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Syed Nasser N, Venugopal VK, Veenstra C, Johansson P, Rajan S, Mahajan K, Naik S, Masand R, Yadav P, Khanduri S, Singhal S, Bhargava R, Kabra U, Gupta S, Saggar K, Varaprasad B, Aggrawal K, Rao A, K S M, Dakhole A, Kelkar A, Benjamin G, Sodani V, Goyal P, Mahajan H. Age-stratified Assessment of Brain Volumetric Segmentation on the Indian Population Using Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Clin Neuroradiol 2024; 34:541-551. [PMID: 38253891 DOI: 10.1007/s00062-023-01374-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2023] [Accepted: 12/16/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Automated methods for quantifying brain tissue volumes have gained clinical interest for their objective assessment of neurological diseases. This study aimed to establish reference curves for brain volumes and fractions in the Indian population using Synthetic MRI (SyMRI), a quantitative imaging technique providing multiple contrast-weighted images through fast postprocessing. METHODS The study included a cohort of 314 healthy individuals aged 15-65 years from multiple hospitals/centers across India. The SyMRI-quantified brain volumes and fractions, including brain parenchymal fraction (BPF), gray matter fraction (GMF), white matter fraction (WMF), and myelin. RESULTS Normative age-stratified quantification curves were created based on the obtained data. The results showed significant differences in brain volumes between the sexes, but not after normalization by intracranial volume. CONCLUSION The findings provide normative data for the Indian population and can be used for comparative analysis of brain structure values. Furthermore, our data indicate that the use of fractions rather than absolute volumes in normative curves, such as BPF, GMF, and WMF, can mitigate sex and population differences as they account for individual differences in head size or brain volume.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Swati Naik
- Batra Hospital & Medical Research Centre, New Delhi, India
| | | | - Pratiksha Yadav
- Dr. D. Y. Patil Medical College, Hospital and Research Centre, Pune, India
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Kavita Saggar
- Dayanand Medical College & Hospital, Ludhiana, India
| | | | | | | | - Manoj K S
- Metro Scans and Laboratory, Thiruvananthapuram, India
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Zhao L, Zhu D, Wang X, Liu X, Li T, Wang B, Yao Z, Zheng W, Hu B. An Attention-Based Hemispheric Relation Inference Network for Perinatal Brain Age Prediction. IEEE J Biomed Health Inform 2024; 28:4483-4493. [PMID: 38857141 DOI: 10.1109/jbhi.2024.3411620] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2024]
Abstract
Brain anatomical age is an effective feature to assess the status of the brain, such as atypical development and aging. Although some deep learning models have been developed for estimating infant brain age, the performance of these models was unsatisfactory because few of them considered the developmental characteristics of brain anatomy during the perinatal period-the most rapid and complex developmental stage across the lifespan. The present study proposed an attention-based hemispheric relation inference network (HRINet) that takes advantage of the nature of brain structural lateralization during early development. This model captures the inter-hemispheric relationship using a graph attention mechanism and transmits lateralization information as features to describe the interactive development between bilateral hemispheres. The HRINet was used to estimate the brain age of 531 preterm and full-term neonates from the Developing Human Connectome Project (dHCP) database based on two metrics (mean curvature and sulcal depth) characterizing the folding morphology of the cortex. Our results showed that the HRINet outperformed other benchmark models in fitting the perinatal brain age, with mean absolute error of 0.53 and determination coefficient of 0.89. We also verified the generalizability of the HRINet on an extra independent dataset collected from the Gansu Provincial Maternity and Child-care Hospital. Furthermore, by applying the best-performing model to an independent dataset consisting of 47 scans of preterm infants at term-equivalent age, we showed that the predicted age was significantly lower than the chronological age, suggesting a delayed development of premature brains. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness and generalizability of the HRINet in estimating infant brain age, providing promising clinical applications for assessing neonatal brain maturity.
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Hu L, Wan Q, Huang L, Tang J, Huang S, Chen X, Bai X, Kong L, Deng J, Liang H, Liu G, Liu H, Lu L. MRI-based brain age prediction model for children under 3 years old using deep residual network. Brain Struct Funct 2023; 228:1771-1784. [PMID: 37603065 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-023-02686-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 07/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/22/2023]
Abstract
Early identification and intervention of abnormal brain development individual subjects are of great significance, especially during the earliest and most active stage of brain development in children aged under 3. Neuroimage-based brain's biological age has been associated with health, ability, and remaining life. However, the existing brain age prediction models based on neuroimage are predominantly adult-oriented. Here, we collected 658 T1-weighted MRI scans from 0 to 3 years old healthy controls and developed an accurate brain age prediction model for young children using deep learning techniques with high accuracy in capturing age-related changes. The performance of the deep learning-based model is comparable to that of the SVR-based model, showcasing remarkable precision and yielding a noteworthy correlation of 91% between the predicted brain age and the chronological age. Our results demonstrate the accuracy of convolutional neural network (CNN) brain-predicted age using raw T1-weighted MRI data with minimum preprocessing necessary. We also applied our model to children with low birth weight, premature delivery history, autism, and ADHD, and discovered that the brain age was delayed in children with extremely low birth weight (less than 1000 g) while ADHD may cause accelerated aging of the brain. Our child-specific brain age prediction model can be a valuable quantitative tool to detect abnormal brain development and can be helpful in the early identification and intervention of age-related brain disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lianting Hu
- Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou, 510623, Guangdong, China
- Medical Big Data Center, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital/Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong, China
- Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong, China
| | - Qirong Wan
- Department of Psychiatry, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 4330060, Hubei, China
| | - Li Huang
- School of Information Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, Hubei, China
| | - Jiajie Tang
- Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou, 510623, Guangdong, China
- School of Information Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, Hubei, China
| | - Shuai Huang
- Medical Big Data Center, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital/Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong, China
- Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong, China
| | - Xuanhui Chen
- Medical Big Data Center, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital/Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong, China
- Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong, China
| | - Xiaohe Bai
- School of Physical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, San Diego, CA, 92093, USA
| | - Lingcong Kong
- Medical Big Data Center, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital/Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong, China
| | - Jingyi Deng
- School of Information Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, Hubei, China
| | - Huiying Liang
- Medical Big Data Center, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital/Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong, China
- Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong, China
| | - Guangjian Liu
- Medical Big Data Center, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital/Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong, China
- Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong, China
| | - Hongsheng Liu
- Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou, 510623, Guangdong, China.
