Amplitude Of Hemodynamic Response Research Articles

Brain Functional Connectivity Networks do not Return to Resting-state During Control Trials in Block Design Experiments.

Many studies on morphology analysis show that if short inter-stimulus intervals separate tasks, the hemodynamic response amplitude will return to the resting-state baseline before the subsequent stimulation onset; hence, responses to successive tasks do not overlap. Accordingly, popular brain imaging analysis techniques assume changes in hemodynamic response amplitude subside after a short time (around 15 seconds). However, whether this assumption holds when studying brain functional connectivity has yet to be investigated. This paper assesses whether or not the functional connectivity network in control trials returns to the resting-state functional connectivity network. Traditionally, control trials in block-design experiments are used to evaluate response morphology to no stimulus. We analyzed data from an event-related experiment with audio and visual stimuli and resting state. Our results showed that functional connectivity networks during control trials were more similar to that of tasks than resting-state networks. In other words, contrary to task-related changes in the hemodynamic amplitude, where responses settle after a short time, the brain's functional connectivity networks do not return to their intrinsic resting-state network in such short intervals.

Frontal Hemodynamic Response During Step Initiation Under Cognitive Conflict in Older and Young Healthy People.

Gait initiation is a daily challenge even for healthy individuals as it requires the timely coupling between the automatic anticipatory postural adjustment (APA) and the voluntary step according to the context. Modulation of this motor event has been thought to involve higher level brain control, including cognitive inhibitory circuitries. Despite the known participation of the supplementary motor area (SMA) in the modulation of some parameters of APA, the participation of areas controlling inhibition during gait initiation still needs to be investigated. In this study, the hemodynamic responses of the SMA and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) were assessed using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) during a gait initiation task under cognitive conflict to select the foot to step (congruent [CON] and incongruent [INC] conditions). The older group (OG) showed worse inhibitory control than the young group (YG) along with more impairments in APA parameters. OG also had a lower amplitude of hemodynamic responses in both areas than YG in the INC. The INC increased the correlation between SMA and DLPFC only in the YG. Aging seems to impair the interaction between the hemodynamic responses of SMA and DLPFC, which influences APA performance in gait initiation under cognitive conflict.

Amygdala subnuclei response and connectivity during emotional processing

The involvement of the human amygdala in emotion-related processing has been studied using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) for many years. However, despite the amygdala being comprised of several subnuclei, most studies investigated the role of the entire amygdala in processing of emotions. Here we combined a novel anatomical tracing protocol with event-related high-resolution fMRI acquisition to study the responsiveness of the amygdala subnuclei to negative emotional stimuli and to examine intra-amygdala functional connectivity. The greatest sensitivity to the negative emotional stimuli was observed in the centromedial amygdala, where the hemodynamic response amplitude elicited by the negative emotional stimuli was greater and peaked later than for neutral stimuli. Connectivity patterns converge with extant findings in animals, such that the centromedial amygdala was more connected with the nuclei of the basal amygdala than with the lateral amygdala. Current findings provide evidence of functional specialization within the human amygdala.

Interneuron Deficit Associates Attenuated Network Synchronization to Mismatch of Energy Supply and Demand in Aging Mouse Brains.

Higher cognitive functions depend critically on synchronized network activity in the gamma range (30-100 Hz), which results from activity of fast-spiking parvalbumin-positive (PV) interneurons. Here, we examined synaptic activity in the gamma band in relation to PV interneuron activity, stimulation-induced calcium activity in neurons and astrocytes, and cerebral blood flow and oxygen responses in the somatosensory cortex of young adult and old adult mice in vivo using electrical whisker pad stimulation. Gamma activity was reduced in old adult mice, and associated with reduced calcium activity of PV interneurons, whereas the overall responses of neurons and astrocytes were unchanged. Hemodynamic responses were highly correlated to the power of synaptic activity in both young adult and old adult mice, but the hemodynamic response amplitude attained was lower in old adult mice. In comparison, the work-dependent rise in O2 use, that is, the rise in the cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO2) evoked by excitatory postsynaptic currents almost doubled in old adult mice. We conclude that PV interneuron function and gamma activity are particularly affected in old adult mice. Alterations in neurovascular coupling and CMRO2 responses may contribute to increased frailty and risk of cognitive decline in aged brains.

Advantages and disadvantages of a fast fMRI sequence in the context of EEG–fMRI investigation of epilepsy patients: A realistic simulation study

EEG–fMRI is an established technique to allow mapping BOLD changes in response to interictal discharges recorded in the EEG of epilepsy patients. Traditional fMRI experiments rely on an echo planar imaging (EPI) sequence with a time resolution given by its time-to-repetition (TR) of ~2s. Recently, multiple fast fMRI sequences have been developed to get around the limited temporal resolution of the EPI sequence, and achieved a TR in the 100ms range or lower. One such sequence is called Magnetic Resonance EncephaloGraphy (MREG). Its high temporal resolution should offer increased detection sensitivity and statistical power in the context of epilepsy studies and in fMRI experiments in general. The aim of this work was to investigate the advantages and disadvantages offered by MREG. This was done by superimposing artificial event-related BOLD responses on EPI and MREG background signals, from 5 epileptic patients, that were free of epileptic discharges (spikes) on simultaneously recorded EEG. These functional datasets simulated different spiking rates and hemodynamic response amplitudes, and were analyzed with the commonly used General Linear Model (GLM) with the canonical hemodynamic response function (HRF) as a fixed model of the response. Robustness to violation of the assumptions of the GLM was additionally assessed with similar simulations using variable spike-to-spike response amplitudes and 8 non-canonical HRFs. Consistent with previous work, MREG yields higher maximum statistical t-values than EPI, but our simulations showed these statistics to be inflated, as the false positive rate at a standard threshold was high. At thresholds set to appropriately control specificity, EPI showed better true positive rate and larger cluster size than MREG. However, the lack of an appropriate calibration of the amplitude of the responses across the sequences precludes definitive judgment on their relative sensitivity. In addition, we show that a mismatch between the assumed and actual HRF impairs more MREG detection performance, but that EPI is more affected by non-modeled spike-to-spike variations of response amplitude. Filtering-out physiological noise, which is not aliased at the fast sampling rate of MREG, and the modeling of temporal autocorrelation are advantageous in increasing the detection power of MREG. This simulation study 1) warrants care when interpreting statistical t-values from fast fMRI sequences, 2) proposes thresholds for valid inferences and processing methods for maximal sensitivities, and 3) demonstrates the relative robustness/susceptibility of MREG and EPI to violation of the GLM's assumptions.

Individual classification of ADHD children by right prefrontal hemodynamic responses during a go/no-go task as assessed by fNIRS.

While a growing body of neurocognitive research has explored the neural substrates associated with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), an objective biomarker for diagnosis has not been established. The advent of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), which is a noninvasive and unrestrictive method of functional neuroimaging, raised the possibility of introducing functional neuroimaging diagnosis in young ADHD children. Previously, our fNIRS-based measurements successfully visualized the hypoactivation pattern in the right prefrontal cortex during a go/no-go task in ADHD children compared with typically developing control children at a group level. The current study aimed to explore a method of individual differentiation between ADHD and typically developing control children using multichannel fNIRS, emphasizing how spatial distribution and amplitude of hemodynamic response are associated with inhibition-related right prefrontal dysfunction. Thirty ADHD and thirty typically developing control children underwent a go/no-go task, and their cortical hemodynamics were assessed using fNIRS. We explored specific regions of interest (ROIs) and cut-off amplitudes for cortical activation to distinguish ADHD children from control children. The ROI located on the border of inferior and middle frontal gyri yielded the most accurate discrimination. Furthermore, we adapted well-formed formulae for the constituent channels of the optimized ROI, leading to improved classification accuracy with an area under the curve value of 85% and with 90% sensitivity. Thus, the right prefrontal hypoactivation assessed by fNIRS would serve as a potentially effective biomarker for classifying ADHD children at the individual level.

Fractal analysis of spontaneous fluctuations of the BOLD signal in the human brain networks

To investigate what extent brain regions are continuously interacting during resting-state, independent component analyses (ICA) was applied to analyze resting-state functional MRI (RS-fMRI) data. According to the analyzed results, it was surprisingly found that low frequency fluctuations (LFFs), which belong to the 1/f signal (a signal with power spectrum whose power spectral density is inversely proportional to the frequency), have been classified into groups using ICA; furthermore, the spatial distributions of these groups within the brain were found to resemble the spatial distributions of different networks, which manifests that the signal characteristics of RS LFFs are distinct across networks. In our work, we applied the 1/f model in the fractal analyses to further investigate this distinction. Twenty healthy participants got involved in this study. They were scanned to acquire the RS-fMRI data. The acquired data were first processed with ICA to obtain the networks of the resting brain. Afterward, the blood-oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signals of these networks were processed with the fractal analyses for obtaining the fractal parameter α. α was found to significantly vary across networks, which reveals that the fractal characteristic of LFFs differs across networks. According to prior literatures, this difference could be brought by the discrepancy of hemodynamic response amplitude (HRA) between networks. Hence, in our work, we also performed the computational simulation to discover the relationship between α and HRA. Based on the simulation results, HRA is highly linear-correlated with the fractal characteristics of LFFs which is revealed by α. Our results support that the origin of RS-fMRI signals contains arterial fluctuations. Hence, in addition to the commonly used method such as synchrony analysis and power spectral analysis, another approach, the fractal analysis, is suggested for acquiring the information of hemodynamic responses by means of RS-fMRI data.

