semantic and syntactic features on neural network the study was undertaken where native Hindi reader performed the sentence judgment task (target-Probe) in affirmative and negative sentences. The result shows involvement of common as well as distinct regions for affirmative and negative sentences.

 
2145.   fMRI Neurofeedback of Kinesthetic Motor Imagery
Mark Chiew1,2, Stephen M LaConte3,4, and Simon J Graham1,5
1Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2Rotman Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 3Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, Virginia Tech, Roanoke, Virginia, United States, 4Virginia Tech – Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, United States, 5Imaging Research, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

 
Functional MRI neurofeedback (fMRI NF) enables subjects to regulate their brain activity by viewing and manipulating their fMRI signals in real-time. Here we present an fMRI NF study of brain activity in the left and right primary motor (M1) ROIs associated with kinesthetic motor imagery, analyzed offline using partial least squares methods. Using a differential feedback measure (left M1 - right M1 and vice versa), we found subjects were more successful at suppressing activity in the ipsilateral M1 than up-regulating activity in the contralateral M1, and that task success was correlated with expression of task-positive network regions.

 
2146.   Investigating the duration of brain response to acupuncture stimulation by using independent component analysis
Tomokazu Murase1, Masahiro Umeda2, Yuko Kawai2, Yasuharu Watanabe2, Toshihiro Higuchi3, and Chuzo Tanaka3
1Department of Neurosurgery, Meiji University of integrative Medicine, Nantan-shi, Kyoto, Japan, 2Department of informatics, Meiji University of integrative Medicine,3Department of Neurosurgery, Meiji University of integrative Medicine

 
We examined the correlation between the selected ICs and some hypothetical GLMs and predicted the temporal delay in brain activation induced by acupuncture. The fMRI data were analyzed using Tensor-ICA, and IC-related cerebral activity with each stimulation was selected to the activation area by referring to previous studies. Acupuncture stimulation for a duration of 15 s resulted in little cerebral activity; however, a duration of 30 s resulted in great cerebral activity in the predictable area. In conclusion, we found that changes in BOLD signals caused by acupuncture stimulation lasted for around 15 s after the stimulation.

 
2147.   Single-Trial EEG Discriminant Components Acquired During 3T fMRI
Jennifer M Walz1, Jordan Muraskin1, Robin I Goldman1, Truman R Brown2, and Paul Sajda1
1Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States, 2Radiology and Radiological Science, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United States

 
We previously demonstrated that single-trial variability (STV) of EEG components recorded simultaneously with 1.5T fMRI can yield task-relevant BOLD activations that are unobservable using traditional fMRI analysis methods. A higher field MR system provides greater SNR of the fMRI BOLD signal, but reduces the SNR of the EEG due to increased magnitude of gradient, BCG, and motion artifacts. We have demonstrated the feasibility of our EEG-fMRI STV analysis methods in the more challenging environment of the higher-field 3T scanner, and we have surpassed our previous results in EEG discrimination performance, cluster size, and max z-score.
 
Traditional Poster Session - fMRI

Human fMRI: Systems Neuroscience

Click on to view the abstract pdf. Click on to view the poster (Not all posters are available for viewing.)
 

Thursday 10 May 20122
Exhibition Hall  13:30 - 15:30

2148.   Prolonged tasks during steady state fMRI
Amir M Abduljalil1, Chima Oluigbo1, Xiangyu Yang1, Ali Rezai1, Dustin Cunningham1, Seongjin Choi1, and Michael V Knopp1
1The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States

 
In Task based fMRI, the detectable activation is expected to diminish as the task continues over one minute. In this study, a comparison was made between a scan of the subject at rest and a scan of the same subject performing a task for the entire duration. The calculated functional maps were generated from multiple sections of the time series data in a sliding window manner. A consistent differentiation was observed in the independent components and seed-based functional maps between the resting scans and the scans under extended period of stimulation.

 
2149.   Odorant Mediated vs. Sniffing Mediated BOLD Activation in Human Primary Olfactory Cortex
Xiaoyu Sun1, Jianli Wang1, Christopher W Weitekamp1, Megha Patel1, Jeffrey Vesek1, and Qing X Yang1,2
1Radiology, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, United States, 2Neurosurgery, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, United States

 
The odor perception is intimately coupled with sniffing, and both functions are processed in the primary olfactory cortex (POC). A variety of studies on mammalian olfactory systems have shown the spatial distribution of the olfactory components in the olfactory system. However, It is difficult to differentiate odorant perception from sniffing in human primary olfactory cortex using fMRI. In this study, we demonstrated that the BOLD signals in the POC from odorant stimulation can be separated and quantified from those by sniffing, which opens up opportunities for investigating mechanisms of olfactory deficits in several neurodegenerative diseases.

 
2150.   Olfactory Habituation in the Human Brain
Jianli Wang1, Xiaoyu Sun1, Zackary Herse1, Megha Patel1, Sarah Ryan1, Jeffrey Vesek1, and Qing X Yang1,2
1Radiology, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, United States, 2Neurosurgery, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, United States

 
As the brain’s BOLD signal responding to odorant stimulation is strongly modulated by habituation and respiration, quantitative assessment of olfactory deficits in the brain using fMRI is complex. A thorough understanding of the dynamic behavior of the BOLD signal due to habituation in the central olfactory system is essential for clinical applications of olfactory fMRI. Published fMRI studies on human olfactory habituation have been limited. In this study, we characterized the dynamic behavior of the BOLD signal in human primary olfactory cortex and related structures when subjected to odor habituation.

 
2151.   Brain Performance Correlations with Oxygenation Levels and Neuronal Activity in Resting State fMRI
David Matthew Carpenter1, Edmund Wong1, Jessica Roman1, and Cheuk Ying Tang1,2
1Radiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, United States, 2Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, United States

 
Here we used the random fluctuations of the resting state brain and capitalized on the hemodynamic delay of BOLD fMRI to investigate what primes the brain for best performance: preceding blood oxygenation levels or preceding neuronal activity. The results show correlation between response time (at T=0) and blood oxygen levels of the default network (BOLD at T=0) but not with neuronal activity of the network (BOLD at T=2sec). Subjects’ performance was correlated to the oxygen level and not the neuronal activity immediately preceding level of activity.

