Comparing the test–retest reliability of resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging metrics across single band and multiband acquisitions in the context of healthy aging

Abstract

The identification of meaningful functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) biomarkers requires measures that reliably capture brain performance across different subjects and over multiple scanning sessions. Recent developments in fMRI acquisition, such as the introduction of multiband (MB) protocols and in‐plane acceleration, allow for increased scanning speed and improved temporal resolution. However, they may also lead to reduced temporal signal to noise ratio and increased signal leakage between simultaneously excited slices. These methods have been adopted in several scanning modalities including diffusion weighted imaging and fMRI. To our knowledge, no study has formally compared the reliability of the same resting‐state fMRI (rs‐fMRI) metrics (amplitude of low‐frequency fluctuations; seed‐to‐voxel and region of interest [ROI]‐to‐ROI connectivity) across conventional single‐band fMRI and different MB acquisitions, with and without in‐plane acceleration, across three sessions. In this study, 24 healthy older adults were scanned over three visits, on weeks 0, 1, and 4, and, on each occasion, underwent a conventional single band rs‐fMRI scan and three different rs‐fMRI scans with MB factors 4 and 6, with and without in‐plane acceleration. Across all three rs‐fMRI metrics, the reliability scores were highest with MB factor 4 with no in‐plane acceleration for cortical areas and with conventional single band for subcortical areas. Recommendations for future research studies are discussed.

How do tasks impact the reliability of fMRI functional connectivity?

“…Though higher MB factors may worsen SNR (Risk et al, 2021) and alter the reliability of FC measures, prior work has assessed the effect of varying MB factors on FC reliability. The literature suggests a MB acceleration factor of four improves cortical FC reliability, while a single band sequence is preferred for subcortical regions (M. Cahart et al, 2023; M.‐S. Cahart et al, 2022).…”

“…Though higher MB factors may worsen SNR (Risk et al, 2021) and alter the reliability of FC measures, prior work has assessed the effect of varying MB factors on FC reliability. The literature suggests a MB acceleration factor of four improves cortical FC reliability, while a single band sequence is preferred for subcortical regions (M. Cahart et al, 2023;M.-S. Cahart et al, 2022). Further, the combination of multiband and multiecho sequences promise to yield higher reliability estimates than MB sequences alone (Cohen et al, 2021;Fazal et al, 2023;Lynch et al, 2020) (Finn, 2021;Meer et al, 2020;Sonkusare et al, 2019), thus leading to increases in reliability.…”

Distinct parallel activation and interaction between dorsal and ventral pathways during phonological and semantic processing: A cTBS‐fMRI study

“…The 3D T1‐weighted images utilized the following scanning parameters: 208 sagittal slices, slice thickness = 1 mm, repetition time (TR) = 2530 ms, echo time (TE) = 2.27 ms, flip angle = 7°, field of view (FOV) = 256 × 256 mm 2 , and voxel size = 1 × 1 × 1 mm 3 . The task‐related fMRI data were obtained with an echo‐planar imaging (EPI) sequence with multiband acceleration, which is a widely used technique in fMRI data collection that can dramatically reduce the acquisition time by simultaneously obtaining multiple slices (Cahart et al, 2023; Demetriou et al, 2018): 72 transverse slices, multiband factor = 3, slice thickness = 2 mm, TR = 2000 ms, TE = 34 ms, flip angle = 90°, FOV = 200 × 200 mm 2 , and voxel size = 2 × 2 × 2 mm 3 . Along with the EPI sequence, the following settings were used to collect the resting‐state fMRI data : 45 transverse slices, slice thickness = 3 mm, TR = 1000 ms, TE = 30 ms, flip angle = 70°, FOV = 192 × 192 mm 2 , and voxel size = 3 × 3 × 3 mm 3 .…”

The impact of multiband and in-plane acceleration on white matter microstructure analysis

“…SMS=3 has been popularized by the Human Connectome Project, UK Biobank, and ABCD protocols, and is thus important to include. However, previous work in fMRI suggests that SMS=4 can be optimal in cortical areas [Bhandari et al, 2020;Cahart et al, 2022]. In our previous…”

“…In Todd et al [2017], the SNR and t-statistics in a low g-factor area (visual cortex) benefited from acceleration but declined in an area of high g-factor (ventral medial prefrontal cortex). Moderate acceleration factors (e.g., SMS=4) can improve estimates of task activatation and functional connectivity [Bhandari et al, 2020;Demetriou et al, 2018;Cahart et al, 2022]. However, in many subcortical regions, single-band acquisitions have larger effect sizes than SMS acquisitions and acceleration can substantially degrade activation and functional connectivity studies [Srirangarajan et al, 2021;Risk et al, 2021;Cahart et al, 2022].…”