3 tesla magnet

Study procedures were approved by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Institutional Review Board. Patients meeting inclusion criteria were asked to refrain from caffeine use at least two hours before their scheduled appointment time (e.g., Perthen et al., 2008 (link)). They were also asked not to consume alcohol on the same calendar day before their scheduled appointment. Patients gave informed consent before undergoing procedures and were compensated for their time. Patients underwent functional and structural neuroimaging on a Philips 3-Tesla magnet (Philips Medical Systems, Best, The Netherlands) with an 8-channel SENSE radiofrequency head coil. Foam padding was placed around the head to minimize motion during MRI scan acquisition. Patients completed standard neuropsychological and clinical measures, as well as measures of symptom severity (Modified Fatigue Impact Scale [MFIS; Fisk et al., 1994 (link)] and a neurological disability scale [Verdier-Taillefer et al., 1994 (link)]). Fatigue and neurological disability were assessed as estimators of symptom severity because both fatigue and neurological disability are common features of MS and contribute significantly to MS patients’ quality of life (Amato et al., 2001 (link)).