Brain connectivity
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The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is implicated in pain modulation through multiple psychological processes. Recent noninvasive brain stimulation studies suggest that interhemispheric DLPFC connectivity influences pain tolerance and discomfort by altering interhemispheric inhibition. The structure and role of interhemispheric DLPFC connectivity in pain processing have not been investigated. ⋯ Regression analyses revealed that greater rDLPFC→lDLPFC couplings were associated with higher suprathreshold pain temperatures. These results highlight the role of interhemispheric connectivity in pain modulation and support the preferential role of the right hemisphere in pain processing. Knowledge of these mechanisms may improve understanding of abnormal pain modulation in chronic pain populations.
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Case Reports
Demonstration of Brain Tumor-Induced Neurovascular Uncoupling in Resting-State fMRI at Ultrahigh Field.
To demonstrate in a small case series for the first time the phenomenon of brain tumor-related neurovascular uncoupling (NVU) in resting-state blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at ultrahigh field (7T). Two de novo (i.e., untreated) brain tumor patients underwent both BOLD resting-state fMRI (rsfMRI) on a 7T MRI system and motor task-based BOLD fMRI at 3T. Ipsilesional (i.e., ipsilateral to tumor or IL) and contralesional (i.e., contralateral to tumor or CL) region of interest (ROI) analysis was performed on both 3T motor task-related general linear model-derived activation maps and on 7T rsfMRI independent component analysis (ICA)-derived sensorimotor network maps for each case. ⋯ Similarly, in patient 2, an AS of 1.0 was obtained from the suprathreshold Z-score spectrum (Z-scores >5.0) of the task-based activation map and an AS of 1.0 was obtained from the suprathreshold Z-score spectrum (Z-scores >5.0) of the ICA-derived sensorimotor component map. Overall, decreased BOLD signal was noted in IL compared with CL ROIs on both task-based activation maps and ultrahigh field resting-state maps, indicating the presence of NVU. We have demonstrated evidence of NVU on ultrahigh field 7T rsfMRI comparable with the findings on standard 3T motor task-based fMRI in both cases.
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Gradient-echo (GE) echo-planar imaging (EPI) is the method of choice in blood-oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) functional MRI (fMRI) studies, as it demonstrates substantially higher BOLD sensitivity than its spin-echo (SE) counterpart. However, it is also well known that the GE-EPI signal is prone to signal dropouts and shifts due to susceptibility effects near air-tissue interfaces. SE-EPI, in contrast, is minimally affected by these artifacts. ⋯ More importantly, SE-based fcMRI measurements demonstrated significantly higher sensitivity, specificity, and intersubject reproducibility in high-susceptibility regions, spanning the limbic and frontal networks in the 1000-brain atlas. In addition, SE-EPI is significantly less sensitive to prominent sources of physiological noise, including low-frequency respiratory volume and heart rate variations. Our work suggests that SE-EPI should be increasingly adopted in the study of networks spanning susceptibility-affected brain regions, including those that are important to memory, language, and emotion.
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Propofol is one of the most commonly used anesthetics in the world, but much remains unknown about the mechanisms by which it induces loss of consciousness. In this resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we examined qualitative and quantitative changes of resting-state networks (RSNs), total brain connectivity, and mean oscillation frequencies of the regional blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signal, associated with propofol-induced mild sedation and loss of responsiveness in healthy subjects. We found that detectability of RSNs diminished significantly with loss of responsiveness, and total brain connectivity decreased strongly in the frontal cortex, which was associated with increased mean oscillation frequencies of the BOLD signal. Our results suggest a pivotal role of the frontal cortex in propofol-induced loss of responsiveness.
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Cognitively demanding goal-directed tasks in the human brain are thought to involve the dynamic interplay of several large-scale neural networks, including the default-mode network (DMN), salience network (SN), and central-executive network (CEN). Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) studies have consistently shown that the CEN and SN negatively regulate activity in the DMN, and this switching is argued to be controlled by the right anterior insula (rAI) of the SN. However, what remains to be investigated is the pattern of directed network interactions during difficult perceptual decision-making tasks. ⋯ We found that the rAI, a key node of the SN, played a causal control over the DMN and CEN for easier decision-making tasks. The combined effort of the rAI and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex of the SN had the causal control over the DMN and CEN for a harder task. These findings provide important insights into how a sensory signal organizes among the DMN, SN, and CEN during sensory information-guided, goal-directed tasks.