Resting-State fMRI Enables Calibration-Free Cerebrovascular Reactivity Mapping

Cerebrovascular reactivity can be estimated from resting-state BOLD fMRI without a breath-hold or gas challenge. The reconstruction method achieved a mean spatial correlation of 0.61 with hypercapnic CVR maps (0.72 in high respiratory variability).

• In 83 healthy young adults, a calibration-free method using resting-state BOLD fMRI and reconstructed respiratory fluctuations achieved a mean spatial correlation of 0.61 with hypercapnic CVR maps.
• Performance improved to mean r=0.72 in participants with greater respiratory variability, suggesting the method’s accuracy depends on respiratory signal strength.
• This approach eliminates the need for dedicated gas-challenge scans and external monitoring, potentially broadening CVR assessment in large-scale studies.

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