 
2152.   Comparison of Anesthetic Effects on the Resting-State CBF between Sevoflurane and Propofol: Similarities, Discrepancies, and their Implications
Maolin Qiu1, Ramachandran Ramani2, and R. Todd Constable1
1Diagnostic Radiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States, 2Anesthesiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States

 
The anesthetic effects of different agents on CBF have been investigated in recent years, however, variability in results among the studies exists. We use pulsed arterial spin labeling (PASL) MRI, with the similar experiment protocols, to assess the regional CBF changes in healthy human volunteers induced by sevoflurane and propofol. Our results showed, in the presence of an anesthetic, the observed regional CBF is the interplay among local neuronal activity that contributes to the regional changes in CBF via the neurovascular coupling, the distributions of the neuroceptors as the molecular targets of the agent, the neurophysiology of the brain, i.e., the subsystems of the brain that the anesthetic progressively suppressed, and the vascular structure of the brain.

 
2153.   Probing Neural Networks Involved in Upregulation of Heart Rate and Blood Pressure During Handgrip
Jinqi Li1, Michael Riedel2, Karl Li3, Claudia Ivette Huerta2, Hsiao-Ying Wey4, Jacob L Eisenrich3, and Timothy Q Duong2
1Research Imaging Institute, San Antonio, Texas, United States, 2Research Imaging Institute, 3Medical School, UT Health Sience Center, 4Harvard University, United States

 
fMRI studies were done on four healthy subjects who performed static handgrip. Two fMRI analyses were performed using FSL: 1) block-correlation of rest versus handgrip, and 2) linear-correlation with HR. Stronger activations in insula, thalamus and anterior cingulate, which were highly accepted as central command areas, in block –correlation analysis largely disappeared in HR correlation analysis. We concluded that the commonly identified activation of thalamus and insular cortex, anterior cingulated are likely to be involved in performing the visual feedback tasks, but unlikely to be the predominant central command networks that drive HR or BP increases during exercise.

 
2154.   BOLD, CBF, and CBV fMRI measurements in chronic stroke patients reveal details of altered neurovascular coupling
Manus Donahue1,2, Charlotte Stagg2, Jacinta O'Shea2, Peter Jezzard2, Leif Ostergaard3, Bradley MacIntosh2,4, Heidi Johansen-Berg2, and Jakob Blicher3
1Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, 2FMRIB Centre, Oxford University, Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, 3Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark, 4Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

 
The aim of this work is to apply a multi-modal, noninvasive fMRI approach to better quantify hemodynamic compensation mechanisms during stroke recovery (n=22). Despite robust BOLD, CBF-weighted and CBV-weighted reactivity changes in healthy subjects, in stroke patients with motor impairment, BOLD-fMRI yielded no significant (P>0.05) average changes, despite significant (P<0.01) changes in CBF and CBV. Therefore in chronic stroke, neuronal activity can lead to measurable changes in CBF and CBV in expected cortical areas despite an absent BOLD-fMRI response. Thus, multi-modal fMRI may be better suited than BOLD-fMRI for interrogating cortical reorganization under circumstance of impaired neurovascular coupling.

 
2155.   The Correlation between the BOLD Contrast and Motor Execution Quantified by Motion-capture Analysis of the Movements
Toshiharu Nakai1, Ichiro Takashima2, Makoto Miyakoshi3, Shintaro Ninomiya4, Ayuko Tanaka5, Kayako Matsuo6, and Junichi Hasegawa4
1Neuroimaging & Informatics, NCGG, Ohbu, Aichi, Japan, 2AIST, Tsukuba, Ibaragi, Japan, 3JSPS, Tokyo, Japan, 4Chukyo University, Toyota, Aichi, Japan, 5NCGG, Ohbu, Aichi, Japan, 6NTU, Taipei, Taiwan

 
The relationship between the BOLD contrast in the primary motor area and the motor performance quantified by motion-capture analysis using conventional CCD camera and color markers compatible with MRI was investigated. Significant difference of the correlation gradient corrected by the mean amplitude of the movements determined was detected depending on the preciseness of the movements (p<0.05). It was suggested that the correlation between the BOLD signal and motor performance is potentially biased by movement amplitude instability.

 
2156.   Thalamocortical vs. Corticocortical Functional Connections during Propofol-induced Anesthesia
Xiaolin Liu1, Barney D Ward1, Shi-Jiang Li1, and Anthony G Hudetz2
1Department of Biophysics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, 2Department of Anesthesiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States

 
In this study, we examined whether the loss of consciousness in deep propofol sedation is more related to a direct action of the propofol on corticocortical functional connections or a disruption of thalamocortical interactions, of particular interest, the nonspecific thalamic network. We found that although the nonspecific functional connectivity was significantly diminished as the level of consciousness was reduced, functional connectivity between the cortical network nodes were not statistically altered during deep sedation and the subsequent recovery. These preliminary findings suggest that propofol-induced reduction in the level of consciousness is reflected by changes of the nonspecific thalamocortical connectivity rather than by changes of the corticocortical connections.

 
2157.   An fMRI study of the relative laterality of dominant and non-dominant hand sensory function
David F. Abbott1,2, Susan M. Palmer3, Essie Low3, Graeme D. Jackson1,2, and Leeanne M. Carey3,4
1Brain Research Institute, Florey Neuroscience Institutes, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2Department of Medicine, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3National Stroke Research Institute, Florey Neuroscience Institutes, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4LaTrobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia

 
We used fMRI to explore the relative lateralisation of brain activity associated with controlled tactile stimulation of the fingertips of the left or right hand, in thirteen healthy subjects. An adaptive and largely threshold independent method of objectively determining laterality was adapted for this study to permit statistical comparison of the laterality of activity associated with dominant-hand compared to laterality of activity associated with non-dominant-hand stimuli. We found that subjects are more strongly lateralised in secondary somatosensory cortex for sensory stimuli of their dominant right-hand than for similar stimuli applied to their non-dominant left hand.

 
2158.   Common and Unique Neural Regions Activated During Simple Hand Movements: Implications for Understanding Plasticity After Peripheral Nerve Damage
Rebecca D. Ray1, Michelle Johnson2, and Christopher Pawela3
1Plastic Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States, 2Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States,3Plastic Surgery and Biophysics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States

 
Can specific hand movements be mapped onto unique brain regions? This study investigates the common and different representations of individual hand movements (grasp, index finger flexion and extension, finger spread and thumb raise). Participants wore MRI compatible sensor gloves to measure finger flexure and the orientation (pitch and roll) of the user’s hand as they controlled a small black dot. Several key regions are common to these tasks. There are also activated regions unique to each task. Understanding how motor tasks map onto specific neural regions allows investigators to study plasticity following nerve damage and other disorders of the nervous system.

