This study compares three fMRI sequences with silent breaks for acoustic stimulation: conventional sparse EPI (CS-EPI), interleaved silent steady-state (ISSS) sampling and the proposed SEPIMS scheme. CS-EPI and SEPIMS yield stronger activations than ISSS for simple artificial amplitude modulated sound stimuli and complex speech-based stimuli. Constant TR in CS-EPI and ISSS creates a regular auditory environment which participants may recognize, thus anticipating the timing of stimuli and scanner noise. In contrast, SEPIMS allows for interleaved TR values of different lengths, creating irregular temporal patterns and avoiding correlations between data acquisition and a regular heart beat or breathing rhythm.
This abstract and the presentation materials are available to members only; a login is required.