| | - Long Lu
- Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou, 510623, Guangdong, China.
- School of Information Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, Hubei, China.
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Cheng J, Zhang X, Ni H, Li C, Xu X, Wu Z, Wang L, Lin W, Li G. Path Signature Neural Network of Cortical Features for Prediction of Infant Cognitive Scores. IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MEDICAL IMAGING 2022; 41:1665-1676. [PMID: 35089858 PMCID: PMC9246848 DOI: 10.1109/tmi.2022.3147690] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Studies have shown that there is a tight connection between cognition skills and brain morphology during infancy. Nonetheless, it is still a great challenge to predict individual cognitive scores using their brain morphological features, considering issues like the excessive feature dimension, small sample size and missing data. Due to the limited data, a compact but expressive feature set is desirable as it can reduce the dimension and avoid the potential overfitting issue. Therefore, we pioneer the path signature method to further explore the essential hidden dynamic patterns of longitudinal cortical features. To form a hierarchical and more informative temporal representation, in this work, a novel cortical feature based path signature neural network (CF-PSNet) is proposed with stacked differentiable temporal path signature layers for prediction of individual cognitive scores. By introducing the existence embedding in path generation, we can improve the robustness against the missing data. Benefiting from the global temporal receptive field of CF-PSNet, characteristics consisted in the existing data can be fully leveraged. Further, as there is no need for the whole brain to work for a certain cognitive ability, a top K selection module is used to select the most influential brain regions, decreasing the model size and the risk of overfitting. Extensive experiments are conducted on an in-house longitudinal infant dataset within 9 time points. By comparing with several recent algorithms, we illustrate the state-of-the-art performance of our CF-PSNet (i.e., root mean square error of 0.027 with the time latency of 518 milliseconds for each sample).
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Kiely M, Triebswetter C, Cortina LE, Gong Z, Alsameen MH, Spencer RG, Bouhrara M. Insights into human cerebral white matter maturation and degeneration across the adult lifespan. Neuroimage 2022; 247:118727. [PMID: 34813969 PMCID: PMC8792239 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118727] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2021] [Revised: 10/15/2021] [Accepted: 11/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
White matter (WM) microstructural properties change across the adult lifespan and with neuronal diseases. Understanding microstructural changes due to aging is paramount to distinguish them from neuropathological changes. Conducted on a large cohort of 147 cognitively unimpaired subjects, spanning a wide age range of 21 to 94 years, our study evaluated sex- and age-related differences in WM microstructure. Specifically, we used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) indices, sensitive measures of myelin and axonal density in WM, and myelin water fraction (MWF), a measure of the fraction of the signal of water trapped within the myelin sheets, to probe these differences. Furthermore, we examined regional correlations between MWF and DTI indices to evaluate whether the DTI metrics provide information complementary to MWF. While sexual dimorphism was, overall, nonsignificant, we observed region-dependent differences in MWF, that is, myelin content, and axonal density with age and found that both exhibit nonlinear, but distinct, associations with age. Furthermore, DTI indices were moderately correlated with MWF, indicating their good sensitivity to myelin content as well as to other constituents of WM tissue such as axonal density. The microstructural differences captured by our MRI metrics, along with their weak to moderate associations with MWF, strongly indicate the potential value of combining these outcome measures in a multiparametric approach. Furthermore, our results support the last-in-first-out and the gain-predicts-loss hypotheses of WM maturation and degeneration. Indeed, our results indicate that the posterior WM regions are spared from neurodegeneration as compared to anterior regions, while WM myelination follows a temporally symmetric time course across the adult life span.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew Kiely
- Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, 21224 MD, USA
| | - Curtis Triebswetter
- Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, 21224 MD, USA
| | - Luis E Cortina
- Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, 21224 MD, USA
| | - Zhaoyuan Gong
- Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, 21224 MD, USA
| | - Maryam H Alsameen
- Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, 21224 MD, USA
| | - Richard G Spencer
- Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, 21224 MD, USA
| | - Mustapha Bouhrara
- Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, 21224 MD, USA.
