fMRI measurements of amygdala activation are confounded by stimulus correlated signal fluctuation in nearby veins draining distant brain regions.
Sci Rep
; 5: 10499, 2015 May 21.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-25994551
ABSTRACT
Imaging the amygdala with functional MRI is confounded by multiple averse factors, notably signal dropouts due to magnetic inhomogeneity and low signal-to-noise ratio, making it difficult to obtain consistent activation patterns in this region. However, even when consistent signal changes are identified, they are likely to be due to nearby vessels, most notably the basal vein of rosenthal (BVR). Using an accelerated fMRI sequence with a high temporal resolution (TR = 333 ms) combined with susceptibility-weighted imaging, we show how signal changes in the amygdala region can be related to a venous origin. This finding is confirmed here in both a conventional fMRI dataset (TR = 2000 ms) as well as in information of meta-analyses, implying that "amygdala activations" reported in typical fMRI studies are likely confounded by signals originating in the BVR rather than in the amygdala itself, thus raising concerns about many conclusions on the functioning of the amygdala that rely on fMRI evidence alone.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Cerebral Veins
/
Amygdala
Type of study:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
En
Journal:
Sci Rep
Year:
2015
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Austria