ArticleScientific reports2015
fMRI measurements of amygdala activation are confounded by stimulus correlated signal fluctuation in nearby veins draining distant brain regions.
Article in Scientific reports, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05418608 (Novel in Vivo Synaptic Imaging in Experienced Meditators), which is not on this map. Cited by 61 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Novel in Vivo Synaptic Imaging in Experienced Meditators
Who cites it
61 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 140 citations in OpenAlex.
- A translational perspective on neural circuits of fear extinction: Current promises and challenges.Neurobiology of learning and memory · 2018Pooled it
- Increasing coordination and responsivity of emotion-related brain regions with a heart rate variability biofeedback randomized trial.Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience · 2023Trial
- fMRI Revealed Reduced Amygdala Activation after Nx4 in Mildly to Moderately Stressed Healthy Volunteers in a Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Cross-Over Trial.Scientific reports · 2020Trial
- Large-Vessel Venous Signal Confounds Apparent Amygdala Activation in BOLD fMRI.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Role of the Amygdala in the Complex Relationship Between Sleep and Anxiety.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- "Dense Amygdala": Extensive Complex-valued Functional MRI of the Ventral and Medial Temporal Lobe during Passive Movie Watching in Three Individuals.Scientific data · 2026Article
- Cortical and subcortical mapping of the human allostatic-interoceptive system using 7 Tesla fMRI.Nature neuroscience · 2025Article
- Neural correlates of human fear conditioning and sources of variability in 2199 individuals.Nature communications · 2025Article
- DSC Perfusion MRI Artefact Reduction Strategies: A Short Overview for Clinicians and Scientific Applications.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Independent Impacts of Maltreatment and Amygdala Volume on Worsening Callous-Unemotional Traits in High-Risk Youths.Research on child and adolescent psychopathology · 2025Article
- Cortical and subcortical mapping of the allostatic-interoceptive system in the human brain using 7 Tesla fMRI.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of neurofeedback training efficacy and neural mechanisms in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Article
- The human social cognitive network contains multiple regions within the amygdala.Science advances · 2024Article
- Evaluation of Intra- and Inter-Network Connectivity within Major Brain Networks in Drug-Resistant Depression Using rs-fMRI.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Free-viewing gaze patterns reveal a mood-congruency bias in MDD during an affective fMRI/eye-tracking task.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2024Observational
- Hippocampal Involvement in Safety Signal Learning Varies With Anxiety Among Healthy Adults.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2024Article
- Insomnia-related brain functional correlates in first-episode drug-naïve major depressive disorder revealed by resting-state fMRI.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2024Article
- Probing neurodynamics of experienced emotions-a Hitchhiker's guide to film fMRI.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2023Review
- Specificity of Quantitative Functional Brain Mapping with Arterial Spin-Labeling for Preoperative Assessment.AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology · 2023Article
- Effects of Parental Verbal Abuse Experience on the Glutamate Response to Swear Words in the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex: A FunctionalClinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience : the official scientific journal of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2023Article
1 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Imaging the amygdala with functional MRI is confounded by multiple averse factors, notably signal dropouts due to magnetic inhomogeneity and low signal-to-noise ratio, making it difficult to obtain consistent activation patterns in this region. However, even when consistent signal changes are identified, they are likely to be due to nearby vessels, most notably the basal vein of rosenthal (BVR). Using an accelerated fMRI sequence with a high temporal resolution (TR = 333 ms) combined with susceptibility-weighted imaging, we show how signal changes in the amygdala region can be related to a venous origin. This finding is confirmed here in both a conventional fMRI dataset (TR = 2000 ms) as well as in information of meta-analyses, implying that "amygdala activations" reported in typical fMRI studies are likely confounded by signals originating in the BVR rather than in the amygdala itself, thus raising concerns about many conclusions on the functioning of the amygdala that rely on fMRI evidence alone.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.