Yongxian Qian1, Karthik Lakshmanan1, Anli Liu2, Yvonne W. Lui1, and Fernando E. Boada1
1Radiology, New York University, New York, NY, United States, 2Neurology, New York University, New York, NY, United States
1Radiology, New York University, New York, NY, United States, 2Neurology, New York University, New York, NY, United States
This human study at 3T tests a novel idea of magnetic
resonance recording of local neuronal firings (mrLNF). This technique has a
very high temporal resolution (0.25ms) and can non-invasively detect fast action
potentials and slow postsynaptic neuronal currents at the firing sources.
Fig. 1. Conceptual
schematic of magnetic resonance recording of local neuronal firings (mrLNF). A)
Localization of local neuronal firing volumes defined by multiple individual
coil sensitivities (shading areas) or by selective single-voxel excitation
(dashed line). B)
Intrinsic micro quantum sensors of nuclear spins (short arrows) immersed in
ionic flow (neuronal current) inside neurons. C)
Modulation
of neuronal firing magnetic field Bn onto
MR main field B0.
D) Recording
of neuronal firing via MRI scanner.
Fig. 3. The mrLNF
recordings on a 35-year-old female subject’s head at resting state at 3T. A)
Localization of the mrLNF recordings on sodium MRI images. B) Raw
FID signal at Channel 0. C) The mrLNF
recordings from single FID acquisition, showing a fast action potential firing
at Channel 0 (arrow, 2ms in duration, 648.6 μT in
intensity).
D) The mrLNF
recordings from three consecutive FID acquisitions.