title: In vivo functional connectome of human brainstem nuclei of the ascending arousal, autonomic, and motor systems by high spatial resolution 7-Tesla fMRI.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Our aim was to map the in vivo human functional connectivity of several brainstem nuclei with the rest of the brain by using seed-based correlation of ultra-high magnetic field functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used the recently developed template of 11 brainstem nuclei derived from multi-contrast structural MRI at 7 Tesla as seed regions to determine their connectivity to the rest of the brain. To achieve this, we used the increased contrast-to-noise ratio of 7-Tesla fMRI compared with 3 Tesla and time-efficient simultaneous multi-slice imaging to cover the brain with high spatial resolution (1.1-mm isotropic nominal resolution) while maintaining a short repetition time (2.5 s).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The delineated Pearson's correlation-based functional connectivity diagrams (connectomes) of 11 brainstem nuclei of the ascending arousal, motor, and autonomic systems from 12 controls are presented and discussed in the context of existing histology and animal work.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Considering that the investigated brainstem nuclei play a crucial role in several vital functions, the delineated preliminary connectomes might prove useful for future in vivo research and clinical studies of human brainstem function and pathology, including disorders of consciousness, sleep disorders, autonomic disorders, Parkinson's disease, and other motor disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Building 149, Room 2301, 13th Street, Charlestown, Boston, MA, 02129, USA. martab@nmr.mgh.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bianciardi
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Building 149, Room 2301, 13th Street, Charlestown, Boston, MA, 02129, USA.|Medical Physics Section, Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Via Montpellier 1, 00133, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Toschi
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Building 149, Room 2301, 13th Street, Charlestown, Boston, MA, 02129, USA.
authors.forename: Cornelius
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Eichner
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Building 149, Room 2301, 13th Street, Charlestown, Boston, MA, 02129, USA.
authors.forename: Jonathan R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Polimeni
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Building 149, Room 2301, 13th Street, Charlestown, Boston, MA, 02129, USA.
authors.forename: Kawin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Setsompop
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Emery N
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Building 149, Room 2301, 13th Street, Charlestown, Boston, MA, 02129, USA.
authors.forename: Matti S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Hämäläinen
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Building 149, Room 2301, 13th Street, Charlestown, Boston, MA, 02129, USA.
authors.forename: Bruce R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Rosen
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Building 149, Room 2301, 13th Street, Charlestown, Boston, MA, 02129, USA.
authors.forename: Lawrence L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Wald
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D001143:Arousal; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D063132:Connectome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000473:pathology; D011336:Probability; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: 7 Tesla; Functional connectome; High spatial resolution; Human brainstem nuclei; In vivo; Simultaneous multi-slice imaging