Acoustic noise and functional magnetic resonance imaging: Current strategies and future prospects

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has become the method of choice for studying the neural correlates of cognitive tasks. Nevertheless, the scanner produces acoustic noise during the image acquisition process, which is a problem in the study of auditory pathway and language generally. The scanner acoustic noise not only produces activation in brain regions involved in auditory processing, but also interferes with the stimulus presentation. Several strategies can be used to address this problem, including modifications of hardware and software. Although reduction of the source of the acoustic noise would be ideal, substantial hardware modifications to the current base of installed MRI systems would be required. Therefore, the most common strategy employed to minimize the problem involves software modifications. In this work we consider three main types of acquisitions: compressed, partially silent, and silent. For each implementation, paradigms using block and event‐related designs are assessed. We also provide new data, using a silent event‐related (SER) design, which demonstrate higher blood oxygen level‐dependent (BOLD) response to a simple auditory cue when compared to a conventional image acquisition. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2002;16:497–510. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

[1]  P. McGuire,et al.  Silent speechreading in the absence of scanner noise: an event‐related fMRI study , 2000, Neuroreport.

[2]  M. D’Esposito,et al.  The variability of human BOLD hemodynamic responses , 1998, NeuroImage.

[3]  Edmund Kwok,et al.  fMRI of auditory stimulation with intermolecular double‐quantum coherences (iDQCs) at 1.5T , 2001, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[4]  Z H Cho,et al.  Analysis of acoustic noise in MRI. , 1997, Magnetic resonance imaging.

[5]  Thomas Eickermann,et al.  A new approach to measure single‐event related brain activity using real‐time fMRI: Feasibility of sensory, motor, and higher cognitive tasks , 2001, Human brain mapping.

[6]  K. Scheffler,et al.  Effect of ethanol on BOLD response to acoustic stimulation: implications for neuropharmacological fMRI , 2000, Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging.

[7]  E. Zarahn,et al.  The Role of Prefrontal Cortex in Sensory Memory and Motor Preparation: An Event-Related fMRI Study , 2000, NeuroImage.

[8]  K Friston,et al.  Signal-, set- and movement-related activity in the human brain: an event-related fMRI study. , 1999, Cerebral cortex.

[9]  M McJury,et al.  Acoustic noise levels during magnetic resonance imaging scanning at 1.5 T , 1994 .

[10]  K Scheffler,et al.  Cortical reorganization after acute unilateral hearing loss traced by fMRI , 2000, Neurology.

[11]  T Stijnen,et al.  Balloon dilation and stent implantation for treatment of femoropopliteal arterial disease: meta-analysis. , 2001, Radiology.

[12]  H. Scheich,et al.  Functional magnetic resonance imaging of a human auditory cortex area involved in foreground–background decomposition , 1998, The European journal of neuroscience.

[13]  P Mansfield,et al.  Sound generation in gradient coil structures for MRI , 1998, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[14]  H. Lohmann,et al.  Habituation during word generation in consecutive fMRI examinations , 1998, NeuroImage.

[15]  Risto Näätänen,et al.  Effects of Acoustic Gradient Noise from Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging on Auditory Processing as Reflected by Event-Related Brain Potentials , 2001, NeuroImage.

[16]  R. Bowtell,et al.  Active Acoustic Screening: Reduction of Noise in Gradient Coils by Lorentz Force Balancing , 1995, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[17]  David Swinney,et al.  Functional MR Imaging during Auditory Word Perception: A Single-Trial Presentation Paradigm , 1997, Brain and Language.

[18]  G. Krüger,et al.  Temporal and spatial MRI responses to subsecond visual activation. , 1999, Magnetic resonance imaging.

[19]  R. Poldrack,et al.  Disruption of the neural response to rapid acoustic stimuli in dyslexia: evidence from functional MRI. , 2000, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[20]  Philip K. McGuire,et al.  A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study of Overt Letter Verbal Fluency Using a Clustered Acquisition Sequence: Greater Anterior Cingulate Activation with Increased Task Demand , 2002, NeuroImage.

[21]  A R Palmer,et al.  Modulation and task effects in auditory processing measured using fMRI , 2000, Human brain mapping.

[22]  L. Jäncke,et al.  The Effect of Sequence Repeat Time on Auditory Cortex Stimulation During Phonetic Discrimination , 1998, NeuroImage.

[23]  R W Cox,et al.  Event‐related fMRI of tasks involving brief motion , 1999, Human brain mapping.

[24]  P. Bandettini,et al.  Spatial Heterogeneity of the Nonlinear Dynamics in the FMRI BOLD Response , 2001, NeuroImage.

[25]  R. W. Bowtell,et al.  “Sparse” temporal sampling in fMRI enhances detection of activation by sound for both magnetic and acoustical reasons , 1998, NeuroImage.

