Changes In Cerebral Blood Oxygenation Research Articles

Relation between asymmetry of prefrontal cortex activities and the autonomic nervous system during a mental arithmetic task: near infrared spectroscopy study

The present study evaluated the relationship between asymmetry of the prefrontal cortex activity and the automatic nervous system (ANS) response during a mental arithmetic (MA) task. Employing near infrared spectroscopy, we compared cerebral blood oxygenation changes in the right and left prefrontal cortices during a mental arithmetic task with HR changes. During the MA task, eight subjects (high-HR group) showed large HR increases (14.2 ± 3.0) while eight subjects (low-HR group) showed small HR increases (3.6 ± 2.8) ( P < 0.00001). In both the high-HR and low-HR groups, near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) demonstrated increases of oxyhemoglobin and total hemoglobin (=oxyhemoglobin + deoxyhemoglobin) associated with decreases of deoxyhemoglobin in the bilateral prefrontal cortices during MA task. In the high-HR group, the laterality ratio scores, i.e., [(R − L)/(R + L) of oxyhemoglobin and total hemoglobin], showed positive values (0.17 ± 0.11 and 0.17 ± 0.17, respectively), while in the low-HR group, the laterality ratio scores showed negative values (−0.28 ± 0.21 and −0.35 ± 0.24, respectively). In addition, there were significant positive correlations between HR changes and the laterality ratio scores of oxyhemoglobin ( r = +0.87, P < 0.0001) and total hemoglobin ( r = +0.85, P < 0.0001). These results indicate that the MA task-induced activity in the right prefrontal cortex was larger than that in the left prefrontal cortex in the subject with high HR increases, suggesting that the right prefrontal cortex activity during the MA task has a greater role in cerebral regulation of HR by virtue of decreasing parasympathetic effects or increasing sympathetic effects.

259 Cerebral Hemodynamics and Oxygenation after Removal of Cerebral Spinal Fluid from A Subcutaneous Ventricular Catheter Reservoir in Infants with a Post Hemorrhagic Ventricular Dilatation

Background: Removal of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) is the common treatment of post hemorrhagic ventricular dilatation (PHVD) in newborn infants. Puncture from a subcutaneous ventricular catheter reservoir (SVCR) allows easy CSF removal with minimal discomfort for the patient.Aims: To assess changes in cerebral oxygenation and hemodynamics after serial CSF removal from a SVCR in infants with PHVD.Methods: 6 infants (GA 216–258 days, BW 1490–2901 gram) were included for this study. These patients were studied during CSF drainage at day 1, 3 and 7 after SVCR placement. The amount of CSF removal was 5.5–9.6 ml/kg. Changes in concentration of oxyhemoglobin (ÄcO2Hb) and deoxyhemoglobin (ÄcHHb) were continuously measured using near infrared spectrophotometry. The difference in ÄcO2Hb and ÄcHHb, indicated as ÄcHbD, represents changes in cerebral blood oxygenation. Concentration changes in total hemoglobin (ÄctHb), calculated as the sum of ÄcO2Hb and ÄcHHb, reflects changes in cerebral blood volume. Changes in cHbD and ctHb were calculated between t=0 (start of CSF removal) and at 15, 30 and 60 minutes after CSF removal. Changes in mean cerebral blood flow velocity (ÄCBFV) in the internal carotid artery were intermittently measured using Doppler ultrasound. Physiologic variables (heart rate, arterial oxygen saturation, respiration rate and arterial blood pressure) were recorded. Results: Values are median (interquartile range). * significant changes (p <0.05, Wilcoxon-signed ranks test). There were no significant changes in physiological parameters.Conclusion: CSF removal from a SVCR results in improvement of cerebral perfusion, particularly the first day after SVCR placement. Cerebral blood oxygenation is only significantly increased at the day of SVCR placement. These changes are probably related to a reduction in intracranial pressure.

