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Event-related functional magnetic resonance spectroscopy
Renée S Koolschijn1, William T Clarke2, I Betina Ip3
1Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, FMRIB, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Neuroimage
|May 27, 2023
Summary
Functional magnetic resonance spectroscopy (fMRS) now enables measuring neurochemical dynamics in seconds. This advance offers insights into brain computations supporting human cognition and behavior.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Neuroimaging
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Proton-Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) is a non-invasive technique for measuring brain neurochemical concentrations.
- Traditional single-voxel MRS averages data over minutes, missing rapid neurochemical dynamics crucial for neural computation.
- Understanding dynamic neurochemical changes is vital for linking brain activity to perception, cognition, motor control, and behavior.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review recent advances in functional MRS (fMRS) for obtaining event-related neurochemical measures.
- To provide a user guide for event-related fMRS task designs, sequences, analysis, and interpretation.
- To explore technical considerations for quantifying dynamic changes in key neurotransmitters like GABA.
Main Methods:
- Discusses event-related fMRS, which intermixes experimental conditions in trials for high temporal resolution.
- Highlights the acquisition of spectra at a time resolution of seconds, enabling the capture of rapid neurochemical events.
- Examines protocols for quantifying dynamic changes in GABA, the brain's primary inhibitory neurotransmitter.
Main Results:
- Event-related fMRS allows for the measurement of neurochemical concentrations with a temporal resolution in the order of seconds.
- This technique is sensitive to rapid temporal dynamics of neurochemicals, unlike traditional MRS methods.
- Protocols for quantifying dynamic changes in GABA are examined, demonstrating the feasibility of the approach.
Conclusions:
- Event-related fMRS represents a significant advancement in measuring dynamic neurochemical changes.
- The technique provides temporal resolution relevant to the timescales of neural computations supporting cognition and behavior.
- Further research is needed, but event-related fMRS shows promise for understanding brain function at a dynamic level.
