title: Assessing study-specific regional variations in fMRI signal.
abstract: In this paper, we present a post hoc method for identifying regions where functional MRI data are subject to signal reduction that may compromise sensitivity to activations. The motivation for developing this technique derives from recent language studies that showed responses in the inferior temporal lobe that could be detected by PET but not by fMRI. Reduced signal is due mostly to susceptibility artifacts and can be identified by comparing the T2* images (which are subject to susceptibility artifacts) with T2 images (which are not). However, T2 images are not usually acquired in fMRI studies. Therefore, we propose that areas with reduced signal can be identified by comparing T2* images that are corrected for nonuniformity with the original uncorrected images. The technique provides a voxel-wise characterization of signal reduction that pertains to the particular data that enter into a statistical model. It requires only the functional data and can thus be applied post hoc and without any additional scans.
authors.affiliation: The Wellcome Department of Cognitive Neurology, Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lipschutz
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Friston
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ashburner
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Price
mesh_terms: D016477:Artifacts; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging