Characteristic BOLD signals are detectable in white matter of the spinal cord at rest and after a stimulus

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Sengupta, Anirban; Mishra, Arabinda; Wang, Feng; Chen, Li Min; Gore, John C.
• 署名单位: Vanderbilt University; Vanderbilt University; Vanderbilt University; Vanderbilt University
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-14675
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2316117121
• 发表日期: 2024-05-28
• 关键词: state functional connectivity; brain activity; fmri; networks; activation; pathways

摘要

We report the reliable detection of reproducible patterns of blood- oxygenationlevel- dependent (BOLD) MRI signals within the white matter (WM) of the spinal cord during a task and in a resting state. Previous functional MRI studies have shown that BOLD signals are robustly detectable not only in gray matter (GM) in the brain but also in cerebral WM as well as the GM within the spinal cord, but similar signals in WM of the spinal cord have been overlooked. In this study, we detected BOLD signals in the WM of the spinal cord in squirrel monkeys and studied their relationships with the locations and functions of ascending and descending WM tracts. Tactile sensory stimulus -evoked BOLD signal changes were detected in the ascending tracts of the spinal cord using a general- linear model. Power spectral analysis confirmed that the amplitude at the fundamental frequency of the response to a periodic stimulus was significantly higher in the ascending tracts than the descending ones. Independent component analysis of resting- state signals identified coherent fluctuations from eight WM hubs which correspond closely to the known anatomical locations of the major WM tracts. Resting- state analyses showed that the WM hubs exhibited correlated signal fluctuations across spinal cord segments in reproducible patterns that correspond well with the known neurobiological functions of WM tracts in the spinal cord. Overall, these findings provide evidence of a functional organization of intraspinal WM tracts and confirm that they produce hemodynamic responses similar to GM both at baseline and under stimulus conditions.