title: Functional magnetic resonance imaging brain activation directly from k-space.
abstract: In functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the process of determining statistically significant brain activation is commonly performed in terms of voxel time series measurements after image reconstruction and magnitude-only time series formation. The image reconstruction and statistical activation processes are treated separately. In this manuscript, a framework is developed so that statistical analysis is performed in terms of the original, prereconstruction, complex-valued k-space measurements. First, the relationship between complex-valued (Fourier) encoded k-space measurements and complex-valued image measurements from (Fourier) reconstructed images is reviewed. Second, the voxel time series measurements are written in terms of the original spatiotemporal k-space measurements utilizing this k-space and image relationship. Finally, voxelwise fMRI activation can be determined in image space in terms of the original k-space measurements. Additionally, the spatiotemporal covariance between reconstructed complex-valued voxel time series can be written in terms of the spatiotemporal covariance between complex-valued k-space measurements. This allows one to utilize the originally measured data in its more natural, acquired state rather than in a transformed state. The effects of modeling preprocessing in k-space on voxel activation and correlation can then be examined.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biophysics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA. dbrowe@mcw.edu
authors.forename: Daniel B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Rowe
authors.forename: Andrew D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Hahn
authors.forename: Andrew S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Nencka
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005583:Fourier Analysis; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008959:Models, Neurological; D015233:Models, Statistical; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D013997:Time Factors