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Zvolanek KM, Moore JE, Jarvis K, Moum SJ, Bright MG. Macrovascular blood flow and microvascular cerebrovascular reactivity are regionally coupled in adolescence. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.04.26.590312. [PMID: 38746187 PMCID: PMC11092525 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.26.590312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
Cerebrovascular imaging assessments are particularly challenging in adolescent cohorts, where not all modalities are appropriate, and rapid brain maturation alters hemodynamics at both macro- and microvascular scales. In a preliminary sample of healthy adolescents (n=12, 8-25 years), we investigated relationships between 4D flow MRI-derived blood velocity and blood flow in bilateral anterior, middle, and posterior cerebral arteries and BOLD cerebrovascular reactivity in associated vascular territories. As hypothesized, higher velocities in large arteries are associated with an earlier response to a vasodilatory stimulus (cerebrovascular reactivity delay) in the downstream territory. Higher blood flow through these arteries is associated with a larger BOLD response to a vasodilatory stimulus (cerebrovascular reactivity amplitude) in the associated territory. These trends are consistent in a case study of adult moyamoya disease. In our small adolescent cohort, macrovascular-microvascular relationships for velocity/delay and flow/CVR change with age, though underlying mechanisms are unclear. Our work emphasizes the need to better characterize this key stage of human brain development, when cerebrovascular hemodynamics are changing, and standard imaging methods offer limited insight into these processes. We provide important normative data for future comparisons in pathology, where combining macro- and microvascular assessments may better help us prevent, stratify, and treat cerebrovascular disease.
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Hemmerling KJ, Hoggarth MA, Sandhu MS, Parrish TB, Bright MG. MRI mapping of hemodynamics in the human spinal cord. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.02.22.581606. [PMID: 38464194 PMCID: PMC10925078 DOI: 10.1101/2024.02.22.581606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/12/2024]
Abstract
Impaired spinal cord vascular function contributes to numerous neurological pathologies, making it important to be able to noninvasively characterize these changes. Here, we propose a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)-based method to map spinal cord vascular reactivity (SCVR). We used a hypercapnic breath-holding task, monitored with end-tidal CO2 (PETCO2), to evoke a systemic vasodilatory response during concurrent blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) fMRI. SCVR amplitude and hemodynamic delay were mapped at the group level in 27 healthy participants as proof-of-concept of the approach, and then in two highly-sampled participants to probe feasibility/stability of individual SCVR mapping. Across the group and the highly-sampled individuals, a strong ventral SCVR amplitude was initially observed without accounting for local regional variation in the timing of the vasodilatory response. Shifted breathing traces (PETCO2) were used to account for temporal differences in the vasodilatory response across the spinal cord, producing maps of SCVR delay. These delay maps reveal an earlier ventral and later dorsal response and demonstrate distinct gray matter regions concordant with territories of arterial supply. The SCVR fMRI methods described here enable robust mapping of spatiotemporal hemodynamic properties of the human spinal cord. This noninvasive approach has exciting potential to provide early insight into pathology-driven vascular changes in the cord, which may precede and predict future irreversible tissue damage and guide the treatment of several neurological pathologies involving the spine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kimberly J. Hemmerling
- 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, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
| | - Mark A. Hoggarth
- Department of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
- Department of Physical Therapy, North Central College, Naperville, IL, United States
| | - Milap S. Sandhu
- Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, Chicago, IL, United States
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Todd B. Parrish
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
- Department of Radiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - 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, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
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Ivanova MV, Pappas I. Understanding recovery of language after stroke: insights from neurovascular MRI studies. FRONTIERS IN LANGUAGE SCIENCES 2023; 2:1163547. [PMID: 38162928 PMCID: PMC10757818 DOI: 10.3389/flang.2023.1163547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Abstract
Stroke causes a disruption in blood flow to the brain that can lead to profound language impairments. Understanding the mechanisms of language recovery after stroke is crucial for the prognosis and effective rehabilitation of people with aphasia. While the role of injured brain structures and disruptions in functional connectivity have been extensively explored, the relationship between neurovascular measures and language recovery in both early and later stages has not received sufficient attention in the field. Fully functioning healthy brain tissue requires oxygen and nutrients to be delivered promptly via its blood supply. Persistent decreases in blood flow after a stroke to the remaining non-lesioned tissue have been shown to contribute to poor language recovery. The goal of the current paper is to critically examine stroke studies looking at the relationship between different neurovascular measures and language deficits and mechanisms of language recovery via changes in neurovascular metrics. Measures of perfusion or cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) provide complementary approaches to understanding neurovascular mechanisms post stroke by capturing both cerebral metabolic demands and mechanical vascular properties. While CBF measures indicate the amount of blood delivered to a certain region and serve as a proxy for metabolic demands of that area, CVR indices reflect the ability of the vasculature to recruit blood flow in response to a shortage of oxygen, such as when one is holding their breath. Increases in CBF during recovery beyond the site of the lesion have been shown to promote language gains. Similarly, CVR changes, when collateral vessels are recruited to help reorganize the flow of blood in hypoperfused regions, have been related to functional recovery post stroke. In the current review, we highlight the main findings in the literature investigating neurovascular changes in stroke recovery with a particular emphasis on how language abilities can be affected by changes in CBF and CVR. We conclude by summarizing existing methodological challenges and knowledge gaps that need to be addressed in future work in this area, outlining a promising avenue of research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria V. Ivanova
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
| | - Ioannis Pappas
- USC Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
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Williams RJ, Specht JL, Mazerolle EL, Lebel RM, MacDonald ME, Pike GB. Correspondence between BOLD fMRI task response and cerebrovascular reactivity across the cerebral cortex. Front Physiol 2023; 14:1167148. [PMID: 37228813 PMCID: PMC10203231 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1167148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2023] [Accepted: 04/24/2023] [Indexed: 05/27/2023] Open
Abstract
BOLD sensitivity to baseline perfusion and blood volume is a well-acknowledged fMRI confound. Vascular correction techniques based on cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) might reduce variance due to baseline cerebral blood volume, however this is predicated on an invariant linear relationship between CVR and BOLD signal magnitude. Cognitive paradigms have relatively low signal, high variance and involve spatially heterogenous cortical regions; it is therefore unclear whether the BOLD response magnitude to complex paradigms can be predicted by CVR. The feasibility of predicting BOLD signal magnitude from CVR was explored in the present work across two experiments using different CVR approaches. The first utilized a large database containing breath-hold BOLD responses and 3 different cognitive tasks. The second experiment, in an independent sample, calculated CVR using the delivery of a fixed concentration of carbon dioxide and a different cognitive task. An atlas-based regression approach was implemented for both experiments to evaluate the shared variance between task-invoked BOLD responses and CVR across the cerebral cortex. Both experiments found significant relationships between CVR and task-based BOLD magnitude, with activation in the right cuneus (R 2 = 0.64) and paracentral gyrus (R 2 = 0.71), and the left pars opercularis (R 2 = 0.67), superior frontal gyrus (R 2 = 0.62) and inferior parietal cortex (R 2 = 0.63) strongly predicted by CVR. The parietal regions bilaterally were highly consistent, with linear regressions significant in these regions for all four tasks. Group analyses showed that CVR correction increased BOLD sensitivity. Overall, this work suggests that BOLD signal response magnitudes to cognitive tasks are predicted by CVR across different regions of the cerebral cortex, providing support for the use of correction based on baseline vascular physiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca J. Williams
- Faculty of Health, School of Human Services, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, Australia
| | - Jacinta L. Specht
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Department of Radiology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Erin L. Mazerolle
- Departments of Psychology and Computer Science, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, NS, Canada
| | - R. Marc Lebel
- Department of Radiology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- GE HealthCare, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - M. Ethan MacDonald
- Department of Radiology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Department of Electrical and Software Engineering, Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - G. Bruce Pike
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Department of Radiology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
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Gong J, Stickland RC, Bright MG. Hemodynamic timing in resting-state and breathing-task BOLD fMRI. Neuroimage 2023; 274:120120. [PMID: 37072074 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120120] [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: 11/14/2022] [Revised: 04/06/2023] [Accepted: 04/15/2023] [Indexed: 04/20/2023] Open
Abstract
The blood flow response to a vasoactive stimulus demonstrates regional heterogeneity across both the healthy brain and in cerebrovascular pathology. The timing of a regional hemodynamic response is emerging as an important biomarker of cerebrovascular dysfunction, as well as a confound within fMRI analyses. Previous research demonstrated that hemodynamic timing is more robustly characterized when a larger systemic vascular response is evoked by a breathing challenge, compared to when only spontaneous fluctuations in vascular physiology are present (i.e., in resting-state data). However, it is not clear whether hemodynamic delays in these two conditions are physiologically interchangeable, and how methodological signal-to-noise factors may limit their agreement. To address this, we generated whole-brain maps of hemodynamic delays in nine healthy adults. We assessed the agreement of voxel-wise gray matter (GM) hemodynamic delays between two conditions: resting-state and breath-holding. We found that delay values demonstrated poor agreement when considering all GM voxels, but increasingly greater