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Abstract #2193

Resting State Functional Connectivity of the Subthalamic Nucleus in Parkinsons Disease Assessed Using Arterial Spin Labeling

Maria A. Fernandez-Seara1, Elisa Mengual2, Marta Vidorreta1, Francis Loayza1, Jaione Irigoyen1, Maria Pastor1

1Neuroscience, CIMA - University of Navarra, Pamplona, Navarra, Spain; 2Anatomy, Medical School - University of Navarra, Pamplona, Navarra, Spain


Arterial spin labeled (ASL) perfusion MRI offers the possibility of measuring cerebral blood flow (CBF) and assessing resting state functional connectivity (FC) by means of evaluating the spatial patterns of synchronous spontaneous fluctuations in the CBF time series. Recent work has shown that ASL FC has statistical power comparable to that of BOLD FC and could provide a better characterization of low frequency fluctuations than BOLD. In this work, ASL FC has been used to study FC connectivity of the STN in healthy controls and to evaluate STN FC alterations in Parkinsons disease.