Exploring the role of primary and supplementary motor areas in simple motor tasks with fNIRS

Studies employing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have highlighted a covariation between the amplitude of hemodynamic responses recorded in primary and supplementary motor areas (M1 and SMA) and the duration of a motor task. A subset of these studies have hinted to a possible functional dissociation between processing carried out in these areas, with SMA primarily involved in action preparation, while M1 involved in action execution. This proposed functional dissociation was explored in the present study using a different technique--functional near-infrared spectroscopy--which enabled a finer-grained monitoring of the temporal characteristics of the hemodynamic response compared to fMRI. Here, hemodynamic responses in M1 and SMA were recorded in 7 participants during a right-finger-tapping task of short (1 s) or long (3 s) duration. Hemodynamic responses of larger amplitude were recorded from both contralateral M1 and SMA during long-duration than short-duration tapping. Furthermore, the analysis of the temporal profiles of these responses revealed a more sustained and prolonged activity for long-duration versus short-duration tapping in M1, but not in SMA. Rather than functionally dissociable areas, the present results are more compatible with the hypothesis that M1 and SMA subserve different, though strongly interacting, functional subroutines subtended in motor task preparation and execution.

TMS: A navigator for NIRS of the primary motor cortex?

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a non-invasive optical imaging technique, which is increasingly used to measure hemodynamic responses in the motor cortex. The location at which the NIRS optodes are placed on the skull is a major factor in measuring the hemodynamic responses optimally. In this study, the validity of using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in combination with a 3D motion analysis system to relocate the TMS derived position was tested. In addition, the main goal was to quantify the advantage of using TMS to locate the optimal position in relation to the most commonly used EEG C3 position. Markers were placed on the TMS coil and on the head of the subject. In eleven subjects, a TMS measurement was performed to determine the individual motor-evoked potential center-of-gravity (MEP-CoG). This procedure was repeated in nine subjects to test the validity. Subsequently, hemodynamic responses were measured at the MEP-CoG position and at the C3 position during a thumb abduction and adduction task. On average, the MEP-CoG location was located 19.2mm away from the C3 position. The reproducibility study on the MEP-CoG relocation procedure revealed no systematic relocations. No differences in early and delayed hemodynamic responses were found between the C3 and MEP-CoG position. These results indicate that using TMS for NIRS optodes positioning on the motor cortex does not result in higher hemodynamic response amplitudes. This could be explained if NIRS and TMS assess slightly different functions.

BOLD responses in the superior colliculus and lateral geniculate nucleus of the rat viewing an apparent motion stimulus

In rats, the superior colliculus (SC) is a main destination for retinal ganglion cells and is an important subcortical structure for vision. Electrophysiology studies have observed that many SC neurons are highly sensitive to moving objects, but complementary non-invasive functional imaging studies with larger fields of view have been rarely conducted. In this study, BOLD fMRI is used to measure the SC and nearby lateral geniculate nucleus' (LGN) hemodynamic responses, in normal adult Sprague Dawley (SD) rats, during a dynamic visual stimulus similar to those used in long-range apparent motion studies. The stimulation paradigm consists of four light spots arranged in a linear array and turned on and off sequentially at different rates to create five effective speeds of motion (7, 14, 41, 82, and 164°/s across the visual field). Stationary periods (same light spot always on) are interleaved between the moving periods. The speed response function (SRF), the hemodynamic response amplitude at each speed tested, is measured. Significant responses are observed in the SC and LGN at all speeds. In the SC, the SRF increases monotonically from 7 to 82°/s. The minimum response amplitude occurs at 164°/s. The results suggest that the SC is sensitive to slow moving visual stimuli but the hemodynamic response is reduced at higher speeds. In the LGN, the SRF exhibits a similar trend to that of the SC, but response amplitude during 7°/s stimulation is comparable to that during 164°/s stimulation. These findings are in good agreement with previous electrophysiology studies conducted on albino rats like the SD strain. This work represents the first fMRI study of stimulus speed dependence in the SC and is also the first fMRI study of motion responsiveness in the rat.

