Multisite, multimodal neuroimaging of chronic urological pelvic pain: Methodology of the MAPP Research Network

• Published in: NeuroImage clinical Vol. 12; no. C; pp. 65 - 77
• Main Authors: Alger, Jeffry R, Ellingson, Benjamin M, Ashe-McNalley, Cody, Woodworth, Davis C, Labus, Jennifer S, Farmer, Melissa, Huang, Lejian, Apkarian, A Vania, Johnson, Kevin A, Mackey, Sean C, Ness, Timothy J, Deutsch, Georg, Harris, Richard E, Clauw, Daniel J, Glover, Gary H, Parrish, Todd B, Hollander, Jan den, Kusek, John W, Mullins, Chris, Mayer, Emeran A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier 01.01.2016
• Subjects: Adult; Biomedical Research - organization & administration; Brain; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Chronic Pain; Cohort Studies; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Diffusion tensor imaging; DTI; Female; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Neural Pathways - diagnostic imaging; Oxygen - blood; Pelvic Pain - diagnostic imaging; Regular; Rest; TransMAPP; Urologic chronic pelvic pain syndromes; Young Adult; Brain; Magnetic resonance imaging; DTI; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; TransMAPP; Urologic chronic pelvic pain syndromes; Diffusion tensor imaging
• ISSN: 2213-1582; 2213-1582
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2015.12.009

The Multidisciplinary Approach to the Study of Chronic Pelvic Pain (MAPP) Research Network is an ongoing multi-center collaborative research group established to conduct integrated studies in participants with urologic chronic pelvic pain syndrome (UCPPS). The goal of these investigations is to provide new insights into the etiology, natural history, clinical, demographic and behavioral characteristics, search for new and evaluate candidate biomarkers, systematically test for contributions of infectious agents to symptoms, and conduct animal studies to understand underlying mechanisms for UCPPS. Study participants were enrolled in a one-year observational study and evaluated through a multisite, collaborative neuroimaging study to evaluate the association between UCPPS and brain structure and function. 3D T1-weighted structural images, resting-state fMRI, and high angular resolution diffusion MRI were acquired in five participating MAPP Network sites using 8 separate MRI hardware and software configurations. We describe the neuroimaging methods and procedures used to scan participants, the challenges encountered in obtaining data from multiple sites with different equipment/software, and our efforts to minimize site-to-site variation.