Radiology and Imaging Sciences

Epileptiform activity in the EEG is frequently characterized by rhythmic, correlated patterns or synchronized bursts. Long-range temporal correlations (LRTC) are described by power law scaling of the autocorrelation function and have been observed in scalp and intracranial EEG recordings. Synchronous large-amplitude bursts (also called neuronal avalanches) have been observed in local field potentials both in vitro and in vivo. This article explores the presence of neuronal avalanches in scalp and intracranial EEG in the context of LRTC. Results indicate that both scalp and intracranial EEG show LRTC, with larger scaling exponents in scalp recordings than intracranial. A subset of analyzed recordings also show avalanche behavior, indicating that avalanches may be associated with LRTC. Artificial test signals reveal a linear relationship between the scaling exponent measured by detrended fluctuation analysis and the exponent of the avalanche size distribution. Analysis and evaluation of simulated data reveal that preprocessing of EEG (squaring the signal or applying a filter) affect the ability of detrended fluctuation analysis to reliably measure LRTC.

Epileptiform activity in the EEG is frequently characterized by rhythmic, correlated patterns or synchronized bursts. Long-range temporal correlations (LRTC) are described by power law scaling of the autocorrelation function and have been observed in scalp and intracranial EEG recordings. Synchronous large-amplitude bursts (also called neuronal avalanches) have been observed in local field potentials both in vitro and in vivo. This article explores the presence of neuronal avalanches in scalp and intracranial EEG in the context of LRTC. Results indicate that both scalp and intracranial EEG show LRTC, with larger scaling exponents in scalp recordings than intracranial. A subset of analyzed recordings also show avalanche behavior, indicating that avalanches may be associated with LRTC. Artificial test signals reveal a linear relationship between the scaling exponent measured by detrended fluctuation analysis and the exponent of the avalanche size distribution. Analysis and evaluation of simulated data reveal that preprocessing of EEG (squaring the signal or applying a filter) affect the ability of detrended fluctuation analysis to reliably measure LRTC.

Neuronal avalanches are a form of spontaneous activity widely observed in cortical slices and other types of nervous tissue, both in vivo and in vitro. They are characterized by irregular, isolated population bursts when many neurons fire together, where the number of spikes per burst obeys a power law distribution. We simulate, using the Gillespie algorithm, a model of neuronal avalanches based on stochastic single neurons. The network consists of excitatory and inhibitory neurons, first with all-to-all connectivity and later with random sparse connectivity. Analyzing our model using the system size expansion, we show that the model obeys the standard Wilson-Cowan equations for large network sizes (w10 5 neurons). When excitation and inhibition are closely balanced, networks of thousands of neurons exhibit irregular synchronous activity, including the characteristic power law distribution of avalanche size. We show that these avalanches are due to the balanced network having weakly stable functionally feedforward dynamics, which amplifies some small fluctuations into the large population bursts. Balanced networks are thought to underlie a variety of observed network behaviours and have useful computational properties, such as responding quickly to changes in input. Thus, the appearance of avalanches in such functionally feedforward networks indicates that avalanches may be a simple consequence of a widely present network structure, when neuron dynamics are noisy. An important implication is that a network need not be ''critical'' for the production of avalanches, so experimentally observed power laws in burst size may be a signature of noisy functionally feedforward structure rather than of, for example, self-organized criticality.

PurposeTo implement and evaluate a novel single-volume two-dimensional localized constant-time-based correlated spectroscopy (2D LCT-COSY) sequence on a clinical 3T MR scanner. This sequence exhibits homonuclear decoupling along the F1 dimension, leading to improved spectral resolution compared to that of non-constant-time localized correlated spectroscopy (L–COSY).To implement and evaluate a novel single-volume two-dimensional localized constant-time-based correlated spectroscopy (2D LCT-COSY) sequence on a clinical 3T MR scanner. This sequence exhibits homonuclear decoupling along the F1 dimension, leading to improved spectral resolution compared to that of non-constant-time localized correlated spectroscopy (L–COSY).Materials and MethodsA GE 3T MR scanner equipped with a quadrature transmit and receive extremity coil was used in this study. The 2D LCT-COSY sequence was programmed using General Electric's EPIC compiler. Simulations for a two-spin 1/2 system were performed using GAMMA libraries to evaluate the theoretical performance of the sequences, and were also compared with corresponding phantom experiments using trans-cinnamic acid. Finally, spectra were acquired from the soleus muscle of healthy volunteers in order to evaluate performance in vivo.A GE 3T MR scanner equipped with a quadrature transmit and receive extremity coil was used in this study. The 2D LCT-COSY sequence was programmed using General Electric's EPIC compiler. Simulations for a two-spin 1/2 system were performed using GAMMA libraries to evaluate the theoretical performance of the sequences, and were also compared with corresponding phantom experiments using trans-cinnamic acid. Finally, spectra were acquired from the soleus muscle of healthy volunteers in order to evaluate performance in vivo.ResultsSimulations and experimental results confirmed the improved spectral resolution of LCT-COSY over L–COSY, as well as its homonuclear decoupling performance. The behavior of resonance amplitudes as a function of evolution time in the experiment also was appropriately reflected by the simulation. Corresponding results were obtained for the in vivo muscle spectra, in which separation of overlapping olefinic and allylic methylene protons from the intra- and extramyocellular lipids (IMCL and EMCL, respectively) was achieved.Simulations and experimental results confirmed the improved spectral resolution of LCT-COSY over L–COSY, as well as its homonuclear decoupling performance. The behavior of resonance amplitudes as a function of evolution time in the experiment also was appropriately reflected by the simulation. Corresponding results were obtained for the in vivo muscle spectra, in which separation of overlapping olefinic and allylic methylene protons from the intra- and extramyocellular lipids (IMCL and EMCL, respectively) was achieved.ConclusionSimulations and experimental results in vitro and in vivo demonstrate the strengths of LCT-COSY. This technique can be implemented on systems of any field strength, and has the potential to separate overlapping metabolites in tissue when employed on high-field clinical MRI scanners equipped for proton spectroscopy. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2007;26:410–417. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Simulations and experimental results in vitro and in vivo demonstrate the strengths of LCT-COSY. This technique can be implemented on systems of any field strength, and has the potential to separate overlapping metabolites in tissue when employed on high-field clinical MRI scanners equipped for proton spectroscopy. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2007;26:410–417. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.