In vivo three-dimensional reconstruction of rat brain axonal projections by diffusion tensor imaging

White matter fiber degradation attenuates hemispheric asymmetry when integrating visuomotor information

Degradation of white matter fibers can affect the transmission of signals in brain circuits that normally enable integration of highly lateralized visual and motor processes. Here, we used diffusion tensor imaging tractography in combination with functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine the specific contributions of interhemispheric and intrahemispheric white matter fibers to functional measures of hemispheric transfer and parallel information processing using bilateral and unilateral left and right visual field stimulation in normal and compromised systems. In healthy adults, a greater degree of bilateral processing advantage with the left (nondominant) hand correlated with higher integrity of callosal fibers connecting occipital cortices, whereas less unilateral processing advantage with the right hand correlated with higher integrity of left-hemispheric posterior cingulate fibers. In contrast, alcoholics who have compromised callosal integrity showed less bilateral processing advantage than controls when responding with the left hand and greater unilateral processing advantage when responding with the right hand. We also found degraded left posterior cingulate and posterior callosal fibers in chronic alcoholics, which is consistent with functional imaging results of less left posterior cingulate and extrastriate cortex activation in alcoholics than controls when processing bilateral compared with unilateral visual field stimulation. Together, our results demonstrated that interhemispheric and intrahemispheric white matter fiber pathways mediate visuomotor integration asymmetrically and that subtle white matter fiber degradation in alcoholism attenuated the normal pattern of hemispheric asymmetry, which may have ramifications for the efficiency of visual information processing and fast response execution.

MR Tractography in Horizontal Gaze Palsy and Progressive Scoliosis. A Case Report

Congenital brainstem malformation without associated cerebellar disorder is uncommon. Horizontal gaze palsy with progressive scoliosis is one such rare syndrome with brainstem hypoplasia without any disorder of the cerebellum. It has an autosomal recessive inheritance and is characterised by absent horizontal gaze and severe progressive scoliosis from birth. We describe a 58-year-old man with horizontal gaze palsy and severe thoracolumbar scoliosis with typical MR imaging findings of brainstem hypoplasia, and MR tractography confirmation of complete absence of decussation of the pyramidal tract fibers.

Advantages and disadvantages of awake surgery for brain tumours in the primary motor cortex: institutional experience and review of literature

Patients undergoing awake surgery for resection of brain tumours in the primary motor cortex (M1) are at high risk of developing new motor deficits. Thus, use of this procedure requires consideration of several important points, including the optimal modality to localise M1 on the affected side and the overall advantages and disadvantages of the procedure. In our experience with awake surgery for 21 brain tumours located in the M1 from January 2004 through October 2008, we found that functional magnetic resonance imaging was the most reliable modality in terms of localising the M1 and that the anatomic relationship between motor tracts and brain tumours is a critical determinant of postoperative motor function. Other considerations, including potential complications of this procedure and relative efficacy and safety versus surgery under general anaesthesia for patients with brain tumours in the M1, are discussed.

Conserved and variable architecture of human white matter connectivity

Whole-brain network analysis of diffusion imaging tractography data is an important new tool for quantification of differential connectivity patterns across individuals and between groups. Here we investigate both the conservation of network architectural properties across methodological variation and the reproducibility of individual architecture across multiple scanning sessions. Diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data were both acquired in triplicate from a cohort of healthy young adults. Deterministic tractography was performed on each dataset and inter-regional connectivity matrices were then derived by applying each of three widely used whole-brain parcellation schemes over a range of spatial resolutions. Across acquisitions and preprocessing streams, anatomical brain networks were found to be sparsely connected, hierarchical, and assortative. They also displayed signatures of topo-physical interdependence such as Rentian scaling. Basic connectivity properties and several graph metrics consistently displayed high reproducibility and low variability in both DSI and DTI networks. The relative increased sensitivity of DSI to complex fiber configurations was evident in increased tract counts and network density compared with DTI. In combination, this pattern of results shows that network analysis of human white matter connectivity provides sensitive and temporally stable topological and physical estimates of individual cortical structure across multiple spatial scales.

Longitudinal study of callosal microstructure in the normal adult aging brain using quantitative DTI fiber tracking

We present a review of neuroimaging studies of normal adult aging conducted with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and data from one of the first longitudinal studies using DTI to study normal aging. To date, virtually all DTI studies of normal adult aging have been cross-sectional and have identified several patterns of white matter microstructural sparing and compromise that differentiate regional effects, fiber type, and diffusivity characteristics: (1) fractional anisotropy (FA) is lower and mean diffusivity is higher in older than younger adults, (2) aging is characterized by an anterior-to-posterior gradient of greater-to-lesser compromise also seen in superior-to-inferior fiber systems, and (3) association fibers connecting cortical sites appear to be more vulnerable to aging than projection fibers. The results of this longitudinal study of the macrostructure and microstructure of the corpus callosum yielded a consistent pattern of differences between healthy, young (20s to 30s) and elderly (60s to 70s) men and women without change over 2 years. We then divided the fibers of the corpus callosum into the midsagittal strip and the lateral distal fibers in an attempt to identify the locus of the age-related differences. The results indicated that, on average, mean values of FA and longitudinal diffusivity (lambdaL) were lower in the distal than midsagittal fibers in both groups, but the age effects and the anterior-to-posterior gradients were more pronounced for the distal than midsagittal fibers and extended more posteriorly in the distal than midsagittal fibers. Despite lack of evidence for callosal aging over 2 years, ventricular enlargement occurred and was disproportionately greater in the elderly relative to the young group, being 8.2% in the elderly but only 1.2% in the young group. Thus, different brain regions can express different rates of change with aging. Our longitudinal DTI data indicate that normal aging is associated with declining FA and increasing diffusivity in both lambdaL (longitudinal diffusivity) and lambdaT (transverse diffusivity), perhaps defining the normal ontological condition rather than a pathological one, which can be marked by low FA and low diffusivity.