Nonlinear coupling of neural activity and CBF in rodent barrel cortex

The relationship between neural activity and accompanying changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF) and oxygenation must be fully understood before data from brain imaging techniques can be correctly interpreted. Whether signals in fMRI reflect the neural input or output of an activated region is still unclear. Similarly, quantitative relationships between neural activity and changes in CBF are not well understood. The present study addresses these issues by using simultaneous laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) to measure CBF and multichannel electrophysiology to record neural activity in the form of field potentials and multiunit spiking. We demonstrate that CBF-activation coupling is a nonlinear inverse sigmoid function. Comparing the data with previous work suggests that within a cortical model, CBF shows greatest spatial correlation with a current sink 500 μm below the surface corresponding to sensory input. These results show that care must be exercised when interpreting imaging data elicited by particularly strong or weak stimuli and that hemodynamic changes may better reflect the input to a region rather than its spiking output.

Modeling the hemodynamic response to brain activation

Neural activity in the brain is accompanied by changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF) and blood oxygenation that are detectable with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques. In this paper, recent mathematical models of this hemodynamic response are reviewed and integrated. Models are described for: (1) the blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal as a function of changes in cerebral oxygen extraction fraction (E) and cerebral blood volume (CBV); (2) the balloon model, proposed to describe the transient dynamics of CBV and deoxy-hemoglobin (Hb) and how they affect the BOLD signal; (3) neurovascular coupling, relating the responses in CBF and cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO(2)) to the neural activity response; and (4) a simple model for the temporal nonlinearity of the neural response itself. These models are integrated into a mathematical framework describing the steps linking a stimulus to the measured BOLD and CBF responses. Experimental results examining transient features of the BOLD response (post-stimulus undershoot and initial dip), nonlinearities of the hemodynamic response, and the role of the physiologic baseline state in altering the BOLD signal are discussed in the context of the proposed models. Quantitative modeling of the hemodynamic response, when combined with experimental data measuring both the BOLD and CBF responses, makes possible a more specific and quantitative assessment of brain physiology than is possible with standard BOLD imaging alone. This approach has the potential to enhance numerous studies of brain function in development, health, and disease.

Correlates of alpha rhythm in functional magnetic resonance imaging and near infrared spectroscopy

We used simultaneous electroencephalogram-functional magnetic resonance imaging (EEG-fMRI) and EEG-near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to investigate whether changes of the posterior EEG alpha rhythm are correlated with changes in local cerebral blood oxygenation. Cross-correlation analysis of slowly fluctuating, spontaneous rhythms in the EEG and the fMRI signal revealed an inverse relationship between alpha activity and the fMRI-blood oxygen level dependent signal in the occipital cortex. The NIRS-EEG measurements demonstrated a positive cross-correlation in occipital cortex between alpha activity and concentration changes of deoxygenated hemoglobin, which peaked at a relative shift of about 8 s. Our data suggest that alpha activity in the occipital cortex is associated with metabolic deactivation. Mapping of spontaneously synchronizing distributed neuronal networks is thus shown to be feasible.

The roles of changes in deoxyhemoglobin concentration and regional cerebral blood volume in the fMRI BOLD signal

To study the behavior of cerebral physiological parameters and to further the understanding of the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) effect, multisource frequency-domain near-infrared and BOLD fMRI signals were recorded simultaneously during motor functional activation in humans. From the near-infrared data information was obtained on the changes in cerebral blood volume and oxygenation. To relate our observations to changes in cerebral blood flow the well-known “balloon” model was employed. Our data showed that the deoxyhemoglobin concentration is the major factor determining the time course of the BOLD signal. The increase in cerebral blood oxygenation during functional activation is due to an increase in the velocity of blood flow, and occurs without significant swelling of the blood vessels.

