Uncoupled Couplings: Combined FMRI and 1H-MRS for the Study of the Neurovascular and Neurometabolic Coupling

Mauro DiNuzzo¹, Federico Giove^1,2, Bruno Maraviglia^1,2

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is widely used to map brain function. Nevertheless, it does measure neural activity only indirectly via hemodynamic changes. Here we performed fMRI in combination with 1H-MRS in order to study the relationships between the vascular and metabolic response of the brain to a visual stimulation paradigm specifically designed to partly disentangle spiking and synaptic activity within the primary visual cortex. Our results, though preliminary, confirm that the energetics of the stimulated brain contains more information than that revealed by fMRI alone, thereby indicating an uncoupling between hemodynamics and metabolism upon brain activation.