Abstract #0997

Stroman P, Figley C

It is hypothesized that spinal cord motion is the dominant source of systematic error in current spinal fMRI methods. However, there is little information in existing literature regarding the magnitude, direction, timing, or cause of this motion. The current study investigates spinal cord motion as a function of the cardiac cycle, as CSF and blood flow are believed to cause the motion of the cord. It was determined that cord motion occurs in the anterior/posterior direction, with peak displacement of 1 to 1.5 millimeters, depending on the rostral/caudal location. Motion in the right/left direction was determined to be negligible.