The anatomy of the callosal and visual-association pathways in high-functioning autism: a DTI tractography study

There is increasing recognition that many of the core behavioral impairments that characterize autism potentially emerge from poor neural synchronization across nodes comprising dispersed cortical networks. A likely candidate for the source of this atypical functional connectivity in autism is an alteration in the structural integrity of intra- and inter-hemispheric white matter (WM) tracts that form large-scale cortical networks. To test this hypothesis, in a group of adults with high-functioning autism (HFA) and matched control participants, we used diffusion tensor tractography to compare the structural integrity of three intra-hemispheric visual-association WM tracts, the inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF), the inferior fronto-occipito fasciculus (IFOF) and the uncinate fasciculus (UF), with the integrity of three sub-portions of the major inter-hemispheric fiber tract, the corpus callosum. Compared with the control group, the HFA group evinced an increase in the volume of the intra-hemispheric fibers, particularly in the left hemisphere, and a reduction in the volume of the forceps minor (F-Mi) and body of the corpus callosum. The reduction in the volume of the F-Mi also correlated with an increase in repetitive and stereotypical behavior as measured by the Autism Diagnostic Interview. These findings suggest that the abnormalities in the integrity of key inter- and intra-hemispheric WM tracts may underlie the atypical information processing observed in these individuals.

Love songs, bird brains and diffusion tensor imaging

The song control system of songbirds displays a remarkable seasonal neuroplasticity in species in which song output also changes seasonally. Thus far, this song control system has been extensively analyzed by histological and electrophysiological methods. However, these approaches do not provide a global view of the brain and/or do not allow repeated measurements, which are necessary to establish causal correlations between alterations in neural substrate and behavior. Research has primarily been focused on the song nuclei themselves, largely neglecting their interconnections and other brain regions involved in seasonally changing behavior. In this review, we introduce and explore the song control system of songbirds as a natural model for brain plasticity. At the same time, we point out the added value of the songbird brain model for in vivo diffusion tensor techniques and its derivatives. A compilation of the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data obtained thus far in this system demonstrates the usefulness of this in vivo method for studying brain plasticity. In particular, it is shown to be a perfect tool for long-term studies of morphological and cellular changes of specific brain circuits in different endocrine/photoperiod conditions. The method has been successfully applied to obtain quantitative measurements of seasonal changes of fiber tracts and nuclei from the song control system. In addition, outside the song control system, changes have been discerned in the optic chiasm and in an interhemispheric connection. DTI allows the detection of seasonal changes in a region analogous to the mammalian secondary auditory cortex and in regions of the 'social behavior network', an interconnected group of structures that controls multiple social behaviors, including aggression and courtship. DTI allows the demonstration, for the first time, that the songbird brain in its entirety exhibits an extreme seasonal plasticity which is not merely limited to the song control system as was generally believed.

MR diffusion kurtosis imaging for neural tissue characterization

In conventional diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), water diffusion distribution is described as a 2nd-order three-dimensional (3D) diffusivity tensor. It assumes that diffusion occurs in a free and unrestricted environment with a Gaussian distribution of diffusion displacement, and consequently that diffusion weighted (DW) signal decays with diffusion factor (b-value) monoexponentially. In biological tissue, complex cellular microstructures make water diffusion a highly hindered or restricted process. Non-monoexponential decays are experimentally observed in both white matter and gray matter. As a result, DTI quantitation is b-value dependent and DTI fails to fully utilize the diffusion measurements that are inherent to tissue microstructure. Diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) characterizes restricted diffusion and can be readily implemented on most clinical scanners. It provides a higher-order description of water diffusion process by a 2nd-order 3D diffusivity tensor as in conventional DTI together with a 4th-order 3D kurtosis tensor. Because kurtosis is a measure of the deviation of the diffusion displacement profile from a Gaussian distribution, DKI analyses quantify the degree of diffusion restriction or tissue complexity without any biophysical assumption. In this work, the theory of diffusion kurtosis and DKI including the directional kurtosis analysis is revisited. Several recent rodent DKI studies from our group are summarized, and DKI and DTI compared for their efficacy in detecting neural tissue alterations. They demonstrate that DKI offers a more comprehensive approach than DTI in describing the complex water diffusion process in vivo. By estimating both diffusivity and kurtosis, it may provide improved sensitivity and specificity in MR diffusion characterization of neural tissues.

An MRI-based atlas and database of the developing mouse brain

The advent of mammalian gene engineering and genetically modified mouse models has led to renewed interest in developing resources for referencing and quantitative analysis of mouse brain anatomy. In this study, we used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) for quantitative characterization of anatomical phenotypes in the developing mouse brain. As an anatomical reference for neuroscience research using mouse models, this paper presents DTI based atlases of ex vivo C57BL/6 mouse brains at several developmental stages. The atlas complements existing histology and MRI-based atlases by providing users access to three-dimensional, high-resolution images of the developing mouse brain, with distinct tissue contrasts and segmentations of major gray matter and white matter structures. The usefulness of the atlas and database was demonstrated by quantitative measurements of the development of major gray matter and white matter structures. Population average images of the mouse brain at several postnatal stages were created using large deformation diffeomorphic metric mapping and their anatomical variations were quantitatively characterized. The atlas and database enhance our ability to examine the neuroanatomy in normal or genetically engineered mouse strains and mouse models of neurological diseases.

The Role of Corticospinal Tract Damage in Chronic Motor Recovery and Neurorehabilitation: A Pilot Study

Background. With diffusion-tensor imaging (DTi) it is possible to estimate the structural characteristics of fiber bundles in vivo. This study used DTi to infer damage to the corticospinal tract (CST) and relates this parameter to ( a) the level of residual motor ability at least 1 year poststroke and ( b) the outcome of intensive motor rehabilitation with constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT). Objective. To explore the role of CST damage in recovery and CIMT efficacy. Methods. Ten patients with low-functioning hemiparesis were scanned and tested at baseline, before and after CIMT. Lesion overlap with the CST was indexed as reduced anisotropy compared with a CST variability map derived from 26 controls. Residual motor ability was measured through the Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT) and the Motor Activity Log (MAL) acquired at baseline. CIMT benefit was assessed through the pre—post treatment comparison of WMFT and MAL performance. Results. Lesion overlap with the CST correlated with residual motor ability at baseline, with greater deficits observed in patients with more extended CST damage. Infarct volume showed no systematic association with residual motor ability. CIMT led to significant improvements in motor function but outcome was not associated with the extent of CST damage or infarct volume. Conclusion. The study gives in vivo support for the proposition that structural CST damage, not infarct volume, is a major predictor for residual functional ability in the chronic state. The results provide initial evidence for positive effects of CIMT in patients with varying, including more severe, CST damage.

