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Pilmeyer J, Lamerichs R, Ramsaransing F, Jansen JFA, Breeuwer M, Zinger S. Improved clinical outcome prediction in depression using neurodynamics in an emotional face-matching functional MRI task. Front Psychiatry 2024; 15:1255370. [PMID: 38585483 PMCID: PMC10996064 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1255370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2023] [Accepted: 03/06/2024] [Indexed: 04/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Approximately one in six people will experience an episode of major depressive disorder (MDD) in their lifetime. Effective treatment is hindered by subjective clinical decision-making and a lack of objective prognostic biomarkers. Functional MRI (fMRI) could provide such an objective measure but the majority of MDD studies has focused on static approaches, disregarding the rapidly changing nature of the brain. In this study, we aim to predict depression severity changes at 3 and 6 months using dynamic fMRI features. Methods For our research, we acquired a longitudinal dataset of 32 MDD patients with fMRI scans acquired at baseline and clinical follow-ups 3 and 6 months later. Several measures were derived from an emotion face-matching fMRI dataset: activity in brain regions, static and dynamic functional connectivity between functional brain networks (FBNs) and two measures from a wavelet coherence analysis approach. All fMRI features were evaluated independently, with and without demographic and clinical parameters. Patients were divided into two classes based on changes in depression severity at both follow-ups. Results The number of coherence clusters (nCC) between FBNs, reflecting the total number of interactions (either synchronous, anti-synchronous or causal), resulted in the highest predictive performance. The nCC-based classifier achieved 87.5% and 77.4% accuracy for the 3- and 6-months change in severity, respectively. Furthermore, regression analyses supported the potential of nCC for predicting depression severity on a continuous scale. The posterior default mode network (DMN), dorsal attention network (DAN) and two visual networks were the most important networks in the optimal nCC models. Reduced nCC was associated with a poorer depression course, suggesting deficits in sustained attention to and coping with emotion-related faces. An ensemble of classifiers with demographic, clinical and lead coherence features, a measure of dynamic causality, resulted in a 3-months clinical outcome prediction accuracy of 81.2%. Discussion The dynamic wavelet features demonstrated high accuracy in predicting individual depression severity change. Features describing brain dynamics could enhance understanding of depression and support clinical decision-making. Further studies are required to evaluate their robustness and replicability in larger cohorts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jesper Pilmeyer
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, Netherlands
- Department of Research and Development, Epilepsy Centre Kempenhaeghe, Heeze, Netherlands
| | - Rolf Lamerichs
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, Netherlands
- Department of Research and Development, Epilepsy Centre Kempenhaeghe, Heeze, Netherlands
- Department of Medical Image Acquisitions, Philips Research, Eindhoven, Netherlands
| | - Faroeq Ramsaransing
- Department of Research and Development, Epilepsy Centre Kempenhaeghe, Heeze, Netherlands
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Jacobus F. A. Jansen
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, Netherlands
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, Netherlands
| | - Marcel Breeuwer
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, Netherlands
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, Netherlands
- Department of Magnetic Resonance Research & Development - Clinical Science, Philips Healthcare, Best, Netherlands
| | - Svitlana Zinger
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, Netherlands
- Department of Research and Development, Epilepsy Centre Kempenhaeghe, Heeze, Netherlands
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Reddy NA, Zvolanek KM, Moia S, Caballero-Gaudes C, Bright MG. Denoising task-correlated head motion from motor-task fMRI data with multi-echo ICA. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.07.19.549746. [PMID: 37503125 PMCID: PMC10370165 DOI: 10.1101/2023.07.19.549746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/29/2023]
Abstract