Neuronal activity-induced changes of local cerebral microvascular blood oxygenation in the rat: effect of systemic hyperoxia or hypoxia

To investigate the effect of resting blood oxygen concentration on the hemodynamic response to functional brain activation, we compared activation-induced changes in hemoglobin oxygenation during normoxia with systemic hyperoxia or mild hypoxia. Hemoglobin oxygenation changes were measured by microfiber optical spectroscopy (500–590 nm) in response to physiological whisker barrel cortex activation by whole whisker pad deflection (4 s, 4 Hz) in α-chloralose/urethane anesthetised male Wistar rats. During systemic hyperoxia ( n=6), the stimulation-induced hyperoxygenation response was decreased and prolonged, whereas during mild systemic hypoxia ( n=7) the peak response was significantly increased followed by a faster return to baseline. During normoxia, a poststimulation under- (oxy-hemoglobin) and overshoot (deoxy-hemoglobin) was observed, which disappeared during systemic hyperoxia and was pronounced during systemic hypoxia. Although averaging out below statistical significance when combining all animals, during mild systemic hypoxia a very small early increase of deoxy-Hb at the beginning of the stimulation period was conspicuous more often than during normoxic or even hyperoxic conditions. This small early increase of deoxy-Hb never preceded the onset of the oxy-Hb response, and was not accompanied by a concomitant decrease in oxy-Hb. Hyperoxia or hypoxia did not affect the induced neuronal responses. Our findings support the concept that the hemodynamic response is regulated according to the metabolic demand of oxygen within the activated tissue.

Attenuated Left Prefrontal Activation during a Verbal Fluency Task in Patients with Depression

Functional neuroimaging studies on patients with depression have found abnormal activity in the left prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex compared with healthy controls. Other studies have shown that these regions become active in healthy subjects during verbal fluency tasks, while patients with depression show impaired performance on such tasks. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate changes in cerebral blood oxygenation associated with a verbal fluency task in depressed patients and healthy volunteers. In contrast to 10 age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects who activated the left prefrontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex during word generation, 10 depressed subjects showed attenuated activation in the left prefrontal cortex and did not show significant activation in the anterior cingulate cortex. These findings suggest that impaired performance during verbal fluency task in depressed patients is associated with abnormal neural responses within these regions.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging of tonic pain and vasopressor effects in rats

In functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies, an elevation in blood pressure (BP) in individuals with a poor autoregulatory response may increase cerebral blood flow, potentially enhancing the blood oxygenation level dependent response. To investigate the role of BP changes, the cerebral activation to either tonic pain or the infusion of the vasopressor norepinephrine was correlated with the accompanying BP changes in alpha-chloralose anesthetized rats. Immediately after formalin (2%) injection into the forepaw, fMRI detected an activation that was correlated with the BP increase and additional activations that were independent of blood pressure changes 5–40 minutes later. The activation detected with the administration of the vasopressor norepinephrine, which does not cross the blood-brain barrier was correlated to both the amount and rate of increase in BP. The response ranged from being sparse, localized within cortex or widespread during modest, moderate or severe elevations in BP, respectively. The cerebral circulatory effects of hypertension should be considered as contributing to changes in cerebral blood oxygenation in fMRI studies involving increases in BP.

How Much Cortex Can a Vein Drain? Downstream Dilution of Activation-Related Cerebral Blood Oxygenation Changes

The draining vein problem is recognized as one of the most severe constraints on the spatial resolution of BOLD contrast fMRI, used widely in imaging neuroscience. Changes in blood oxygenation arising from local brain activity-related changes in blood flow propagate downstream in veins and can give rise to spurious activation at sites remote from neuronal activity. The geometry of the venous vasculature is quite regular in structure and is well depicted in photomicrographs. Quantitative analysis of this geometry, together with hydrodynamic considerations, permit upper bounds dependent on the area of cortical neuronal activity to be derived for the spatial extent of draining vein contamination. It is estimated that an activated cortical area of 100 mm 2 will generate an oxygenation change in venous blood that extends without dilution along the vein no more than 4.2 mm beyond the edge of the activated area. At greater distances along the draining vein this oxygenation change will be diluted. The model leads to a quantitative prediction of the functional form of this dilution.