Atlas-guided tract reconstruction for automated and comprehensive examination of the white matter anatomy

Tractography based on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is widely used to quantitatively analyze the status of the white matter anatomy in a tract-specific manner in many types of diseases. This approach, however, involves subjective judgment in the tract-editing process to extract only the tracts of interest. This process, usually performed by manual delineation of regions of interest, is also time-consuming, and certain tracts, especially the short cortico-cortical association fibers, are difficult to reconstruct. In this paper, we propose an automated approach for reconstruction of a large number of white matter tracts. In this approach, existing anatomical knowledge about tract trajectories (called the Template ROI Set or TRS) were stored in our DTI-based brain atlas with 130 three-dimensional anatomical segmentations, which were warped non-linearly to individual DTI data. We examined the degree of matching with manual results for selected fibers. We established 30 TRSs to reconstruct 30 prominent and previously well-described fibers. In addition, TRSs were developed to delineate 29 short association fibers that were found in all normal subjects examined in this paper (N=20). Probabilistic maps of the 59 tract trajectories were created from the normal subjects and were incorporated into our image analysis tool for automated tract-specific quantification.

Combined movement of multi-joint muscles activates a smaller area compared to the sum of areas activated by respective single-joint muscles after restoration of paresis

Awake surgery provides accurate localization of brain function based on rapid reversible neurological changes during surgical manipulation. In this study, hand clenching rapidly deteriorated due to surgical manipulation during awake surgery and instantly recovered not by hand clenching alone but by combined movement of hand clenching and elbow flexion. Postoperative fMRI (functional MRI) showed a smaller area activated by combined movement of hand clenching and elbow flexion than the sum of areas activated by hand clenching alone and elbow flexion alone. Conversely, the activated area by combined movement of hand clenching and elbow flexion was almost the same as the sum of areas by hand clenching alone and elbow flexion alone in fMRI of normal volunteers. These findings indicate reorganization of the motor area by combined movement including the motor function of previous transient weakness, and might suggest the effectiveness of combined movement to improve motor paresis in rehabilitation.

Intraoperative use of diffusion tensor imaging fiber tractography and subcortical mapping for resection of gliomas: technical considerations

Resection of lesions involving motor or language areas or pathways requires the intraoperative identification of functional cortical and subcortical sites for effectively and safe guidance. Diffusion tensor (DT) imaging and fiber tractography are MR imaging techniques based on the concept of anisotropic water diffusion in myelinated fibers, which enable 3D reconstruction and visualization of white matter tracts and provide information about the relationship of these tracts to the tumor mass. The authors routinely used DT imaging fiber tractography to reconstruct various tracts involved in the motor and/or language system in a large series of patients with lesions involving the motor and/or language areas or pathways. The DT imaging fiber tractography data were loaded into the neuronavigational system and combined intraoperatively with those obtained from direct electrical stimulation applied at the subcortical level. In this paper the authors report the results of their experience, describing the findings for each tract and discussing technical aspects of the combined use as well as the pitfalls.

Comparative mouse brain tractography of diffusion magnetic resonance imaging

Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) tractography can be employed to simultaneously analyze three-dimensional white matter tracts in the brain. Numerous methods have been proposed to model diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance data for tractography, and we have explored the functionality of some of these for studying white and grey matter pathways in ex vivo mouse brain. Using various deterministic and probabilistic algorithms across a range of regions of interest we found that probabilistic tractography provides a more robust means of visualizing both white and grey matter pathways than deterministic tractography. Importantly, we demonstrate the sensitivity of probabilistic tractography profiles to streamline number, step size, curvature, fiber orientation distribution threshold, and wholebrain versus region of interest seeding. Using anatomically well-defined corticothalamic pathways, we show how projection maps can permit the topographical assessment of probabilistic tractography. Finally, we show how different tractography approaches can impact on dMRI assessment of tract changes in a mouse deficient for the frontal cortex morphogen, fibroblast growth factor 17. In conclusion, probabilistic tractography can elucidate the phenotypes of mice with neurodegenerative or neurodevelopmental disorders in a quantitative manner.

Diffusion tensor and perfusion MRI of non-human primates

This paper reviews recent non-human primate (NHP) neuroimaging literature using MRI in macaque, baboon and chimpanzee. It describes general challenges and limitations for NHP MRI studies, and reviews recent applications of anatomical, diffusion tensor, cerebral blood flow MRI. Applications to NHP stroke is discussed in some detail.

MR tractography: a review of its clinical applications

Magnetic resonance tractography based on diffusion-tensor imaging was first introduced to the medical imaging community a decade ago. It has been successfully applied to a number of neurological conditions and most commonly used for preoperative planning for brain tumors and vascular malformations. Areas of active research include stroke, and dementia, where it provides valuable information not available through other imaging techniques. This technique was first introduced using the deterministic streamline algorithm and has evolved to use more sophisticated probabilistic approaches. We will review the past, present, and future of tractography, focusing primarily on its clinical applications.

Microscopic diffusion tensor imaging of the mouse brain

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data at 43 mum isotropic resolution has been acquired on the intact adult mouse brain in 28-h scan time by using a streamlined protocol, including specimen fixation and staining, image acquisition, reconstruction, post-processing, and distribution. An intermediate registration of each component image is required to achieve the desired microscopic resolution. Multiple parameters have been derived, including fractional anisotropy, axial and radial diffusivity, and a color-coded orientation map of the primary eigenvector. Each DTI dataset was mapped to a common reference space to facilitate future standardized analysis. Fiber tracking has also been demonstrated, providing 3D connection information. This protocol to acquire high-resolution DTI data in a robust and repeatable fashion will serve as a foundation to quantitatively study mouse brain integrity and white matter architecture, at what we believe to be the highest spatial resolution yet attained.

Diffusion tensor imaging to assess axonal regeneration in peripheral nerves

Development of outcome measures to assess ongoing nerve regeneration in the living animal that can be translated to human can provide extremely useful tools for monitoring the effects of therapeutic interventions to promote nerve regeneration. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), a magnetic resonance based technique, provides image contrast for nerve tracts and can be applied serially on the same subject with potential to monitor nerve fiber content. In this study, we examined the use of ex vivo high-resolution DTI for imaging intact and regenerating peripheral nerves in mice and correlated the MRI findings with electrophysiology and histology. DTI was done on sciatic nerves with crush, without crush, and after complete transection in different mouse strains. DTI measures, including fractional anisotropy (FA), parallel diffusivity, and perpendicular diffusivity were acquired and compared in segments of uninjured and crushed/transected nerves and correlated with morphometry. A comparison of axon regeneration after sciatic nerve crush showed a comparable pattern of regeneration in different mice strains. FA values were significantly lower in completely denervated nerve segments compared to uninjured sciatic nerve and this signal was restored toward normal in regenerating nerve segments (crushed nerves). Histology data indicate that the FA values and the parallel diffusivity showed a positive correlation with the total number of regenerating axons. These studies suggest that DTI is a sensitive measure of axon regeneration in mouse models and provide basis for further development of imaging technology for application to living animals and humans.

