Clinical Research Directory

LIFUP will be used to stimulate specific brain regions and assess their causal involvement in the control of conscious state and contents.

Whole-brain functional images will be acquired using a multiband gradient-echo echo-planar imaging sequence with the following parameters: 60 slices, repetition time (TR) = 800 ms, echo time (TE) = 30 ms, flip angle = 52°, multiband acceleration factor = 6, slice thickness = 2.4 mm, in-plane resolution = 2.4 × 2.4 mm, FOV = 216 × 216 mm, and image matrix = 90 × 90. MRI acquisition and associated study procedures will be completed within a scanning visit lasting no more than approximately 2 hours.

Single-voxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy will be performed. A nominal 15 × 15 × 10 mm spectroscopy voxel will be positioned at the prespecified brain target using the participant's anatomical MRI. Glutamate plus glutamine (Glx) will be measured using a short-echo-time spectroscopy sequence with an acquisition time of approximately 5 minutes. GABA will be measured using an edited spectroscopy sequence with an acquisition time of approximately 8 minutes. An unsuppressed water-reference scan will also be acquired for signal correction and metabolite quantification. Voxel placement, shimming, and other sequence parameters may be adjusted slightly based on target anatomy, scanner requirements, and data quality while maintaining the planned procedures and approximate acquisition times.

The study team will collect three separate measurements related to glymphatic function. (i) Multi-delay pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (PCASL) MRI with a 3D stack of spirals (SOS) gradient and spin echo (GRASE) read-out. Labeling durations from 500 to 2000 ms, TR = 6 sec., background suppression. FOV = 24 cm with 3x3x5 mm resolution. (ii) Tissue-to-fluid Water exchange rate using T2 selective saturation labeling pulses using the same resolution parameters. (iii) Velocity Spectrum Imaging using velocity selective preparation pulses followed by spherical spiral projection imaging (FOV = 24 cm, velocity bandwidth = \[-1, 1\] cm/s, isotropic spatial resolution = 3.5 mm).