AUTHOR=Huotari Niko , Tuunanen Johanna , Raitamaa Lauri , Raatikainen Ville , Kananen Janne , Helakari Heta , Tuovinen Timo , Järvelä Matti , Kiviniemi Vesa , Korhonen Vesa 

TITLE=Cardiovascular Pulsatility Increases in Visual Cortex Before Blood Oxygen Level Dependent Response During Stimulus

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neuroscience

VOLUME=16

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2022.836378

DOI=10.3389/fnins.2022.836378

ISSN=1662-453X

ABSTRACT=<p>The physiological pulsations that drive tissue fluid homeostasis are not well characterized during brain activation. Therefore, we used fast magnetic resonance encephalography (MREG) fMRI to measure full band (0–5 Hz) blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD<sub>FB</sub>) signals during a dynamic visual task in 23 subjects. This revealed brain activity in the very low frequency (BOLD<sub>VLF</sub>) as well as in cardiac and respiratory bands. The cardiovascular hemodynamic envelope (CHe) signal correlated significantly with the visual BOLD<sub>VLF</sub> response, considered as an independent signal source in the V1-V2 visual cortices. The CHe preceded the canonical BOLD<sub>VLF</sub> response by an average of 1.3 (± 2.2) s. Physiologically, the observed CHe signal could mark increased regional cardiovascular pulsatility following vasodilation.</p>