[26]  J. Gore,et al.  Measurements of the Temporal fMRI Response of the Human Auditory Cortex to Trains of Tones , 1998, NeuroImage.

[27]  Karl J. Friston,et al.  A Study of Analysis Parameters That Influence the Sensitivity of Event-Related fMRI Analyses , 2000, NeuroImage.

[28]  Karl J. Friston,et al.  Stochastic Designs in Event-Related fMRI , 1999, NeuroImage.

[29]  K Scheffler,et al.  The MR tomograph as a sound generator: fMRI tool for the investigation of the auditory cortex , 1998, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[30]  D. Lim,et al.  Effects of the acoustic noise of the gradient systems on fMRI: A study on auditory, motor, and visual cortices , 1998, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[31]  B. Bernal,et al.  Auditory functional MR imaging. , 2001, AJR. American journal of roentgenology.

[32]  L. Jäncke,et al.  Influence of acoustic masking noise in fMRI of the auditory cortex during phonetic discrimination , 1999, Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI.

[33]  R. Mallozzi,et al.  Making MRI quieter. , 2002, Magnetic resonance imaging.

[34]  P. Mansfield,et al.  Active acoustic control in gradient coils for MRI , 2001, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[35]  R. Bowtell,et al.  “sparse” temporal sampling in auditory fMRI , 1999, Human brain mapping.

[36]  Karl J. Friston,et al.  Erratum: Signal-, set- and movement-related activity in the human brain: An event-related fMRI study (Cerebral Cortex (January/February 1999) 9:1 (35- 49 , 1999 .

[37]  M McJury,et al.  The use of active noise control (ANC) to reduce acoustic noise generated during MRI scanning: some initial results. , 1997, Magnetic resonance imaging.

[38]  Karl J. Friston,et al.  Nonlinear event‐related responses in fMRI , 1998, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[39]  R E Brummett,et al.  Potential hearing loss resulting from MR imaging. , 1988, Radiology.

[40]  Edson Amaro,et al.  Event-related fMRI without scanner acoustic noise , 1999 .

[41]  F G Shellock,et al.  Measurement of acoustic noise during MR imaging: evaluation of six "worst-case" pulse sequences. , 1994, Radiology.

[42]  S Martinkauppi,et al.  Working memory of auditory localization. , 2000, Cerebral cortex.

[43]  R. Weisskoff,et al.  Quantitative assessment of auditory cortex responses induced by imager acoustic noise , 1999, Human brain mapping.

[44]  R. Turner,et al.  Event-Related fMRI: Characterizing Differential Responses , 1998, NeuroImage.

[45]  M I Posner,et al.  Neuroanatomy, circuitry and plasticity of word reading. , 1999, Neuroreport.

[46]  A. Goldman,et al.  Reduction of sound levels with antinoise in MR imaging. , 1989, Radiology.

[47]  J. Rauschecker,et al.  Attention‐related modulation of activity in primary and secondary auditory cortex , 1997, Neuroreport.

[48]  T. Loenneker,et al.  “Silent” MRI with soft gradient pulses , 1999, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[49]  M. Quirk,et al.  Anxiety in patients undergoing MR imaging. , 1989, Radiology.

[50]  E. Bullmore,et al.  Functional magnetic resonance imaging neuroactivation studies in normal subjects and subjects with the narcoleptic syndrome. Actions of modafinil , 1999, Journal of sleep research.

[51]  S. R. Lane,et al.  Acoustic analysis of gradient-coil noise in MR imaging. , 1989, Radiology.

[52]  C. Manelfe,et al.  Activation of Association Auditory Cortex Demonstrated with Functional MRI , 1995, NeuroImage.

[53]  M. D’Esposito,et al.  A Trial-Based Experimental Design for fMRI , 1997, NeuroImage.

[54]  Yasushi Miyashita,et al.  Functional Differentiation in the Human Auditory and Language Areas Revealed by a Dichotic Listening Task , 2000, NeuroImage.

[55]  Klaus Scheffler,et al.  Functional Fields in Human Auditory Cortex Revealed by Time-Resolved fMRI without Interference of EPI Noise , 2001, NeuroImage.

[56]  J. S. Kim,et al.  A new silent magnetic resonance imaging using a rotating DC gradient , 1998, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[57]  S. Posse,et al.  Intensity coding of auditory stimuli: an fMRI study , 1998, Neuropsychologia.

[58]  P. Skudlarski,et al.  Event-related fMRI of auditory and visual oddball tasks. , 2000, Magnetic resonance imaging.

[59]  Tim Shallice,et al.  Time-Dependent Changes in Learning Audiovisual Associations: A Single-Trial fMRI Study , 2000, NeuroImage.

[60]  J Hennig,et al.  Quiet imaging with interleaved spiral read-out. , 2001, Magnetic resonance imaging.

