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Abstract #2121

The Influence of Voxel-Wise RCBF Covariates in Pharmacological BOLD-FMRI Studies

Fernando O. Zelaya1, Astrid Pauls1, Owen O'Daly1, Matthew Howard1, David Alsop2, Mitul Mehta1

1Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom; 2Beth Israel Hospital, United States


Several physiological modulators have been proposed as a means of reducing the inter-subject variance of BOLD-fMRI signals in group comparisons. In this abstract, we demonstrate that rCBF maps can be used as a voxel-wise co-variate in standard statistical models that compare brain activity maps, obtained from 2 groups of subjects who execute the same cognitive task after administration of a placebo and a psycho-active substance. The rCBF maps allow us to successfully identify statistically significant, drug-dependent differences that would otherwise appear as a type 2 error (false negative) using conventional analysis models.