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Triebswetter C, Kiely M, Khattar N, Ferrucci L, Resnick SM, Spencer RG, Bouhrara M. Differential associations between apolipoprotein E alleles and cerebral myelin content in normative aging. Neuroimage 2022; 251:118988. [PMID: 35150834 PMCID: PMC8940662 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.118988] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2021] [Revised: 01/20/2022] [Accepted: 02/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Mounting evidence indicates that myelin breakdown may represent an early phenomenon in neurodegeneration, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). Understanding the factors influencing myelin synthesis and breakdown will be essential for the development and evaluation of therapeutic interventions. In this work, we assessed associations between genetic variance in apolipoprotein E (APOE) and cerebral myelin content. Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (qMRI) was performed on a cohort of 92 cognitively unimpaired adults ranging in age from 24 to 94 years. We measured whole-brain myelin water fraction (MWF), a direct measure of myelin content, as well as longitudinal and transverse relaxation rates (R1 and R2), sensitive measures of myelin content, in carriers of the APOE ε4 or APOE ε2 alleles and individuals with the ε33 genotype. Automated brain mapping algorithms and statistical models were used to evaluate the relationships between MWF or relaxation rates and APOE isoforms, accounting for confounding variables including age, sex, and race, in several cerebral structures. Our results indicate that carriers of APOE ε2 exhibited significantly higher myelin content, that is, higher MWF, R1 or R2 values, in most brain regions investigated as compared to noncarriers, while ε4 carriers exhibited trends toward lower myelin content compared to noncarriers. Finally, all qMRI metrics exhibited quadratic, inverted U-shape, associations with age; attributed to the development of myelination from young to middle age followed by progressive loss of myelin afterwards. Sex and race effects on myelination were, overall, nonsignificant. These findings suggest that individual genetic background may influence cerebral myelin maintenance. Although preliminary, this work lays the foundation for further investigations to clarify the relationship between APOE genotype and myelination, which may suggest potential targets in treatment or prevention of AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Curtis Triebswetter
- Magnetic Resonance Physics of Aging and Dementia Unit, Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, BRC 05C-222, 251 Bayview Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21224, USA
| | - Matthew Kiely
- Magnetic Resonance Physics of Aging and Dementia Unit, Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, BRC 05C-222, 251 Bayview Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21224, USA
| | - Nikkita Khattar
- Magnetic Resonance Physics of Aging and Dementia Unit, Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, BRC 05C-222, 251 Bayview Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21224, USA
| | - Luigi Ferrucci
- Translational Gerontology Branch, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA
| | - Susan M Resnick
- Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA
| | - Richard G Spencer
- Magnetic Resonance Physics of Aging and Dementia Unit, Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, BRC 05C-222, 251 Bayview Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21224, USA
| | - Mustapha Bouhrara
- Magnetic Resonance Physics of Aging and Dementia Unit, Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, BRC 05C-222, 251 Bayview Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21224, USA.
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7
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Low household income and neurodevelopment from infancy through adolescence. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0262607. [PMID: 35081147 PMCID: PMC8791534 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2021] [Accepted: 12/29/2021] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite advancements in the study of brain maturation at different developmental epochs, no work has linked the significant neural changes occurring just after birth to the subtler refinements in the brain occurring in childhood and adolescence. We aimed to provide a comprehensive picture regarding foundational neurodevelopment and examine systematic differences by family income. Using a nationally representative longitudinal sample of 486 infants, children, and adolescents (age 5 months to 20 years) from the NIH MRI Study of Normal Brain Development and leveraging advances in statistical modeling, we mapped developmental trajectories for the four major cortical lobes and constructed charts that show the statistical distribution of gray matter and reveal the considerable variability in regional volumes and structural change, even among healthy, typically developing children. Further, the data reveal that significant structural differences in gray matter development for children living in or near poverty, first detected during childhood (age 2.5-6.5 years), evolve throughout adolescence.
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Schneider N, Greenstreet E, Deoni SCL. Connecting inside out: Development of the social brain in infants and toddlers with a focus on myelination as a marker of brain maturation. Child Dev 2021; 93:359-371. [PMID: 34463347 PMCID: PMC9290142 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13649] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2020] [Revised: 06/15/2021] [Accepted: 07/05/2021] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
Early childhood is a sensitive period for learning and social skill development. The maturation of cerebral regions underlying social processing lays the foundation for later social‐emotional competence. This study explored myelin changes in social brain regions and their association with changes in parent‐rated social‐emotional development in a cohort of 129 children (64 females, 0–36 months, 77 White). Results reveal a steep increase in myelination throughout the social brain in the first 3 years of life that is significantly associated with social‐emotional development scores. These findings add knowledge to the emerging picture of social brain development by describing neural underpinnings of human social behavior. They can contribute to identifying age‐/stage‐appropriate early life factors in this developmental domain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nora Schneider
- Brain Health Department, Nestlé Institute of Health Science, Nestlé Research, Société des Produits Nestlé SA, Switzerland
| | | | - Sean C L Deoni
- Advanced Baby Imaging Lab, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.,Department of Pediatrics, Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.,Department of Radiology, Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