MODELING COUPLED DIAMETER AND HEMODYNAMIC OSCILLATIONS IN ARTERIOLAR NETWORKS

Regulation of convective O2 supply to capillary beds in organs is accomplished by coordinated changes in upstream arteriolar diameter. To study this regulation system, in vivo experiments have been performed using a gas exchange chamber to sinusoidally oscillate the O2 environment at the surface of a rat skeletal muscle. Capillary hematocrit (H) changes were delayed by several seconds relative to changes in red cell velocity (V) and the delay varied with the animal suggesting geometry dependence. To assess how alterations in diameters led to observed hemodynamics, a computational model was developed that couples variations in network blood flow to conducted diameter changes. The model uses an arteriolar tree that was constructed based on measured data in rat skeletal muscle and a two‐phase (red cells and plasma) time‐dependent model of microvascular blood flow. The initial response to imposed surface O2 oscillations was simulated by applying diameter oscillations at the distal ends of selected terminal arterioles. The model was used to calculate hemodynamic oscillations in the network and, in particular, examine how the transit time for red cells in the network could lead to the observed delay in changes in H relative to those in V. Initial results show similarities to experimental observations, including decreases in hemodynamic response amplitude with increases in forcing frequency and a delay in H relative to V.

Functional brain networks in schizophrenia: a review

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has become a major technique for studying cognitive function and its disruption in mental illness, including schizophrenia. The major proportion of imaging studies focused primarily upon identifying regions which hemodynamic response amplitudes covary with particular stimuli and differentiate between patient and control groups. In addition to such amplitude based comparisons, one can estimate temporal correlations and compute maps of functional connectivity between regions which include the variance associated with event-related responses as well as intrinsic fluctuations of hemodynamic activity. Functional connectivity maps can be computed by correlating all voxels with a seed region when a spatial prior is available. An alternative are multivariate decompositions such as independent component analysis (ICA) which extract multiple components, each of which is a spatially distinct map of voxels with a common time course. Recent work has shown that these networks are pervasive in relaxed resting and during task performance and hence provide robust measures of intact and disturbed brain activity. This in turn bears the prospect of yielding biomarkers for schizophrenia, which can be described both in terms of disrupted local processing as well as altered global connectivity between large-scale networks. In this review we will summarize functional connectivity measures with a focus upon work with ICA and discuss the meaning of intrinsic fluctuations. In addition, examples of how brain networks have been used for classification of disease will be shown. We present work with functional network connectivity, an approach that enables the evaluation of the interplay between multiple networks and how they are affected in disease. We conclude by discussing new variants of ICA for extracting maximally group discriminative networks from data. In summary, it is clear that identification of brain networks and their inter-relationships with fMRI has great potential to improve our understanding of schizophrenia.

Model-based analysis of rapid event-related functional near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) data: A parametric validation study

To validate the usefulness of a model-based analysis approach according to the general linear model (GLM) for functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) data, a rapid event-related paradigm with an unpredictable stimulus sequence was applied to 15 healthy subjects. A parametric design was chosen wherein four differently graded contrasts of a flickering checkerboard were presented, allowing directed hypotheses about the rank order of the evoked hemodynamic response amplitudes. The results indicate the validity of amplitude estimation by three main findings (a) the GLM approach for fNIRS data is capable to identify human brain activation in the visual cortex with inter-stimulus intervals of 4–9 s (6.5 s average) whereas in non-visual areas no systematic activation was detectable; (b) the different contrast level intensities lead to the hypothesized rank order of the GLM amplitude parameters: visual cortex activation evoked by highest contrast>moderate contrast>lowest contrast>no stimulation; (c) analysis of null-events (no stimulation) did not produce any significant activation in the visual cortex or in other brain areas.We conclude that a model-based GLM approach delivers valid fNIRS amplitude estimations and enables the analysis of rapid event-related fNIRS data series, which is highly relevant in particular for cognitive fNIRS studies.