 
2159.   Dynamic Behavior of BOLD Signal and the Associated Olfactory Neural Networks: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study
Prasanna Karunanayaka1, Chris Weitekamp11, Kathleen Gates2, Jianli Wang1, Paul Eslinger3, Peter Molenaar2, and Quing Yang1
1Radiology, Penn State University, Hershey, PA, United States, 2Human Development and Family Studies, Penn State University, University Park, PA, United States,3Neurology, Penn State University, Hershey, PA, United States

 
Using fMRI data, we present a novel approach capable of revealing the olfactory network that subserve a four-strength fMRI paradigm. The method entails combining unified Structural Equation Modeling (uSEM) and group independent component analysis (ICA) to investigate the underlying olfactory network structure. A significant finding of this study is the identification of primary as well as secondary networks that subserve olfactory processing. Thus, the approach presented and described in this paper highlights the advantage of analyzing olfaction in terms of cognitive modules based on underlying network structure(s).

 
2160.   Somatotopic Mapping of Individual Fingers with a novel Vibrotactile Stimulator using BOLD fMRI at 3T
Sunil K. Valaparla1,2, Hsiao-Ying (Monica) Wey1,2, William E. Rogers1, Jinqi Li1, Geoffrey D Clarke2, and Timothy Q. Duong1,2
1Research Imaging Institute, University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, United States, 2Radiology, University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, United States

 
High resolution mapping of somatotopy remains an active area of research. In this study, we: i) designed and constructed a MRI-compatible stimulator working on magneto-mechanical principles that is applicable for a wide-range of stimulation frequencies, ii) implemented high-resolution fMRI studies with 1.5 mm isotropic resolution to map human finger somatosensory cortex (S1), iii) mapped out the tuning curve as a function of stimulation frequency, and iv) applied the optimal conditions to map finger somatotopy.

 
2161.   Simultaneous Real-time fMRI and EEG Neurofeedback for Self-Regulation of Human Brain Activity
Vadim Zotev1, Raquel Phillips1, Han Yuan1, Wayne Drevets1, and Jerzy Bodurka1
1Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, United States

 
We have employed novel integration of real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (rtfMRI) and encephalography (EEG) to provide simultaneous rtfMRI-EEG multimodal neurofeedback for regulation of both hemodynamic and electrophysiological activity of the human brain. We demonstrated, for the first time, that healthy participants can learn to simultaneously regulate their frontal high-beta EEG asymmetry and left amygdala fMRI activation using retrieval of positive autobiographical memories along with rtfMRI-EEG neurofeedback. This proof-of-concept study opens up possibilities for development of novel cognitive neuroscience research paradigms and enhanced cognitive therapeutic approaches for major neuropsychiatric disorders.
 
Traditional Poster Session - fMRI

fMRI: Animal Neuroscience
Click on to view the abstract pdf. Click on to view the poster (Not all posters are available for viewing.)
 
 
Thursday 10 May 2012
Exhibition Hall  13:30 - 15:30

2162.   fMRI/fcMRI investigation showing cortical and subcortical pathways involving in phrenic nerve activation and respiration control in rats under 9.4Tesla.
Rupeng Li1, Nicholas Flugstad2, Xiping Liu3, Christopher Pawela1,2, Ji-Geng Yan2, Hani S Matloub2, and James S Hyde1
1Biophysics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States, 2Plastic Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States, 3Anesthesiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States

 
Cortical and subcortical pathways accouting for phrenic nerve function were discovered with the combination of BOLD fMRI and fcMRI for the first time.It helps with further investigation of respiratory system control and provide physiological basis for this nerve to be used as donor for peripheral nerve injury repair.

 
2163.   Elucidating bilaterality of fMRI BOLD signal change in the mouse brain upon unilateral innocuous and noxious paw stimulation
Aileen Schroeter1, Joanes Grandjean1, Aline Seuwen1, Bechara Saab2, and Markus Rudin1,3
1Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University and ETH, Zürich, Switzerland, 2Institute for Brain Research, University and ETH, Zürich, Switzerland, 3Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University, Zürich, Switzerland

 
FMRI has been widely used to assess changes in brain activity evoked by innocuous and noxious stimuli. In our laboratory, the application of established sensory stimulation paradigms to isoflurane-anesthetized mice yields consistent bilateral BOLD signal changes in the brain. This observation stands in contrast to the majority of fMRI studies reporting predominantly contralateral brain responses during unilateral innocuous and mild noxious paw stimulation in healthy rats and mice. The presented study deals with the characterization and clarification of the bilateral BOLD signal change in the mouse brain and should yield to more insight into interhemispheric processing of unilateral peripheral stimuli.

 
2164.   BOLD fMRI Response of the Rat Brain to Bolus Injection of Hypertonic Saline
Bianca Gonzales Cerqueira1, Qiang Shen1, Fang Du1, Glenn M. Toney2, and Timothy Q. Duong1
1Research Imaging Institute, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States, 2Department of Physiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States

 
Osmoregulation is an essential function in mammals. This study uses BOLD fMRI to investigate rat brain activation in response to a 200µl bolus injection of hypertonic saline into the right internal carotid. Activated areas are cingulate cortex, somatosensory cortex, fornix, periaqueductal gray, field CA3 of hippocampus, hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus, insula, median preoptic nucleus, and organsum vasculosum laminae terminalis. We found novel sites of activation as well as established areas that are consistent with osmoregulatory circuits reported in electrophysiological, histological, and lesion studies. Our ultimate goal is to identify and validate new sites for targeting treatment of salt-sensitive forms of hypertension.

 
2165.   Plasticity of the rat sensory cortex at 9.4T demonstrated in a survival model of brachial plexus injury and repair with contralateral C7 nerve transfer
Nicholas A Flugstad1, Jack B Stephenson1, Rupeng Li2, Ji-Geng Yan1, Christopher Pawela2, Hani S Matloub1, and James S Hyde2
1Plastic Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States, 2Biophysics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States

 
9.4T fMRI was done in a controlled rat survival model after total brachial plexus avulsion and cross C7 nerve tranfer. fMRI scans at 0, 3, 5, and 7 months after repair demonstrated remodeling of the sensory cortex of the rat forepaw. Over time, the signal migrated from the ipsilateral sensory cortex to the contralateral sensory cortex. This represents trans-hemispheric cortical remodelling and restoration of native somatotopy. After cross C7 nerve trnsfer, the rat brain seems to be capable of higher level reorganization in order to restore sensory input to its native anatomical location in the cortex.