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Copeland A, Silver E, Korja R, Lehtola SJ, Merisaari H, Saukko E, Sinisalo S, Saunavaara J, Lähdesmäki T, Parkkola R, Nolvi S, Karlsson L, Karlsson H, Tuulari JJ. Infant and Child MRI: A Review of Scanning Procedures. Front Neurosci 2021; 15:666020. [PMID: 34321992 PMCID: PMC8311184 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.666020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2021] [Accepted: 05/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a safe method to examine human brain. However, a typical MR scan is very sensitive to motion, and it requires the subject to lie still during the acquisition, which is a major challenge for pediatric scans. Consequently, in a clinical setting, sedation or general anesthesia is often used. In the research setting including healthy subjects anesthetics are not recommended for ethical reasons and potential longer-term harm. Here we review the methods used to prepare a child for an MRI scan, but also on the techniques and tools used during the scanning to enable a successful scan. Additionally, we critically evaluate how studies have reported the scanning procedure and success of scanning. We searched articles based on special subject headings from PubMed and identified 86 studies using brain MRI in healthy subjects between 0 and 6 years of age. Scan preparations expectedly depended on subject's age; infants and young children were scanned asleep after feeding and swaddling and older children were scanned awake. Comparing the efficiency of different procedures was difficult because of the heterogeneous reporting of the used methods and the success rates. Based on this review, we recommend more detailed reporting of scanning procedure to help find out which are the factors affecting the success of scanning. In the long term, this could help the research field to get high quality data, but also the clinical field to reduce the use of anesthetics. Finally, we introduce the protocol used in scanning 2 to 5-week-old infants in the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, and tips for calming neonates during the scans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anni Copeland
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Psychiatry, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Eero Silver
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Psychiatry, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Riikka Korja
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Psychology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Satu J. Lehtola
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Harri Merisaari
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Radiology, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Ekaterina Saukko
- Department of Radiology, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Susanne Sinisalo
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Jani Saunavaara
- Department of Medical Physics, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - Tuire Lähdesmäki
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Pediatric Neurology, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Riitta Parkkola
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Radiology, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Saara Nolvi
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, Turku Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Linnea Karlsson
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Psychiatry, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Centre for Population Health Research, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Hasse Karlsson
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Psychiatry, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Jetro J. Tuulari
- FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Psychiatry, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Turku Collegium for Science, Medicine and Technology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
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Buyanova IS, Arsalidou M. Cerebral White Matter Myelination and Relations to Age, Gender, and Cognition: A Selective Review. Front Hum Neurosci 2021; 15:662031. [PMID: 34295229 PMCID: PMC8290169 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.662031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2021] [Accepted: 06/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
White matter makes up about fifty percent of the human brain. Maturation of white matter accompanies biological development and undergoes the most dramatic changes during childhood and adolescence. Despite the advances in neuroimaging techniques, controversy concerning spatial, and temporal patterns of myelination, as well as the degree to which the microstructural characteristics of white matter can vary in a healthy brain as a function of age, gender and cognitive abilities still exists. In a selective review we describe methods of assessing myelination and evaluate effects of age and gender in nine major fiber tracts, highlighting their role in higher-order cognitive functions. Our findings suggests that myelination indices vary by age, fiber tract, and hemisphere. Effects of gender were also identified, although some attribute differences to methodological factors or social and learning opportunities. Findings point to further directions of research that will improve our understanding of the complex myelination-behavior relation across development that may have implications for educational and clinical practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irina S. Buyanova
- Neuropsy Lab, HSE University, Moscow, Russia
- Center for Language and Brain, HSE University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Marie Arsalidou
- Neuropsy Lab, HSE University, Moscow, Russia
- Cognitive Centre, Sirius University of Science and Technology, Sochi, Russia
- Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada
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Butler ER, Chen A, Ramadan R, Le TT, Ruparel K, Moore TM, Satterthwaite TD, Zhang F, Shou H, Gur RC, Nichols TE, Shinohara RT. Pitfalls in brain age analyses. Hum Brain Mapp 2021; 42:4092-4101. [PMID: 34190372 PMCID: PMC8357007 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25533] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2021] [Revised: 04/08/2021] [Accepted: 04/29/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Over the past decade, there has been an abundance of research on the difference between age and age predicted using brain features, which is commonly referred to as the “brain age gap.” Researchers have identified that the brain age gap, as a linear transformation of an out‐of‐sample residual, is dependent on age. As such, any group differences on the brain age gap could simply be due to group differences on age. To mitigate the brain age gap's dependence on age, it has been proposed that age be regressed out of the brain age gap. If this modified brain age gap is treated as a corrected deviation from age, model accuracy statistics such as R2 will be artificially inflated to the extent that it is highly improbable that an R2 value below .85 will be obtained no matter the true model accuracy. Given the limitations of proposed brain age analyses, further theoretical work is warranted to determine the best way to quantify deviation from normality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ellyn R. Butler
- Brain Behavior Laboratory, Department of PsychiatryPerelman School of Medicine, University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - Andrew Chen
- Penn Statistics in Imaging and Visualization Endeavor, Center for Clinical Epidemiology and BiostatisticsPerelman School of Medicine, University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaUSA
- Center for Biomedical Image Computing and AnalyticsDepartment of Radiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - Rabie Ramadan
- Mathematics DepartmentTemple UniversityPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - Trang T. Le
- Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and InformaticsInstitute for Biomedical Informatics, University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - Kosha Ruparel
- Brain Behavior Laboratory, Department of PsychiatryPerelman School of Medicine, University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - Tyler M. Moore
- Brain Behavior Laboratory, Department of PsychiatryPerelman School of Medicine, University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - Theodore D. Satterthwaite
- Penn Lifespan Informatics & Neuroimaging Center, Department of PsychiatryUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - Fengqing Zhang
- Department of PsychologyDrexel UniversityPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - Haochang Shou
- Penn Statistics in Imaging and Visualization Endeavor, Center for Clinical Epidemiology and BiostatisticsPerelman School of Medicine, University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaUSA
- Center for Biomedical Image Computing and AnalyticsDepartment of Radiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - Ruben C. Gur
- Brain Behavior Laboratory, Department of PsychiatryPerelman School of Medicine, University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - Thomas E. Nichols
- Big Data Institute, Li Ka Shing Centre for Health Information and DiscoveryUniversity of OxfordOxfordUK
- FMRIB, Wellcome Centre for Integrative NeuroimagingOxfordUK
| | - Russell T. Shinohara
- Penn Statistics in Imaging and Visualization Endeavor, Center for Clinical Epidemiology and BiostatisticsPerelman School of Medicine, University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaUSA
- Center for Biomedical Image Computing and AnalyticsDepartment of Radiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaUSA
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12
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Bouhrara M, Kim RW, Khattar N, Qian W, Bergeron CM, Melvin D, Zukley LM, Ferrucci L, Resnick SM, Spencer RG. Age-related estimates of aggregate g-ratio of white matter structures assessed using quantitative magnetic resonance neuroimaging. Hum Brain Mapp 2021; 42:2362-2373. [PMID: 33595168 PMCID: PMC8090765 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2020] [Revised: 01/21/2021] [Accepted: 02/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The g‐ratio, defined as the inner‐to‐outer diameter of a myelinated axon, is associated with the speed of nerve impulse conduction, and represents an index of axonal myelination and integrity. It has been shown to be a sensitive and specific biomarker of neurodevelopment and neurodegeneration. However, there have been very few magnetic resonance imaging studies of the g‐ratio in the context of normative aging; characterizing regional and time‐dependent cerebral changes in g‐ratio in cognitively normal subjects will be a crucial step in differentiating normal from abnormal microstructural alterations. In the current study, we investigated age‐related differences in aggregate g‐ratio, that is, g‐ratio averaged over all fibers within regions of interest, in several white matter regions in a cohort of 52 cognitively unimpaired participants ranging in age from 21 to 84 years. We found a quadratic, U‐shaped, relationship between aggregate g‐ratio and age in most cerebral regions investigated, suggesting myelin maturation until middle age followed by a decrease at older ages. As expected, we observed that these age‐related differences vary across different brain regions, with the frontal lobes and parietal lobes exhibiting slightly earlier ages of minimum aggregate g‐ratio as compared to more posterior structures such as the occipital lobes and temporal lobes; this agrees with the retrogenesis paradigm. Our results provide evidence for a nonlinear association between age and aggregate g‐ratio in a sample of adults from a highly controlled population. Finally, sex differences in aggregate g‐ratio were observed in several cerebral regions, with women exhibiting overall lower values as compared to men; this likely reflects the greater myelin content in women's brain, in agreement with recent investigations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mustapha Bouhrara
- Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Richard W Kim
- Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Nikkita Khattar
- Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Wenshu Qian
- Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Christopher M Bergeron
- Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Denise Melvin
- Clinical Research Core, Office of the Scientific Director, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Linda M Zukley
- Clinical Research Core, Office of the Scientific Director, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Luigi Ferrucci
- Translational Gerontology Branch, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Susan M Resnick
- Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Richard G Spencer
- Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
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13
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Morris SR, Holmes RD, Dvorak AV, Liu H, Yoo Y, Vavasour IM, Mazabel S, Mädler B, Kolind SH, Li DKB, Siegel L, Beaulieu C, MacKay AL, Laule C. Brain Myelin Water Fraction and Diffusion Tensor Imaging Atlases for 9-10 Year-Old Children. J Neuroimaging 2020; 30:150-160. [PMID: 32064721 DOI: 10.1111/jon.12689] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2019] [Revised: 12/18/2019] [Accepted: 01/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Myelin water imaging (MWI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) provide information about myelin and axon-related brain microstructure, which can be useful for investigating normal brain development and many childhood brain disorders. While pediatric DTI atlases exist, there are no pediatric MWI atlases available for the 9-10 years old age group. As myelination and structural development occurs throughout childhood and adolescence, studies of pediatric brain pathologies must use age-specific MWI and DTI healthy control data. We created atlases of myelin water fraction (MWF) and DTI metrics for healthy children aged 9-10 years for use as normative data in pediatric neuroimaging studies. METHODS 3D-T1 , DTI, and MWI scans were acquired from 20 healthy children (mean age: 9.6 years, range: 9.2-10.3 years, 4 females). ANTs and FSL registration were used to create quantitative MWF and DTI atlases. Region of interest (ROI) analysis in nine white matter regions was used to compare pediatric MWF with adult MWF values from a recent study and to investigate the correlation between pediatric MWF and DTI metrics. RESULTS Adults had significantly higher MWF than the pediatric cohort in seven of the nine white matter ROIs, but not in the genu of the corpus callosum or the cingulum. In the pediatric data, MWF correlated significantly with mean diffusivity, but not with axial diffusivity, radial diffusivity, or fractional anisotropy. CONCLUSIONS Normative MWF and DTI metrics from a group of 9-10 year old healthy children provide a resource for comparison to pathologies. The age-specific atlases are ready for use in pediatric neuroimaging research and can be accessed: https://sourceforge.net/projects/pediatric-mri-myelin-diffusion/.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah R Morris