Auditory-evoked cerebral oxygenation changes in hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy of newborn infants monitored by near infrared spectroscopy.

Recent neuronal activation studies have demonstrated the presence of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) increases in response to neuronal activation in normal newborns. In the present study, using near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), we evaluated the evoked cerebral blood oxygenation (CBO) changes in hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) of newborns. We studied 20 normal newborns and 22 HIE newborns; mild HIE (n=9), moderate HIE (n=7), and severe HIE (n=6). The babies were from 1 to 3 days postdelivery. We measured the concentration changes of deoxyhemoglobin (Deoxy-Hb), oxyhemoglobin (Oxy-Hb), and total hemoglobin (Total-Hb) induced by auditory stimulation in the frontal lobes. The normal and HIE groups showed different Oxy-Hb and Total-Hb responses. In normal newborns, 19 out of 20 normal subjects showed increases of Oxy-Hb and Total-Hb, whereas 14 out of 22 subjects showed decreases of Oxy-Hb and Total-Hb during the stimulation (chi(2)=19.95, p<0.001). In addition, there was a strong negative correlation between HIE severity and changes of Total-Hb (r=-0.73, p<0.001). These results suggest that infants with HIE have decreased rCBF in the frontal lobes during auditory stimulation.

Changes of Cerebral Blood Flow, Oxygenation, and Oxidative Metabolism during Graded Motor Activation

In the present studies fMRI and a hypercapnic calibration procedure were used to monitor simultaneous changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF), cerebral blood oxygenation, and cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO2) during activation in the sensorimotor cortex. In the first set of experiments seven volunteers performed bilateral, self-paced finger tapping and in the second set of experiments six volunteers performed bilateral finger tapping with six different frequencies (0.5–3 Hz). During the latter task relative CBF and BOLD signal intensity changes varied linearly as a function of stimulus frequency. In good agreement with recent PET and fMRI data increases in CMRO2 were smaller than the corresponding changes in CBF during self-paced finger tapping and at all levels of graded motor activation. At a single level of activation and during graded activation there was a positive linear relationship between CBF and CMRO2 with ratios of approximately 3:1. Comparable proportionality constants have been found in the visual cortex and primary sensory cortex, indicating similarities between the relationship of CBF and CMRO2 in various cortical regions.

Near-infrared spectroscopy studies on cerebral blood oxygenation changes during brain activation: possible limitations of blood oxygenation level dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging

The noninvasive method of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has recently been used to measure changes of optical parameters such as light absorption of brain tissue. Hemodynamics and oxygenation changes related to brain activation can be evaluated using fNIRS, with the most widely evaluated parameters being oxygenated hemoglobin (Oxy-Hb), deoxygenated hemoglobin (Deoxy-Hb), as well as total hemoglobin, which is the sum of Oxy-Hb and Deoxy-Hb and which reflects cerebral blood flow. The typical response is an increase in concentrations of Oxy-Hb and Total-Hb accompanied by a decrease in Deoxy-Hb; however, a variety of oxygenation and deoxygenation changes have been found, particularly regarding clinical studies and developmental studies of infants and older adults. The findings of increases of Deoxy-Hb as well as decreases of Oxy-Hb and Total-Hb are important for understanding clinical and development changes. In addition, the findings suggest possible limitations or problems with blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD)-fMRI for clinical and developmental studies, and for revealing the complexity of hemodynamics and oxygenation responses.

Cerebral activation patterns in patients with writer's cramp: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

Functional MRI (fMRI), visualizing changes in cerebral blood oxygenation, has to date not been performed either in patients with writer's cramp or in healthy subjects during writing. We compared the cerebral and cerebellar activation pattern of 12 patients with writer's cramp during writing with a group of 10 healthy subjects performing the same tasks over 30-s periods of rest or writing. Sixty echo planar imaging multislice datasets were analysed using SPM96 software. Data were analysed for each subject individually and groupwise for patients vs. controls. Healthy subjects showed a significant activation of the ipsilateral dentate nucleus, contralateral cerebellar hemisphere, contralateral primary sensorimotor cortex, and contralateral precentral gyrus during writing. Patients with writer's cramp showed significantly greater activation of the ipsilateral cerebellar hemisphere than controls. Also the activation in the primary sensorimotor cortex extended further caudally and anteriorly towards the premotor association area. Activation was observed in the thalamus during writing only among the patients. Our results indicate an increased basal ganglia output via the thalamus to the motor and premotor cortical areas in dystonia patients and support the notion of disinhibition of the motor cortex leading to cocontractions and dystonic postures.

