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Abstract #3658

Optimized fMRI Imaging Protocol & Hardware for Studying the Orbitofrontal Cortex in the Presence of Olfactory Stimulation

Johnny Ng1,2, Heather Berlin3, Wayne Goodman3, Emily Eaves1, David Carpenter1, Cheuk Tang1,3

1Radiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States; 2Biomedical Engineering Dept., City College of New York, New York, NY, United States; 3Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States


Orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is the key structure affected in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). There is a well-established relationship between olfactory identification and the OFC. There are limited studies in this area with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which showed activations in the OFC during olfactory stimulation with pleasant and unpleasant odorant stimuli. There are two main issues which limiting studies in this area: the non-availability of olfactometers and it is problematic imaging OFC due to susceptibility artifacts. The aim of this study is to optimized fMRI imaging protocol for the OFC in OCD patients with the in-house built olfactometer.