Abstract #0065

Investigating the effects of venous vasculature on the BOLD response: A combined SWI and multi-band fMRI approach

David Provencher¹, Alexandre Bizeau¹, Yves Bérubé-Lauzière², and Kevin Whittingstall^1,3

¹Radiation Sciences and Biomedical Imaging, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada, ²Electrical and Computer Engineering, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada, ³Diagnostic Radiology, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada

We previously showed that venous density correlates with BOLD signal amplitude¹. Since the BOLD contrast inherently originates in veins, we hypothesized that its temporal dynamics would also be affected by venous density. Here, we use fast multi-band fMRI imaging (TR=0.45s), SWIp vein reconstruction and different visual stimuli yielding co-localized activation, yet different BOLD dynamics. From this, we assess the effects of venous density on BOLD timing. Results show a robust association between higher vein density and shorter hemodynamic delay when comparing activated and deactivated regions. BOLD response timing differences may thus not entirely reflect neural activity, but also structural differences.

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