[61]  P Mansfield,et al.  Quite transverse gradiant coils: Lorentz force balanced designs using geometrical similitude , 1995, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[62]  V M Haughton,et al.  Cortical activation response to acoustic echo planar scanner noise. , 1998, Journal of computer assisted tomography.

[63]  A M Dale,et al.  Event-related functional MRI: past, present, and future. , 1998, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[64]  Karl J. Friston,et al.  Event-related fMRI , 1997 .

[65]  P. Bandettini,et al.  Functional MRI of brain activation induced by scanner acoustic noise , 1998, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[66]  D. V. von Cramon,et al.  Neurocognition of auditory sentence comprehension: event related fMRI reveals sensitivity to syntactic violations and task demands. , 2000, Brain research. Cognitive brain research.

[67]  A Briguet,et al.  STEAM‐Burst: A single‐shot, multi‐slice imaging sequence without rapid gradient switching , 1997, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[68]  J. Binder,et al.  Distributed Neural Systems Underlying the Timing of Movements , 1997, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[69]  D Atkinson,et al.  Determination of gradient magnetic field‐induced acoustic noise associated with the use of echo planar and three‐dimensional, fast spin echo techniques , 1998, Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI.

[70]  S. Petersen,et al.  Functional Anatomic Studies of Memory Retrieval for Auditory Words and Visual Pictures , 1996, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[71]  K Kurata,et al.  Activation of the dorsal premotor cortex and pre-supplementary motor area of humans during an auditory conditional motor task. , 2000, Journal of neurophysiology.

[72]  Richard S. J. Frackowiak,et al.  Representation of the temporal envelope of sounds in the human brain. , 2000, Journal of neurophysiology.

[73]  S. Petersen,et al.  Memory's echo: vivid remembering reactivates sensory-specific cortex. , 2000, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[74]  G I de Zubicaray,et al.  The semantic interference effect in the picture‐word paradigm: An event‐related fMRI study employing overt responses , 2001, Human brain mapping.

[75]  R. Murray,et al.  Mapping auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia using functional magnetic resonance imaging. , 2000, Archives of general psychiatry.

[76]  F. Chollet,et al.  Differential fMRI Responses in the Left Posterior Superior Temporal Gyrus and Left Supramarginal Gyrus to Habituation and Change Detection in Syllables and Tones , 1999, NeuroImage.

[77]  R L Buckner,et al.  Right hemisphere language in a neurologically normal dextral: a fMRI study , 1998, Neuroreport.

[78]  R. Goebel,et al.  The functional neuroanatomy of target detection: an fMRI study of visual and auditory oddball tasks. , 1999, Cerebral cortex.

[79]  A R Palmer,et al.  Time‐course of the auditory BOLD response to scanner noise , 2000, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[80]  Jeff H. Duyn,et al.  Reduction of Gradient Acoustic Noise in MRI Using SENSE-EPI , 2002, NeuroImage.

[81]  Peter B. Jones,et al.  Spatial and temporal mapping of neural activity associated with auditory hallucinations , 1999, The Lancet.

[82]  R. T. Constable,et al.  Investigation of the Human Hippocampal Formation Using a Randomized Event-Related Paradigm and Z-Shimmed Functional MRI , 2000, NeuroImage.

[83]  Karl J. Friston,et al.  Reproducibility of PET Activation Studies: Lessons from a Multi-Center European Experiment EU Concerted Action on Functional Imaging , 1996, NeuroImage.

[84]  A R Palmer,et al.  Sound‐Level Measurements and Calculations of Safe Noise Dosage During EPI at 3 T , 2000, Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI.

[85]  G. Glover.  Deconvolution of Impulse Response in Event-Related BOLD fMRI1 , 1999, NeuroImage.

[86]  Penny A. Gowland,et al.  Antenatal determination of fetal brain activity in response to an acoustic stimulus using functional magnetic resonance imaging , 2001, Human brain mapping.

[87]  D. Shankweiler,et al.  An Event-related Neuroimaging Study Distinguishing Form and Content in Sentence Processing , 2000, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

[88]  Dani Byrd,et al.  Auditory Selective Attention: An fMRI Investigation , 1996, NeuroImage.

[89]  J. R. Baker,et al.  Imaging subcortical auditory activity in humans , 1998, Human brain mapping.

[90]  H. E. Brown,et al.  Utilizing hemodynamic delay and dispersion to detect fMRI signal change without auditory interference: The behavior interleaved gradients technique , 1999, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[91]  J. Armony,et al.  Auditory Processing across the Sleep-Wake Cycle Simultaneous EEG and fMRI Monitoring in Humans , 2000, Neuron.

