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Abstract #2285

Incorporation of Gray Matter T1 and T2* Improves Brain Activation Statistics in FMRI

M. Muge Karaman1, Iain P. Bruce1, Daniel B. Rowe1, 2

1Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, United States; 2Department of Biophysics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States


In fMRI, the voxels in gray matter (GM) contain neurons that are to be active while performing a task. We develop a model to determine brain activation by incorporating T</B>1 and T2* of GM. The model considers the physical nonlinear signal equation to model MR magnetization rather than using a linear model; utilizes the first scans of the complex-valued fMRI data to estimate each voxels T</B>1 and T2*; and incorporates GM T</B>1 and T2* values into the activation statistics. It has been found that the proposed model provides more significant activation statistics compared to the commonly used fMRI activation models.