Eye-selective fMRI activity in human primary visual cortex: Comparison between 3 ​T and 9.4 ​T, and effects across cortical depth

Zaretskaya, Natalia; Bause, J; Polimeni, Jon̈athan R.; Grassi, Palazzo; Scheffler, Klaus; Bartels, Andreas

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117078

Cited by 16 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Here it was computed from motion corrected and detrended NORDICmagn data before motion and RETROICOR regressors were filtered out to avoid uneven comparison with previous ultrahigh field (≥7T) submillimeter studies. The average tSNR within ROIs was 39.47 ±5.07 across subjects, which is comparable to, if not higher than what is commonly reported for submillimeter 7T GE-BOLD setups (Aitken et al, 2020; Beckett et al, 2020; Huber, Ivanov, et al, 2018; Rua et al, 2017; Stanley et al, 2020; Zaretskaya et al, 2020). Huber, Ivanov, et al, (2018), Rua et al, (2017) and Aitken et al, (2020), for example, reported tSNR value across subjects of 39, ∼20 and 12.5, respectively, in motor and visual cortex ROIs.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

Feasibility of 3T layer-dependent fMRI with GE-BOLD using NORDIC and phase regression

Knudsen

Bailey

Blicher

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Introduction: Functional MRI with spatial resolution in the submillimeter domain enables measurements of activation across cortical layers in humans. This is valuable as different types of cortical computations, e.g., feedforward versus feedback related activity, take place in different cortical layers. Layer-dependent fMRI (L-fMRI) studies have almost exclusively employed 7T scanners to overcome the reduced signal stability associated with small voxels. However, such systems are relatively rare and only a subset of those are clinically approved. In the present study, we examined the feasibility of L-fMRI at 3T using NORDIC denoising. Methods: 5 healthy subjects were scanned on a Siemens MAGNETOM Prisma 3T scanner. To assess across-session reliability, each subject was scanned in 3-8 sessions on 3-4 consecutive days. A 3D gradient echo EPI (GE-EPI) sequence was used for BOLD acquisitions (voxel size 0.82 mm isotopic, TR = 2.2 s) using a block designed finger tapping paradigm. NORDIC denoising was applied to the magnitude and phase time series to overcome limitations in tSNR and the denoised phase time series were subsequently used to correct for large vein contamination through phase regression. Results and conclusion: NORDIC denoising resulted in temporal signal-to-noise ratio (tSNR) values comparable to or higher than commonly observed at 7T. Layer-dependent activation profiles could thus be extracted robustly, within and across sessions, from regions of interest located in the hand knob of the primary motor cortex (M1). Phase regression led to substantially reduced superficial bias in obtained layer profiles, although residual macrovascular contribution remained. We believe the present results support the feasibility of L-fMRI at 3T, which might help make L-fMRI available to a much wider community.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

Feasibility of 3T layer-dependent fMRI with GE-BOLD using NORDIC and phase regression

Knudsen

Bailey

Blicher

et al. 2022

Preprint

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“…High-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) offers the potential to measure depth-dependent hemodynamic responses, which can provide insights into cortical information processing and microcircuits of the human brain (Douglas and Martin, 2004;Lawrence et al, 2019;Stephan et al, 2019). Numerous studies have investigated the function of cortical layers using the blood-oxygenationlevel-dependent (BOLD) contrast (Ogawa et al, 1990) in animals and humans (Aitken et al, 2020;Bollmann and Barth, 2020;Chen et al, 2013;de Hollander et al, 2021;Goense et al, 2012;Goense and Logothetis, 2006;Koopmans et al, 2010;Polimeni et al, 2010;Poplawsky et al, 2015;Ress et al, 2007;Self et al, 2017;Silva and Koretsky, 2002;van Dijk et al, 2020;Vizioli et al, 2020;Yu et al, 2014;Zaretskaya et al, 2020); for a brief history of the field see also Norris and Polimeni (2019). Despite the high sensitivity of this technique, it suffers from limited specificity due to signal leakage in draining veins carrying blood from (activated) lower layers to superficial layers and further to the pial veins (Duvernoy et al, 1981;Kim et al, 1994;Turner, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling the depth-dependent VASO and BOLD responses in human primary visual cortex

