Test–retest reliability of event-related functional MRI in a probabilistic reversal learning task

• Published in: Psychiatry research. Neuroimaging Vol. 174; no. 1; pp. 40 - 46
• Main Authors: Freyer, Tobias, Valerius, Gabriele, Kuelz, Anne-Katrin, Speck, Oliver, Glauche, Volkmar, Hull, Michael, Voderholzer, Ulrich
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shannon Elsevier Ireland Ltd 30.10.2009; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Analysis of Variance; Biological and medical sciences; Brain - blood supply; Brain - physiology; Brain Mapping; Female; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted - methods; Intra-class correlation; Longitudinal study; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Neuropsychological Tests; Oxygen - blood; Probability Learning; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Radiology; Reaction Time - physiology; Reproducibility of Results; Reversal Learning - physiology; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Intra-class correlation; Longitudinal study; Human; Psychometrics; Test reliability; Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; Intertrial interval; Acquisition process; Reversal learning; Follow up study; Medical imagery; Probability learning; Functional imaging
• ISSN: 0925-4927; 1872-7506
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2009.03.003

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.