Simultaneous task-based BOLD-fMRI and [18-F] FDG functional PET for measurement of neuronal metabolism in the human visual cortex

Sharna D Jamadar; Phillip Gd Ward; Shenpeng Li; Francesco Sforazzini; Jakub Baran; Zhaolin Chen; Gary F Egan

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.01.003

Simultaneous task-based BOLD-fMRI and [18-F] FDG functional PET for measurement of neuronal metabolism in the human visual cortex

Neuroimage. 2019 Apr 1:189:258-266. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.01.003. Epub 2019 Jan 4.

Authors

Sharna D Jamadar¹, Phillip Gd Ward², Shenpeng Li³, Francesco Sforazzini⁴, Jakub Baran⁵, Zhaolin Chen⁶, Gary F Egan⁷

Affiliations

¹ Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, 770 Blackburn Rd, Melbourne, 3800, Australia; Monash Institute for Cognitive and Clinical Neurosciences, Monash University, Wellington Rd, Melbourne, 3800, Australia; Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, 770 Blackburn Rd, Melbourne, 3800, Australia. Electronic address: sharna.jamadar@monash.edu.
² Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, 770 Blackburn Rd, Melbourne, 3800, Australia; Monash Institute for Cognitive and Clinical Neurosciences, Monash University, Wellington Rd, Melbourne, 3800, Australia; Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, 770 Blackburn Rd, Melbourne, 3800, Australia. Electronic address: Phillip.ward@monash.edu.
³ Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, 770 Blackburn Rd, Melbourne, 3800, Australia; Department of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering, Monash University, Wellington Rd, Melbourne, 3800, Australia. Electronic address: Shenpeng.li@monash.edu.
⁴ Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, 770 Blackburn Rd, Melbourne, 3800, Australia. Electronic address: Francesco.sforazzini@monash.edu.
⁵ Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, 770 Blackburn Rd, Melbourne, 3800, Australia; Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Rzesow, aleja Tadeusza Rejtana 16C, 35-001, Rzeszów, Poland. Electronic address: Jakubbaran92@gmail.com.
⁶ Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, 770 Blackburn Rd, Melbourne, 3800, Australia; Department of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering, Monash University, Wellington Rd, Melbourne, 3800, Australia. Electronic address: Zhaolin.chen@monash.edu.
⁷ Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, 770 Blackburn Rd, Melbourne, 3800, Australia; Monash Institute for Cognitive and Clinical Neurosciences, Monash University, Wellington Rd, Melbourne, 3800, Australia; Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, 770 Blackburn Rd, Melbourne, 3800, Australia. Electronic address: Gary.egan@monash.edu.

PMID: 30615952
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.01.003

Abstract

Studies of task-evoked brain activity are the cornerstone of cognitive neuroscience, and unravel the spatial and temporal brain dynamics of cognition in health and disease. Blood oxygenation level dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD-fMRI) is one of the most common methods of studying brain function in humans. BOLD-fMRI indirectly infers neuronal activity from regional changes in blood oxygenation and is not a quantitative metric of brain function. Regional variation in glucose metabolism, measured using [18-F] fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET), provides a more direct and interpretable measure of neuronal activity. However, while the temporal resolution of BOLD-fMRI is in the order of seconds, standard FDG-PET protocols provide a static snapshot of glucose metabolism. Here, we develop a novel experimental design for measurement of task-evoked changes in regional blood oxygenation and glucose metabolism with high temporal resolution. Over a 90-min simultaneous BOLD-fMRI/FDG-PET scan, [18F] FDG was constantly infused to 10 healthy volunteers, who viewed a flickering checkerboard presented in a hierarchical block design. Dynamic task-related changes in blood oxygenation and glucose metabolism were examined with temporal resolution of 2.5sec and 1-min, respectively. Task-related, temporally coherent brain networks of haemodynamic and metabolic connectivity were jointly coupled in the visual cortex, as expected. Results demonstrate that the hierarchical block design, together with the infusion FDG-PET technique, enabled both modalities to track task-related neural responses with high temporal resolution. The simultaneous MR-PET approach has the potential to provide unique insights into the dynamic haemodynamic and metabolic interactions that underlie cognition in health and disease.

Keywords: BOLD-fMRI; FDG-PET; Glucose metabolism; Multimodal imaging.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Female
Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
Functional Neuroimaging / methods*
Glucose / metabolism
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods*
Male
Middle Aged
Multimodal Imaging
Pattern Recognition, Visual / physiology*
Positron-Emission Tomography / methods*
Research Design
Time Factors
Visual Cortex / diagnostic imaging*
Visual Cortex / metabolism
Visual Cortex / physiology*
Young Adult

Substances

Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
Glucose