The hemodynamics of oddball processing during single-tone and two-tone target detection tasks

Event-related potential (ERP) studies have shown that the neural systems engaged during performance of oddball tasks are sensitive to contextual manipulations, such as the number of stimulus classes. Some ERP components (i.e., N1) are modulated by the number of stimulus types, while others (i.e., P3) are not greatly affected. However, little is known about how these contextual manipulations affect the hemodynamics underlying oddball processing. The purpose of this study was to examine the hemodynamic correlates of target stimulus processing in single-tone (targets alone) and two-tone (targets and standard tones) auditory oddball tasks. The primary hypothesis was that processing of salient stimuli in both contextual conditions would engage the same spatially distributed cortical and subcortical networks observed in previous oddball fMRI studies. Results were consistent with this hypothesis and suggest that the brain engages many potentially useful brain regions during salient stimulus processing despite the low probability that said regions are necessary for task performance, which likely reflects a form of “adaptive reflexive processing”. Results were also consistent with ERP data that shows that the N1 is larger for single-tone tasks by showing greater amplitude of hemodynamic response for single-tone targets, relative to two-tone targets, in bilateral temporal cortex and bilateral inferior lateral frontal cortex. The results are discussed as they relate to the understanding of neurocognitive function pertaining to contextual manipulations in general, and orienting processes in particular.

Low-dose estradiol alters brain activity

Although several studies have examined the effects of estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) on neural activity associated with tasks of learning and memory, no study has examined such effects on a sustained attention task. This study examined the effect of low-dose estrogen replacement therapy on hemodynamic activity elicited by a visual three-stimulus oddball task recorded using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants included 16 women between the ages of 73 and 84 who were part of a randomized controlled double-blind study to evaluate the effect of an ultralow dose micronized estradiol on bone. No significant differences in behavioral performance were found with ERT. However, there was evidence that ERT group participants had both reductions and increases in the amplitude of hemodynamic response in a variety of subcortical and cortical brain regions. These included regions involved in perception and attention such as the occipital and parietal lobes, motor cortex, anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortex. These findings suggest that estrogen may facilitate the efficiency of brain function during the performance of sustained attention tasks in post-menopausal elderly women.

Abstinence-Induced Changes in Self-Report Craving Correlate with Event-Related fMRI Responses to Smoking Cues

Drug cues have been shown to activate brain regions involved in attention, motivation, and reward in addicted users. However, as studies have typically measured responses in only one state (ie drug abstinence), it is unclear whether observed activations represent amplification by abstinence or stable responses. Thus, the present study was designed to evaluate the stability of event-related responses to visual drug cues in dependent smokers (n=13) using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging measures. Imaging was conducted following smoking as usual and following overnight abstinence, and self-reported craving measures were obtained before, during, and after scanning. Analysis of hemodynamic response (HDR) amplitudes in each of 13 regions of interest revealed larger responses to smoking compared to control cues in ventral anterior cingulate gyrus (vACG) and superior frontal gyrus. Responses to smoking cues in these and all other regions revealed no effects of abstinence/satiety, thus supporting the notion that cue-elicited brain responses are relatively stable. However, while the abstinence manipulation did not alter group-level responses to smoking cues, at the individual level, abstinence-induced changes in craving (abstinence minus satiety) were positively correlated with changes in HDR amplitude to smoking cues in frontal regions including left inferior frontal gyrus, left vACG, and bilateral middle frontal gyrus. These results suggest that brain responses to smoking cues, while relatively stable at the group level following short-term abstinence, may be modulated by individual differences in craving in response to abstinence-particularly in regions subserving attention and motivation.

Delayed hemodynamic responses in schizophrenia

While there are many reports of reduced amplitude of hemodynamic responses in schizophrenia, there are no reports of delayed hemodynamic responses, in spite of event-related brain potential (ERP) evidence of slowed neural responses. Recently, Henson et al. (2002) [Henson, R., Price, C., Rugg, M., Turner, R., Friston, K., 2002. Detecting latency differences in event-related BOLD responses: application to words versus nonwords and initial versus repeated face presentations. NeuroImage, 15:83–97] proposed a new method for testing small latency effects (<2 s) in hemodynamic responses. fMRI data were collected during a visual oddball task with infrequent (12%) targets (K) and frequent (88%) standards (X), presented every 1–3 s pseudorandomly, with 7–24 s between targets. SPM99 yielded parameter estimates for the hemodynamic response and its temporal derivative (TD). Beta images reflecting hemodynamic response magnitude to target stimuli were minimally thresholded ( P < 0.05, uncorrected), and latencies were estimated for surviving voxels using TD and hemodynamic response beta values. DSM-IV schizophrenia patients ( n = 12) and sex- and age-matched healthy control subjects ( n = 12) were recruited from the community. Although groups differed only minimally in activation height, hemodynamic responses were significantly delayed in basal ganglia, thalamus, and anterior cingulate in patients with schizophrenia. Psychomotor slowing reflected in reaction times to targets recorded outside the magnet was related to hemodynamic slowing in basal ganglia, anterior cingulate, thalamus, as well as left cerebellum in controls. Delays in the hemodynamic response have far-reaching implications for understanding the pathophysiology of schizophrenia from slowed neural responses to slowed substrate delivery, and depending of the degree of delay, may raise methodological issues regarding modeling hemodynamic responses in patients and controls.

