Developing functional sodium (Na) imaging (fNaI): a direct window into neuronal excitability in health and diseased brain

开发功能性钠 (Na) 成像 (fNaI)：了解健康和患病大脑神经元兴奋性的直接窗口

• 批准号: 2270054
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2019 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2270054
• 关键词: Developing; functional; sodium; Na; imaging

Blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has dominated neuroscience by indirectly measuring brain activity. It allows mapping of MR signal changes due to increased blood volume and flow resulting from neuronal activation, although it is affected by subject specific haemodynamic factors. Measuring neuronal activity directly would have major benefits, including a more specific localisation of activation areas and a reduced dependency on background cerebrovascular factors. Current technology makes it possible to measure sodium concentration in the human brain using 3T MRI. This project will develop acquisition, reconstruction and analysis for directly measure a key component of neuronal activity, i.e. sodium flux. AI and machine learning will be explored for sodium image reconstruction and activity detection. If sodium imaging, dynamically repeated, was successful in detecting sodium ion concentration changes evoked by specific tasks, it would become a more direct way of investigating brain function, complementing BOLD-fMRI. Preliminary results are very encouraging and are a first world-wide. The PhD will need to explore the physiological basis of sodium flux and potentially work with realistic models to explain the detected signal changes. Clinical applications in multiple sclerosis will explore clinical feasibility of functional sodium imaging and its potential impact.

血氧水平依赖性（BOLD）功能磁共振成像（fMRI）通过间接测量大脑活动主导了神经科学。它允许绘制由于神经元激活导致的血容量和流量增加而导致的 MR 信号变化，尽管它受到受试者特定血液动力学因素的影响。直接测量神经元活动将具有重大好处，包括激活区域更具体的定位以及减少对背景脑血管因素的依赖。目前的技术使得使用 3T MRI 测量人脑中的钠浓度成为可能。该项目将开发采集、重建和分析功能，以直接测量神经元活动的关键组成部分，即钠通量。将探索人工智能和机器学习用于钠图像重建和活动检测。如果动态重复的钠成像能够成功检测特定任务引起的钠离子浓度变化，那么它将成为研究大脑功能的更直接的方法，补充 BOLD-fMRI。初步结果非常令人鼓舞，并且在世界范围内尚属首次。博士将需要探索钠通量的生理基础，并可能使用现实模型来解释检测到的信号变化。多发性硬化症的临床应用将探讨功能性钠成像的临床可行性及其潜在影响。