Scientific article
OA Policy
English

Lumbosacral spinal cord functional connectivity at rest: From feasibility to reliability

Published inImaging neuroscience, vol. 2, p. 1-15
Publication date2024-09-05
First online date2024-08-20
Abstract

In the past decade, exploration of spontaneous blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal fluctuations has expanded beyond the brain to include the spinal cord. While most studies have predominantly focused on the cervical region, the lumbosacral segments play a crucial role in motor control and sensory processing of the lower limbs. Addressing this gap, the aims of the current study were twofold: first, confirming the presence and nature of organized spontaneous BOLD signals in the human lumbosacral spinal cord; second, systematically assessing the impact of various denoising strategies on signal quality and functional connectivity (FC) patterns. Given the susceptibility of spinal cord functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to noise, this step is pivotal to ensure the robustness of intrinsic FC. Our findings uncovered bilateral FC between the ventral and dorsal horns. Importantly, these patterns were consistently observed across denoising methods and demonstrating fair to excellent split-half temporal stability. Importantly, the evaluation of diverse denoising strategies highlighted the efficacy of physiological noise modeling (PNM)-based pipelines in cleaning the signal while preserving the strength of connectivity estimates. Together, our results provide evidence of robust FC patterns in the lumbosacral spinal cord, thereby paving the way for future studies probing caudal spinal activity.

Keywords
  • Lumbosacral spinal cord fMRI
  • Functional connectivity
  • PNM-based pipelines
  • Robustness and reliability
Funding
  • National Science Foundation - Spokes: MEDIUM: WEST: Breaking down barriers for reproducible neuroimaging data analyses [1760950]
  • National Science Foundation - NCS-FO: Connectome mapping algorithms with application to community services for big data neuroscience [1734853]
  • National Science Foundation - CRCNS US-German Data Sharing: DataGit - converging catalogues, warehouses, and deployment logistics into a federated 'data distribution' [1429999]
  • National Science Foundation - Collaborative Proposal: CRCNS US-German Data Sharing Proposal: DataLad - a decentralized system for integrated discovery, management, and publication of digital objects of science [1912266]
  • European Commission - Personalized Recommendations for Neurodegenerative Disease [826421]
  • European Commission - Human Brain Project Specific Grant Agreement 2 [785907]
  • European Commission - Human Brain Project Specific Grant Agreement 3 [945539]
  • European Commission - Personalized whole brain simulations: linking connectomics and dynamics in the human brain [683049]
  • European Commission - Personalised Health cognitive assistance for RehAbilitation SystEm [101058240]
Citation (ISO format)
RICCHI, Ilaria, KINANY, Nawal, VAN DE VILLE, Dimitri. Lumbosacral spinal cord functional connectivity at rest: From feasibility to reliability. In: Imaging neuroscience, 2024, vol. 2, p. 1–15. doi: 10.1162/imag_a_00286
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Article (Published version)
Identifiers
Journal ISSN2837-6056
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Technical informations

Creation02/12/2024 20:33:31
First validation30/01/2025 08:02:49
Update30/01/2025 08:02:49
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