Akbari

Bollmann

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) using blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) contrast is a common method for studying human brain function non-invasively. Gradient-echo (GRE) BOLD is highly sensitive to the blood oxygenation change in blood vessels; however, the signal specificity can be degraded due to signal leakage from the activated lower layers to the superficial layers in depth-dependent (also called laminar or layer-specific) fMRI. Alternatively, physiological variables such as cerebral blood volume using VAscular-Space-Occupancy (VASO) measurements have shown higher spatial specificity compared to BOLD. To better understand the physiological mechanisms (e.g., blood volume and oxygenation change) and to interpret the measured depth-dependent responses we need models that reflect vascular properties at this scale. For this purpose, we adapted a cortical vascular model previously developed to predict the layer-specific BOLD signal change in human primary visual cortex to also predict layer-specific VASO response. To evaluate the model, we compared the predictions with experimental results of simultaneous VASO and BOLD measurements in a group of healthy participants. Fitting the model to our experimental findings provided an estimate of CBV change in different vascular compartments upon neural activity. We found that stimulus-evoked CBV changes mainly occur in intracortical arteries as well as small arterioles and capillaries and that the contribution from venules is small for a long stimulus (~30 sec). Our results confirm the notion that VASO contrast is less susceptible to large vessel effects compared to BOLD.

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“…Smoothing in neuroimaging is criticized for reducing the experimental effect size and localization of cortical areas, especially in the case of volumetric analysis (Stelzer et al 2014;Coalson et al 2018). In the worst case, it can entirely cancel an effect that exists on a very fine spatial scale, like the ocular dominance column signal (Zaretskaya et al 2020). This is why smoothing in the current study was performed exclusively for the whole-brain analysis.…”

Section: Whole-brain Thickness Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Fast and functionally specific cortical thickness changes induced by visual stimulation

et al. 2022

Self Cite

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Structural characteristics of the human brain serve as important markers of brain development, aging, disease progression, and neural plasticity. They are considered stable properties, changing slowly over time. Multiple recent studies reported that structural brain changes measured with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may occur much faster than previously thought, within hours or even minutes. The mechanisms behind such fast changes remain unclear, with hemodynamics as one possible explanation. Here we investigated the functional specificity of cortical thickness changes induced by a flickering checkerboard and compared them to blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) functional MRI activity. We found that checkerboard stimulation led to a significant thickness increase, which was driven by an expansion at the gray–white matter boundary, functionally specific to V1, confined to the retinotopic representation of the checkerboard stimulus, and amounted to 1.3% or 0.022 mm. Although functional specificity and the effect size of these changes were comparable to those of the BOLD signal in V1, thickness effects were substantially weaker in V3. Furthermore, a comparison of predicted and measured thickness changes for different stimulus timings suggested a slow increase of thickness over time, speaking against a hemodynamic explanation. Altogether, our findings suggest that visual stimulation can induce structural gray matter enlargement measurable with MRI.

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Eye-selective fMRI activity in human primary visual cortex: Comparison between 3 T and 9.4 T, and effects across cortical depth

Cited by 16 publications

References 55 publications

Feasibility of 3T layer-dependent fMRI with GE-BOLD using NORDIC and phase regression

Feasibility of 3T layer-dependent fMRI with GE-BOLD using NORDIC and phase regression

Modelling the depth-dependent VASO and BOLD responses in human primary visual cortex

Fast and functionally specific cortical thickness changes induced by visual stimulation

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Eye-selective fMRI activity in human primary visual cortex: Comparison between 3 ​T and 9.4 ​T, and effects across cortical depth

Cited by 16 publications

References 55 publications

Feasibility of 3T layer-dependent fMRI with GE-BOLD using NORDIC and phase regression

Feasibility of 3T layer-dependent fMRI with GE-BOLD using NORDIC and phase regression

Modelling the depth-dependent VASO and BOLD responses in human primary visual cortex

Fast and functionally specific cortical thickness changes induced by visual stimulation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

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Eye-selective fMRI activity in human primary visual cortex: Comparison between 3 T and 9.4 T, and effects across cortical depth