 
2166.   Methylene Blue (a Metabolic Enhancer) Increases Basal CBF, and Hypercapnic and Functional fMRI Responses
Shiliang Huang1, Fang Du1, Yen-Yu I Shih1, Qiang Shen1, Ai-Ling Lin1, Shao-Hua Yang2, and Timothy Q Duong1
1Reseach Imaging Institute, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States, 2Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience, University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, Fort Worth, TX, United States

 
Methylene blue (MB) is FDA-approved to treat methemoglobinemia and cyanide poisoning and it has recently been shown to be neuroprotective in stroke, Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases in preclinical and clinical studies. MB enhances ATP production by acting as an electron donor in the mitochondrial electron transport chain. It also reduces free radical production under metabolically stressed conditions. This study used MRI to investigate the effects of MB on hemodynamic and metabolic parameters. We found that MB increases basal BF, hypercapnia-induced and forepaw-stimulation fMRI responses and oxygen consumption during forepaw stimulation. These results support the positive benefits of MB for treatments.

 
2167.   Potentiation of the metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 5 modulates dopaminergic neurotransmission
Nellie Byun1,2, Ayan Ghoshal1,3, Nathaniel D. Kelm2,4, Robert L. Barry2,5, Wellington Pham2,5, Carrie K. Jones1,3, John C. Gore2,5, and P. Jeffrey Conn1,3
1Vanderbilt Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery, Nashville, TN, United States, 2Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Nashville, TN, United States,3Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States, 4Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, 5Radiology & Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States

 
Previous preclinical studies have demonstrated the potential of compounds that target the metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 5 (mGluR5) for the treatment of schizophrenia. Like typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs, the novel selective mGluR5 potentiator VU0360172 suppressed amphetamine-induced hyperlocomotion in rodents. Here we used VU0360172 and pharmacologic MRI (phMRI) to determine specific regions of mGluR5-mediated modulation of amphetamine-induced brain activation as well as the effects of VU0360172 alone.

 
2168.   Longitudinal fMRI of Spontaneous Plasticity in Rats After Focal Stroke Under Alpha-Chloralose Anesthetic
Tobias C Wood1, Denise Duricki2, Lawrence Moon2, Camilla Simmons1, Michel Mesquita1, Steven Williams1, and Diana Cash1
1Department of Neuroimaging, King's College London, London, United Kingdom, 2Wolfson Centre for Age Related Diseases, King's College London

 
We present a longitudinal fMRI study of focal stroke recovery in adult rats under Alpha-Chloralose anesthetic using forepaw stimulation. Spontaneous plasticity was observed, confirming this protocol is suitable for use with repeated imaging experiments.

 
2169.   Frequency distribution of the BOLD signal during resting-state and nicotine infusion in mice using a phased-array cryogenic coil at 9.4T
Joanes Grandjean1, and Markus Rudin1,2
1Institute for Biomedical Engineering, ETH and University, Zürich, Switzerland, 2Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zürich, Switzerland

 
Resting-state fMRI in mice has been limited due to small voxel-size, leading to low SNR. It would allow studying mechanisms underlying resting-state fMRI, and provide a translational platform. In this study, we measured the amplitudes of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) of the fMRI signal during resting-state and nicotine infusion in mice and showed the organization of ALFFs in the mouse brain. Nicotine infusion increased low frequencies in the frontal cortex, and decreased medium frequencies in the sensory/motor cortex. Analysis of the ALFFs may be used to study resting-state fMRI in mice and frequency distribution can be altered following an intervention.

 
2170.   Classification of neural activity patterns observed by phMRI upon pharmacological interventions in rats
Basil Künnecke1, Andreas Bruns1, Eric Prinssen1, Jean-Luc Moreau1, Joseph G Wettstein1, Markus von Kienlin1, and Céline Risterucci1
1CNS Research, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Basel, Switzerland

 
Preclinical pharmacological fMRI (phMRI) has been successfully used to elucidate the effects of psychoactive drugs on regional cerebral activity, but comparative meta-analyses of study ensembles are largely missing. The present work provides such a systematic and quantitative analysis of perfusion-based phMRI data obtained upon interventions with an extensive set of neuroactive reference compounds impacting on the domains of anxiety and depression. Neural activity patterns detected by phMRI were subjected to principal component analysis in order to yield specific signatures for the drugs’ modes-of-action and objective measures of dose-effect and treatment duration-effect relationships.

 
2171.   Blood oxygenation level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging analysis of functional representation of taste information processing in the rat brain
Ikuhiro Kida1, Yoshinobu Iguchi1, and Yoko Hoshi1
1Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan

 
The neuronal mechanisms underlying taste discrimination and perception in cortical and subcortical regions remain unclear. We performed blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging at 7 T to clarify the neuronal network in the cortical and subcortical regions for taste discrimination. Sucrose and NaCl stimulation increased and decreased the BOLD signals, respectively, in the insular cortex and regions like the caudate-putamen and nucleus accumbens core. This suggests that the activated regions differed but overlapped for taste discrimination. The correlation between the signals in such regions may be related to positive and negative emotional and affective processes, including food preferences.

 
2172.   Retinal and Choroidal Blood Flow Autoregulation in Rats at 11.7T
Guang Li1, Yen-Yu I. Shih2, Bryan H. De La Garza2, Jeffrey W. Kiel3,4, and Timothy Q. Duong2
1Radiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States, 2Research Imaging Institute, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States, 3Ophthalmology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States, 4Physiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States

 
Autoregulation of ocular blood flow (BF) with respect to changing blood pressure (BP) is important to retinal health. Autoregulation dysfunction has been implicated in many retinal diseases such as glaucoma. This study investigated changes in BF and blood-oxygen-level-dependence (BOLD) MRI of the retinal and choroidal vasculatures in the retina with respect to increased blood pressure (BP), which is induced by transient partial occlusion of the descending aorta. We found that BF in both of the retinal and choroidal vasculatures was tightly regulated. This approach sets the stage for study of retinal diseases in which autoregulation may be perturbed.

