Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) reflects the response of cerebral blood vessels to vasoactive stimuli. Whole-brain relative CVR (rCVR) mapping is achieved using task-free resting-state fMRI, which resembles conventional CVR mapping using hypercapnia challenge. To optimize rCVR mapping, we apply NOise Reduction with DIstribution Corrected (NORDIC) PCA which removes thermal noise originating from the scanner and/or the subject. Results show that NORDIC-correction increases the temporal signal-to-noise ratio in both humans and mice, lowers mouse rCVR variance, and potentially improves mouse rCVR along cortical layers. Future rCVR studies investigating cerebrovascular diseases may incorporate NORDIC-correction for higher sensitivity.
This abstract and the presentation materials are available to members only; a login is required.