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.,International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries, Vancouver, BC, Canada.,Department of Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | | | - Adam V Dvorak
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.,International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Hanwen Liu
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.,International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Youngjin Yoo
- Medical Imaging Technologies, Siemens Healthineers, Princeton, NJ
| | - Irene M Vavasour
- Department of Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Silvia Mazabel
- Educational and Counseling Psychology, and Special Education, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | | | - Shannon H Kolind
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.,International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries, Vancouver, BC, Canada.,Department of Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.,Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - David K B Li
- Department of Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.,Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Linda Siegel
- Educational and Counseling Psychology, and Special Education, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Christian Beaulieu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Alex L MacKay
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.,Department of Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Cornelia Laule
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.,International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries, Vancouver, BC, Canada.,Department of Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.,Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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14
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Quantitative age-dependent differences in human brainstem myelination assessed using high-resolution magnetic resonance mapping. Neuroimage 2019; 206:116307. [PMID: 31669302 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116307] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2019] [Revised: 10/18/2019] [Accepted: 10/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous in-vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based studies of age-related differences in the human brainstem have focused on volumetric morphometry. These investigations have provided pivotal insights into regional brainstem atrophy but have not addressed microstructural age differences. However, growing evidence indicates the sensitivity of quantitative MRI to microstructural tissue changes in the brain. These studies have largely focused on the cerebrum, with very few MR investigations addressing age-dependent differences in the brainstem, in spite of its central role in the regulation of vital functions. Several studies indicate early brainstem alterations in a myriad of neurodegenerative diseases and dementias. The paucity of MR-focused investigations is likely due in part to the challenges imposed by the small structural scale of the brainstem itself as well as of substructures within, requiring accurate high spatial resolution imaging studies. In this work, we applied our recently developed approach to high-resolution myelin water fraction (MWF) mapping, a proxy for myelin content, to investigate myelin differences with normal aging within the brainstem. In this cross-sectional investigation, we studied a large cohort (n = 125) of cognitively unimpaired participants spanning a wide age range (21-94 years) and found a decrease in myelination with age in most brainstem regions studied, with several regions exhibiting a quadratic association between myelin and age. We believe that this study is the first investigation of MWF differences with normative aging in the adult brainstem. Further, our results provide reference MWF values.
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15
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Adult brain aging investigated using BMC-mcDESPOT-based myelin water fraction imaging. Neurobiol Aging 2019; 85:131-139. [PMID: 31735379 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2019.10.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2019] [Revised: 09/30/2019] [Accepted: 10/07/2019] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
The relationship between regional brain myelination and aging has been the subject of intense study, with magnetic resonance imaging perhaps the most effective modality for elucidating this. However, most of these studies have used nonspecific methods to probe myelin content, including diffusion tensor imaging, magnetization transfer ratio, and relaxation times. In the present study, we used the BMC-mcDESPOT analysis, a direct and specific method for imaging of myelin water fraction (MWF), a surrogate of myelin content. We investigated age-related differences in MWF in several brain regions in a large cohort of cognitively unimpaired participants, spanning a wide age range. Our results indicate a quadratic, inverted U-shape, relationship between MWF and age in all brain regions investigated, suggesting that myelination continues until middle age followed by decreases at older ages. We also observed that these age-related differences vary across different brain regions, as expected. Our results provide evidence for nonlinear associations between age and myelin in a large sample of well-characterized adults, using a direct myelin content imaging method.
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16
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Quantitative assessment of myelination patterns in preterm neonates using T2-weighted MRI. Sci Rep 2019; 9:12938. [PMID: 31506514 PMCID: PMC6736873 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-49350-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2019] [Accepted: 08/14/2019] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Myelination is considered to be an important developmental process during human brain maturation and closely correlated with gestational age. Quantitative assessment of the myelination status requires dedicated imaging, but the conventional T2-weighted scans routinely acquired during clinical imaging of neonates carry signatures that are thought to be associated with myelination. In this work, we develop a quatitative marker of progressing myelination for assessment preterm neonatal brain maturation based on novel automatic segmentation method for myelin-like signals on T2-weighted magnetic resonance images. Firstly we define a segmentation protocol for myelin-like signals. We then develop an expectation-maximization framework to obtain the automatic segmentations of myelin-like signals with explicit class for partial volume voxels whose locations are configured in relation to the composing pure tissues via second-order Markov random fields. The proposed segmentation achieves high Dice overlaps of 0.83 with manual annotations. The automatic segmentations are then used to track volumes of myelinated tissues in the regions of the central brain structures and brainstem. Finally, we construct a spatio-temporal growth models for myelin-like signals, which allows us to predict gestational age at scan in preterm infants with root mean squared error 1.41 weeks.
