In this work we have developed a novel functional MRE system for humans capable of probing stiffness changes in the brain driven by monocular visual stimulation. A continuous visual stimulus was applied at an ON/OFF frequency of 1.35 Hz during a segmented 2D multi-slice MRE sequence with 3D motion encoding operating at 50 Hz vibration frequency. Significant stiffness changes were recorded between ON/OFF during the stimulus experiment that also differed in baseline to control scans (OFF/OFF). Since the BOLD signal is entirely saturated at such high stimulation frequencies, we hypothesize that stiffness changes are due to direct neuronal activities. Data match similar results obtained in mice.
This abstract and the presentation materials are available to members only; a login is required.