Quantitative comparison of functional contrast from BOLD-weighted spin-echo and gradient-echo echoplanar imaging at 1.5 Tesla and H2 15O PET in the whole brain

Spin-echo and gradient-echo echoplanar functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies at 1.5 Tesla (T) were used to obtain blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) contrast images of the whole brain in seven strongly right-handed women during execution of a complex motor task. Five subjects underwent subsequent H215O positron emission tomography (PET) studies while performing the same task. Group-averaged results for changes in the MRI relaxation rates R2* and R2 at 1.5T in response to neuronal activation in nine cortical, subcortical, and cerebellar motor regions are reported. Results for each method are grouped according to tissue type-cerebral cortex (precentral gyrus and supplementary motor area), subcortical regions (thalamus and putamen), and cerebellar cortex (superior lobule). The observed changes in R2* from activation-induced oxygenation changes were more variable across brain regions with different tissue characteristics than observed changes in R2. The ratio of deltaR2* to deltaR2 was 3.3 +/- 0.9 for cerebral cortex and 2.0 +/- 0.6 for subcortical tissue. deltaR2*, deltaR2, and relative blood flow changes were deltaR2* = -0.201 +/- 0.040 (s-1), deltaR2 = -0.064 +/- 0.011 s(-1), and deltaf/f = 16.7 +/- 0.8% in the cerebral cortex; deltaR2* = -0.100 +/- 0.026 s(-1), deltaR2 = -0.049 +/- 0.009 s(-1), and deltaf/f = 9.4 +/- 0.7% in the subcortical regions; and deltaR2* = -0.215 +/- 0.093 s(-1), deltaR2 = -0.069 +/- 0.012 s(-1), and deltaf/f = 16.2 +/- 1.2% in the cerebellar cortex.