Lateralization of amygdala activation in fMRI may depend on phase-encoding polarity

Krystyna A. Mathiak1,2,3, Mikhail Zvyagintsev4,5, Hermann Ackermann2, Klaus Mathiak4,5,6
1Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
2Center for Neurology, Hertie Institute, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
3Graduate School of Neural and Behavioural Sciences, International Max Planck Research School, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
4Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
5JARA-Translational Brain Research, Jülich, Germany
6INM-1, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany

Tóm tắt

Susceptibility artifacts along the phase-encoding (PE) direction impact the activation pattern in the amygdala and may lead to systematic asymmetries. We implemented a triple-echo echo-planar imaging (EPI) sequence, acquiring opposite PE polarities along left–right PE direction in a single shot, to investigate its effects on amygdala lateralization. Twelve subjects viewed emotional faces to evoke amygdala activation. A region of interest analysis revealed that the lateralization of amygdala responses depended on the PE polarity thus representing a pure method artifact. Alternating PE with multi-echo EPI reduced the artifact. Lateralized fMRI activation in areas with magnetic field inhomogeneities need to be interpreted with caution.

Tài liệu tham khảo

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