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. 1992 Jul 1;89(13):5951–5955. doi: 10.1073/pnas.89.13.5951

Intrinsic signal changes accompanying sensory stimulation: functional brain mapping with magnetic resonance imaging.

S Ogawa 1, D W Tank 1, R Menon 1, J M Ellermann 1, S G Kim 1, H Merkle 1, K Ugurbil 1
PMCID: PMC402116  PMID: 1631079

Abstract

We report that visual stimulation produces an easily detectable (5-20%) transient increase in the intensity of water proton magnetic resonance signals in human primary visual cortex in gradient echo images at 4-T magnetic-field strength. The observed changes predominantly occur in areas containing gray matter and can be used to produce high-spatial-resolution functional brain maps in humans. Reducing the image-acquisition echo time from 40 msec to 8 msec reduces the amplitude of the fractional signal change, suggesting that it is produced by a change in apparent transverse relaxation time T*2. The amplitude, sign, and echo-time dependence of these intrinsic signal changes are consistent with the idea that neural activation increases regional cerebral blood flow and concomitantly increases venous-blood oxygenation.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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