Estimating the transfer function from neuronal activity to BOLD using simultaneous EEG-fMRI

Previous studies using combined electrical and hemodynamic measurements of brain activity, such as EEG and (BOLD) fMRI, have yielded discrepant results regarding the relationship between neuronal activity and the associated BOLD response. In particular, some studies suggest that this link, or transfer function, depends on the frequency content of neuronal activity, while others suggest that total neuronal power accounts for the changes in BOLD. Here we explored this dependency by comparing different frequency-dependent and -independent transfer functions, using simultaneous EEG-fMRI. Our results suggest that changes in BOLD are indeed associated with changes in the spectral profile of neuronal activity and that these changes do not arise from one specific spectral band. Instead they result from the dynamics of the various frequency components together, in particular, from the relative power between high and low frequencies. Understanding the nature of the link between neuronal activity and BOLD plays a crucial role in improving the interpretability of BOLD images as well as on the design of more robust and realistic models for the integration of EEG and fMRI.