Jacco A. de Zwart1, Peter van Gelderen1, Zhongming Liu1, Jeff H. Duyn1
1Advanced MRI section, LFMI, NINDS, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States
BOLD fMRI experiments of spontaneous brain activity in humans have found inter-hemispheric correlation between homologous regions, and suggested involvement of a direct callosal connection. We studied spontaneous activity in human Lateral Geniculate Nuclei (LGN), with no direct commissural connections. High-resolution 7 T fMRI was performed during visual stimulation and rest. Correlation analysis was performed between left and right LGN, and left and right visual cortex. Substantial specific left-right LGN correlation was found, which was not merely driven by visual cortex, or the result of global fluctuations. Strong signal coherence was thus found not indicative of a direct neuronal connection.