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17
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Geeraert BL, Lebel RM, Lebel C. A multiparametric analysis of white matter maturation during late childhood and adolescence. Hum Brain Mapp 2019; 40:4345-4356. [PMID: 31282058 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24706] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2019] [Revised: 05/28/2019] [Accepted: 06/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
White matter development has been well described using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), but the microstructural processes driving development remain unclear due to methodological limitations. Here, using neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI), inhomogeneous magnetization transfer (ihMT), and multicomponent driven equilibrium single-pulse observation of T1/T2 (mcDESPOT), we describe white matter development at the microstructural level in a longitudinal cohort of healthy 6-15 year olds. We evaluated age and gender-related trends in fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), neurite density index (NDI), orientation dispersion index (ODI), quantitative ihMT (qihMT), myelin volume fraction (VFm ), and g-ratio. We found age-related increases of VFm in most regions, showing ongoing myelination in vivo during late childhood and adolescence for the first time. No relationship was observed between qihMT and age, suggesting myelin volume increases are driven by increased water content. Age-related increases were observed for NDI, suggesting axonal packing is also occurring during this time. g-ratio decreased with age in the uncinate fasciculus, implying changes in communication efficiency are ongoing in this region. FA increased and MD decreased with age in most regions. Gender effects were present in the left cingulum for FA, and an age-by-gender interaction was found for MD in the left uncinate fasciculus. These findings suggest that FA and MD remain useful markers of gender-related processes, and gender differences are likely driven by factors other than myelin. We conclude that white matter development during late childhood and adolescence is driven by a combination of axonal packing and myelin volume increases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bryce L Geeraert
- Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute and the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Robert Marc Lebel
- Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute and the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,GE Healthcare, Calgary, Canada
| | - Catherine Lebel
- Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute and the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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18
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Ghribi O, Li G, Lin W, Shen D, Rekik I. Progressive Infant Brain Connectivity Evolution Prediction from Neonatal MRI Using Bidirectionally Supervised Sample Selection. PREDICTIVE INTELLIGENCE IN MEDICINE 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-32281-6_7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
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19
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Chen Y, Chen MH, Baluyot KR, Potts TM, Jimenez J, Lin W. MR fingerprinting enables quantitative measures of brain tissue relaxation times and myelin water fraction in the first five years of life. Neuroimage 2018; 186:782-793. [PMID: 30472371 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.11.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2018] [Revised: 11/20/2018] [Accepted: 11/21/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Quantitative assessments of normative brain development using MRI are of critical importance to gain insights into healthy neurodevelopment. However, quantitative MR imaging poses significant technical challenges and requires prohibitively long acquisition times, making it impractical for pediatric imaging. This is particularly relevant for healthy subjects, where imaging under sedation is not clinically indicated. MR Fingerprinting (MRF), a novel MR imaging framework, provides rapid, efficient, and simultaneous quantification of multiple tissue properties. In this study, a 2D MR Fingerprinting method was developed that achieves a spatial resolution of 1 × 1 × 3 mm3 with rapid and simultaneous quantification of T1, T2 and myelin water fraction (MWF). Phantom experiments demonstrated that accurate measurements of T1 and T2 relaxation times were achieved over a wide range of T1 and T2 values. MRF images were acquired cross-sectionally from 28 typically developing children, 0 to five years old, who were enrolled in the UNC/UMN Baby Connectome Project. Differences associated with age of R1 (=1/T1), R2 (=1/T2) and MWF were obtained from several predefined white matter regions. Both R1 and R2 exhibit a marked increase until ∼20 months of age, followed by a slower increase for all WM regions. In contrast, the MWF remains at a negligible level until ∼6 months of age for all predefined ROIs and gradually increases afterwards. Depending on the brain region, rapid increases are observed between 6 and 12 months to 6-18 months, followed by a slower pace of increase in MWF. Neither relaxivities nor MWF were significantly different between the left and right hemispheres. However, regional differences in age-related R1 and MWF measures were observed across different white matter regions. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that the MRF technique holds great potential for multi-parametric assessments of normative brain development in early childhood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yong Chen
- Departments of Radiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Biomedical Research Imaging Center (BRIC), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | | | - Kristine R Baluyot
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center (BRIC), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Taylor M Potts
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center (BRIC), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Jordan Jimenez
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center (BRIC), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Weili Lin
- Departments of Radiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Biomedical Research Imaging Center (BRIC), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
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20
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Hagiwara A, Hori M, Kamagata K, Warntjes M, Matsuyoshi D, Nakazawa M, Ueda R, Andica C, Koshino S, Maekawa T, Irie R, Takamura T, Kumamaru KK, Abe O, Aoki S. Myelin Measurement: Comparison Between Simultaneous Tissue Relaxometry, Magnetization Transfer Saturation Index, and T 1w/T 2w Ratio Methods. Sci Rep 2018; 8:10554. [PMID: 30002497 PMCID: PMC6043493 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-28852-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2018] [Accepted: 07/02/2018] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Magnetization transfer (MT) imaging has been widely used for estimating myelin content in the brain. Recently, two other approaches, namely simultaneous tissue relaxometry of R1 and R2 relaxation rates and proton density (SyMRI) and the ratio of T1-weighted to T2-weighted images (T1w/T2w ratio), were also proposed as methods for measuring myelin. SyMRI and MT imaging have been reported to correlate well with actual myelin by histology. However, for T1w/T2w ratio, such evidence is limited. In 20 healthy adults, we examined the correlation between these three methods, using MT saturation index (MTsat) for MT imaging. After calibration, white matter (WM) to gray matter (GM) contrast was the highest for SyMRI among these three metrics. Even though SyMRI and MTsat showed strong correlation in the WM (r = 0.72), only weak correlation was found between T1w/T2w and SyMRI (r = 0.45) or MTsat (r = 0.38) (correlation coefficients significantly different from each other, with p values < 0.001). In subcortical and cortical GM, these measurements showed moderate to strong correlations to each other (r = 0.54 to 0.78). In conclusion, the high correlation between SyMRI and MTsat indicates that both methods are similarly suited to measure myelin in the WM, whereas T1w/T2w ratio may be less optimal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Akifumi Hagiwara
