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Dear SPMers, 


a short question regarding the validity of my PPI-analysis in a single-case study. The patient was measured twice (t1 = during symptoms; t2 = during recovery) using a blocked-design fMRI paradigm with two conditions (facial & non-facial stimuli). For the analyses both sessions were entered in a single design matrix (conditions: facial stimuli t1 / non-facial stimuli t1 / facial stimuli t2 / non-facial stimuli t2). 

The aim of the study is to analyze:

(1)	Unspecific differences between t1 & t2 
These were assessed with the contrasts 0.5 0.5 -0.5 -0.5 and 0.5 0.5 -0.5 -0.5

(2)	Relative differences for facial as compared to non-facial stimuli between t1 & t2 
These were assessed with the contrast 0.5 -0.5 -0.5 0.5 and revealed higher activity at t1 in regions A, B, C

(3)	Differences in dynamic interactions for facial relative to non-facial stimuli between t1 & t2 These were assessed using PPI. For t1 & t2 separate Eigenvariates were extracted from spheres centered at significant regions from (2). Then PPI variable were created for t1 and t2 with the contrasts weights ‘facial = 1’ & ‘non-facial = 2’. Finally PPI GLM analysis was performed with both sessions entered in a single design matrix using the session-specific regressors PPI.ppi / PPI.Y / PPI.P

Comparing changes in functional coupling between t1 & t2 reveals large regions with higher connectivity for all three regions (identified in (2)). Can these results be interpreted as between-session changes in functional connectivity? Or do they simply display an artifact due to an error in the PPI analysis (I wonder because the analysis revealed such large & overlapping regions for the three seed regions) 

Thanks in advance & best regards

Ben