Quantitative Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Multiple Sclerosis
Abstract
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and functional MRI (fMRI) continue to advance the understanding of multiple sclerosis (MS) pathology, but these conventional imaging techniques have several limitations, which may render them insufficient to identify biomarkers of a disease as multifaceted as MS. This thesis employed quantitative fMRI to investigate uncharted measures of MS cerebral physiology, which can contribute to the development of new MS biomarkers; specifically, motor cortex flow-metabolism coupling and global grey matter cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) were quantified. Data analysis of 12 MS patients and 11 healthy controls revealed between-group differences in cerebral blood flow (CBF) and oxygen metabolism. However, the ratio between CBF and oxygen metabolism, as well as CVR, had no significant between-group differences. These findings provide preliminary information about MS pathology and potential MS biomarkers. This research also demonstrates limitations of quantitative fMRI that impede the ability to make robust conclusions; therefore, further methodological research is needed.
Description
Keywords
Neuroscience, Biophysics--Medical, Radiology
Citation
Bird, J. (2016). Quantitative Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Multiple Sclerosis (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/27506