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. 2021 Feb 15;42(3):555-566.
doi: 10.1002/hbm.25244. Epub 2020 Oct 20.

JuSpace: A tool for spatial correlation analyses of magnetic resonance imaging data with nuclear imaging derived neurotransmitter maps

Juergen Dukart  1   2 , Stefan Holiga  3 , Michael Rullmann  4 , Rupert Lanzenberger  5 , Peter C T Hawkins  6 , Mitul A Mehta  6 , Swen Hesse  4 , Henryk Barthel  4 , Osama Sabri  4 , Robert Jech  7 , Simon B Eickhoff  1   2
Affiliations

JuSpace: A tool for spatial correlation analyses of magnetic resonance imaging data with nuclear imaging derived neurotransmitter maps

Juergen Dukart et al. Hum Brain Mapp. .

Abstract

Recent studies have shown that drug-induced spatial alteration patterns in resting state functional activity as measured using magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) are associated with the distribution of specific receptor systems targeted by respective compounds. Based on this approach, we introduce a toolbox (JuSpace) allowing for cross-modal correlation of MRI-based measures with nuclear imaging derived estimates covering various neurotransmitter systems including dopaminergic, serotonergic, noradrenergic, and GABAergic (gamma-aminobutric acid) neurotransmission. We apply JuSpace to two datasets covering Parkinson's disease patients (PD) and risperidone-induced changes in rsfMRI and cerebral blood flow (CBF). Consistently with the predominant neurodegeneration of dopaminergic and serotonergic system in PD, we find significant spatial associations between rsfMRI activity alterations in PD and dopaminergic (D2) and serotonergic systems (5-HT1b). Risperidone induced CBF alterations were correlated with its main targets in serotonergic and dopaminergic systems. JuSpace provides a biologically meaningful framework for linking neuroimaging to underlying neurotransmitter information.

Keywords: Parkinson's disease; magnetic resonance imaging; neuroimaging; neuropharmacology; neurotransmission; positron emission tomography.

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Conflict of interest statement

Stefan Holiga is current employee of F.Hoffmann‐La Roche. Juergen Dukart is a former employee and currently consultant for F.Hoffmann‐La Roche. Rupert Lanzenberger received travel grants and/or conference speaker honoraria within the last 3 years from Bruker BioSpin MR, Heel, and support from Siemens Healthcare regarding clinical research using PET/MR. He is a shareholder of BM Health GmbH since 2019. All authors report no conflicts of interest with respect to the work presented in this study.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
JuSpace toolbox, (a) User interface of the JuSpace toolbox, (b) Schematic work flow of the JuSpace toolbox
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Results of spatial correlation analyses between PET and SPECT derived neurotransmitter maps. The displayed numbers are the observed Spearman correlation coefficients. Significant correlations are highlighted by underlying ellipses. DAT, dopamine transporter; FDOPA, Fluorodopa; GABAa, γ‐Aminobutyric acid type A; NAT, noradrenaline transporter; SERT, serotonin transporter
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Results of spatial correlation analyses for PD and risperidone datasets. Fisher's z‐transformed correlation coefficients with respective neurotransmitter maps are displayed for each subject and contrast. Error bars represent the parametric 95% confidence interval of the mean. DAT, dopamine transporter; FDOPA, Fluorodopa; GABAa, γ‐Aminobutyric acid type A; HC, healthy controls; NAT, noradrenaline transporter; PD, Parkinson's disease; SERT, serotonin transporter
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Results of voxel‐wise analyses for PD and risperidone datasets. Orange color indicates increased fALFF (for PD) or CBF (for risperidone) in the first mentioned condition/group. Cyan color indicates decreased fALFF (for PD) or CBF (for risperidone) in the first mentioned condition/group. Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) space z‐coordinates are reported for each slice. HC, healthy controls; HD, high dose of risperidone; LD, low dose of risperidone; PD, Parkinson's disease
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Results of consistency analyses comparing correlation coefficients obtained with the Neuromorphetrics and Automated Anatomical Labeling atlases. DAT, dopamine transporter; FDOPA, Fluorodopa; GABAa, γ‐Aminobutyric acid type A; ICC, intraclass correlation coefficient; NAT, noradrenaline transporter; SERT, serotonin transporter
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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