Motor-task functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is crucial in the study of several clinical conditions, including stroke and Parkinson's disease. However, motor-task fMRI is complicated by task-correlated head motion, which can be magnified in clinical populations and confounds motor activation results. One method that may mitigate this issue is multi-echo independent component analysis (ME-ICA), which has been shown to separate the effects of head motion from the desired BOLD signal but has not been tested in motor-task datasets with high amounts of motion. In this study, we collected an fMRI dataset from a healthy population who performed a hand grasp task with and without task-correlated amplified head motion to simulate a motor-impaired population. We analyzed these data using three models: single-echo (SE), multi-echo optimally combined (ME-OC), and ME-ICA. We compared the models' performance in mitigating the effects of head motion on the subject level and group level. On the subject level, ME-ICA better dissociated the effects of head motion from the BOLD signal and reduced noise. Both ME models led to increased t-statistics in brain motor regions. In scans with high levels of motion, ME-ICA additionally mitigated artifacts and increased stability of beta coefficient estimates, compared to SE. On the group level, all three models produced activation clusters in expected motor areas in scans with both low and high motion, indicating that group-level averaging may also sufficiently resolve motion artifacts that vary by subject. These findings demonstrate that ME-ICA is a useful tool for subject-level analysis of motor-task data with high levels of task-correlated head motion. The improvements afforded by ME-ICA are critical to improve reliability of subject-level activation maps for clinical populations in which group-level analysis may not be feasible or appropriate, for example in a chronic stroke cohort with varying stroke location and degree of tissue damage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Neha A. Reddy
- Department of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
| | - Kristina M. Zvolanek
- Department of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
| | - Stefano Moia
- Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, Donostia, Gipuzkoa, Spain
- Neuro-X Institute, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, Geneva, Switzerland
- Department of Radiology and Medical Informatics (DRIM), Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | | | - Molly G. Bright
- Department of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
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Halder A, Harris CT, Wiens CN, Soddu A, Chronik BA. Optimization of Gradient-Echo Echo-Planar Imaging for T 2* Contrast in the Brain at 0.5 T. SENSORS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 23:8428. [PMID: 37896521 PMCID: PMC10610880 DOI: 10.3390/s23208428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2023] [Revised: 09/29/2023] [Accepted: 10/04/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023]
Abstract
Gradient-recalled echo (GRE) echo-planar imaging (EPI) is an efficient MRI pulse sequence that is commonly used for several enticing applications, including functional MRI (fMRI), susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI), and proton resonance frequency (PRF) thermometry. These applications are typically not performed in the mid-field (<1 T) as longer T2* and lower polarization present significant challenges. However, recent developments of mid-field scanners equipped with high-performance gradient sets offer the possibility to re-evaluate the feasibility of these applications. The paper introduces a metric "T2* contrast efficiency" for this evaluation, which minimizes dead time in the EPI sequence while maximizing T2* contrast so that the temporal and pseudo signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) can be attained, which could be used to quantify experimental parameters for future fMRI experiments in the mid-field. To guide the optimization, T2* measurements of the cortical gray matter are conducted, focusing on specific regions of interest (ROIs). Temporal and pseudo SNR are calculated with the measured time-series EPI data to observe the echo times at which the maximum T2* contrast efficiency is achieved. T2* for a specific cortical ROI is reported at 0.5 T. The results suggest the optimized echo time for the EPI protocols is shorter than the effective T2* of that region. The effective reduction of dead time prior to the echo train is feasible with an optimized EPI protocol, which will increase the overall scan efficiency for several EPI-based applications at 0.5 T.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arjama Halder
- Department of Medical Biophysics, Western University, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
| | | | | | - Andrea Soddu
- Western Institute for Neuroscience, Physics and Astronomy, Western University, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada;
| | - Blaine A. Chronik
- Department of Medical Biophysics, Western University, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
- Western Institute for Neuroscience, Physics and Astronomy, Western University, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada;
