Title
Effects of low-field magnetic stimulation on brain glucose metabolism
Abstract
Echo planar imaging (EPI), the gold standard technique for functional MRI (fMRI), is based on fast magnetic field gradient switching. These time-varying magnetic fields induce electric (E) fields in the brain that could influence neuronal activity; but this has not been tested. Here we assessed the effects of EPI on brain glucose metabolism (marker of brain function) using PET and 18F 2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (18FDG). Fifteen healthy subjects were in a 4 T magnet during the 18FDG uptake period twice: with (ON) and without (OFF) EPI gradients pulses along the z-axis (Gz: 23 mT/m; 250 μs rise-time; 920 Hz). The E-field from these EPI pulses is non-homogeneous, increasing linearly from the gradient's isocenter (radial and z directions), which allowed us to assess the correlation between local strength of the E-field and the regional metabolic differences between ON and OFF sessions. Metabolic images were normalized to metabolic activity in the plane positioned at the gradient's isocenter where E=0 for both ON and OFF conditions. Statistical parametric analyses used to identify regions that differed between ON versus OFF (p<0.05, corrected) showed that the relative metabolism was lower in areas at the poles of the brain (inferior occipital and frontal and superior parietal cortices) for ON than for OFF, which was also documented with individual region of interest analysis. Moreover the magnitude of the metabolic decrements was significantly correlated with the estimated strength of E (r=0.68, p<0.0001); the stronger the E-field the larger the decreases. However, we did not detect differences between ON versus OFF conditions on mood ratings nor on absolute whole brain metabolism. This data provides preliminary evidence that EPI sequences may affect neuronal activity and merits further investigation.
Year
DOI
Venue
2010
10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.02.015
NeuroImage
Keywords
Field
DocType
Brain imaging,Echo planar,Brain glucose metabolism,fMRI
Internal medicine,Chemistry,Low field magnetic stimulation,Endocrinology,Carbohydrate metabolism
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
51
2
1053-8119
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
0
0.34
0
Authors
10
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Nora D Volkow16711.55
Dardo Tomasi2728.74
Gene-Jack Wang34410.04
Joanna S. Fowler4387.50
Frank Telang5224.24
Ruiliang Wang641.55
Dave Alexoff7123.00
Jean Logan8245.52
Christopher Wong9276.26
Kith Pradhan10112.06