agreement when limiting analyses to voxels showing strong correlation with the GM mean time-series. Voxels showing the strongest agreement with the GM mean time-series were primarily located near large venous vessels, however these voxels explain some, but not all, of the observed agreement in timing. Increasing the degree of spatial smoothing of the fMRI data enhanced the correlation between individual voxel time-series and the GM mean time-series. These results suggest that signal-to-noise factors may be limiting the accuracy of voxel-wise timing estimates and hence their agreement between the two data segments. In conclusion, caution must be taken when using voxel-wise delay estimates from resting-state and breathing-task data interchangeably, and additional work is needed to evaluate their relative sensitivity and specificity to aspects of vascular physiology and pathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jingxuan Gong
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
| | - Rachael C Stickland
- Department of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Molly G Bright
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA; Department of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
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Zvolanek KM, Moia S, Dean JN, Stickland RC, Caballero-Gaudes C, Bright MG. Comparing end-tidal CO 2, respiration volume per time (RVT), and average gray matter signal for mapping cerebrovascular reactivity amplitude and delay with breath-hold task BOLD fMRI. Neuroimage 2023; 272:120038. [PMID: 36958618 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2022] [Revised: 02/27/2023] [Accepted: 03/14/2023] [Indexed: 03/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR), defined as the cerebral blood flow response to a vasoactive stimulus, is an imaging biomarker with demonstrated utility in a range of diseases and in typical development and aging processes. A robust and widely implemented method to map CVR involves using a breath-hold task during a BOLD fMRI scan. Recording end-tidal CO2 (PETCO2) changes during the breath-hold task is recommended to be used as a reference signal for modeling CVR amplitude in standard units (%BOLD/mmHg) and CVR delay in seconds. However, obtaining reliable PETCO2 recordings requires equipment and task compliance that may not be achievable in all settings. To address this challenge, we investigated two alternative reference signals to map CVR amplitude and delay in a lagged general linear model (lagged-GLM) framework: respiration volume per time (RVT) and average gray matter BOLD response (GM-BOLD). In 8 healthy adults with multiple scan sessions, we compare spatial agreement of CVR maps from RVT and GM-BOLD to those generated with PETCO2. We define a threshold to determine whether a PETCO2 recording has "sufficient" quality for CVR mapping and perform these comparisons in 16 datasets with sufficient PETCO2 and 6 datasets with insufficient PETCO2. When PETCO2 quality is sufficient, both RVT and GM-BOLD produce CVR amplitude maps that are nearly identical to those from PETCO2 (after accounting for differences in scale), with the caveat they are not in standard units to facilitate between-group comparisons. CVR delays are comparable to PETCO2 with an RVT regressor but may be underestimated with the average GM-BOLD regressor. Importantly, when PETCO2 quality is insufficient, RVT and GM-BOLD CVR recover reasonable CVR amplitude and delay maps, provided the participant attempted the breath-hold task. Therefore, our framework offers a solution for achieving high quality CVR maps in both retrospective and prospective studies where sufficient PETCO2 recordings are not available and especially in populations where obtaining reliable measurements is a known challenge (e.g., children). Our results have the potential to improve the accessibility of CVR mapping and to increase the prevalence of this promising metric of vascular health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristina M Zvolanek
- Department of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
| | - Stefano Moia
- Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, Donostia, Gipuzkoa, Spain; Medical Imaging Processing Lab (MIP:Lab), Neuro-X institute, EPFL, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Joshua N Dean
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
| | - Rachael C Stickland
- Department of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
| | | | - Molly G Bright
- Department of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
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Waddle S, Garza M, Davis LT, Chitale R, Fusco M, Lee C, Patel NJ, Kang H, Jordan LC, Donahue MJ. Presurgical Magnetic Resonance Imaging Indicators of Revascularization Response in Adults With Moyamoya Vasculopathy. J Magn Reson Imaging 2022; 56:983-994. [PMID: 35289460 PMCID: PMC9481650 DOI: 10.1002/jmri.28156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2021] [Revised: 02/13/2022] [Accepted: 03/02/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Moyamoya is a progressive intracranial vasculopathy, primarily affecting distal segments of the internal carotid and middle cerebral arteries. Treatment may comprise angiogenesis-inducing surgical revascularization; however, lack of randomized trials often results in subjective treatment decisions. HYPOTHESIS Compensatory presurgical posterior vertebrobasilar artery (VBA) flow-territory reactivity, including greater cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) and reduced vascular delay time, portends greater neoangiogenic response verified on digital subtraction angiography (DSA) at 1-year follow-up. STUDY TYPE Prospective intervention cohort. SUBJECTS Thirty-one patients with moyamoya (26 females; age = 45 ± 13 years; 41 revascularized hemispheres). METHODS Anatomical MRI, hypercapnic CVR MRI, and DSA acquired presurgically in adult moyamoya participants scheduled for clinically indicated surgical revascularization. One-year postsurgery, DSA was repeated to evaluate collateralization. FIELD STRENGTH 3 T. SEQUENCE Hypercapnic T 2 * -weighted gradient-echo blood-oxygenation-level-dependent, T2 -weighted turbo-spin-echo fluid-attenuated-inversion-recovery, T1 -weighted magnetization-prepared-rapid-gradient-echo, and T2 -weighted diffusion-weighted-imaging. ASSESSMENT Presurgical maximum CVR and response times were evaluated in VBA flow-territories. Revascularization success was determined using an ordinal scoring system of neoangiogenic collateralization from postsurgical DSA by two cerebrovascular neurosurgeons (R.V.C. with 8 years of experience; M.R.F. with 9 years of experience) and one neuroradiologist (L.T.D. with 8 years of experience). Stroke risk factors (age, sex, race, vasculopathy, and diabetes) were recorded. STATISTICAL TESTS Fisher's exact and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were applied to compare presurgical variables between cohorts with angiographically confirmed good (>1/3 middle cerebral artery [MCA] territory revascularized) vs. poor (<1/3 MCA territory revascularized) outcomes. SIGNIFICANCE two-sided P < 0.05. Normalized odds ratios (ORs) were calculated. RESULTS Criteria for good collateralization were met in 25 of the 41 revascularized hemispheres. Presurgical normalized VBA flow-territory CVR was significantly higher in those with good (1.12 ± 0.13 unitless) vs. poor (1.04 ± 0.05 unitless) outcomes. Younger (OR = -0.60 ± 0.67) and White (OR = -1.81 ± 1.40) participants had highest revascularization success (good outcomes: age = 42 ± 14 years, race = 84% White; poor outcomes: age = 49 ± 11 years, race = 44% White). DATA CONCLUSION Presurgical MRI-measures of VBA flow-territory CVR are highest in moyamoya participants with better angiographic responses to surgical revascularization. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 1 TECHNICAL EFFICACY STAGE: 4.
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Affiliation(s)
- Spencer Waddle
- Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Maria Garza
- Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Larry T. Davis
- Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Rohan Chitale
- Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
- Department of Neurosurgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Matthew Fusco
- Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
- Department of Neurosurgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Chelsea Lee
- Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Neurology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Niral J. Patel
- Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Neurology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Hakmook Kang
- Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Lori C. Jordan
- Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
- Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Neurology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Manus J. Donahue
- Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
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Stickland RC, Zvolanek KM, Moia S, Caballero-Gaudes C, Bright MG. Lag-Optimized Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent Cerebrovascular Reactivity Estimates Derived From Breathing Task Data Have a Stronger Relationship With Baseline Cerebral Blood Flow. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:910025. [PMID: 35801183 PMCID: PMC9254683 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.910025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Accepted: 05/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR), an important indicator of cerebrovascular health, is commonly studied with the Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent functional MRI (BOLD-fMRI) response to a vasoactive stimulus. Theoretical and empirical evidence suggests that baseline cerebral blood flow (CBF) modulates BOLD signal amplitude and may influence BOLD-CVR estimates. We address how acquisition and modeling choices affect the relationship between baseline cerebral blood flow (bCBF) and BOLD-CVR: whether BOLD-CVR is modeled with the inclusion of a breathing task, and whether BOLD-CVR amplitudes are optimized for hemodynamic lag effects. We assessed between-subject correlations of average GM values and within-subject spatial correlations across cortical regions. Our results suggest that a breathing task addition to a resting-state acquisition, alongside lag-optimization within BOLD-CVR modeling, can improve BOLD-CVR correlations with bCBF, both between- and within-subjects, likely because these CVR estimates are more physiologically accurate. We report positive correlations between bCBF and BOLD-CVR, both between- and within-subjects. The physiological explanation of this positive correlation is unclear; research with larger samples and tightly controlled vasoactive stimuli is needed. Insights into what drives variability in BOLD-CVR measurements and related measurements of cerebrovascular function are particularly relevant when interpreting results in populations with altered vascular and/or metabolic baselines or impaired cerebrovascular reserve.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachael C. Stickland
- Department of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, 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, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
| | - Stefano Moia
- Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, Donostia, Spain
- University of the Basque Country EHU/UPV, Donostia, Spain
| | | | - 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, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