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Kim HC, Lee W, Weisholtz DS, Yoo SS. Transcranial focused ultrasound stimulation of cortical and thalamic somatosensory areas in human. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0288654. [PMID: 37478086 PMCID: PMC10361523 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288654] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2023] [Accepted: 06/30/2023] [Indexed: 07/23/2023] Open
Abstract
The effects of transcranial focused ultrasound (FUS) stimulation of the primary somatosensory cortex and its thalamic projection (i.e., ventral posterolateral nucleus) on the generation of electroencephalographic (EEG) responses were evaluated in healthy human volunteers. Stimulation of the unilateral somatosensory circuits corresponding to the non-dominant hand generated EEG evoked potentials across all participants; however, not all perceived stimulation-mediated tactile sensations of the hand. These FUS-evoked EEG potentials (FEP) were observed from both brain hemispheres and shared similarities with somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEP) from median nerve stimulation. Use of a 0.5 ms pulse duration (PD) sonication given at 70% duty cycle, compared to the use of 1 and 2 ms PD, elicited more distinctive FEP peak features from the hemisphere ipsilateral to sonication. Although several participants reported hearing tones associated with FUS stimulation, the observed FEP were not likely to be confounded by the auditory sensation based on a separate measurement of auditory evoked potentials (AEP) to tonal stimulation (mimicking the same repetition frequency as the FUS stimulation). Off-line changes in resting-state functional connectivity (FC) associated with thalamic stimulation revealed that the FUS stimulation enhanced connectivity in a network of sensorimotor and sensory integration areas, which lasted for at least more than an hour. Clinical neurological evaluations, EEG, and neuroanatomical MRI did not reveal any adverse or unintended effects of sonication, attesting its safety. These results suggest that FUS stimulation may induce long-term neuroplasticity in humans, indicating its neurotherapeutic potential for various neurological and neuropsychiatric conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyun-Chul Kim
- Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Wonhye Lee
- Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Daniel S Weisholtz
- Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Seung-Schik Yoo
- Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
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Kang D, In MH, Jo HJ, Halverson MA, Meyer NK, Ahmed Z, Gray EM, Madhavan R, Foo TK, Fernandez B, Black DF, Welker KM, Trzasko JD, Huston J, Bernstein MA, Shu Y. Improved Resting-State Functional MRI Using Multi-Echo Echo-Planar Imaging on a Compact 3T MRI Scanner with High-Performance Gradients. SENSORS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 23:4329. [PMID: 37177534 PMCID: PMC10181561 DOI: 10.3390/s23094329] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2023] [Revised: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 04/25/2023] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
In blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD)-based resting-state functional (RS-fMRI) studies, usage of multi-echo echo-planar-imaging (ME-EPI) is limited due to unacceptable late echo times when high spatial resolution is used. Equipped with high-performance gradients, the compact 3T MRI system (C3T) enables a three-echo whole-brain ME-EPI protocol with smaller than 2.5 mm isotropic voxel and shorter than 1 s repetition time, as required in landmark fMRI studies. The performance of the ME-EPI was comprehensively evaluated with signal variance reduction and region-of-interest-, seed- and independent-component-analysis-based functional connectivity analyses and compared with a counterpart of single-echo EPI with the shortest TR possible. Through the multi-echo combination, the thermal noise level is reduced. Functional connectivity, as well as signal intensity, are recovered in the medial orbital sulcus and anterior transverse collateral sulcus in ME-EPI. It is demonstrated that ME-EPI provides superior sensitivity and accuracy for detecting functional connectivity and/or brain networks in comparison with single-echo EPI. In conclusion, the high-performance gradient enabled high-spatial-temporal resolution ME-EPI would be the method of choice for RS-fMRI study on the C3T.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daehun Kang
- Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA; (D.K.)
| | - Myung-Ho In
- Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA; (D.K.)
| | - Hang Joon Jo
- Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA; (D.K.)
- Department of Physiology, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Republic of Korea
| | | | - Nolan K. Meyer
- Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA; (D.K.)
- Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA
| | - Zaki Ahmed
- Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA; (D.K.)
| | - Erin M. Gray
- Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA; (D.K.)
| | | | | | | | - David F. Black
- Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA; (D.K.)
| | - Kirk M. Welker
- Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA; (D.K.)
| | - Joshua D. Trzasko
- Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA; (D.K.)
| | - John Huston
- Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA; (D.K.)
| | - Matt A. Bernstein
- Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA; (D.K.)
| | - Yunhong Shu
- Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA; (D.K.)
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Neuroplasticity Following Stroke from a Functional Laterality Perspective: A fNIRS Study. Brain Topogr 2023; 36:283-293. [PMID: 36856917 DOI: 10.1007/s10548-023-00946-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2022] [Accepted: 02/14/2023] [Indexed: 03/02/2023]
Abstract
To explore alterations of resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) in sensorimotor cortex following strokes with left or right hemiplegia considering the lateralization and neuroplasticity. Seventy-three resting-state functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) files were selected, including 26 from left hemiplegia (LH), 21 from right hemiplegia (RH) and 26 from normal controls (NC) group. Whole-brain analyses matching the Pearson correlation were used for rsFC calculations. For right-handed normal controls, rsFC of motor components (M1 and M2) in the left hemisphere displayed a prominent intensity in comparison with the right hemisphere (p < 0.05), while for stroke groups, this asymmetry has disappeared. Additionally, RH rather than LH showed stronger rsFC between left S1 and left M1 in contrast to normal controls (p < 0.05), which correlated inversely with motor function (r = - 0.53, p < 0.05). Regarding M1, rsFC within ipsi-lesioned M1 has a negative correlation with motor function of the affected limb (r = - 0.60 for the RH group and - 0.43 for the LH group, p < 0.05). The rsFC within contra-lesioned M1 that innervates the normal side was weakened compared with that of normal controls (p < 0.05). Stronger rsFC of motor components in left hemisphere was confirmed by rs-fNIRS as the "secret of dominance" for the first time, while post-stroke hemiplegia broke this cortical asymmetry. Meanwhile, a statistically strengthened rsFC between left S1 and M1 only in right-hemiplegia group may act as a compensation for the impairment of the dominant side. This research has implications for brain-computer interfaces synchronizing sensory feedback with motor performance and transcranial magnetic regulation for cortical excitability to induce cortical plasticity.
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Yang Q, Ma L, Zhou Z, Bao J, Yang Q, Huang H, Cai S, He H, Chen Z, Zhong J, Cai C. Rapid high-fidelity T 2 * mapping using single-shot overlapping-echo acquisition and deep learning reconstruction. Magn Reson Med 2023; 89:2157-2170. [PMID: 36656132 DOI: 10.1002/mrm.29585] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2022] [Revised: 12/07/2022] [Accepted: 12/29/2022] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE To develop and evaluate a single-shot quantitative MRI technique called GRE-MOLED (gradient-echo multiple overlapping-echo detachment) for rapid T 2 * $$ {T}_2^{\ast } $$ mapping. METHODS In GRE-MOLED, multiple echoes with different TEs are generated and captured in a single shot of the k-space through MOLED encoding and EPI readout. A deep neural network, trained by synthetic data, was employed for end-to-end parametric mapping from overlapping-echo signals. GRE-MOLED uses pure GRE acquisition with a single echo train to deliver T 2 * $$ {T}_2^{\ast } $$ maps less than 90 ms per slice. The self-registered B0 information modulated in image phase was utilized for distortion-corrected parametric mapping. The proposed method was evaluated in phantoms, healthy volunteers, and task-based FMRI experiments. RESULTS The quantitative results of GRE-MOLED T 2 * $$ {T}_2^{\ast } $$ mapping demonstrated good agreement with those obtained from the multi-echo GRE method (Pearson's correlation coefficient = 0.991 and 0.973 for phantom and in vivo brains, respectively). High intrasubject repeatability (coefficient of variation <1.0%) were also achieved in scan-rescan test. Enabled by deep learning reconstruction, GRE-MOLED showed excellent robustness to geometric distortion, noise, and random subject motion. Compared to the conventional FMRI approach, GRE-MOLED also achieved a higher temporal SNR and BOLD sensitivity in task-based FMRI. CONCLUSION GRE-MOLED is a new real-time technique for T 2 * $$ {T}_2^{\ast } $$ quantification with high efficiency and quality, and it has the potential to be a better quantitative BOLD detection method.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qinqin Yang
- Department of Electronic Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China
| | - Lingceng Ma
- Department of Electronic Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China
| | - Zihan Zhou
- The Center for Brain Imaging Science and Technology, College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrumental Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Jianfeng Bao
- Department of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China
| | - Qizhi Yang