 
2173.   Rodent resting-state fMRI in the transition to chronic pain: relating functional connectivity to receptor expression changes
Pei-Ching Chang1, Sara Pollema1, Maria Virginia Centeno1, Daniele Procissi2, Marwan Baliki1, Marco Martina1, and A. Vania Apkarian1
1Departments of Physiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States, 2Departments of Radiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States

 
In this study, we combined rs-fMRI and receptors expression to evaluate the mechanisms of transition from an acute peripheral nerve injury to chronic neuropathic pain. We showed that enhanced functional connectivity in NAc with prefrontal regions in the neuropathic pain animals, consistent with increased PFC-NAc connectivity we observed in chronic pain patients. Furthermore, significant correlation between functional connectivity and receptors expression was observed in the neuropathic pain animals. This is the first demonstration of a link between human and animal fMRI for transition to chronic pain, and the first evidence relating changes in receptors expression and functional connectivity.

 
2174.   Frequency dependant brain activation during somatosensory stimulation in anaesthetised rats: a comparison using evoked potentials, quantitative 2-deoxyglucose autoradiography and fMRI
Diana Cash1, Camilla Simmons1, Alanna C Easton2, David J Lythgoe1, Steven CR Williams1, and Michel SB Mesquita1
1Neuroimaging, King's College London, London, United Kingdom, 2Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom

 
Forepaw sensory stimulation at 0.5 and 3 Hz in anaesthetized rats was characterized for BOLD fMRI, neural activity and regional glucose uptake. Electrical activity was greater at lower frequency whereas metabolic activity was greater at higher frequency. An expected increase in BOLD in forepaw cortex was detected at 3Hz, but a widespread negative BOLD signal was detected at 0.5Hz, suggesting the lack of neurovascular coupling at this slow stimulation rate.

 
2175.   Frequency cutoff in neurovascular coupling of resting-state fMRI
Wen-Ju Pan1, Garth Thompson1, Matthew Magnuson1, and Shella Keilholz1
1Biomedical Engineering, Emory University/Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States

 
BOLD fluctuations typically exhibit high power only in the low frequencies (<0.1). The mechanism of the frequency cutoff has been rarely investigated. By simultaneous intracortical DC recording and fMRI, the DC/BOLD coherences were demonstrated within a frequency range of high BOLD power, and can be modulated by vasoactive properties in a rat model.

 
2176.   Vibrotactile and Electrocutaneous Stimuli Activate Distinct but Overlapping Areas in Primary Somatosensory Cortex that Differ in their Stimulus-Response Properties
Feng Wang1, Robert Friedman1, Chaohui Tang1, and Malcolm Avison1
1Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States

 
To examine the role of dorsal column (DC) and spinothalamic (ST) spinal cord afferents to primary somatosensory (SI) cortex, we compared the cortical and thalamic topography and stimulus response properties associated with vibrotactile (VS) and electrocutaneous stimulation (ES) of single digits in anesthetized squirrel monkeys. VS, which activates only the DC inputs and ES, which activates both DC and ST afferents, elicited similar stimulus responses in area 3b, but very different responses in areas 1 and 3a.

 
2177.   
Coupling of long projecting vasoactive dopaminergic afferents to negative fMRI signals in the striatum
Yi-Hua Hsu1,2, Chiao-Chi V Chen2, Yen-Yu I Shih3, and Chen Chang1,2
1Institute of Pharmacology, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, Taiwan, 2Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Taiwan, 3Research Imaging Institute, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, United States

 
Vasoactive neurotransmitters are a direct cause of negative fMRI signals. Dopamine, for instance, can be vasoconstrictive. The dopaminergic system mainly involves a long projection from the substantia nigra to the striatum. The coupling of the fMRI signals with a long vasoactive pathway raises the issue whether the negative fMRI response represents remote rather than local neuronal activity. To clarify, a local anesthetic was used to block the local or remote site of the pathway during induction of the negative fMRI signals. The results indicate that the negative fMRI signals are directly coupled to remote neuronal activation without involving local neurons.

 
2178.   Amplitude Modulation Frequency and Duty Cycle Processing in the Auditory System: An fMRI Investigation
Joe S. Cheng1,2, Patrick P. Gao1,2, Condon Lau1,2, Jevin W. Zhang1,2, Matthew M. Cheung1,2, Iris Y. Zhou1,2, and Ed X. Wu1,2
1Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging and Signal Processing, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China, 2Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China

 
Amplitude modulations (AMs) are an essential cue for recognizing and categorizing behaviorally relevant sound and broad tends concerning the coding of AMs parameters use electrophysiology techniques[1-3].

 
2179.   How does whisker stimulation modulate ongoing electrophysiological signal? Implications for resting state fMRI
Hanbing Lu1, Leiming Wang1, William W Rea1, Elliot A Stein1, and Yihong Yang1
1National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH, Baltimore, MD, United States

 
Spontaneous fluctuations in the resting state fMRI time course have been shown to exhibit structured spatial and temporal patterns. However, the underlying mechanisms are still poorly understood. The goal of this study is to investigate how tasks modulate ongoing spontaneous fluctuations.

 
2180.   Noninvasive fMRI Investigation of Interaural Level Difference Processing in the Rat Subcortex
Condon Lau1,2, Jevin W. Zhang1,2, Joe S. Cheng1,2, Kyle K. Xing1,2, Iris Y. Zhou1,2, Matthew M. Cheung1,2, and Ed X. Wu1,2
1Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging and Signal Processing, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China, 2Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China

 
Interaural level differences (ILDs) are important features for sound localization. Sound arrives at the ears with different sound pressure levels (SPLs) depending on the azimuth of the source. fMRI with seven ILD settings spanning ±18dB (higher SPL in left ear is positive) is used to examine a rat model of subcortical ILD processing. Results show the inferior colliculus and dorsal lateral lemniscus contralateral to the higher SPL ear respond with larger signal change. This asymmetry is not apparent in the cochlear nucleus and superior olivary complex. These findings demonstrate fMRI is an effective tool for examining subcortical ILD processing.

 
2181.   Investigation of the BOLD contrast mechanisms initiated during prolonged trigeminal nerve stimulation
Nathalie Just1, and Rolf Gruetter1,2
1LIFMET, CIBM/EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland, 2Department of Radiology, Universities of Lausanne and Geneva, Switzerland

 
BOLD fMRI investigations in rodents are useful to understand and interpret the underlying physiological and molecular mechanisms of brain activation. Neurons of the whisker barrel system in the rodent primary somatosensory cortex are known to encode external events in time and space and thus offer an excellent model to study BOLD activation processes. In the present study, we proposed to investigate the BOLD contrast mechanisms initiated during sustained trigeminal nerve (TGN) stimulation in the rat since different stimulation durations could potentially result in different activation maps themselves resulting from the recruitment of different neuronal, vascular or metabolic mechanisms.