Reliability of fiber tracking measurements in diffusion tensor imaging for longitudinal study

The statistical reliability of diffusion property measurements was evaluated in ten healthy subjects using deterministic fiber tracking to localize tracts affected in motor neuron disease: corticospinal tract (CST), uncinate fasciculus (UNC), and the corpus callosum in its entirety (CC), and its genu (GE), motor (CCM), and splenium (SP) fibers separately. Measurements of fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (lambda(1)), transverse diffusivity (lambda( perpendicular)), and volume of voxels containing fibers (VV) were obtained within each tract. To assess intra-rater and inter-rater reliability, two raters carried out fiber tracking five times on each scan. Scan-rescan and longitudinal reliability were assessed in a subset of four subjects who had six scans, with two sets of three scans separated by 1 year. The statistical reliability of repeated measurements was evaluated using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and coefficients of variation (CV). Spatial agreement of tract shape was assessed using the kappa (kappa) statistic.

RESULTS

Repeated same-scan fiber tracking evaluations showed good geometric alignment (intra-rater kappa >0.90, inter-rater kappa >0.76) and reliable diffusion property measurements (intra-rater ICC >0.92, inter-rater ICC >0.77). FA, MD, and lambda( perpendicular) were highly reliable with repeated scans on different days, up to a year apart (ICC >0.8). VV also exhibited good reliability, but with higher CVs. We were unable to demonstrate reproducibility of lambda(1). Longitudinal reliability after one year was improved by averaging measurements from multiple scans at each time point. Fiber tracking provides a reliable tool for the longitudinal evaluation of white matter diffusion properties.

Atlas-based whole brain white matter analysis using large deformation diffeomorphic metric mapping: application to normal elderly and Alzheimer's disease participants

The purpose of this paper is to establish single-participant white matter atlases based on diffusion tensor imaging. As one of the applications of the atlas, automated brain segmentation was performed and the accuracy was measured using Large Deformation Diffeomorphic Metric Mapping (LDDMM). High-quality diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data from a single-participant were B0-distortion-corrected and transformed to the ICBM-152 atlas or to Talairach coordinates. The deep white matter structures, which have been previously well documented and clearly identified by DTI, were manually segmented. The superficial white matter areas beneath the cortex were defined, based on a population-averaged white matter probability map. The white matter was parcellated into 176 regions based on the anatomical labeling in the ICBM-DTI-81 atlas. The automated parcellation was achieved by warping this parcellation map to normal controls and to Alzheimer's disease patients with severe anatomical atrophy. The parcellation accuracy was measured by a kappa analysis between the automated and manual parcellation at 11 anatomical regions. The kappa values were 0.70 for both normal controls and patients while the inter-rater reproducibility was 0.81 (controls) and 0.82 (patients), suggesting "almost perfect" agreement. A power analysis suggested that the proposed method is suitable for detecting FA and size abnormalities of the white matter in clinical studies.

White matter tracts associated with set-shifting in healthy aging

Attentional set-shifting ability, commonly assessed with the Trail Making Test (TMT), decreases with increasing age in adults. Since set-shifting performance relies on activity in widespread brain regions, deterioration of the white matter tracts that connect these regions may underlie the age-related decrease in performance. We used an automated fiber tracking method to investigate the relationship between white matter integrity in several cortical association tracts and TMT performance in a sample of 24 healthy adults, 21-80 years. Diffusion tensor images were used to compute average fractional anisotropy (FA) for five cortical association tracts, the corpus callosum (CC), and the corticospinal tract (CST), which served as a control. Results showed that advancing age was associated with declines in set-shifting performance and with decreased FA in the CC and in association tracts that connect frontal cortex to more posterior brain regions, including the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF), uncinate fasciculus (UF), and superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF). Declines in average FA in these tracts, and in average FA of the right inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF), were associated with increased time to completion on the set-shifting subtask of the TMT but not with the simple sequencing subtask. FA values in these tracts were strong mediators of the effect of age on set-shifting performance. Automated tractography methods can enhance our understanding of the fiber systems involved in performance of specific cognitive tasks and of the functional consequences of age-related changes in those systems.

TIMER: tensor image morphing for elastic registration

We propose a novel diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) registration algorithm, called Tensor Image Morphing for Elastic Registration (TIMER), which leverages the hierarchical guidance of regional distributions and local boundaries, both extracted directly from the tensors. Currently available DTI registration methods generally extract tensor scalar features from each tensor to construct scalar maps. Subsequently, regional integration and other operations such as edge detection are performed to extract more features to guide the registration. However, there are two major limitations with these approaches. First, the computed regional features might not reflect the actual regional tensor distributions. Second, by the same token, gradient maps calculated from the tensor-derived scalar feature maps might not represent the actual tissue tensor boundaries. To overcome these limitations, we propose a new approach which extracts regional and edge information directly from a tensor neighborhood. Regional tensor distribution information, such as mean and variance, is computed in a multiscale fashion directly from the tensors by taking into account the voxel neighborhood of different sizes, and hence capturing tensor information at different scales, which in turn can be employed to hierarchically guide the registration. Such multiscale scheme can help alleviate the problem of local minimum and is also more robust to noise since one can better determine the statistical properties of each voxel by taking into account the properties of its surrounding. Also incorporated in our method is edge information extracted directly from the tensors, which is crucial to facilitate registration of tissue boundaries. Experiments involving real subjects, simulated subjects, fiber tracking, and atrophy detection indicate that TIMER performs better than the other methods (Yang et al., 2008; Zhang et al., 2006).

Hypoxic injury during neonatal development in murine brain: correlation between in vivo DTI findings and behavioral assessment

Preterm birth results in significant neurodevelopmental disability. A neonatal rodent model of chronic sublethal hypoxia (CSH), which mimics effects of preterm birth, was used to characterize neurodevelopmental consequences of prolonged exposure to hypoxia using tissue anisotropy measurements from diffusion tensor imaging. Corpus callosum, cingulum, and fimbria of the hippocampus revealed subtle, yet significant, hypoxia-induced modifications during maturation (P15-P51). Anisotropy differences between control and CSH mice were greatest at older ages (>P40) in these regions. Neither somatosensory cortex nor caudate putamen revealed significant differences between control and CSH mice at any age. We assessed control and CSH mice using tests of general activity and cognition for behavioral correlates of morphological changes. Open-field task revealed greater locomotor activity in CSH mice early in maturation (P16-P18), whereas by adolescence (P40-P45) differences between control and CSH mice were insignificant. These results may be associated with lack of cortical and subcortical anisotropy differences between control and CSH mice. Spatial-delayed alternation and free-swim tasks in adulthood revealed lasting impairments for CSH mice in spatial memory and behavioral laterality. These differences may correlate with anisotropy decreases in hippocampal and callosal connectivities of CSH mice. Thus, CSH mice revealed developmental and behavioral deficits that are similar to those observed in low birth weight preterm infants.

