Mapping the motor cortex with BOLD functional magnetic resonance imaging

• Autor(a) principal: Nunes, Patrícia R.
• Data de Publicação: 2014
• Outros Autores: Tecelão, Sandra R., Nunes, Rita G.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://doi.org/10.25758/set.1034
• topic: BOLD; Córtex motor; Paradigma; Ressonância magnética funcional (RMf); TE (tempo de eco); BOLD; Motor cortex; Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fRMI); Echo time (TE)

Introduction – Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is currently an essential tool for the study of human brain function, both in healthy volunteers and in patients suffering from multiple types of pathology. fMRI is a complex technique that needs to be applied in a careful and rigorous manner, requiring an understanding of its biophysical mechanisms so that reliable results with clinical acceptance can be obtained. The BOLD effect (Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent) is based on the magnetic properties of haemoglobin and it is the most used approach for measuring brain activity using MRI. Goals – To optimise a BOLD fMRI protocol on healthy volunteers for mapping the motor cortex, so that it can be applied to patients in the clinic. Methods – 34 healthy volunteers were divided into 2 study groups: BOLD 1 and BOLD 2. To optimise the acquisition, different paradigms were tested on sub-group BOLD 1. The influence of the echo time (TE) was studied on sub-group BOLD 2. The volume and activation level of the activated regions were compared under different sets of conditions. Results/Discussion – It was possible to identify the motor cortex in all studied individuals. No significant statistical differences were detected when comparing the results obtained with the different acquisition parameters. Conclusion – The protocol was optimised taking into account the level of comfort reported by the volunteers. Given that the goal is to use this protocol to study patients, comfort is a particularly important factor.