 
2182.   Laminar-specific BOLD Functional MRI of the Human Retina to Hyperoxia Inhalation
Yi Zhang1,2, Oscar San Emeterio Nateras1, Qi Peng1, and Timothy Duong1,2
1Radiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States, 2Research Imaging Institute, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States

 
The human retina is supplied by two (retinal and choroidal) separate vasculatures and their integrity is vital for maintaining normal retinal structure and function. This study demonstrates a novel BOLD fMRI application in the human retina with laminar specificity, made possible by stable eye fixation and bSSFP acquisition. Inversion-recovery bSSFP with reversed partial-Fourier readout was used to suppress the vitreous and to achieve strong BOLD-sensitivity without distortion. bSSFP fMRI reveals differential BOLD responses to hyperoxia in retinal and choroidal vasculatures. This approach could provide useful physiological information of the retina in healthy and diseased states, and complement existing imaging techniques.

 
2183.   BOLD fMRI of Rat Retina at 11.7 Tesla
Bryan H DeLaGarza1, Eric R Muir1, William E Rogers1, and Timothy Q Duong1
1Research Imaging Institute, Ophthalmology/Radiology, Univ of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States

 
This study reports a novel application of BOLD fMRI of visual stimulation in the rat retina at 11.7 Tesla. Visual stimuli employed diffuse achromatic light flickering at 8 Hz. Higher magnetic field was used to improve signal-to-noise ratio, spatial resolution (110x110x1000 microns) and BOLD contrast sensitivity. This approach can be used to evaluate functional changes in the rat retinas where many retinal disease models are readily available. BOLD fMRI of the retina provides unique clinically relevant data and has the potential to complement existing retinal imaging techniques.
 
Traditional Poster Session - fMRI

fMRI Physiology
Click on to view the abstract pdf. Click on to view the poster (Not all posters are available for viewing.)
 
 
Thursday 10 May 2012
Exhibition Hall  13:30 - 15:30

2184.   High Temporal Resolution In-Vivo Blood Oximetry via Projection Based T2 Measurement
Varsha Jain1, Jeremy Magland1, Michael Langham1, and Felix W Wehrli1
1Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States

 
Measuring oxygen saturation (SvO2) in large blood vessels can provide important information about oxygen delivery and its consumption. Quantification of blood’s T2 value can be utilized to determine SvO2.We propose a fast method for blood T2 quantification via computing the complex difference of velocity-encoded projections.Average resting state SvO2 measurements in superior sagittal sinus,straight sinus, left and right internal jugular veins in the three subjects were 65±3 %, 70±1%, 68±3% and 69±3%, respectively, in agreement with previous reports. Additionally, in concurrence with the known vasoldilatory effect of hypercapnia SvO2 levels increased by ~10%HbO2. Potential clinical applications extend to the study of pathological conditions affecting cerebral metabolism, for example, neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s dementia.

 
2185.   Characterization of Blood Pool Half Life of USPIO Contrast Agent Ferumoxytol in Humans
Deqiang Qiu1, Thomas Christen1, Wendy W Ni1, Greg Zaharchuk1, and Michael E Moseley1
1Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States

 
Ultra Small Paramagnetic Iron Oxide (USPIO) contrast agents have a strong T2* effect, which allows steady-state high-resolution quantitative Cerebral Blood Volume mapping (CBV) as well as enhanced sensitivity for fMRI based on CBV changes. We characterized the half-life of an FDA-approved USPIO compound ferumoxytol (AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Cambridge, MA) in humans. The R2* values of the brain before and after contrast injection as well as at follow-up sessions were obtained. The half-life of the contrast agent was estimated to range from 12.1 hours to 22.6 hours, longer than that measured in animal studies.

 
2186.   Cerebral Blood Volume Changes During Brain Activation
Steffen Norbert Krieger1, Robert Trampel1, Markus Streicher1, and Robert Turner1
1Neurophysics, Max Plank Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Saxonia, Germany

 
Due to its good localization to neuronal activity, fMRI studies have begun to utilize changes of cerebral blood volume (CBV). However, if cerebral vessels are considered to be impermeable, the contents of the skull incompressible, and the skull itself inextensible, task-related and hypercapnia-related changes of CBV could produce intolerable changes of intracranial pressure. We propose that much of the change in CBV is facilitated by exchange of water between capillaries and surrounding tissue. To explore this idea we developed a novel hemodynamic boundary-value model and found approximate solutions. A macroscopic experimental model provides biophysical insight.

 
2187.   Mapping of CMRO2 changes in visual cortex during a visual motion paradigm at 7T
Dimo Ivanov1, Laurentius Huber1, Stefan Kabisch1,2, Markus Streicher1, Haiko Schloegl1,2, Ilona Henseler1, Elisabeth Roggenhofer1, Wolfgang Heinke3, and Robert Turner1
1Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany, 2Department of Medicine, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany, 3Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Therapy, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

 

2188.   What is the best way to use hyperoxia to measure venous cerebral blood volume?
Nicholas P Blockley1, and Richard B Buxton1
1Center for Functional MRI, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States

 
Measurement of the BOLD response to hyperoxia has been proposed as a way to measure venous cerebral blood volume. We simulated two methods of achieving this aim with a detailed BOLD signal model, testing each for sensitivity to intersubject variations in haematocrit and baseline oxygen extraction. The first was the original method of normalising the tissue signal response to hyperoxia by the signal response of a large vein. The second was a new method based only on the tissue signal response. Compared with the original approach, this new method was found to be much less sensitive to intersubject variability.

 
2189.   Hyperoxia Modulated Evoked Cerebral Blood Flow in the Human motor Cortex: Measured with LL-FAIR ASL
Paula L. Croal1, Emma L. Hall1, Ian D. Driver1, Penny A. Gowland1, and Susan T. Francis1
1Sir Peter Mansfield MR Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom

 
Local CBF (LCBF) is currently thought to increase on cortical activation to meet an increased demand in oxidative metabolism. However, animal literature suggests that this increase is dominated by a change in the vascular reactivity, as the LCBF response is higher with hyperoxia. This study measures the LCBF response in the human motor cortex on hyperoxia using LL-FAIR-ASL. A trend was seen, with hyperoxia increasing the LCBF response and reducing transit times to a greater extent than normoxia. This finding raises questions as to whether the role of functional hyperaemia is driven by changes in metabolic demand or vasculature reactivity.

