Reliability of an fMRI paradigm for emotional processing in a multisite longitudinal study

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Multisite neuroimaging studies are valuable for rare patient groups.
• Reliability of emotion processing tasks in multisite settings is under-explored.
• Previous studies focused on working memory and motor tasks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the reliability of emotion processing brain regions in multisite neuroimaging studies.
• To validate multisite paradigms for studying emotion regulation and related disorders.
• To support the use of multisite neuroimaging for rare disease research.

Main Methods:

• A traveling participants study with 8 healthy volunteers scanned twice at 8 sites.
• Generalizability theory applied to assess reliability of brain activation (amygdala, IFG, ACC, insula, fusiform gyrus).
• Voxelwise quantitative meta-analysis of aggregated data from 111 healthy individuals.

Main Results:

• Excellent reliability (Eρ2 > 0.8) for maximum activation in key emotion processing regions.
• Fair to excellent reliability for mean activation across sites and days.
• Habituation in the amygdala showed higher stability (Eρ2 = 0.71) than mean activation.
• Meta-analysis confirmed robust activation in expected emotion processing areas.

Conclusions:

• Multisite neuroimaging demonstrates reliable blood oxygen level-dependent signal in emotion processing areas.
• Findings support the use of multisite paradigms for studying emotion and rare conditions.
• This approach enhances efficiency and knowledge generation in neuroimaging research.