title: Fractal analysis of spontaneous fluctuations of the BOLD signal in rat brain.
abstract: Analysis of task-evoked fMRI data ignores low frequency fluctuations (LFF) of the resting-state the BOLD signal, yet LFF of the spontaneous BOLD signal is crucial for analysis of resting-state connectivity maps. We characterized the LFF of resting-state BOLD signal at 11.7T in α-chloralose and domitor anesthetized rat brain and modeled the spontaneous signal as a scale-free (i.e., fractal) distribution of amplitude power (|A|²) across a frequency range (f) compatible with an |A(f)|² ∝ 1/f(β) model where β is the scaling exponent (or spectral index). We compared β values from somatosensory forelimb area (S1FL), cingulate cortex (CG), and caudate putamen (CPu). With α-chloralose, S1FL and CG β values dropped from ~0.7 at in vivo to ~0.1 at post mortem (p<0.0002), whereas CPu β values dropped from ~0.3 at in vivo to ~0.1 at post mortem (p<0.002). With domitor, cortical (S1FL, CG) β values were slightly higher than with α-chloralose, while subcortical (CPu) β values were similar with α-chloralose. Although cortical and subcortical β values with both anesthetics were significantly different in vivo (p<0.002), at post mortem β values in these regions were not significantly different and approached zero (i.e., range of -0.1 to 0.2). Since a water phantom devoid of susceptibility gradients had a β value of zero (i.e., random), we conclude that deoxyhemoglobin present in voxels post-sacrifice still impacts tissue water diffusion. These results suggest that in the anesthetized rat brain the LFF of BOLD signal at 11.7T follow a general 1/f(β) model of fractality where β is a variable responding to physiology. We describe typical experimental pitfalls which may elude detection of fractality in the resting-state BOLD signal.
authors.affiliation: Magnetic Resonance Research Center, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Herman
authors.forename: Basavaraju G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Sanganahalli
authors.forename: Fahmeed
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hyder
authors.forename: Andras
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eke
mesh_terms: D000768:Anesthesia, General; D000818:Animals; D001923:Brain Chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D017709:Fractals; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; C100003:deoxyhemoglobin; D010100:Oxygen