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Veldhuizen MG, Cecchetto C, Fjaeldstad AW, Farruggia MC, Hartig R, Nakamura Y, Pellegrino R, Yeung AWK, Fischmeister FPS. Future Directions for Chemosensory Connectomes: Best Practices and Specific Challenges. Front Syst Neurosci 2022; 16:885304. [PMID: 35707745 PMCID: PMC9190244 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2022.885304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2022] [Accepted: 04/13/2022] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Ecological chemosensory stimuli almost always evoke responses in more than one sensory system. Moreover, any sensory processing takes place along a hierarchy of brain regions. So far, the field of chemosensory neuroimaging is dominated by studies that examine the role of brain regions in isolation. However, to completely understand neural processing of chemosensation, we must also examine interactions between regions. In general, the use of connectivity methods has increased in the neuroimaging field, providing important insights to physical sensory processing, such as vision, audition, and touch. A similar trend has been observed in chemosensory neuroimaging, however, these established techniques have largely not been rigorously applied to imaging studies on the chemical senses, leaving network insights overlooked. In this article, we first highlight some recent work in chemosensory connectomics and we summarize different connectomics techniques. Then, we outline specific challenges for chemosensory connectome neuroimaging studies. Finally, we review best practices from the general connectomics and neuroimaging fields. We recommend future studies to develop or use the following methods we perceive as key to improve chemosensory connectomics: (1) optimized study designs, (2) reporting guidelines, (3) consensus on brain parcellations, (4) consortium research, and (5) data sharing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria G. Veldhuizen
- Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Mersin University, Mersin, Turkey
| | - Cinzia Cecchetto
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padua, Italy
| | - Alexander W. Fjaeldstad
- Flavour Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Regional Hospital West Jutland, Holstebro, Denmark
| | - Michael C. Farruggia
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Renée Hartig
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany
- Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany
- Functional and Comparative Neuroanatomy Laboratory, Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Yuko Nakamura
- The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | | | - Andy W. K. Yeung
- Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Applied Oral Sciences and Community Dental Care, Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Florian Ph. S. Fischmeister
- Institute of Psychology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
- Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-Guided Therapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- BioTechMed-Graz, Graz, Austria
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10
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Moia S, Termenon M, Uruñuela E, Chen G, Stickland RC, Bright MG, Caballero-Gaudes C. ICA-based denoising strategies in breath-hold induced cerebrovascular reactivity mapping with multi echo BOLD fMRI. Neuroimage 2021; 233:117914. [PMID: 33684602 PMCID: PMC8351526 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.117914] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2020] [Revised: 01/25/2021] [Accepted: 02/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Performing a BOLD functional MRI (fMRI) acquisition during breath-hold (BH) tasks is a non-invasive, robust method to estimate cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR). However, movement and breathing-related artefacts caused by the BH can substantially hinder CVR estimates due to their high temporal collinearity with the effect of interest, and attention has to be paid when choosing which analysis model should be applied to the data. In this study, we evaluate the performance of multiple analysis strategies based on lagged general linear models applied on multi-echo BOLD fMRI data, acquired in ten subjects performing a BH task during ten sessions, to obtain subject-specific CVR and haemodynamic lag estimates. The evaluated approaches range from conventional regression models, i.e. including drifts and motion timecourses as nuisance regressors, applied on single-echo or optimally-combined data, to more complex models including regressors obtained from multi-echo independent component analysis with different grades of orthogonalization in order to preserve the effect of interest, i.e. the CVR. We compare these models in terms of their ability to make signal intensity changes independent from motion, as well as the reliability as measured by voxelwise intraclass correlation coefficients of both CVR and lag maps over time. Our results reveal that a conservative independent component analysis model applied on the optimally-combined multi-echo fMRI signal offers the largest reduction of motion-related effects in the signal, while yielding reliable CVR amplitude and lag estimates, although a conventional regression model applied on the optimally-combined data results in similar estimates. This work demonstrates the usefulness of multi-echo based fMRI acquisitions and independent component analysis denoising for precision mapping of CVR in single subjects based on BH paradigms, fostering its potential as a clinically-viable neuroimaging tool for individual patients. It also proves that the way in which data-driven regressors should be incorporated in the analysis model is not straight-forward due to their complex interaction with the BH-induced BOLD response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefano Moia
- Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, Donostia, Spain; University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Donostia, Spain.
| | - Maite Termenon
- Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, Donostia, Spain
| | - Eneko Uruñuela
- Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, Donostia, Spain; University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Donostia, Spain
| | - Gang Chen
- Scientific and Statistical Computing Core, NIMH/NIH/HHS, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Rachael C Stickland
- Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Molly G Bright
- Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States; Biomedical Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
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