Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1
pubmed:dateCreated
2006-7-24
pubmed:abstractText
Proportional scaling models are often used in functional imaging studies to remove confounding of local signals by global effects. It is generally assumed that global effects are uncorrelated with experimental conditions. However, when the global effect is estimated by the global signal, defined as the intracerebral average, incorrect inference may result from the dependency of the global signal on preexisting conditions or experimental manipulations. In this paper, we propose a simple alternative method of estimating the global effect to be used in a proportional scaling model. Specifically, by defining the global signal with reference strictly to a white matter region within the centrum semiovale, the dependency is removed in experiments where white matter is unaffected by the disease effect or experimental treatments. The increase in the ability to detect changes in regional blood flow is demonstrated in a SPECT study of healthy and ill Gulf War veterans in whom it is suspected that brain abnormalities influence the traditional calculation of the global signal. Controlling for the global effect, ill veterans have significantly lower intracerebral averages than healthy controls (P = 0.0038), evidence that choice of global signal has an impact on inference. Scaling by the modified global signal proposed here results in an increase in sensitivity leading to the identification of several regions in the insula and frontal cortex where ill veterans have significantly lower SPECT emissions. Scaling by the traditional global signal results in the loss of sensitivity to detect these regional differences. Advantages of this alternative method are its computational simplicity and its ability to be easily integrated into existing analysis frameworks such as SPM.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Aug
pubmed:issn
1053-8119
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
1
pubmed:volume
32
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
49-53
pubmed:dateRevised
2007-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2006
pubmed:articleTitle
Using a white matter reference to remove the dependency of global signal on experimental conditions in SPECT analyses.
pubmed:affiliation
Epidemiology Division, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75390, USA. Jeffrey.Spence@UTSouthwestern.edu
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.