Comparable Spatio-Temporal Characteristics But Differences in Metabolism-CBF Coupling in Intrinsic Connectivity Networks Identified from Simultaneous BOLD & CBF

Stephen D. Mayhew¹, Karen J. Mullinger², Andrew P. Bagshaw¹, Richard Bowtell², Susan T. Francis²

Highly correlated, spontaneous fluctuations in fMRI signals define functionally relevant intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs). BOLD and ASL data were simultaneously acquired during median nerve stimulation. Group ICA was performed on both BOLD and ASL data sets, and the components reflecting the default-mode network (DMN) and dorsal attention network (DAN) identified. Both ICNs showed a high degree of spatio-temporal correlation between BOLD and CBF data at the group and individual level. However, the coupling between metabolism and CBF was substantially higher in the DMN than the DAN, possibly reflecting a difference in the BOLD signal mechanisms in the ICNs.