Test–retest stability of spontaneous brain activity and functional connectivity in the core resting‐state networks assessed with ultrahigh field 7‐Tesla resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging

Human Brain Mapping, vol. 43, pp. 2026–2040

Abstract

The growing demand for precise and reliable biomarkers in psychiatry is fueling research interest in the hope that identifying quantifiable indicators will improve diagnoses and treatment planning across a range of mental health conditions. The individual properties of brain networks at rest have been highlighted as a possible source for such biomarkers, with the added advantage that they are relatively straightforward to obtain. However, an important prerequisite for their consideration is their reproducibility. While the reliability of resting-state (RS) measurements has often been studied at standard field strengths, they have rarely been investigated using ultrahigh-field (UHF) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems. We investigated the intersession stability of four functional MRI RS parameters-amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and fractional ALFF (fALFF; representing the spontaneous brain activity), regional homogeneity (ReHo; measure of local connectivity), and degree centrality (DC; measure of long-range connectivity)-in three RS networks, previously shown to play an important role in several psychiatric diseases-the default mode network (DMN), the central executive network (CEN), and the salience network (SN). Our investigation at individual subject space revealed a strong stability for ALFF, ReHo, and DC in all three networks, and a moderate level of stability in fALFF. Furthermore, the internetwork connectivity between each network pair was strongly stable between CEN/SN and moderately stable between DMN/SN and DMN/SN. The high degree of reliability and reproducibility in capturing the properties of the three major RS networks by means of UHF-MRI points to its applicability as a potentially useful tool in the search for disease-relevant biomarkers.

Authors 8

1. Hasan Sbaihat Aachen Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics

   RWTH Aachen University · Forschungszentrum Jülich · Arab American University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Medical Imaging Arab‐American University Palestine (AAUP) Jenin Palestine

   Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics RWTH Aachen University Aachen Germany

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, INM‐4 Jülich Germany

   Department of Medical Imaging, Arab-American University Palestine (AAUP), Jenin, Palestine

   Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

2. Ravichandran Rajkumar Aachen Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics

   RWTH Aachen University · Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Aachen Research Alliance

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics RWTH Aachen University Aachen Germany

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, INM‐4 Jülich Germany

   JARA—BRAIN—Translational Medicine Aachen Germany

   Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

3. Shukti Ramkiran Aachen Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics

   RWTH Aachen University · Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Aachen Research Alliance

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics RWTH Aachen University Aachen Germany

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, INM‐4 Jülich Germany

   JARA—BRAIN—Translational Medicine Aachen Germany

   Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

4. Abed Al‐Nasser Assi

   Arab American University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Medical Imaging Arab‐American University Palestine (AAUP) Jenin Palestine

   Department of Medical Imaging, Arab-American University Palestine (AAUP), Jenin, Palestine

5. Jörg Felder

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, INM‐4 Jülich Germany

6. Nadim Jon Shah Aachen Department of Neurology

   RWTH Aachen University · Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Aachen Research Alliance

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Neurology RWTH Aachen University Aachen Germany

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, INM‐11, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH Jülich Germany

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, INM‐4 Jülich Germany

   JARA—BRAIN—Translational Medicine Aachen Germany

   Department of Neurology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

7. Tanja Veselinović Aachen Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics RWTH Aachen University Aachen Germany

   Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

8. Irene Neuner corresponding Aachen Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics

   RWTH Aachen University · Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Aachen Research Alliance

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics RWTH Aachen University Aachen Germany

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, INM‐4 Jülich Germany

   JARA—BRAIN—Translational Medicine Aachen Germany

   Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany