title: One-year test-retest reliability of intrinsic connectivity network fMRI in older adults.
abstract: "Resting-state" or task-free fMRI can assess intrinsic connectivity network (ICN) integrity in health and disease, suggesting a potential for use of these methods as disease-monitoring biomarkers. Numerous analytical options are available, including model-driven ROI-based correlation analysis and model-free, independent component analysis (ICA). High test-retest reliability will be a necessary feature of a successful ICN biomarker, yet available reliability data remains limited. Here, we examined ICN fMRI test-retest reliability in 24 healthy older subjects scanned roughly one year apart. We focused on the salience network, a disease-relevant ICN not previously subjected to reliability analysis, as well as the default mode network. Most ICN analytical methods proved reliable (intraclass coefficients>0.4) and were further improved by wavelet analysis. Seed-based ROI correlation analysis showed high scan-wise reliability, whereas graph theoretical analysis and temporal concatenation group ICA proved most reliable at the individual unit-wise level (voxels, ROIs). Including global signal regression in ROI-based correlation analyses reduced reliability. Our study provides a direct comparison between the most commonly used ICN fMRI methods and potential guidelines for measuring intrinsic connectivity in aging control and patient populations over time.
authors.affiliation: Memory and Aging Center, UCSF Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Christine C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kurth
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Emeran A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Mayer
authors.forename: Simon B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Eickhoff
authors.forename: Joel H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.forename: William W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Seeley
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results