- Department of Electronic Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China
| | - Haitao Huang
- Department of Electronic Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China
| | - Shuhui Cai
- Department of Electronic Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China
| | - Hongjian He
- The Center for Brain Imaging Science and Technology, College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrumental Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Zhong Chen
- Department of Electronic Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China
| | - Jianhui Zhong
- The Center for Brain Imaging Science and Technology, College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrumental Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.,Department of Imaging Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA
| | - Congbo Cai
- Department of Electronic Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China
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Cognitive decline is associated with frequency-specific resting state functional changes in normal aging. Brain Imaging Behav 2022; 16:2120-2132. [PMID: 35864341 DOI: 10.1007/s11682-022-00682-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Resting state low-frequency brain activity may aid in our understanding of the mechanisms of aging-related cognitive decline. Our purpose was to explore the characteristics of the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) in different frequency bands of fMRI to better understand cognitive aging. Thirty-seven cognitively normal older individuals underwent a battery of neuropsychological tests and MRI scans at baseline and four years later. ALFF from five different frequency bands (typical band, slow-5, slow-4, slow-3, and slow-2) were calculated and analyzed. A two-way ANOVA was used to explore the interaction effects in voxel-wise whole brain ALFF of the time and frequency bands. Paired-sample t-test was used to explore within-group changes over four years. Partial correlation analysis was performed to assess associations between the altered ALFF and cognitive function. Significant interaction effects of time × frequency were distributed over inferior frontal gyrus, superior frontal gyrus, right rolandic operculum, left thalamus, and right putamen. Significant ALFF reductions in all five frequency bands were mainly found in the right hemisphere and the posterior cerebellum; whereas localization of the significantly increased ALFF were mainly found in the cerebellum at typical band, slow-5 and slow-4 bands, and left hemisphere and the cerebellum at slow-3, slow-2 bands. In addition, ALFF changes showed frequency-specific correlations with changes in cognition. These results suggest that changes of local brain activity in cognitively normal aging should be investigated in multiple frequency bands. The association between ALFF changes and cognitive function can potentially aid better understanding of the mechanisms underlying normal cognitive aging.
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Liu TT, Li B, Fernandez B, Banerjee S. A Geometric View of Signal Sensitivity Metrics in multi-echo fMRI. Neuroimage 2022; 259:119409. [PMID: 35752411 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119409] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2022] [Revised: 05/21/2022] [Accepted: 06/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
In multi-echo fMRI (ME-fMRI), two metrics have been widely used to measure the performance of various acquisition and analysis approaches. These are temporal SNR (tSNR) and differential contrast-to-noise ratio (dCNR). A key step in ME-fMRI is the weighted combination of the data from multiple echoes, and prior work has examined the dependence of tSNR and dCNR on the choice of weights. However, most studies have focused on only one of these two metrics, and the relationship between the two metrics has not been examined. In this work, we present a geometric view that offers greater insight into the relation between the two metrics and their weight dependence. We identify three major regimes: (1) a tSNR robust regime in which tSNR is robust to the weight selection with most weight variants achieving close to optimal performance, whereas dCNR shows a pronounced dependence on the weights with most variants achieving suboptimal performance; (2) a dCNR robust regime in which dCNR is robust to the weight selection with most weight variants achieving close to optimal performance, while tSNR exhibits a strong dependence on the weights with most variants achieving significantly lower than optimal performance; and (3) a within-type robust regime in which both tSNR and dCNR achieve nearly optimal performance when the form of the weights are variants of their respective optimal weights and exhibit a moderate decrease in performance for other weight variants. Insight into the behavior observed in the different regimes is gained by considering spherical representations of the weight dependence of the components used to form each metric. For multi-echo acquisitions, dCNR is shown to be more directly related than tSNR to measures of CNR and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for both task-based and resting-state fMRI scans, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas T Liu
- Center for Functional MRI, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive MC 0677, La Jolla CA 92093, USA; Departments of Radiology, Psychiatry, and Bioengineering, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla CA 92093, USA.
| | - Bochao Li
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles CA, USA
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Using multiband multi-echo imaging to improve the robustness and repeatability of co-activation pattern analysis for dynamic functional connectivity. Neuroimage 2021; 243:118555. [PMID: 34492293 PMCID: PMC10018461 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118555] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2021] [Revised: 08/24/2021] [Accepted: 09/03/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Emerging evidence has shown that functional connectivity is dynamic and changes over the course of a scan. Furthermore, connectivity patterns can arise from short periods of co-activation on the order of seconds. Recently, a dynamic co-activation patterns (CAPs) analysis was introduced to examine the co-activation of voxels resulting from individual timepoints. The goal of this study was to apply CAPs analysis on resting state fMRI data collected using an advanced multiband multi-echo (MBME) sequence, in comparison with a multiband (MB) sequence with a single echo. Data from 28 healthy control subjects were examined. Subjects underwent two resting state scans, one MBME and one MB, and 19 subjects returned within two weeks for a repeat scan session. Data preprocessing included advanced denoising namely multi-echo independent component analysis (ME-ICA) for the MBME data and an ICA-based strategy for Automatic Removal of Motion Artifacts (ICA-AROMA) for the MB data. The CAPs analysis was conducted using the newly published TbCAPs toolbox. CAPs were extracted using both seed-based and seed-free approaches. Timepoints were clustered using k-means clustering. The following metrics were compared between MBME and MB datasets: mean activation in each CAP, the spatial correlation and mean squared error (MSE) between each timepoint and the centroid CAP it was assigned to, within-dataset variance across timepoints assigned to the same CAP, and the between-session spatial correlation of each CAP. Co-activation was heightened for MBME data for the majority of CAPs. Spatial correlation and MSE between each timepoint and its assigned centroid CAP were higher and lower respectively for MBME data. The within-dataset variance was also lower for MBME data. Finally, the between-session spatial correlation was higher for MBME data. Overall, our findings suggest that the advanced MBME sequence is a promising avenue for the measurement of dynamic co-activation patterns by increasing the robustness and reproducibility of the CAPs.