Assessment of cerebrovascular reactivity with functional magnetic resonance imaging: comparison of CO 2 and breath holding

Cerebral blood flow (CBF) and oxygenation changes following both a simple breath holding test (BHT) and a CO 2 challenge can be detected with functional magnetic resonance imaging techniques. The BHT has the advantage of not requiring a source of CO 2 and acetazolamide and therefore it can easily be performed during a routine MR examination. In this study we compared global hemodynamic changes induced by breath holding and CO 2 inhalation with blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) and CBF sensitized fMRI techniques. During each vascular challenge BOLD and CBF signals were determined simultaneously with a combined BOLD and flow-sensitive alternating inversion recovery (FAIR) pulse sequence. There was a good correlation between the global BOLD signal intensity changes during breath holding and CO 2 inhalation supporting the notion that the BHT is equivalent to CO 2 inhalation in evaluating the hemodynamic reserve capacity with BOLD fMRI. In contrast, there was no correlation between relative CBF changes during both vascular challenges, which was probably due to the reduced temporal resolution of the combined BOLD and FAIR pulse sequence.

The effect of transient hypercapnia on task-related changes in cerebral blood flow and blood oxygenation in awake normal humans: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

It has recently been reported in alpha-chloralose anesthetized rats that the hemodynamic response to somatosensory stimulation almost doubled following transient hypercapnia (THC). In principle, this effect could be employed to enhance the sensitivity of perfusion-based fMRI experiments. To investigate whether a comparable effect was detectable in awake normal humans, changes in cerebral blood flow (DeltaCBF) and the effective transverse relaxation time (DeltaT(2)*) induced by a visual search task were measured in 10 healthy volunteers before and after THC. Concerning DeltaT(2)* no significant differences were found, whereas in four subjects DeltaCBF was significantly decreased (p < 0.01) following THC. These results demonstrate no increase in the CBF response following THC for awake humans. We conclude that the most likely explanation for this discrepancy with the earlier results obtained with animals is an as yet unknown mechanism of modulation of the cholinergic system by the anesthesia.

Changes in cerebral blood oxygenation of the frontal lobe induced by direct electrical stimulation of thalamus and globus pallidus: a near infrared spectroscopy study

OBJECTIVEBlood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) contrast functional MRI images show activated cortical areas by detecting a reduced concentration of deoxyhaemoglobin (deoxy-Hb) during neuronal activity; however, near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has...

Differences in frontal cortical activation by a working memory task after substitution of risperidone for typical antipsychotic drugs in patients with schizophrenia.

Antipsychotic drug treatment of schizophrenia may be complicated by side effects of widespread dopaminergic antagonism, including exacerbation of negative and cognitive symptoms due to frontal cortical hypodopaminergia. Atypical antipsychotics have been shown to enhance frontal dopaminergic activity in animal models. We predicted that substitution of risperidone for typical antipsychotic drugs in the treatment of schizophrenia would be associated with enhanced functional activation of frontal cortex. We measured cerebral blood oxygenation changes during periodic performance of a verbal working memory task, using functional MRI, on two occasions (baseline and 6 weeks later) in two cohorts of schizophrenic patients. One cohort (n = 10) was treated with typical antipsychotic drugs throughout the study. Risperidone was substituted for typical antipsychotics after baseline assessment in the second cohort (n = 10). A matched group of healthy volunteers (n = 10) was also studied on a single occasion. A network comprising bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal and lateral premotor cortex, the supplementary motor area, and posterior parietal cortex was activated by working memory task performance in both the patients and comparison subjects. A two-way analysis of covariance was used to estimate the effect of substituting risperidone for typical antipsychotics on power of functional response in the patient group. Substitution of risperidone increased functional activation in right prefrontal cortex, supplementary motor area, and posterior parietal cortex at both voxel and regional levels of analysis. This study provides direct evidence for significantly enhanced frontal function in schizophrenic patients after substitution of risperidone for typical antipsychotic drugs, and it indicates the potential value of functional MRI as a tool for longitudinal assessment of psychopharmacological effects on cerebral physiology.