 
2190.   Small changes in relative CMRO2 during stepped hypercapnia?
Stefan Alexandru Carp1, Woo Hyun Shim1, Jeong Kon Kim1, and Young Ro Kim1
1Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States

 
Hypercapnic (CO2) calibration is necessary to be able to measure relative changes in the cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO2) during evoked fMRI responses. The underlying assumption is that there are no metabolic changes associated with CO2 inhalation. In this work we administered several levels of CO2 (2.5, 5 and 7.5%) to anesthetized rats and compared relative CMRO2 values between these levels. We observe that when calibrating with the 2.5% to 5% transition, 7.5% CO2 appears to result in lower cerebral oxygen demand. This may be a result of BOLD signal contamination due to venous volume changes.

 
2191.   Quantification of Venous Vessel Size in Human Brain in Response to Hypercapnia and Hyperoxia
Yuji Shen1, and Ida M Pu2
1Brain Research Imaging Centre, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom, 2Department of Computing, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, United Kingdom

 
Hypercapnia and hyperoxia-induced BOLD contrasts were employed to measure the mean venous vessel size in human brain in response to hypercapnia and hyperoxia. A combined GE and SE sequence was used to acquire GE and SE signals simultaneously. The experimental paradigm consisted of two 3-minute blocks of breathing 6% CO2 or 100% O2 interleaved with three 2-minute blocks of breathing room air. The vessel size index q = ÄR2*/ÄR2 was calculated and then converted to the vessel radius. It was found that the mean venous vessel radii were larger in hypercapnia than in hyperoxia in both grey and white matter.

 
2192.   Hypercapnia-Induced Vessel Size Imaging at 3 Tesla using PROPELLER-EPI
Martin Krämer1, Andreas Deistung1, Thies H Jochimsen2, and Jürgen R Reichenbach1
1Medical Physics Group, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology I, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany, 2Klinik und Poliklinik für Nuklearmedizin, Universitätsmedizin Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

 
Vessel size imaging at 3T requires sensitive mapping of the transverse gradient-echo and spin-echo relaxation rates. To realize hypercapnia-induced vessel size imaging at lower clinical field strength we demonstrate that the PROPELLER-EPI technique can be applied for this purpose. Results shown from our in-vivo study at 3T are then compared to a previous single-shot EPI study performed at 7T.

 
2193.   Influence of CO2 on Cerebral O2 metabolism during sustained hypoxia
Zachary M Smith1, Ethan Li1, and David J Dubowitz1
1Center for Functional MRI, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States

 
Hypobaric hypoxia is accompanied by an increase in cerebral O2 metabolism. During acute hypoxia this CMRO2 rise can be paritally mitigated by maintaining arterial CO2 at its normoxic level. We investigated if acetazolamide (a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor that increases CO2 in the cerebral tissues) modulated this CMRO2 increase during sustained hypoxia. CMRO2 was measured using ASL and TRUST at 3T in human volunteers during normoxia, and following 2-days sustained hypoxia with or without treatment with acetazolamide. Following acetazolamide, the hypoxia-induced rise in CMRO2 was reduced. These data provide evidence for a CO2 dependence of the CMRO2 rise during sustained hypobaric hypoxia.

 
2194.   Interaction of CBF reactivity to hypoxia and to hypercapnia
Zachary M Smith1, Ethan Li1, and David J Dubowitz1
1Center for Functional MRI, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States

 
Cerebral blood flow (CBF) and pulmonary ventilation both increase with hypercapnia or hypoxia. We investigated 1) the CBF reactivity to isolated hypoxia and isolated hypercapnia, 2) reactivity to both stimuli in combination and 3) impact of prolonged hypoxic acclimatization on CBF response. Results were compared with ventilation reactivity. Following 7-days hypoxic acclimatization ventilatory reactivity to hypoxia increased, whereas CBF reactivity diminished. For combined hypoxic/hypercapnic stimuli, CBF shows an additive increase in sensitivity, whereas ventilation shows a multiplicative increase. However, after hypoxic acclimatization, the response in both CBF and ventilation is multiplicative. These differences in CBF and ventilatory sensitivity may provide insights into the mechanisms of hypoxic and CO2 modulation of CBF.

 
2195.   
Adaptation of cerebral blood flow and oxygen metabolsim and modulation of neurovascular coupling with prolonged stimulation in human visual cortex
Farshad Moradi1, and Richard B Buxton1
1Radiology, Univeristy of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States

 
After prolonged stimulation, the flow and metabolic activity in the visual cortex undergo significantly reduction. However, the BOLD signal did not show a significant adaptation due to the changes in neurovascular coupling opposing the effect of flow adaptation. Our results demonstrate that the coupling between flow and neural activity not only depends on attention and contrast, but also on structure of the stimulus (continuous versus intermittent presentation) and sensory adaptation.

 
2196.   Calibrated BOLD: measuring task-related changes in CMRO2 at baseline and elevated CBF
Kevin Murphy1, Ashley D Harris1, and Richard G Wise1
1CUBRIC, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom

 
By administering CO2 at two different levels, we show that calibrated BOLD techniques perform similarly in baseline conditions and at altered baseline CBF levels that simulate drug or disease effects on baseline brain physiology. We combined the hypercapnic challenge and task scans of calibrated BOLD techniques into a single acquisition. A 4mmHg increase in CO2 at baseline and elevated CBF levels yields similar estimates of task-related CMRO2 change. Verifying the performance of calibrated approaches at modified CBF levels renders calibrated BOLD techniques more pertinent to a clinical setting.

 
2197.   The relationship between GABA concentrations and cerebral hemodynamics is spatially heterogeneous
Yi-Ching Lynn Ho1, Jakob Udby Blicher1, Christopher Bailey1, Torben Ellegaard Lund1, Jamie Near2, Kim Vang3, Arne Møller3, and Leif Østergaard1
1Center for Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark, 2FMRIB, Oxford University, Oxford, United Kingdom, 3PET Center, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

 
The influence of baseline GABA on hemodynamics is a current topic of interest, with a few studies showing correlations of GABA with BOLD and hemodynamic metrics, e.g. baseline CBF. In our study, we found that the GABA-BOLD correlations appear to depend on the area under investigation. Furthermore, in areas showing significant correlations, parallel changes in PET-CBF do not seem to contribute to the relationship. A simple, linear, mechanistic relationship between GABA concentrations and hemodynamics may not exist.

