TY - JOUR
T1 - Detecting resting-state brain activity by spontaneous cerebral blood volume fluctuations using whole brain vascular space occupancy imaging
AU - Miao, Xinyuan
AU - Gu, Hong
AU - Yan, Lirong
AU - Lu, Hanzhang
AU - Wang, Danny J.J.
AU - Zhou, Xiaohong Joe
AU - Zhuo, Yan
AU - Yang, Yihong
N1 - Funding Information:
We are grateful to Dr. Matthias Gunther for providing a GRASE sequence. This work was supported in part by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China grant ( 2012CB825500 ), the National Nature Science Foundation of China grants ( 91132302 , 90820307 , 30830101 ), the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) , and R01 NS067015/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/United States .
PY - 2014/1/1
Y1 - 2014/1/1
N2 - Resting-state brain activity has been investigated extensively using BOLD contrast. However, BOLD signal represents the combined effects of multiple physiological processes and its spatial localization is less accurate than that of cerebral blood flow and volume (CBF and CBF, respectively). In this study, we demonstrate that resting-state brain activity can be reliably detected by spontaneous fluctuations of CBV-weighted signal using whole-brain gradient and spin echo (GRASE) based vascular space occupancy (VASO) imaging. Specifically, using independent component analysis, intrinsic brain networks, including default mode, salience, executive control, visual, auditory, and sensorimotor networks were revealed robustly by the VASO technique. We further demonstrate that task-evoked VASO signal aligned well with expected gray matter areas, while blood-oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal extended outside of these areas probably due to their different spatial specificity. The improved spatial localization of VASO is consistent with previous studies using animal models. Moreover, we showed that the 3D-GRASE VASO images had reduced susceptibility-induced signal voiding, compared to the BOLD technique. This is attributed to the fact that VASO does not require T2* weighting, thus the acquisition can use a shorter TE and can employ spin-echo scheme. Consequently VASO-based functional connectivity signals were well preserved in brain regions that tend to suffer from signal loss and geometric distortion in BOLD, such as orbital prefrontal cortex. Our study suggests that 3D-GRASE VASO imaging, with its improved spatial specificity and less sensitivity to susceptibility artifacts, may have advantages in resting-state fMRI studies.
AB - Resting-state brain activity has been investigated extensively using BOLD contrast. However, BOLD signal represents the combined effects of multiple physiological processes and its spatial localization is less accurate than that of cerebral blood flow and volume (CBF and CBF, respectively). In this study, we demonstrate that resting-state brain activity can be reliably detected by spontaneous fluctuations of CBV-weighted signal using whole-brain gradient and spin echo (GRASE) based vascular space occupancy (VASO) imaging. Specifically, using independent component analysis, intrinsic brain networks, including default mode, salience, executive control, visual, auditory, and sensorimotor networks were revealed robustly by the VASO technique. We further demonstrate that task-evoked VASO signal aligned well with expected gray matter areas, while blood-oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal extended outside of these areas probably due to their different spatial specificity. The improved spatial localization of VASO is consistent with previous studies using animal models. Moreover, we showed that the 3D-GRASE VASO images had reduced susceptibility-induced signal voiding, compared to the BOLD technique. This is attributed to the fact that VASO does not require T2* weighting, thus the acquisition can use a shorter TE and can employ spin-echo scheme. Consequently VASO-based functional connectivity signals were well preserved in brain regions that tend to suffer from signal loss and geometric distortion in BOLD, such as orbital prefrontal cortex. Our study suggests that 3D-GRASE VASO imaging, with its improved spatial specificity and less sensitivity to susceptibility artifacts, may have advantages in resting-state fMRI studies.
KW - BOLD
KW - Brain networks
KW - Cerebral blood volume
KW - Resting-state fMRI
KW - VASO
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U2 - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.09.019
DO - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.09.019
M3 - Article
C2 - 24055705
AN - SCOPUS:84884955017
SN - 1053-8119
VL - 84
SP - 575
EP - 584
JO - NeuroImage
JF - NeuroImage
ER -