Modeling the Hemodynamic Response Function Using EEG-fMRI Data During Eyes-Open Resting-State Conditions and Motor Task Execution

Being able to accurately quantify the hemodynamic response function (HRF) that links the blood oxygen level dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD-fMRI) signal to the underlying neural activity is important both for elucidating neurovascular coupling mechanisms and improving the accuracy of fMRI-based functional connectivity analyses. In particular, HRF estimation using BOLD-fMRI is challenging particularly in the case of resting-state data, due to the absence of information about the underlying neuronal dynamics. To this end, using simultaneously recorded electroencephalography (EEG) and fMRI data is a promising approach, as EEG provides a more direct measure of neural activations. In the present work, we employ simultaneous EEG-fMRI to investigate the regional characteristics of the HRF using measurements acquired during resting conditions. We propose a novel methodological approach based on combining distributed EEG source space reconstruction, which improves the spatial resolution of HRF estimation and using block-structured linear and nonlinear models, which enables us to simultaneously obtain HRF estimates and the contribution of different EEG frequency bands. Our results suggest that the dynamics of the resting-state BOLD signal can be sufficiently described using linear models and that the contribution of each band is region specific. Specifically, it was found that sensory-motor cortices exhibit positive HRF shapes, whereas the lateral occipital cortex and areas in the parietal cortex, such as the inferior and superior parietal lobule exhibit negative HRF shapes. To validate the proposed method, we repeated the analysis using simultaneous EEG-fMRI measurements acquired during execution of a unimanual hand-grip task. Our results reveal significant associations between BOLD signal variations and electrophysiological power fluctuations in the ipsilateral primary motor cortex, particularly for the EEG beta band, in agreement with previous studies in the literature.