Freyer Tobias, Valerius Gabriele, Kuelz Anne-Katrin, Speck Oliver, Glauche Volkmar, Hull Michael, Voderholzer Ulrich
Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Medical Physics, University Hospital, Hugstetter Str. 55, D-79106 Freiburg, Germany.
Psychiatry Res. 2009 Oct 30;174(1):40-6. doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2009.03.003. Epub 2009 Sep 23.
Repeated functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies aim to detect changes in brain activity over time, e.g. to analyze the cerebral correlates of therapeutic interventions. This approach requires a high test-retest reliability of the measures used to rule out incidental findings. However, reliability studies, especially for cognitive tasks, are still difficult to find in the literature. In this study, 10 healthy adult subjects were scanned in two sessions, 16 weeks apart, while performing a probabilistic reversal learning task known to activate orbitofrontal-striatal circuitry. We quantified the reliability of brain activation by computing intra-class correlation coefficients. Group analysis revealed a high concordance for activation patterns in both measurements. Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) were high for brain activation in the associated regions (dorsolateral prefrontal, anterior prefrontal/insular and cingulate cortices), often exceeding 0.8. We conclude that the probabilistic reversal learning task has a high test-retest reliability, making it suitable as a tool for evaluating the dynamics of deterioration in orbitofrontal-striatal circuitry, e.g. to illustrate the course of a psychiatric disorder.
重复功能磁共振成像（fMRI）研究旨在检测大脑活动随时间的变化，例如分析治疗干预的大脑相关性。这种方法要求所使用测量方法具有较高的重测信度，以排除偶然发现。然而，重信度研究，尤其是认知任务的重信度研究，在文献中仍然很难找到。在本研究中，10名健康成年受试者在两个阶段接受扫描，间隔16周，同时执行一项已知能激活眶额-纹状体回路的概率性反转学习任务。我们通过计算组内相关系数来量化大脑激活的信度。组分析显示两次测量的激活模式高度一致。相关区域（背外侧前额叶、前额叶/岛叶前部和扣带回皮质）的大脑激活的组内相关系数（ICC）很高，通常超过0.8。我们得出结论，概率性反转学习任务具有较高的重测信度，使其适合作为评估眶额-纹状体回路退化动态的工具，例如说明精神疾病的病程。
