Abstract #2106

An Improved 3D GRASE PCASL Method for Whole-Brain Resting-State Functional Connectivity

Xiaoyun Liang¹, Jacques-Donald Tournier^1,2, Richard Masterton¹, Alan Connelly^1,2, Fernando Calamante^1,2

¹Brain Research Institute, Florey Neuroscience Institutes, Heidelberg West, VIC, Australia; ²Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

3D GRASE has been shown to have some advantages over EPI, and ASL has the advantage of providing a more direct measure and better localization of activation than BOLD. However, the role of 3D GRASE ASL in resting-state functional connectivity has not been investigated. In this study, an improved 3D GRASE pCASL sequence was implemented with whole-brain coverage and then resting-state functional connectivity was investigated. BOLD data were acquired for comparison. In addition to the similarity of results of our method to that of BOLD, our method shows improved coverage in high susceptibility regions, which provides a viable means for studies that especially focus on those particular regions.