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Kovářová A, Gajdoš M, Rektor I, Mikl M. Contribution of the multi-echo approach in accelerated functional magnetic resonance imaging multiband acquisition. Hum Brain Mapp 2021; 43:955-973. [PMID: 34716738 PMCID: PMC8764472 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25698] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2021] [Revised: 07/16/2021] [Accepted: 10/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
We wanted to verify the effect of combining multi‐echo (ME) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with slice acceleration in simultaneous multi‐slice acquisition. The aim was to shed light on the benefits of multiple echoes for various acquisition settings, especially for levels of slice acceleration and flip angle. Whole‐brain ME fMRI data were obtained from 26 healthy volunteers (using three echoes; seven runs with slice acceleration 1, 4, 6, and 8; and two different flip angles for each of the first three acceleration factors) and processed as single‐echo (SE) data and ME data based on optimal combinations weighted by the contrast‐to‐noise ratio. Global metrics (temporal signal‐to‐noise ratio, signal‐to‐noise separation, number of active voxels, etc.) and local characteristics in regions of interest were used to evaluate SE and ME data. ME results outperformed SE results in all runs; the differences became more apparent for higher acceleration, where a significant decrease in data quality is observed. ME fMRI can improve the observed data quality metrics over SE fMRI for a wide range of accelerated fMRI acquisitions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anežka Kovářová
- CEITEC - Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.,First Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine of the Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Martin Gajdoš
- CEITEC - Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Ivan Rektor
- CEITEC - Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.,First Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine of the Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Michal Mikl
- CEITEC - Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
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Yu Q, Cai Z, Li C, Xiong Y, Yang Y, He S, Tang H, Zhang B, Du S, Yan H, Chang C, Wang N. A Novel Spectrum Contrast Mapping Method for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Data Analysis. Front Hum Neurosci 2021; 15:739668. [PMID: 34566609 PMCID: PMC8455948 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.739668] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2021] [Accepted: 08/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Many studies reported that spontaneous fluctuation of the blood oxygen level-dependent signal exists in multiple frequency components and changes over time. By assuming a reliable energy contrast between low- and high-frequency bands for each voxel, we developed a novel spectrum contrast mapping (SCM) method to decode brain activity at the voxel-wise level and further validated it in designed experiments. SCM consists of the following steps: first, the time course of each given voxel is subjected to fast Fourier transformation; the corresponding spectrum is divided into low- and high-frequency bands by given reference frequency points; then, the spectral energy ratio of the low- to high-frequency bands is calculated for each given voxel. Finally, the activity decoding map is formed by the aforementioned energy contrast values of each voxel. Our experimental results demonstrate that the SCM (1) was able to characterize the energy contrast of task-related brain regions; (2) could decode brain activity at rest, as validated by the eyes-closed and eyes-open resting-state experiments; (3) was verified with test-retest validation, indicating excellent reliability with most coefficients > 0.9 across the test sessions; and (4) could locate the aberrant energy contrast regions which might reveal the brain pathology of brain diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease. In summary, we demonstrated that the reliable energy contrast feature was a useful biomarker in characterizing brain states, and the corresponding SCM showed excellent brain activity-decoding performance at the individual and group levels, implying its potentially broad application in neuroscience, neuroimaging, and brain diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qin Yu
- Artificial Intelligence and Neuro-Informatics Engineering (ARINE) Laboratory, School of Computer Engineering, Jiangsu Ocean University, Lianyungang, China
| | - Zenglin Cai
- Department of Neurology, The Affiliated Suzhou Science and Technology Town Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Suzhou, China
| | - Cunhua Li
- Artificial Intelligence and Neuro-Informatics Engineering (ARINE) Laboratory, School of Computer Engineering, Jiangsu Ocean University, Lianyungang, China
| | - Yulong Xiong
- Artificial Intelligence and Neuro-Informatics Engineering (ARINE) Laboratory, School of Computer Engineering, Jiangsu Ocean University, Lianyungang, China
| | - Yang Yang
- Center for Brain Science and Learning Difficulties, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Shuang He
- Artificial Intelligence and Neuro-Informatics Engineering (ARINE) Laboratory, School of Computer Engineering, Jiangsu Ocean University, Lianyungang, China
| | - Haitong Tang
- Artificial Intelligence and Neuro-Informatics Engineering (ARINE) Laboratory, School of Computer Engineering, Jiangsu Ocean University, Lianyungang, China
| | - Bo Zhang
- Department of Radiology, Affiliated Lianyungang Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Lianyungang, China
| | - Shouyun Du
- Department of Neurology, Guanyun People's Hospital, Guanyun, China
| | - Hongjie Yan
- Department of Neurology, Affiliated Lianyungang Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Lianyungang, China
| | - Chunqi Chang
- Health Science Center, School of Biomedical Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.,Pengcheng Laboratory, Shenzhen, China
| | - Nizhuan Wang
- Artificial Intelligence and Neuro-Informatics Engineering (ARINE) Laboratory, School of Computer Engineering, Jiangsu Ocean University, Lianyungang, China
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