Resting-state fMRI localization of tongue motor areas with a patient-based probabilistic functional atlas

Motivation: To benefit patients who needs presurgical mapping of tongue motor areas but have limited tb-fMRI. Goal(s): To create a probabilistic tongue motor atlas and evaluate its use for guiding rs-fMRI seed-based correlation (SBC) analysis. Approach: Presurgical tb-fMRI of 30 brain tumor patients were used to create the atlas. This atlas was transferred to a different set of patients’ individual space for guiding rs-fMRI analysis. Locations of functional connectivity detected in the ipsilateral hemisphere were compared with tb-fMRI results. Results: A tongue motor atlas was developed, which can effectively guide the rs-fMRI analysis with results similar to when seeding based on the tb-fMRI activation. Impact: The probabilistic functional atlas enables automated seed-based analysis for rs-fMRI localization of tongue motor areas in patients undergoing brain tumor resection. It also provides a functional localizer which can be used for various quantitative image analyses of tongue motor areas.