Modelling the effect of cardiac and respiratory fluctuations on the central autonomic network in a novel test-retest dataset

Changes in physiological state corresponding to fluctuations in heart rate and respiration drive non-neuronal contributions to the BOLD fMRI signal, complicating investigation of regions of the brain which participate in and process autonomic regulation: the central autonomic network (CAN). The esti...

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Main Authors: Mary Miedema, Rémi Dagenais, Mohammad Torabi, S. Emad Askarinejad, Siyu Long, Georgios D. Mitsis
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-08-01
Series:NeuroImage
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811925003726
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author Mary Miedema
Rémi Dagenais
Mohammad Torabi
S. Emad Askarinejad
Siyu Long
Georgios D. Mitsis
author_facet Mary Miedema
Rémi Dagenais
Mohammad Torabi
S. Emad Askarinejad
Siyu Long
Georgios D. Mitsis
author_sort Mary Miedema
collection DOAJ
description Changes in physiological state corresponding to fluctuations in heart rate and respiration drive non-neuronal contributions to the BOLD fMRI signal, complicating investigation of regions of the brain which participate in and process autonomic regulation: the central autonomic network (CAN). The estimation of physiological response functions (PRFs) provides a tool to interrogate and minimize the effects of these noise processes on fMRI connectivity. In this study, we explore the reproducibility of cardiac and respiratory response functions used to denoise resting and task data acquired with 3T MRI and their effect on the test-retest reliability of connectivity within the CAN. We characterize group-level PRFs during rest, fast-paced breathing and breath-holds, and a cold-pressor task and show that cardiac response dynamics vary significantly across scan conditions and subjects. Comparing physiological nuisance signals with indices of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity used to map the CAN, we further demonstrate that PRFs may provide an opportunity to disentangle neuronal and non-neuronal correlates of cardiac activity in fMRI data. Finally, we evaluate the effect of denoising on the test-retest reliability of connectivity between regions associated with the CAN, shedding light on the uses and limitations of PRFs for fMRI studies of brain-body interactions.
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spelling doaj-art-7fc0c20b9f414cba84d0ef42f240aa5f2025-08-20T03:08:33ZengElsevierNeuroImage1095-95722025-08-0131712136910.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121369Modelling the effect of cardiac and respiratory fluctuations on the central autonomic network in a novel test-retest datasetMary Miedema0Rémi Dagenais1Mohammad Torabi2S. Emad Askarinejad3Siyu Long4Georgios D. Mitsis5Department of Bioengineering, McGill University, Canada; Graduate Program in Biological and Biomedical Engineering, McGill University, Canada; Corresponding author at: Department of Bioengineering, McGill University, 350 McConnell Engineering Building, 3480 University Street, Montreal, QC H3A 0E9, Canada.Department of Bioengineering, McGill University, Canada; Graduate Program in Biological and Biomedical Engineering, McGill University, CanadaDepartment of Bioengineering, McGill University, Canada; Graduate Program in Biological and Biomedical Engineering, McGill University, CanadaDepartment of Bioengineering, McGill University, Canada; Graduate Program in Biological and Biomedical Engineering, McGill University, CanadaIntegrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, CanadaDepartment of Bioengineering, McGill University, CanadaChanges in physiological state corresponding to fluctuations in heart rate and respiration drive non-neuronal contributions to the BOLD fMRI signal, complicating investigation of regions of the brain which participate in and process autonomic regulation: the central autonomic network (CAN). The estimation of physiological response functions (PRFs) provides a tool to interrogate and minimize the effects of these noise processes on fMRI connectivity. In this study, we explore the reproducibility of cardiac and respiratory response functions used to denoise resting and task data acquired with 3T MRI and their effect on the test-retest reliability of connectivity within the CAN. We characterize group-level PRFs during rest, fast-paced breathing and breath-holds, and a cold-pressor task and show that cardiac response dynamics vary significantly across scan conditions and subjects. Comparing physiological nuisance signals with indices of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity used to map the CAN, we further demonstrate that PRFs may provide an opportunity to disentangle neuronal and non-neuronal correlates of cardiac activity in fMRI data. Finally, we evaluate the effect of denoising on the test-retest reliability of connectivity between regions associated with the CAN, shedding light on the uses and limitations of PRFs for fMRI studies of brain-body interactions.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811925003726Central autonomic networkfMRIDenoisingPhysiological response functionTest-retest reliabilityCardiac
spellingShingle Mary Miedema
Rémi Dagenais
Mohammad Torabi
S. Emad Askarinejad
Siyu Long
Georgios D. Mitsis
Modelling the effect of cardiac and respiratory fluctuations on the central autonomic network in a novel test-retest dataset
NeuroImage
Central autonomic network
fMRI
Denoising
Physiological response function
Test-retest reliability
Cardiac
title Modelling the effect of cardiac and respiratory fluctuations on the central autonomic network in a novel test-retest dataset
title_full Modelling the effect of cardiac and respiratory fluctuations on the central autonomic network in a novel test-retest dataset
title_fullStr Modelling the effect of cardiac and respiratory fluctuations on the central autonomic network in a novel test-retest dataset
title_full_unstemmed Modelling the effect of cardiac and respiratory fluctuations on the central autonomic network in a novel test-retest dataset
title_short Modelling the effect of cardiac and respiratory fluctuations on the central autonomic network in a novel test-retest dataset
title_sort modelling the effect of cardiac and respiratory fluctuations on the central autonomic network in a novel test retest dataset
topic Central autonomic network
fMRI
Denoising
Physiological response function
Test-retest reliability
Cardiac
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811925003726
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