 
2198.   Investigation of fMRI Induced Resonance Frequency Shifts at 7T
Marta Bianciardi1,2, Peter van Gelderen1, and Jeff H Duyn1
1Advanced MRI Section, LFMI, NINDS, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States, 2A.A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States

 
Resonance frequency shifts observed from phase signals in gradient echo fMRI may provide information complementary to magnitude signals. However, because of confounding effects of instrumental and physiological noise, these signals are difficult to detect and rarely used. We demonstrate that optimized pre-processing improves detection of task-evoked and spontaneous changes in phase signals over large areas of the cortex. Comparison with magnitude data suggests that the observed phase signal originate from neuronal activity and represent susceptibility changes in pial and intracortical veins. They therefore provide complementary information to magnitude signals.

 
2199.   An Absolute Quantification Method for Pharmacological MRI
Yun-Hsuan Lin1, Kai-Ling Lu1, Chin-Tien Lu1, Yi-Jui Liu2, and Fu-Nien Wang1
1Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, 2Department of Automatic Control Engineering, Feng Chia University, Taichung, Taiwan

 
Absolute quantification of phMRI could benefit inter-subject comparison and longitudinal follow-up. In this study, we combined a modified Vascular-Space Occupancy (VASO) method and the phMRI technique to acquire high-resolution multi-slice absolute quantification of cerebral blood volume (CBV), and applied for methamphetamine (mAMPH) challenged phMRI on a rat model. We used single slice IR-RARE sequence to calculate absolute CBV by the VASO method with Gd-DTPA administration. Short TR as 1600ms was used to reduced the tissue interference. Then, multislice relative CBV maps calculated by the pre- and post-MION images were converted to absolute values according to the overlapped slice.

 
2200.   Direct Experimental Evidence of the Two Extravascular Compartments Contribution to The BOLD Signal
Xiaoqi Wang1, Alexander L Sukstanskii2, and Dmitriy A Yablonskiy1,2
1Department of Physics, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States, 2Department of Radiology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States

 
Recently introduced qBOLD technique allows quantitative estimate of brain tissue hemodynamic parameters such as deoxygenated blood volume and oxygen extraction fraction. The technique is based on a two extravascular compartment model of MR signal (intra- and extra-cellular) in the presence of blood vessel network and a gradient echo sampling of spin echo (GESSE) sequence for data acquisition. At the same time numerous publications treat BOLD signal in the framework of a single compartment model which can introduce bias if quantitative results are needed. In this work we present direct experimental evidence supporting two extravascular compartments contribution to the BOLD signal.

 
2201.   Estimation of functional changes in blood oxygenation level in large veins from BOLD frequency shift and susceptibility maps
Marta Bianciardi1,2, Peter van Gelderen1, and Jeff H Duyn1
1Advanced MRI Section, LFMI, NINDS, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States, 2A.A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States

 
Blood fractional oxygen saturation is an indicator of oxygen delivery and metabolism, and may be used to report tissue viability and function. Current methods that estimate the blood fractional oxygen saturation rely on the use of sophisticated fMRI sequences and modeling. We demonstrate the feasibility of estimating the functional change in blood fractional oxygen saturation in large veins during task performance by analyzing the phase signal in gradient-echo fMRI. With activation, fractional oxygen saturation in the sagittal sinus was found to increase by 0.05 which is close to literature estimates.

 
2202.   Direct Imaging of Distinct Vascular Elements Detected by BOLD and Iron Oxide Based Blood Volume Using High Resolution fMRI of the Rodent Whisker Barrel
Xin Yu1, Benjamin Porter1, Stephen Dodd1, Afonso Silva1, and Alan Koretsky1
1NINDS, NIH, Bethesda, MD, United States

 
Direct characterization of the intracortical changes in vascular elements eliciting BOLD and CBV remains challenging. We measured BOLD and iron oxide based CBV in layer IV/V of the barrel cortex after whisker pad stimulation at high temporal (100msec) and spatial resolutions (150 x150µm) using EPI and fast gradient-echo MRI. Low intensity EPI voxels corresponded to activated BOLD voxels and were attributed to venules. Voxels activated using BOLD were non-overlapping with CBV voxels. Fast activations (<500msec) and distinct locations from BOLD voxels led us to attribute these CBV voxels primarily to penetrating arterioles known to vasodilate during increased neural activity.

 
2203.   Influence of orientation of the draining vein in fMRI
Toru Yamamoto1, and Hiroharu Kubota2
1Faculty of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, 2Graduate School of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan

 
Conventional fMRI involving gradient-echo EPI is mainly influenced by the magnetic distortion around the draining vein from the activation area. This distortion depends on the angle between the draining vein and the static magnetic field in MRI (Į). To investigate how the activation area is influenced by the angle between the draining vein and the static magnetic field, we performed the same fMRI study for different head positions in an RF coil by tilting the volunteerfs head. We found that the activation area, especially the position of the largest signal increase, shifted superiorly along the draining vein when Į increased.

 
2204.   
Assessment of the linearity of the R2* dependence on blood oxygenation and measurement of venous CBV using hyperoxia at 7T
Paula L. Croal1, Ian D. Driver1, Emma L. Hall1, Susan T. Francis1, and Penny A. Gowland1
1Sir Peter Mansfield MR Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom

 
The linearity of R2* with blood oxygenation is a critical assumption in most models of the BOLD signal, and in the measurement of venous cerebral blood volume (vCBV) using hyperoxia. We used isocapnic hyperoxic to test the linearity of R2* in grey matter across a dynamic range of precisely targeted PETO2 levels. A strong linear relationship was found between oxygenation and R2*, allowing calculation of GM vCBV (1.97%). The advantage of this method over previous methods of measuring vCBV using hyperoxia is that it does not assume that the relaxivity of the oxygen is the same in the vein and tissue.

 
2205.   Systematic evaluation of BOLD fMRI phase changes at 7 Tesla
Katja Neumann1, Myung-Ho In1, and Oliver Speck1
1Biomedical Magnetic Resonance, Otto-von-Guericke-University, Magdeburg, Germany

 
Functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) phase images of motor and visual stimulation and a breath hold condition obtained at 7 Tesla were processed using a stable phase preserving reconstruction method and analyzed using general linear model and independent component analysis. Phase changes upon activations have shown a comparable sensitivity as magnitude data. Temporally correlated magnitude and phase time courses of independent components were observed for motor stimulation; temporally anti-correlated time courses were observed for independent components of visual stimulation data. fMRI phase images may provide complementary information about spatial localization of brain activation and may also increase the detection sensitivity.