Abstract #0534

Chuang K, van Gelderen P, Bodurka J, Ikonomidou V, Koretsky A, Duyn J, Talagala S

Resting-state low frequency (< 0.08 Hz) fluctuation of BOLD signal has been shown to exhibit high correlation among functionally connected regions. However, it is challenging to detect functional connectivity based on perfusion MRI. This work shows that combination of continuous arterial spin labeling (CASL) using a neck labeling coil and 16-channel receiver coil provides adequate sensitivity to reliably identify functionally connected brain regions based on resting-state CBF fluctuations. Furthermore, we also demonstrate that a proper labeling strategy can frequency shift the ASL signal so that perfusion time-courses can be obtained without BOLD contamination.