MR relaxation in multiple sclerosis

This article provides an overview of relaxation times and their application to normal brain and brain and cord affected by multiple sclerosis. The goal is to provide readers with an intuitive understanding of what influences relaxation times, how relaxation times can be accurately measured, and how they provide specific information about the pathology of MS. The article summarizes significant results from relaxation time studies in the normal human brain and cord and from people who have multiple sclerosis. It also reports on studies that have compared relaxation time results with results from other MR techniques.

A diffusion tensor imaging tractography algorithm based on Navier-Stokes fluid mechanics

We introduce a fluid mechanics based tractography method for estimating the most likely connection paths between points in diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) volumes. We customize the Navier-Stokes equations to include information from the diffusion tensor and simulate an artificial fluid flow through the DTI image volume. We then estimate the most likely connection paths between points in the DTI volume using a metric derived from the fluid velocity vector field. We validate our algorithm using digital DTI phantoms based on a helical shape. Our method segmented the structure of the phantom with less distortion than was produced using implementations of heat-based partial differential equation (PDE) and streamline based methods. In addition, our method was able to successfully segment divergent and crossing fiber geometries, closely following the ideal path through a digital helical phantom in the presence of multiple crossing tracts. To assess the performance of our algorithm on anatomical data, we applied our method to DTI volumes from normal human subjects. Our method produced paths that were consistent with both known anatomy and directionally encoded color images of the DTI dataset.

Fiber tractography reveals disruption of temporal lobe white matter tracts in schizophrenia

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies have demonstrated abnormal anisotropic diffusion in schizophrenia. However, examining data with low spatial resolution and/or a low number of gradient directions and limitations associated with analysis approaches sensitive to registration confounds may have contributed to mixed findings concerning the regional specificity and direction of results. This study examined three major white matter tracts connecting lateral and medial temporal lobe regions with neocortical association regions widely implicated in systems-level functional and structural disturbances in schizophrenia. Using DTIstudio, a previously validated regions of interest tractography method was applied to 30 direction diffusion weighted imaging data collected from demographically similar schizophrenia (n=23) and healthy control subjects (n=22). The diffusion tensor was computed at each voxel after intra-subject registration of diffusion-weighted images. Three-dimensional tract reconstruction was performed using the Fiber Assignment by Continuous Tracking (FACT) algorithm. Tractography results showed reduced fractional anisotropy (FA) of the arcuate fasciculi (AF) and inferior longitudinal fasciculi (ILF) in patients compared to controls. FA changes within the right ILF were negatively correlated with measures of thinking disorder. Reduced volume of the left AF was also observed in patients. These results, which avoid registration issues associated with voxel-based analyses of DTI data, support that fiber pathways connecting lateral and medial temporal lobe regions with neocortical regions are compromised in schizophrenia. Disruptions of connectivity within these pathways may potentially contribute to the disturbances of memory, language, and social cognitive processing that characterize the disorder.

Diffusion abnormalities in adolescents and young adults with a history of heavy cannabis use

BACKGROUND

There is growing evidence that adolescence is a key period for neuronal maturation. Despite the high prevalence of marijuana use among adolescents and young adults in the United States and internationally, very little is known about its impact on the developing brain. Based on neuroimaging literature on normal brain developmental during adolescence, we hypothesized that individuals with heavy cannabis use (HCU) would have brain structure abnormalities in similar brain regions that undergo development during late adolescence, particularly the fronto-temporal connection.

METHOD

Fourteen young adult males in residential treatment for cannabis dependence and 14 age-matched healthy male control subjects were recruited. Patients had a history of HCU throughout adolescence; 5 had concurrent alcohol abuse. Subjects underwent structural and diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging. White matter integrity was compared between subject groups using voxelwise and fiber tractography analysis.

RESULTS

Voxelwise and tractography analyses revealed that adolescents with HCU had reduced fractional anisotropy, increased radial diffusivity, and increased trace in the homologous areas known to be involved in ongoing development during late adolescence, particularly in the fronto-temporal connection via arcuate fasciculus.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results support the hypothesis that heavy cannabis use during adolescence may affect the trajectory of normal brain maturation. Due to concurrent alcohol consumption in five HCU subjects, conclusions from this study should be considered preliminary, as the DTI findings reported here may be reflective of the combination of alcohol and marijuana use. Further research in larger samples, longitudinal in nature, and controlling for alcohol consumption is needed to better understand the pathophysiology of the effect of cannabis on the developing brain.

Tract-based morphometry for white matter group analysis

We introduce an automatic method that we call tract-based morphometry, or TBM, for measurement and analysis of diffusion MRI data along white matter fiber tracts. Using subject-specific tractography bundle segmentations, we generate an arc length parameterization of the bundle with point correspondences across all fibers and all subjects, allowing tract-based measurement and analysis. In this paper we present a quantitative comparison of fiber coordinate systems from the literature and we introduce an improved optimal match method that reduces spatial distortion and improves intra- and inter-subject variability of FA measurements. We propose a method for generating arc length correspondences across hemispheres, enabling a TBM study of interhemispheric diffusion asymmetries in the arcuate fasciculus (AF) and cingulum bundle (CB). The results of this study demonstrate that TBM can detect differences that may not be found by measuring means of scalar invariants in entire tracts, such as the mean diffusivity (MD) differences found in AF. We report TBM results of higher fractional anisotropy (FA) in the left hemisphere in AF (caused primarily by lower lambda(3), the smallest eigenvalue of the diffusion tensor, in the left AF), and higher left hemisphere FA in CB (related to higher lambda(1), the largest eigenvalue of the diffusion tensor, in the left CB). By mapping the significance levels onto the tractography trajectories for each structure, we demonstrate the anatomical locations of the interhemispheric differences. The TBM approach brings analysis of DTI data into the clinically and neuroanatomically relevant framework of the tract anatomy.