Effects of aging on language-activated cerebral blood oxygenation changes of the left prefrontal cortex: Near infrared spectroscopy study

The use of positron-emission tomography (PET) has shown a variety of age-related alterations in neuronal activity in elderly patients. Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has shown a multiplicity of evoked cerebral blood oxygenation (CBO) changes during cognitive performance. To evaluate the effects of aging on the CBO changes, we compared the CBO changes induced by cognitive tasks between young adults and older adults by using NIRS. Twenty-six participants performed 6 cognitive tasks to evaluate differences among young adults (mean age+/-SD, 28.8+/-4.4 years) and older adults (50.7+/-8.0 years). We monitored CBO changes in the left prefrontal cortex. We classified several common patterns of the NIRS parameter change and compared the frequency of each pattern in both groups. In both groups, the most common NIRS parameter change was an increase in oxyhemoglobin (Oxy-Hb) and total-hemoglobin (Total-Hb), with a decrease in deoxyhemoglobin (Deoxy-Hb). The frequency of this pattern in the older group, however, was considerably lower than in the young group (P<.01). In addition, decreases of Oxy-Hb and Total-Hb during the tasks were more common in the older groups, (P<.0001), suggesting a decrease of regional cerebral blood flow during the tasks. Age effects varied for specific tasks, with results being significant for verbal fluency and reading, (P<.05). During all tasks, older subjects were less likely than younger subjects to have the typical pattern of increases in Oxy-Hb and Total-Hb. In addition, compared with younger subjects, older subjects had a greater frequency of decreases in Oxy-Hb and Total-Hb. The overall results, as well as results for specific tasks, suggest that functional reorganization or alteration of CBO responses may occur during aging.

Cerebral blood oxygenation changes induced by auditory stimulation in newborn infants measured by near infrared spectroscopy.

Recent neuronal activation studies on newborns using functional MRI or near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) have suggested that the increase in O2 consumption accompanying neuronal activation exceeds the increase in O2 delivery in the visual cortex during photic stimulation. In the present study, we evaluated the cerebral blood oxygenation (CBO) changes induced by auditory stimulation in the frontal lobe of newborns using NIRS. We studied 28 newborns; the postnatal age at CBO measurements was 3.1+/-0.3 days (mean+/-S.E.M.). We measured concentration changes of deoxyhemoglobin (Deoxy-Hb), oxyhemoglobin (Oxy-Hb), and total hemoglobin (Total-Hb) induced by auditory (music) stimulation in the bilateral frontal lobes of the newborns. Twenty-six (92.9%) out of 28 subjects showed increases of Oxy-Hb and Total-Hb during the stimulation. In these subjects, 17 (60.7%) subjects showed an increase of Deoxy-Hb associated with increases of Oxy-Hb and Total-Hb, while nine (32.1%) subjects showed a decrease of Deoxy-Hb. Although the direction of the Deoxy-Hb differed, these two groups did not differ for Oxy-Hb and Total-Hb (P > 0.05). Two (7.1%) subjects showed other changes. The frontal lobe of newborns shows CBO responses similar to those observed in the visual cortex, specifically neuronal activation causes an increase of Deoxy-Hb associated with increases of Oxy-Hb and Total-Hb. These results support the hypothesis that increments in O2 consumption exceed increments in O2 delivery during neuronal activity in newborns.