Characterization of the functional response in the human spinal cord: Impulse-response function and linearity

The impulse-response function appeared slower than in the brain, peaking at about 9 s after its beginning. The observed contrast was generally larger than in the brain, on the order of about 5.4% of baseline signal at 1.5 T. The findings further suggested that the physiological origin of T2⁎ weighted functional imaging is similar in the spinal cord and in the brain.