Mapping of functional areas in the human cortex based on connectivity through association fibers

In the human brain, different regions of the cortex communicate via white matter tracts. Investigation of this connectivity is essential for understanding brain function. It has been shown that trajectories of white matter fiber bundles can be estimated based on orientational information that is obtained from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). By extrapolating this information, cortical regions associated with a specific white matter tract can be estimated. In this study, we created population-averaged cortical maps of brain connectivity for 4 major association fiber tracts, the corticospinal tract (CST), and commissural fibers. It is shown that these 4 association fibers interconnect all 4 lobes of the hemispheres. Cortical regions that were assigned based on association with the CST and the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) agreed with locations of their known (CST: motor) or putative (SLF: language) functions. The proposed approach can potentially be used for quantitative assessment of the effect of white matter abnormalities on associated cortical regions.

Magnetic resonance methods and applications in pharmaceutical research

This review presents an overview of some recent magnetic resonance (MR) techniques for pharmaceutical research. MR is noninvasive, and does not expose subjects to ionizing radiation. Some methods that have been used in pharmaceutical research MR include magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods, among them, diffusion-weighted MRI, perfusion-weighted MRI, functional MRI, molecular imaging and contrast-enhance MRI. Some applications of MR in pharmaceutical research include MR in metabonomics, in vivo MRS, studies in cerebral ischemia and infarction, degenerative joint diseases, oncology, cardiovascular disorders, respiratory diseases and skin diseases. Some of these techniques, such as cardiac and joint imaging, or brain fMRI are standard, and are providing relevant data routinely. Skin MR and hyperpolarized gas lung MRI are still experimental. In conclusion, considering the importance of finding and characterizing biomarkers for improved drug evaluation, it can be expected that the use of MR techniques in pharmaceutical research is going to increase in the near future.

Human brain white matter atlas: identification and assignment of common anatomical structures in superficial white matter

Structural delineation and assignment are the fundamental steps in understanding the anatomy of the human brain. The white matter has been structurally defined in the past only at its core regions (deep white matter). However, the most peripheral white matter areas, which are interleaved between the cortex and the deep white matter, have lacked clear anatomical definitions and parcellations. We used axonal fiber alignment information from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to delineate the peripheral white matter, and investigated its relationship with the cortex and the deep white matter. Using DTI data from 81 healthy subjects, we identified nine common, blade-like anatomical regions, which were further parcellated into 21 subregions based on the cortical anatomy. Four short association fiber tracts connecting adjacent gyri (U-fibers) were also identified reproducibly among the healthy population. We anticipate that this atlas will be useful resource for atlas-based white matter anatomical studies.

Temporal and spatial development of axonal maturation and myelination of white matter in the developing brain

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has been widely used to investigate the development of white matter (WM). However, information about this development in healthy children younger than 2 years of age is lacking, and most previous studies have only measured fractional anisotropy (FA). This study used FA and radial and axonal diffusivities in children younger than 2 years of age, aiming to determine the temporal and spatial development of axonal maturation and myelination of WM in healthy children.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 60 healthy pediatric subjects were imaged by using a 3T MR imaging scanner. They were divided into 3 groups: 20 at 3 weeks, 20 at 1 year of age, and 20 at 2 years of age. All subjects were imaged asleep without sedation. FA and axial and radial diffusivities were obtained. Eight regions of interest were defined, including both central and peripheral WM for measuring diffusion parameters.

RESULTS

A significant elevation in FA (P < .0001) and a reduction in axial and radial diffusivities (P < .0001) were observed from 22 days to 1 year of age, whereas only radial diffusivity showed significant changes (P = .0014) from 1 to 2 years of age. The region-of-interest analysis revealed that FA alone may not depict the underlying biologic underpinnings of WM development, whereas directional diffusivities provide more insights into the development of WM. Finally, the spatial development of WM begins from the central to the peripheral WM and from the occipital to the frontal lobes.

CONCLUSIONS

With both FA and directional diffusivities, our results demonstrate the temporal and spatial development of WM in healthy children younger than 2 years of age.

Problem solving, working memory, and motor correlates of association and commissural fiber bundles in normal aging: a quantitative fiber tracking study

Normal aging is accompanied by decline in selective cognitive and motor functions. A concurrent decline in regional white matter integrity, detectable with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), potentially contributes to waning function. DTI analysis of white matter loci indicates an anterior-to-posterior gradient distribution of declining fractional anisotropy (FA) and increasing diffusivity with age. Quantitative fiber tracking can be used to determine regional patterns of normal aging of fiber systems and test the functional ramifications of the DTI metrics. Here, we used quantitative fiber tracking to examine age effects on commissural (genu and splenium), bilateral association (cingulate, inferior longitudinal fasciculus and uncinate), and fornix fibers in 12 young and 12 elderly healthy men and women and tested functional correlates with concurrent assessment of a wide range of neuropsychological abilities. Principal component analysis of cognitive and motor tests on which the elderly achieved significantly lower scores than the young group was used for data reduction and yielded three factors: Problem Solving, Working Memory, and Motor. Age effects--lower FA or higher diffusivity--in the elderly were prominent in anterior tracts, specifically, genu, fornix, and uncinate fibers. Differential correlations between FA or diffusivity in fiber tracts and scores on Problem Solving, Working Memory, or Motor factors provide convergent validity to the biological meaningfulness of the integrity of the fibers tracked. The observed pattern of relations supports the possibility that regional degradation of white matter fiber integrity is a biological source of age-related functional compromise and may have the potential to limit accessibility to alternative neural systems to compensate for compromised function.

A study of diffusion tensor imaging by tissue-specific, smoothing-compensated voxel-based analysis

Voxel-based analysis (VBA) is commonly used for statistical analysis of image data, including the detection of significant signal differences between groups. Typically, images are co-registered and then smoothed with an isotropic Gaussian kernel to compensate for image misregistration, to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), to reduce the number of multiple comparisons, and to apply random field theory. Problems with typical implementations of VBA include poor tissue specificity from image misregistration and smoothing. In this study, we developed a new tissue-specific, smoothing-compensated (T-SPOON) method for the VBA of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data with improved tissue specificity and compensation for image misregistration and smoothing. When compared with conventional VBA methods, the T-SPOON method introduced substantially less errors in the normalized and smoothed DTI maps. Another confound of the conventional DTI-VBA is that it is difficult to differentiate between differences in morphometry and DTI measures that describe tissue microstructure. T-SPOON VBA decreased the effects of differential morphometry in the DTI VBA studies. T-SPOON and conventional VBA were applied to a DTI study of white matter in autism. T-SPOON VBA results were found to be more consistent with region of interest (ROI) measurements in the corpus callosum and temporal lobe regions. The T-SPOON method may be also applicable to other quantitative imaging maps such as T1 or T2 relaxometry, magnetization transfer, or PET tracer maps.

