20 channel head coil

All imaging was conducted using a three Tesla Siemens Medical systems Prisma scanner at the Beijing Brain MRI Center. Whole brain anatomical scans were acquired using a high resolution magnetization-prepared rapid acquisition gradient echo sequence, consisting of 176 T1-weighted echo-planar image (EPI) slices of 1-mm thickness, with an in-plane resolution of 1 × 1 mm [field of view 256 mm, repetition time (TR) = 2530 ms, echo time (TE) = 3.37 ms]. For each of the functional tasks, T2-weighted single shot gradient echo EPI scans were acquired using an interleaved ascending sequence, consisting of 60 volumes of 25 axial slices of 4-mm thickness with an in-plane resolution of 3.4 × 3.4 mm (field of view = 220 mm, TR = 2000 ms, TE = 30 ms, flip angle = 90°). A 20-channel Siemens head coil was used.
Informed consent complying with local institutional review board regulations was obtained from all patients. An MRI compatible light-emitting diode (LED) projector system was used to show the visual stimulus. The fMRI tasks were all block designed. During each task, a set of two trials (30 s each) was performed and interleaved with three control conditions (20 s each), in which the patient was instructed to maintain fixation.

Data acquisition was carried out with a Siemens 3 T Magnetom PRISMA and a 20‐channel Siemens head coil. Structural images were acquired using a sagittal magnetization T1‐weighted (MPRAGE) sequence (TR = 2,130 ms, TE = 2.28 ms, voxel size = 1 mm isotropic, flip angle = 8°) with 192 slices. The functional resting‐state images were collected by using 202 volumes of a gradient‐echo planar sequence sensitive to BOLD contrast (TR = 2080 ms, TE = 30 ms, matrix = 92 × 92 voxel, FOV = 208 × 208 mm, flip angle = 90°). Each volume consisted of 36 axial slices (thickness = 3 mm, gap = 0.3 mm, voxel size = 2.3 × 2.3 × 3 mm). A shimming field was applied before functional imaging to minimize magnetic field inhomogeneity. The whole resting‐state sequence lasted 7 min. Subjects were instructed to keep their eyes closed, not to fall asleep and “let their thoughts flow.”

We collected resting-state (pre-AAT and post-AAT), task-related and anatomical neuroimaging data. Data were acquired using a 3T Siemens SKYRA scanner with a 20-channel head coil. For the AAT, 1104 T2*-weighted images were collected (echo time TE = 22 ms, flip angle FA = 90°, repetition time TR = 2000 ms, 40 slices, voxel size: 3.0 × 3.0 × 2.5 mm³, distance factor: 20%, field of view FoV: 192 × 192 mm², ascending order). The 2*320 open-eyes resting-state T2*-weighted images were acquired using the same parameters. A high-resolution anatomical magnetization prepared rapid gradient-echo (MPRAGE) image was acquired for each participant (TE = 2.01 ms, FA = 9°, TR = 2300 ms, inversion time TI = 900 ms, voxel size: 1 × 1 × 1 mm³, distance factor: 50%, FoV: 256 × 256 mm²).

Coronal orbital MRI was performed in each participant using a 3.0-T MRI scanner (Skyra, Siemens, Germany) with a 20-channel head coil. The signal intensities in the superior rectus, inferior rectus, lateral rectus, and medial rectus were measured on the STIR images (repetition time = 3700 ms; echo time = 48 ms; inversion time = 200 ms; slice thickness = 3 mm; matrix = 180X180; the number of excitations = 2). Five consecutive slices in each muscle were measured. The signal intensity of brain white matter (WM) on each slice was measured in order to normalize the signal intensity of muscles. The measurements were performed by two independent radiologists. The results of the two observers had excellent inter-reader agreement with an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.93. Then the results of the observer 1 were used for further statistical analysis.

All scans were performed on a Siemens 3-Tesla Prisma scanner with a 20-channel head coil at Hokkaido University. T2*-weighted echoplanar imaging (EPI) was used to acquire a total of 229 and 219 scans per session for the main and localizer sessions, respectively, with a gradient echo EPI sequence. The first three scans of each session were discarded to allow for T1 equilibration. The scanning parameters were repetition time (TR), 2000 ms; echo time (TE), 30 ms; flip angle (FA), 90°; field of view (FOV), 192 × 192 mm; matrix, 94 × 94; 32 axial slices; and slice thickness, 3.5 mm with a 0.875 mm gap. T1-weighted anatomic imaging with an MP-RAGE sequence was performed using the following parameters TR, 2300 ms; TE, 2.32 ms; FA, 8°; FOV, 240 × 240 mm; matrix, 256 × 256; 192 axial slices; and slice thickness, 0.90 mm without a gap.

MRI data were collected at the Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging using a 3 T Trim Trio scanner equipped with a 20-channel head coil (Siemens, Erlangen, Germany). Resting-state functional images were acquired using an echo planar imaging sequence (recognition time = 2.25 s, echo time = 30 ms, 260 volumes, voxel size = 3.4 mm × 3.4 mm × 3.4 mm), with a duration of 9:51 min. High-resolution T1-weighted structural scans were collected using a magnetization-prepared rapid gradient echo sequence (voxel size = 1 mm × 1 mm × 1mm). Lesion volume for MS patients was calculated based on a fluid-attenuated inversion recovery sequence (recognition time = 6000 ms, echo time = 388 ms, inversion time (TI) = 2100 ms, voxel size = 1 mm × 1 mm × 1 mm, matrix = 256 × 256, field of view (FOV) = 256 mm and 176 contiguous sagittal slices; see Supplementary Material 1 for a detailed description of lesion segmentation). Healthy controls with white or grey matter lesions were not included in this study.