Characterization of the blood oxygen level dependent hemodynamic response function in human subcortical regions with high spatiotemporal resolution

Subcortical brain regions are absolutely essential for normal human function. These phylogenetically early brain regions play critical roles in human behaviors such as the orientation of attention, arousal, and the modulation of sensory signals to cerebral cortex. Despite the critical health importance of subcortical brain regions, there has been a dearth of research on their neurovascular responses. Blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) functional MRI (fMRI) experiments can help fill this gap in our understanding. The BOLD hemodynamic response function (HRF) evoked by brief (<4 s) neural activation is crucial for the interpretation of fMRI results because linear analysis between neural activity and the BOLD response relies on the HRF. Moreover, the HRF is a consequence of underlying local blood flow and oxygen metabolism, so characterization of the HRF enables understanding of neurovascular and neurometabolic coupling. We measured the subcortical HRF at 9.4T and 3T with high spatiotemporal resolution using protocols that enabled reliable delineation of HRFs in individual subjects. These results were compared with the HRF in visual cortex. The HRF was faster in subcortical regions than cortical regions at both field strengths. There was no significant undershoot in subcortical areas while there was a significant post-stimulus undershoot that was tightly coupled with its peak amplitude in cortex. The different BOLD temporal dynamics indicate different vascular dynamics and neurometabolic responses between cortex and subcortical nuclei.