Landmark-referenced voxel-based analysis of diffusion tensor images of the brainstem white matter tracts: application in patients with middle cerebral artery stroke

Although DTI can provide detailed information about white matter anatomy, it is not yet straightforward enough to quantify the anatomical information it visualizes. In this study, we developed and tested a new tool to perform brain normalization and voxel-based analysis of DTI data. For the normalization part, manually placed landmarks ensured that the visualized white matter tracts were well-registered among the populations. A standard landmark set in ICBM-152 space and an interface to remap them to subject data were integrated in the procedure. After landmark placement, highly elastic non-linear Large Deformation Diffeomorphic Metric Mapping (LDDMM) was driven by the landmarks to normalize the brainstem anatomy of normal subjects. The approach was then applied to delineate brainstem tract abnormalities in patients with left chronic middle cerebral artery (MCA) stroke. The voxel-based comparison between control and patient groups identified abnormalities in the ipsilesional corticospinal tract and contralesional cerebellar peduncles. We believe that this tool is useful for regional brain normalization of patients with severe anatomical alterations, such as stroke, brain tumor, and lobectomy, for whom standard automated normalization tools may not work properly.

Fiber-tracking techniques can predict the degree of neurologic impairment for periventricular leukomalacia

OBJECTIVE

Preterm or low birth weight infants display a greater propensity for white matter injury caused by hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy in the perinatal period. Such episodes can result in periventricular leukomalacia, which may substantially influence later brain development. Noninvasive methods of assessing the severity of injury at the earliest stage of life have not yet been established.

METHODS

We used diffusion tensor imaging to evaluate sensorimotor fibers in periventricular leukomalacia. Region-of-interest measurements and tractography-based measurements were performed for 10 patients with periventricular leukomalacia. The mean age of the patients was 19 +/- 9.5 months (range: 9-41 months). Motor functions were assessed at a mean age of 28 +/- 14.5 months.

RESULTS

Measured fractional anisotropy values of the motor tract were significantly higher in all mild periventricular leukomalacia cases than in severe cases. A fractional anisotropy cutoff value of <0.5 was useful for predicting severe periventricular leukomalacia. Region-of-interest measurements were less sensitive, compared with tractography-based measurements.

CONCLUSIONS

Fiber-tracking techniques can provide information on the pathophysiologic features of motor disability in patients with periventricular leukomalacia. Early screening of patients with a history of asphyxia may facilitate early intervention (eg, rehabilitation), to achieve better motor function.

Quantitative tractography metrics of white matter integrity in diffusion-tensor MRI

We present new quantitative diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI) tractography-based metrics for assessing cerebral white matter integrity. These metrics extend prior work in this area. Tractography models of cerebral white matter were produced from each subject's DTI data. The models are a set of curves (e.g., "streamtubes") derived from DTI data that represent the underlying topography of the cerebral white matter. Nine metrics were calculated in whole brain tractography models and in three "tracts-of-interest": transcallosal fibers and the left and right cingulum bundles. The metrics included the number of streamtubes and several other based on the summed length of streamtubes, including some that were weighted by scalar anisotropy metrics and normalized for estimated intracranial volume. We then tested whether patients with subcortical ischemic vascular disease (i.e., vascular cognitive impairment or VCI) vs. healthy controls (HC) differed on the metrics. The metrics were significantly lower in the VCI group in whole brain and in transcallosal fibers but not in the left or right cingulum bundles. The metrics correlated significantly with cognitive functions known to be impacted by white matter abnormalities (e.g., processing speed) but not with those more strongly impacted by cortical disease (e.g., naming). These new metrics help bridge the gap between DTI tractography and scalar analytical methods and provide a potential means for examining group differences in white matter integrity in specific tracts-of-interest.

Quantification of brain maturation and growth patterns in C57BL/6J mice via computational neuroanatomy of diffusion tensor images

Diffusion Tensor magnetic resonance imaging and computational neuroanatomy are used to quantify postnatal developmental patterns of C57BL/6J mouse brain. Changes in neuronal organization and myelination occurring as the brain matures into adulthood are examined, and a normative baseline is developed, against which transgenic mice may be compared in genotype-phenotype studies. In early postnatal days, gray matter-based cortical and hippocampal structures exhibit high water diffusion anisotropy, presumably reflecting the radial neuronal organization. Anisotropy drops rapidly within a week, indicating that the underlying brain tissue becomes more isotropic in orientation, possibly due to formation of a complex randomly intertwined web of dendrites. Gradual white matter anisotropy increase implies progressively more organized axonal pathways, likely reflecting the myelination of axons forming tightly packed fiber bundles. In contrast to the spatially complex pattern of tissue maturation, volumetric growth is somewhat uniform, with the cortex and the cerebellum exhibiting slightly more pronounced growth. Temporally, structural growth rates demonstrate an initial rapid volumetric increase in most structures, gradually tapering off to a steady state by about 20 days. Fiber maturation reaches steady state in about 10 days for the cortex, to 30-40 days for the corpus callosum, the hippocampus, and the internal and external capsules.

Early postnatal development of rat brain: in vivo diffusion tensor imaging

Perinatal hypoxia is a major cause of neurodevelopmental deficits. Neuronal migration patterns are particularly sensitive to perinatal hypoxia/ischemia and are associated with the clinical deficits. The rat model of hypoxia/ischemia at P7 mimics that of perinatal injury in humans. Before assessing the effects of postnatal injury on brain development, it is essential to determine the normal developmental trajectories of various brain structures in individual animals. In vivo longitudinal diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was performed from postnatal day 0 (P0) to P56 on Wistar rats. The DTI metrics, mean diffusivity (MD), fractional anisotropy (FA), axial (lambdal) and radial (lambdat) diffusivities, were determined for four gray matter and eight white matter structures. The FA of the cortical plate and the body of corpus callosum decreased significantly during the first 3 weeks after birth. The decrease in the cortical plate's FA value was associated mainly with an increase in lambdat. The initial decrease in FA of corpus callosum was associated with a significant decrease in lambdal. The FA of corpus callosum increased during the rest of the observational period, which was mainly associated with a decrease in lambdat. The FA of gray matter structures, hippocampus, caudate putamen, and cortical mantle did not show significant changes between P0 and P56. In contrast, the majority of white matter structures showed significant changes between P0 and P56. These temporal changes in the DTI metrics were related to the neuronal and axonal pruning and myelination that are known to occur in the developing brain.

