Publication Updates from the Chen Lab

Article Abstract

Introduction: In the context of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), carbon dioxide (CO₂) is a well-known vasodilator that has been widely used to monitor and interrogate vascular physiology. Moreover, spontaneous fluctuations in end-tidal carbon dioxide (PETCO₂) reflects changes in arterial CO₂ and has been demonstrated as the largest physiological noise source for denoising the low-frequency range of the resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) signal. However, the majority of rs-fMRI studies do not involve CO₂ recordings, and most often only heart rate and respiration are recorded. While the intrinsic link between these latter metrics and CO₂ led to suggested possible analytical models, they have not been widely applied.

Methods: In this proof-of-concept study, we propose a deep-learning (DL) approach to reconstruct CO2 and PETCO2 data from respiration waveforms in the resting state.

Results: We demonstrate that the one-to-one mapping between respiration and CO₂ recordings can be well predicted using fully convolutional networks (FCNs), achieving a Pearson correlation coefficient (r) of 0.946 ± 0.056 with the ground truth CO₂. Moreover, dynamic PETCO₂ can be successfully derived from the predicted CO₂, achieving r of 0.512 ± 0.269 with the ground truth. Importantly, the FCN-based methods outperform previously proposed analytical methods. In addition, we provide guidelines for quality assurance of respiration recordings for the purposes of CO₂ prediction.

View the article on the Frontiers in Neuroimaging website.

Article Abstract

The influence of the apolipoprotein E ε4 allele (APOE4) on brain microstructure of cognitively normal older adults remains incompletely understood, in part due to heterogeneity within study populations. In this study, we examined white-matter microstructural integrity in cognitively normal older adults as a function of APOE4 carrier status using conventional diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI) and the novel orthogonal-tensor decomposition (DT-DOME), accounting for the effects of age and sex. Age associations with white-matter microstructure did not significantly depend on APOE4 status, but did differ between sexes, emphasizing the importance of accounting for sex differences in APOE research. Moreover, we found the DT-DOME to be more sensitive than conventional DTI metrics to such age-related and sex effects, especially in crossing WM fiber regions, and suggest their use in further investigation of white matter microstructure across the life span in health and disease.

View the article on the Frontiers in Neuroscience website.

Article Abstract

Objective

The role of vascular risk factors in age-related brain degeneration has long been the subject of intense study, but the role of obesity remains understudied. Given known sex differences in fat storage and usage, this study investigates sex differences in the association between adiposity and white matter microstructural integrity, an important early marker of brain degeneration.

Methods

This study assesses the associations between adiposity (abdominal fat ratio and liver proton density fat fraction) and brain health (measures of intelligence and white matter microstructure using diffusion-tensor imaging [DTI]) in a group of UK Biobank participants.

Results

This study finds that intelligence and DTI metrics are indeed associated with adiposity differently in males and females. These sex differences are distinct from those in the associations of DTI metrics with age and blood pressure.

Conclusions

Taken together, these findings suggest that there are inherent sex-driven differences in how brain health is associated with obesity.

View the article on the Wiley Online Library website.