Identification of synchronous BOLD signal patterns in white matter of primate spinal cord

Functional MRI studies of the brain have shown that blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) signals are robustly detectable not only in gray matter (GM) but also in white matter (WM). Here, we report the detection and characteristics of BOLD signals in WM of spinal cord (SC) of squirrel monkeys. Tactile stimulus-evoked BOLD signal changes were detected in the ascending sensory tracts of SC using a General-Linear Model (GLM) as well as Independent Component Analysis (ICA). ICA of resting state signals identified coherent fluctuations from eight WM hubs which correspond closely with known anatomical locations of SC WM tracts. Resting state analyses showed that the WM hubs exhibited correlated signal fluctuations within and between SC segments in specific patterns that correspond well with the known neurobiological functions of WM tracts in SC. Overall, these findings suggest WM BOLD signals in SC show similar features as GM both at baseline and under stimulus conditions.