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Functional MR study of a motor task and the Tower of London task at 1.0 T

  • Functional Neuroradiology
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Abstract

Introduction

The use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) for clinical applications and basic neuroscience is constantly increasing. The discussion about minimum performance requirement for a correct implementation of fMRI is still open, and one of the critical points is the magnetic field strength. We tested the feasibility of fMRI at 1.0 T during motor and cognitive tasks.

Methods

Fourteen healthy subjects were scanned during a motor task and 12 while performing the Tower of London task. In the activated areas, the percentage signal change due to BOLD (blood oxygenation level dependent) contrast was analysed. To check basic image quality of the acquisition system we measured quality indices in a temporal series of images of a phantom.

Results

Motor and cognitive brain activations matched previous results obtained at higher field strengths. The mean percentage change over subjects in the motor task was in the range 1.3–2.6% for the primary motor area and 0.8–6.7% for the cerebellum. In the cognitive task, the mean percentage change over subjects was 0.7–1.2% for a frontal area and 0.6–2.8% for a parietal area. The percentage noise of the phantom temporal series was less than 0.4%. Percentage changes and signal to noise ratio, although lower than that obtained with high-field systems, allowed activation maps to be obtained in all subjects.

Conclusion

Our results replicate previous fMRI results demonstrating reproducible motor-related brain activations and extend the field to a complex cognitive task, thus providing evidence of the safety for routine clinical use of 1-T equipment.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by grants from both “Compagnia di San Paolo” and “Ricerca Sanitaria Finalizzata 2004 - Regione Piemonte”.

Conflict of interest statement

We declare that we have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. II Division of Clinical Neurology, Department of Neuroscience, University of Turin, Via Cherasco 15, 10126, Turin, Italy

    F. Avidano, C. Manzone, P. Mortara & L. Orsi

  2. Neuroradiology, Department of Neuroscience, University of Turin, Via Cherasco 15, 10126, Turin, Italy

    M. Bergui, M. Coriasco & G. B. Bradac

  3. Medical Physics, S.G. Battista Hospital, C. so Bramante 88, 10126, Turin, Italy

    O. Rampado & R. Ropolo

  4. Section of Neuroradiology, Department of Radiodiagnostics, S. Croce Hospital, Via M. Coppino 26, 12100, Cuneo, Italy

    A. Boghi

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  1. A. Boghi
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  3. M. Bergui
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  4. F. Avidano
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  8. L. Orsi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. Boghi.

Additional information

A.B. and O.R. contributed equally to the realization of the study and to the drafting of the paper.

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Boghi, A., Rampado, O., Bergui, M. et al. Functional MR study of a motor task and the Tower of London task at 1.0 T. Neuroradiology 48, 763–771 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-006-0119-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-006-0119-7

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