Concurrent Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Research Articles

Individual Differences in Stressor-Evoked Blood Pressure Reactivity Vary with Activation, Volume, and Functional Connectivity of the Amygdala

Individuals who exhibit exaggerated blood pressure reactions to psychological stressors are at risk for hypertension, ventricular hypertrophy, and premature atherosclerosis; however, the neural systems mediating exaggerated blood pressure reactivity and associated cardiovascular risk in humans remain poorly defined. Animal models indicate that the amygdala orchestrates stressor-evoked blood pressure reactions via reciprocal signaling with corticolimbic and brainstem cardiovascular-regulatory circuits. Based on these models, we used a multimodal neuroimaging approach to determine whether human individual differences in stressor-evoked blood pressure reactivity vary with amygdala activation, gray matter volume, and functional connectivity with corticolimbic and brainstem areas implicated in stressor processing and cardiovascular regulation. We monitored mean arterial pressure (MAP) and concurrent functional magnetic resonance imaging BOLD signal changes in healthy young individuals while they completed a Stroop color-word stressor task, validated previously in epidemiological studies of cardiovascular risk. Individuals exhibiting greater stressor-evoked MAP reactivity showed (1) greater amygdala activation, (2) lower amygdala gray matter volume, and (3) stronger positive functional connectivity between the amygdala and perigenual anterior cingulate cortex and brainstem pons. Individual differences in amygdala activation, gray matter volume, and functional connectivity with corticolimbic and brainstem circuits may partly underpin cardiovascular disease risk by impacting stressor-evoked blood pressure reactivity.

Noninvasive Tracking of Cardiac Embryonic Stem Cells In Vivo Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging Techniques

Despite rapid advances in the stem cell field, the ability to identify and track transplanted or migrating stem cells in vivo is limited. To overcome this limitation, we used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to detect and follow transplanted stem cells over a period of 28 days in mice using an established myocardial infarction model. Pluripotent mouse embryonic stem (mES) cells were expanded and induced to differentiate into beating cardiomyocytes in vitro. The cardiac-differentiated mES cells were then loaded with superparamagnetic fluorescent microspheres (1.63 microm in diameter) and transplanted into ischemic myocardium immediately following ligation and subsequent reperfusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery. To identify the transplanted stem cells in vivo, MRI was performed using a Varian Inova 4.7 Tesla scanner. Our results show that (a) the cardiac-differentiated mES were effectively loaded with superparamagnetic microspheres in vitro, (b) the microsphere-loaded mES cells continued to beat in culture prior to transplantation, (c) the transplanted mES cells were readily detected in the heart in vivo using noninvasive MRI techniques, (d) the transplanted stem cells were detected in ischemic myocardium for the entire 28-day duration of the study as confirmed by MRI and post-mortem histological analyses, and (e) concurrent functional MRI indicated typical loss of cardiac function, although significant amelioration of remodeling was noted after 28 days in hearts that received transplanted stem cells. These results demonstrate that it is feasible to simultaneously track transplanted stem cells and monitor cardiac function in vivo over an extended period using noninvasive MRI techniques.

Fronto-limbic and autonomic disjunctions to negative emotion distinguish schizophrenia subtypes

Schizophrenia patients show a disconnection in amygdala-medial prefrontal cortex and autonomic arousal systems for processing fear. Concurrent functional magnetic resonance imaging [fMRI] and skin conductance recording were used to determine whether these disturbances are specific to fear, or present in response to other signals of danger. We also examined whether these disturbances distinguish a specific symptom profile. During scanning, 27 schizophrenia (13 paranoid, 14 nonparanoid) and 22 matched healthy control subjects viewed standardized facial expressions of fear, anger and disgust (versus neutral). Skin conductance responses [SCRs]were acquired simultaneously to assess phasic increases in arousal. ‘With-arousal’ versus ‘without-arousal’ responses were analysed using non-parametric methods. For controls, ‘with-arousal’ responses were associated with emotion-specific activity for fear (amygdala), disgust (insula) and anger (anterior cingulate), together with common medial prefrontal cortex [MPFC] engagement, as predicted. Schizophrenia patients displayed abnormally increased phasic arousal, with concomitant reductions in emotion-specific regions and MPFC. These findings may reflect a general disconnection between central and autonomic systems for processing signals of danger. This disjunction was most apparent in patients with a profile of paranoia, coupled with poor social function and insight. Heightened autonomic sensitivity to signals of fear, threat or contamination, without effective neural mechanisms for appraisal, may underlie paranoid delusions which concern threat and contamination, and associated social and interpersonal difficulties.

Mapping frontal-limbic correlates of orienting to change detection

Orienting responses are elicited by salient stimuli, and may be indexed by skin conductance responses. Concurrent functional magnetic resonance imaging and skin conductance response recording was used to identify neural correlates of orienting to abrupt sensory change (infrequent high pitch oddball 'target' tones embedded in frequent lower pitch 'standard' tones) in 16 healthy participants. 'With skin conductance response' responses to targets were distinguished by preferentially greater activity in the amygdala and ventral medial and lateral frontal cortical regions. By contrast, 'without skin conductance response' responses elicited distinctive activity in the dorsal lateral frontal cortex and supramarginal gyrus. These findings suggest that orienting to unexpected sensory change elicits a network for appraising salience and novelty, whereas, in the absence of orienting, a parallel network for sensory and context evaluation is preferentially engaged.

Concurrent TMS-fMRI and Psychophysics Reveal Frontal Influences on Human Retinotopic Visual Cortex

Regions in human frontal cortex may have modulatory top-down influences on retinotopic visual cortex, but to date neuroimaging methods have only been able to provide indirect evidence for such functional interactions between remote but interconnected brain regions. Here we combined transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) with concurrent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), plus psychophysics, to show that stimulation of the right human frontal eye-field (FEF) produced a characteristic topographic pattern of activity changes in retinotopic visual areas V1-V4, with functional consequences for visual perception. FEF TMS led to activity increases for retinotopic representations of the peripheral visual field, but to activity decreases for the central field, in areas V1-V4. These frontal influences on visual cortex occurred in a top-down manner, independently of visual input. TMS of a control site (vertex) did not elicit such visual modulations, and saccades, blinks, or pupil dilation could not account for our results. Finally, the effects of FEF TMS on activity in retinotopic visual cortex led to a behavioral prediction that we confirmed psychophysically by showing that TMS of the frontal site (again compared with vertex) enhanced perceived contrast for peripheral relative to central visual stimuli. Our results provide causal evidence that circuits originating in the human FEF can modulate activity in retinotopic visual cortex, in a manner that differentiates the central and peripheral visual field, with functional consequences for perception. More generally, our study illustrates how the new approach of concurrent TMS-fMRI can now reveal causal interactions between remote but interconnected areas of the human brain.