# Development of Functional Magnetic Resonance Elastography for Mapping of Human Brain Function

> **NIH NIH R21** · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · 2020 · $492,250

## Abstract

Project Summary
Advances in brain mapping including the development of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have
increased our understanding of how the brain is organized to support neurologic functioning and what alterations
in brain function are associated with numerous neurological and psychological illnesses. Particularly relevant for
clinical applications, fMRI carries a clinical billing code reflecting its utility in presurgical planning for brain surgery.
Due to its dependence on blood flow changes, BOLD fMRI suffers from both false negative and false positive
results. To overcome some of the limitations of BOLD fMRI, we propose to investigate the feasibility of applying
a completely novel MRI technique, functional magnetic resonance elastography (fMRE), for mapping human
brain function. The fMRE technique does not depend on a neurovascular response, instead, it measures local
mechanical changes in tissue resulting from a change in neuronal function. Our data has shown that fMRE can
reveal neural responses at short timescales that cannot be due to the BOLD response. We hypothesize that
fMRE is tightly coupled to primary neuronal activity, and hence will not be affected by the problems associated
with BOLD fMRI. In this project, we propose to investigate the ability of fMRE to map sensorimotor function for
presurgical brain mapping. We propose to compare and contrast fMRE and BOLD fMRI activations using
sensorimotor tasks in individual subjects. In Aim 1, we will determine the similarities and differences between
the fMRE and fMRI response to sensorimotor stimuli in healthy subjects, and investigate the feasibility of
measuring neuromechanical responses which are independent from neurovascular response by varying the
stimulus switching speed. In Aim 2, we will investigate fMRE in brain tumor patients to test the hypothesis that
fMRE will not be affected by the problems seen in BOLD fMRI, and validate the activated regions against clinical
gold-standard intra-operative brain mapping. This proposed innovative, high-risk, high-reward exploratory
research will establish feasibility, reliability, and validity of fMRE for sensorimotor mapping. We believe that fMRE
will develop into a novel transformative brain mapping technique with high temporal resolution and a broad range
of neuroscience and clinical applications.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10057726
- **Project number:** 1R21NS114917-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Yanmei Tie
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $492,250
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-07-01 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10057726

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10057726, Development of Functional Magnetic Resonance Elastography for Mapping of Human Brain Function (1R21NS114917-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10057726. Licensed CC0.

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