3T Magnetic Resonance Imaging (3T MRI)

Specialised clinical diagnostics using anatomical MRI and / or functional neuroimaging.

Fundamental and applied research:

• Functional neuroimaging:
  • Brain responses (functional MRI / fMRI), in particular brain responses to food cues like pictures of foods, taste and smell. For this application, ancillary equipment such as an olfactometer, gustometer and projector is available.
  • Brain perfusion/blood flow (Cerebral Blood Flow, CBF), a measure of brain activity. This is measured by means of Arterial Spin Labelling (ASL), i.e., without the use of magnetic contrast agents.
• Anatomical MRI, for example:
  • Soft tissue anatomy.
  • Body fat distribution (total % body fat, visceral adipose tissue) obtained from structural (T1-weighted) images or fat-selective techniques.
  • Determination of liver fat percentage by water-fat separation with the so-called Dixon technique or MR Spectroscopy (MRS).
  • Determination of muscle fat content.
    

• 12-channel head coil
• 32-channel head coil
• Body/spine coil
• Knee coil
• Ankle coil
• Wrist coil
• Endo-rectal coil

Wageningen University & Research, Shared Research Facilities offers the following facilities for administering stimuli or tasks for functional MRI studies:

• Visual stimulation: high quality presentation (via back-projection) from our stimulus PC or a laptop. This enables one to have subjects perform different tasks while being scanned. E.g., neuropsychological tasks, reward tasks, product evaluation, product choice. In addition several MRI-compatible (optical) button boxes are available, among others for obtaining subjective ratings (VAS scores) or reaction times. For this rear projection, a mirror is mounted on the head coil, which gives the participant a stable visual experience.
• Taste stimulation (gustometer)
• Odour stimulation (olfactometer)
• Audio / sound stimulation: MRI-compatible headphones of MR Confon that can be used in combination with the Siemens 12 and 64-channel head coils. The maximum sound pressure level is around 90 dB with frequency range from 300 to 12000 Hz. Intended for use in functional neuroimaging studies employing sound/speech or video stimuli.

• Monique van Nielen, Edith Feskens, Annemarie Rietman, Els Siebelink and Marco Mensink “Partly replacing meat protein with soy protein alters insulin resistance and blood lipids in postmenopausal women with abdominal obesity” J Nutr. 2014 Sep;144(9):1423-9. doi: 10.3945/jn.114.193706. Epub 2014 Jul 9
• Rietman A, Schwarz J, Blokker BA, Siebelink E, Kok FJ, Afman LA, Tomé T, Mensink M. “Increasing protein intake modulates lipid metabolism in healthy young men and women on a high-fat-hypercaloric diet”. J Nutr. 2014 Aug;144(8):1174-80. doi: 10.3945/jn.114.191072. Epub 2014 Jun 4
• Guido Camps, Monica Mars, Cees de Graaf, and Paul AM Smeets Empty calories and phantom fullness: a randomized trial studying the relative effects of energy density and viscosity on gastric emptying determined by MRI and satiety Am J Clin Nutr 2016 104: 73-80
• Supersize my brain: A cross-sectional voxel-based morphometrystudy on the association between self-reported dietary restraint andregional grey matter volumes. Biological Psychology 117 (2016) 108-116
• To like or not to like: Neural substrates of subjective flavor preferences. Behav Brain Res. 2014 Apr 15;269C:128-137
• Effect of Replacing Sugar with Non-Caloric Sweeteners in Beverages on the Reward Value after Repeated Exposure. PLOS ONE. 2013 November 28
• Human protein status modulates brain reward responses to food cues. Am J Clin Nutr. 2014 May 21
• Increasing protein intake modultes lipid metabolism in healthy young men and women consuming a high-fat hypercaloric diet 1-3. J of Nutrition 144 (2014)
• Higher Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D and Lower Plasma Glucose Are Associated with Larger Gray Matter Volume but Not with White Matter or Total Brain Volume in Dutch Community-Dwelling Older Adults. J of Nutrition 2015 July 1
• Neural Processing of Calories in Brain Reward Areas Can be Modulated by Reward Sensitivity. Front. Behav. Neurosci., 14 January 2016
• Health Interest Modulates Brain Reward Responses to a Perceived Low-Caloric Beverage in Females. Health Psychol. 29 August 2016
• Folate and Vitamin B12-Related Biomarkers in Relation to Brain Volumes. Nutrients, 24 December 2016
• Van Rijn, I., de Graaf, C. & Smeets, P.A.M. (2017) It’s in the eye of the beholder: selective attention to drink properties during tasting influences brain activation in gustatory and reward regions. Brain Imaging and Behavior.
• Severity of olfactory deficits is reflected in functional brain networks—An fMRI study. Human Brain Mapping. May 2018.
• Aroma effects on food choice task behavior and brain responses to bakery food product cues. Food Quality and Preference. September 2018.
• Just add water: Effects of added gastric distention by water on gastric emptying and satiety related brain activity. April 2018
• Smeets, P. A. M., & de Graaf, C. (2018). Brain responses to anticipation and consumption of beer with and without alcohol. Chemical Senses.
• Zoon HFA, de Bruijn SEM, Smeets PAM, de Graaf C, Janssen IMC, Schijns W, Aarts EO, Jager G, Boesveldt S. Altered neural responsivity to food cues in relation to food preferences, but not appetite-related hormone concentrations after RYGB-surgery. Behav Brain Res. 2018 Nov 1;353:194-202.
• Zoon HFA, de Bruijn SEM, Jager G, Smeets PAM, de Graaf C, Janssen IMC, Schijns W, Deden L, Boesveldt S. Altered neural inhibition responses to food cues after Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass. Biol Psychol. 2018 Sep;137:34-41.
• Indirect vs direct assessment of gastric emptying: A randomized crossover trial comparing C-isotope breath analysis and MRI. Camps G, Mars M, Witteman BJM, de Graaf C, Smeets PAM. Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2018 Jul;30(7):e13317.
• A tale of gastric layering and sieving: Gastric emptying of a liquid meal with water blended in or consumed separately. Camps G, Mars M, de Graaf C, Smeets PAM. Physiol Behav. 2017 Jul 1;176:26-30.