Functional Anatomy of Biological Motion Perception in Posterior Temporal Cortex: An fMRI Study of Eye, Mouth and Hand Movements

Passive viewing of biological motion engages extensive regions of the posterior temporal-occipital cortex in humans, particularly within and nearby the superior temporal sulcus (STS). Relatively little is known about the functional specificity of this area. Some recent studies have emphasized the perceived intentionality of the motion as a potential organizing principle, while others have suggested the existence of a somatotopy based upon the limb perceived in motion. Here we conducted an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment to compare activity elicited by movement of the eyes, mouth or hand. Each motion evoked robust activation in the right posterior temporal-occipital cortex. While there was substantial overlap of the activation maps in this region, the spatial distribution of hemodynamic response amplitudes differentiated the movements. Mouth movements elicited activity along the mid-posterior STS while eye movements elicited activity in more superior and posterior portions of the right posterior STS region. Hand movements activated more inferior and posterior portions of the STS region within the posterior continuing branch of the STS. Hand-evoked activity also extended into the inferior temporal, middle occipital and lingual gyri. This topography may, in part, reflect the role of particular body motions in different functional activities.

Hemodynamic correlates of stimulus repetition in the visual and auditory cortices: an fMRI study

We examined the effects of stimulus repetition upon the evoked hemodynamic response (HDR) in auditory and visual cortices measured by magnetic resonance imaging in two experiments. Experiment 1 focused on the effects of the interval duration between two identical stimuli on HDR. Pure auditory tones (1000 Hz) of 100-ms duration were presented singly or in pairs with intrapair intervals (IPIs: onset-to-onset) of 1, 4, and 6 s. In Experiment 2, using a within-subject design, we aimed to compare the HDR refractory period in both sensory cortices as well as the HDRs to auditory and visual stimuli. Identical auditory tone as described above and visual stimuli of 500-ms high-contrast checkerboard patterns were presented singly or in identical pairs with an IPI of 1 s. Images were acquired at 1.5 T using a gradient-echo echo-planar imaging sequence sensitive to blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) contrast. Experiment 1 revealed that the HDR evoked by an auditory stimulus is followed by a refractory period of 4–6 s in the auditory cortex, as indicated by smaller HDR amplitudes to the second of each pair of stimuli. Furthermore, peak latency was dependent upon IPI, with longer latencies observed for shorter IPIs. Experiment 2 revealed that the HDR evoked in both sensory cortices by paired stimulus presentations is suppressed and delayed similarly by the refractory effects imposed by the preceding stimulus, suggesting similar refractory properties of the HDR at this specific IPI. We also provide evidence for additional neural resource allocation in response to repeated stimuli.

The functional magnetic resonance imaging hemodynamic response to faces remains stable until the ninth decade

The effects of aging on blood oxygen level dependent signal changes and the hemodynamic response (HDR) remain controversial. Using functional magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, we examined the HDR properties and activated voxel counts in striate and extrastriate cortex in 18 healthy elderly subjects in response to a simple visual paradigm. Subjects of equal number and gender were prospectively separated into groups from the seventh, eighth, and ninth decades. Activation data were compared with those of 6 healthy subjects aged 30–39 under the same conditions. We found no systematic difference in HDR amplitude, shape, or latency across these groups. However, increasing age over 60 was associated with a significant decline in activated voxel counts, relative to the young controls. The results are discussed in comparison with previously published studies and in the context of the effects of aging on MR signal change. While robust activation can be produced in the striate and extrastriate cortices until the end of the ninth decade, caution should be exercised when comparing data from subjects in different decades. As functional magnetic resonance imaging is increasingly being used to examine patients with stroke and dementia, these results emphasize the importance of careful selection and age matching of control subjects when comparing with a patient population affected by disease processes associated with aging.