Neuroradiological characterization of normal adult ageing

This paper provides a review of MRI and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) findings in normal ageing as an essential context for evaluating imaging in dementia, and adding to the ever-growing number of such overviews. An additional extensive literature details the physics, MR acquisition, image reconstruction and mathematical computation approaches to both imaging modalities. The aim of this review is to illustrate how MR imaging modalities, spanning structural and diffusion tensor imaging, are suitable for visualizing and quantifying the macrostructural and microstructural disruptions sustained by the brain in normal ageing and to recognize the importance of normative data for identifying abnormalities characterizing neurodegenerative diseases and other conditions affecting brain tissue integrity.

Automated fiber tracking of human brain white matter using diffusion tensor imaging

Reconstruction of white matter tracts based on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is currently widely used in clinical research. This reconstruction allows us to identify coordinates of specific white matter tracts and to investigate their anatomy. Fiber reconstruction, however, relies on manual identification of anatomical landmarks of a tract of interest, which is based on subjective judgment and thus a potential source of experimental variability. Here, an automated tract reconstruction approach is introduced. A set of reference regions of interest (rROIs) known to select a tract of interest was marked in our DTI brain atlas. The atlas was then linearly transformed to each subject, and the rROI set was transferred to the subject for tract reconstruction. Agreement between the automated and manual approaches was measured for 11 tracts in 10 healthy volunteers and found to be excellent (kappa>0.8) and remained high up to 4-5 mm of the linear transformation errors. As a first example, the automated approach was applied to brain tumor patients and strategies to cope with severe anatomical abnormalities are discussed.

Mapping spatiotemporal diffusion inside the human brain using a numerical solution of the diffusion equation

Diffusion is an important mechanism for molecular transport in living biological tissues. Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) provides a unique probe to examine microscopic structures of the tissues in vivo, but current dMRI techniques usually ignore the spatiotemporal evolution process of the diffusive medium. In the present study, we demonstrate the feasibility to reveal the spatiotemporal diffusion process inside the human brain based on a numerical solution of the diffusion equation. Normal human subjects were scanned with a diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) technique on a 3-T MRI scanner, and the diffusion tensor in each voxel was calculated from the DTI data. The diffusion equation, a partial-derivative description of Fick's law for the diffusion process, was discretized into equivalent algebraic equations. A finite-difference method was employed to obtain the numerical solution of the diffusion equation with a Crank-Nicholson iteration scheme to enhance the numerical stability. By specifying boundary and initial conditions, the spatiotemporal evolution of the diffusion process inside the brain can be virtually reconstructed. Our results exhibit similar medium profiles and diffusion coefficients as those of light fluorescence dextrans measured in integrative optical imaging experiments. The proposed method highlights the feasibility to noninvasively estimate the macroscopic diffusive transport time for a molecule in a given region of the brain.

Quantitative magnetic resonance of postmortem multiple sclerosis brain before and after fixation

Unfixed and fixed postmortem multiple sclerosis (MS) brain is being used to probe pathology underlying quantitative MR (qMR) changes. Effects of fixation on qMR indices in MS brain are unknown. In 15 postmortem MS brain slices T(1), T(2), MT ratio (MTR), macromolecular proton fraction (f(B)), fractional anisotropy (FA), and mean, axial, and radial diffusivity (MD, D(ax), and D(rad)) were assessed in white matter (WM) lesions (WML) and normal appearing WM (NAWM) before and after fixation in formalin. Myelin content, axonal count, and gliosis were quantified histologically. Student's t-test and regression were used for analysis. T(1), T(2), MTR, and f(B) obtained in unfixed MS brain were similar to published values obtained in patients with MS in vivo. Following fixation T(1), T(2) (NAWM, WML) and MTR (NAWM) dropped, whereas f(B) (NAWM, WML) increased. Compared to published in vivo data all diffusivity measures were lower in unfixed MS brain, and dropped further following fixation (except for FA). MTR was the best predictor of T(myelin) (inversely related to myelin) in unfixed MS brain (r = -0.83; P < 0.01) whereas postfixation T(2) (r = 0.92; P < 0.01), T(1) (r = 0.89; P < 0.01), and f(B) (r = -0.86; P < 0.01) were superior. All diffusivity measures (except for D(ax) in unfixed tissue) were predictors of myelin content.

A multiple streamline approach to high angular resolution diffusion tractography

Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging has the ability to map neuronal architecture by estimating the 3D diffusion displacement within fibrous brain structures. This approach has non-invasively been demonstrated in the human brain with diffusion tensor tractography. Despite its valuable application in neuroscience and clinical studies however, it faces an inherent limit in mapping fiber tracts through areas with intervoxel incoherence. Recent advances in high angular resolution diffusion imaging have surpassed this limit and have the ability to resolve the complex fiber intercrossing within each MR voxel. To connect the fiber tracts from a multi-fiber system, this study proposed a modified fiber assignment using the continuous tracking (MFACT) algorithm and a tracking browser to propagate tracts along complex diffusion profiles. The Q-ball imaging method was adopted to acquire the diffusion displacements. Human motor pathways with seed points from the internal capsule, motor cortex, and pons were studied respectively. The results were consistent with known anatomy and demonstrated the promising potential of the MFACT method in mapping the complex neuronal architecture in the human brain.

Frontal Callosal Fiber Integrity Selectively Predicts Coordinated Psychomotor Performance in Chronic Alcoholism

INTRODUCTION: Quantitative fiber tracking with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) provides a new approach for assessing deficits in the microstructural integrity of white matter circuits that may underlie cognitive deficits associated with conditions affecting white matter, including chronic alcoholism. METHODS: Alcoholic men and women (n=87) and healthy controls (n=88) performed the Digit Symbol (DS) test and underwent structural and diffusion tensor imaging. Measures of fractional anisotropy (FA) of fibers passing through genu and splenium were computed, as were size of genu and splenium fiber target regions of interest (ROI). RESULTS: Alcoholics scored lower than controls on the DS and had even greater deficits in genu than splenium fiber FA. In alcoholics, fiber FA of the genu selectively predicted DS scores after accounting for splenium FA. Neither fiber FA measure predicted incidental recall of the symbols used in the task. Size of genu and splenium ROI, although reduced in alcoholics, did not predict DS score or incidental recall. CONCLUSIONS: Quantitative tractography of frontal fibers connecting left and right hemispheres selectively predicted performance by alcoholics on a coordinated psychomotor task and provide support for frontally based systems in Digit Symbol performance, both of which are compromised in recovering alcoholics.