[92]  Douglas C. Noll,et al.  Overt Verbal Responding during fMRI Scanning: Empirical Investigations of Problems and Potential Solutions , 1999, NeuroImage.

[93]  W A Edelstein,et al.  Characterization and prediction of gradient acoustic noise in MR imagers , 1997, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[94]  K. Scheffler,et al.  Tonotopic organization of the human auditory cortex as detected by BOLD-FMRI , 1998, Hearing Research.

[95]  Y Yang,et al.  A silent event‐related functional MRI technique for brain activation studies without interference of scanner acoustic noise , 2000, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[96]  S C Williams,et al.  Generic brain activation mapping in functional magnetic resonance imaging: a nonparametric approach. , 1997, Magnetic resonance imaging.

[97]  C. Weiller,et al.  Negative Dip in BOLD fMRI Is Caused by Blood Flow— Oxygen Consumption Uncoupling In Humans , 2002, NeuroImage.

[98]  J. Melcher,et al.  Isolating the auditory system from acoustic noise during functional magnetic resonance imaging: examination of noise conduction through the ear canal, head, and body. , 2001, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[99]  M McJury,et al.  Short communication: acoustic noise levels during magnetic resonance imaging scanning at 1.5 T. , 1994, The British journal of radiology.

[100]  H. Rusinek,et al.  Functional magnetic resonance imaging of human brain activity in a verbal fluency task , 1998, Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry.

[101]  J C Gore,et al.  Neonatal auditory activation detected by functional magnetic resonance imaging. , 2001, Magnetic resonance imaging.

[102]  P. Boesiger,et al.  SENSE: Sensitivity encoding for fast MRI , 1999, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[103]  M J McJury,et al.  Acoustic noise levels generated during high field MR imaging. , 1995, Clinical radiology.

[104]  N Fujita,et al.  Effects of stimulus rate on the auditory cortex using fMRI with ‘sparse’ temporal sampling , 2000, Neuroreport.

[105]  E. Bullmore,et al.  Response amplification in sensory-specific cortices during crossmodal binding. , 1999, Neuroreport.

[106]  R G Shulman,et al.  Functional magnetic resonance imaging assessment of the human brain auditory cortex response to increasing word presentation rates. , 1997, Journal of neurophysiology.

[107]  E. Bullmore,et al.  Activation of auditory cortex during silent lipreading. , 1997, Science.

[108]  D. Yousem,et al.  The effect of age on odor-stimulated functional MR imaging. , 1999, AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology.

[109]  R. Zatorre,et al.  Voice-selective areas in human auditory cortex , 2000, Nature.

[110]  D. Le Bihan,et al.  Improving Auditory Comprehension in fMRI : Insertion of Silent Intervals in Multi-Slice EPI , 1998, NeuroImage.

[111]  W. Singer,et al.  Activation of Heschl’s Gyrus during Auditory Hallucinations , 1999, Neuron.

[112]  R. Cox,et al.  Event‐related fMRI contrast when using constant interstimulus interval: Theory and experiment , 2000, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[113]  R. Weisskoff,et al.  Improved auditory cortex imaging using clustered volume acquisitions , 1999, Human brain mapping.

[114]  V M Haughton,et al.  Functional MR of the primary auditory cortex: an analysis of pure tone activation and tone discrimination. , 1997, AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology.

[115]  Alan C. Evans,et al.  Event-related fMRI of the auditory cortex. , 1998, NeuroImage.

[116]  K Tschopp,et al.  Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Is a Non-invasive Method for the Detection of Focal Brain Activity at High Spatial Resolution. Acoustic Stimulation Leads to a Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent , 2022 .

[117]  Robin M. Murray,et al.  Imaging verbal self monitoring in monozygotic twins discordant for schizophrenia , 2002 .

[118]  B. Colder,et al.  Dissociation of fMRI activation and awareness in auditory perception task. , 1999, Brain research. Cognitive brain research.

[119]  N. Kiang,et al.  Acoustic noise during functional magnetic resonance imaging. , 2000, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[120]  D. Schacter,et al.  Functional MRI evidence for a role of frontal and inferior temporal cortex in amodal components of priming. , 2000, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[121]  R. Bowtell,et al.  The effect of scanner sound in visual, motor, and auditory functional MRI , 1999, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[122]  H. E. Brown,et al.  fMRI Acquisition without Auditory Interference: The “Flatcar” Design , 1998, NeuroImage.

[123]  R. Menon,et al.  Millisecond sequencing of neural activation in simple tasks determined by the BOLD fMRI neurovascular response , 1998, NeuroImage.

[124]  R I Kitney,et al.  Investigation of acoustic noise on 15 MRI scanners from 0.2 T to 3 T , 2001, Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI.

[125]  J. Rauschecker,et al.  Hierarchical Organization of the Human Auditory Cortex Revealed by Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging , 2001, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.