- Department of Radiology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
- Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
| | - Masaaki Hori
- Department of Radiology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Koji Kamagata
- Department of Radiology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Marcel Warntjes
- SyntheticMR AB, Linköping, Sweden
- Center for Medical Imaging Science and Visualization (CMIV), Linköping, Sweden
| | - Daisuke Matsuyoshi
- Araya Inc., Tokyo, Japan
- Research Institute for Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Waseda, Japan
- Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Misaki Nakazawa
- Department of Radiology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Ryo Ueda
- Department of Radiology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
- Department of Radiological Sciences, Graduate School of Human Health Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan
- Office of Radiation Technology, Keio University Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Christina Andica
- Department of Radiology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Saori Koshino
- Department of Radiology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
- Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Tomoko Maekawa
- Department of Radiology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
- Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Ryusuke Irie
- Department of Radiology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
- Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Tomohiro Takamura
- Department of Radiology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | | | - Osamu Abe
- Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Shigeki Aoki
- Department of Radiology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
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21
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Adeli E, Meng Y, Li G, Lin W, Shen D. Multi-task prediction of infant cognitive scores from longitudinal incomplete neuroimaging data. Neuroimage 2018; 185:783-792. [PMID: 29709627 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.04.052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2017] [Revised: 03/26/2018] [Accepted: 04/23/2018] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Early postnatal brain undergoes a stunning period of development. Over the past few years, research on dynamic infant brain development has received increased attention, exhibiting how important the early stages of a child's life are in terms of brain development. To precisely chart the early brain developmental trajectories, longitudinal studies with data acquired over a long-enough period of infants' early life is essential. However, in practice, missing data from different time point(s) during the data gathering procedure is often inevitable. This leads to incomplete set of longitudinal data, which poses a major challenge for such studies. In this paper, prediction of multiple future cognitive scores with incomplete longitudinal imaging data is modeled into a multi-task machine learning framework. To efficiently learn this model, we account for selection of informative features (i.e., neuroimaging morphometric measurements for different time points), while preserving the structural information and the interrelation between these multiple cognitive scores. Several experiments are conducted on a carefully acquired in-house dataset, and the results affirm that we can predict the cognitive scores measured at the age of four years old, using the imaging data of earlier time points, as early as 24 months of age, with a reasonable performance (i.e., root mean square error of 0.18).
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Affiliation(s)
- Ehsan Adeli
- Department of Radiology and BRIC, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States; Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, United States.
| | - Yu Meng
- Department of Radiology and BRIC, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States; Department of Computer Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States
| | - Gang Li
- Department of Radiology and BRIC, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States
| | - Weili Lin
- Department of Radiology and BRIC, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States
| | - Dinggang Shen
- Department of Radiology and BRIC, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States; Department of Brain & Cognitive Eng, Korea University, Seoul, 02841, Republic of Korea.
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22
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Mudd AT, Dilger RN. Early-Life Nutrition and Neurodevelopment: Use of the Piglet as a Translational Model. Adv Nutr 2017; 8:92-104. [PMID: 28096130 PMCID: PMC5227977 DOI: 10.3945/an.116.013243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Optimal nutrition early in life is critical to ensure proper structural and functional development of infant organ systems. Although pediatric nutrition historically has emphasized research on the relation between nutrition, growth rates, and gastrointestinal maturation, efforts increasingly have focused on how nutrition influences neurodevelopment. The provision of human milk is considered the gold standard in pediatric nutrition; thus, there is interest in understanding how functional nutrients and bioactive components in milk may modulate developmental processes. The piglet has emerged as an important translational model for studying neurodevelopmental outcomes influenced by pediatric nutrition. Given the comparable nutritional requirements and strikingly similar brain developmental patterns between young pigs and humans, the piglet is being used increasingly in developmental nutritional neuroscience studies. The piglet primarily has been used to assess the effects of dietary fatty acids and their accretion in the brain throughout neurodevelopment. However, recent research indicates that other dietary components, including choline, iron, cholesterol, gangliosides, and sialic acid, among other compounds, also affect neurodevelopment in the pig model. Moreover, novel analytical techniques, including but not limited to MRI, behavioral assessments, and molecular quantification, allow for a more holistic understanding of how nutrition affects neurodevelopmental patterns. By combining early-life nutritional interventions with innovative analytical approaches, opportunities abound to quantify factors affecting neurodevelopmental trajectories in the neonate. This review discusses research using the translational pig model with primary emphasis on early-life nutrition interventions assessing neurodevelopment outcomes, while also discussing nutritionally-sensitive methods to characterize brain maturation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Austin T Mudd
- Piglet Nutrition and Cognition Laboratory
- Neuroscience Program
| | - Ryan N Dilger
- Piglet Nutrition and Cognition Laboratory,
- Neuroscience Program
- Division of Nutritional Sciences, and
- Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL
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23
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Bouhrara M, Spencer RG. Rapid simultaneous high-resolution mapping of myelin water fraction and relaxation times in human brain using BMC-mcDESPOT. Neuroimage 2016; 147:800-811. [PMID: 27729276 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.09.064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2016] [Revised: 08/21/2016] [Accepted: 09/26/2016] [Indexed: 10/20/2022] Open
Abstract
A number of central nervous system (CNS) diseases exhibit changes in myelin content and magnetic resonance longitudinal, T1, and transverse, T2, relaxation times, which therefore represent important biomarkers of CNS pathology. Among the methods applied for measurement of myelin water fraction (MWF) and relaxation times, the multicomponent driven equilibrium single pulse observation of T1 and T2 (mcDESPOT) approach is of particular interest. mcDESPOT permits whole brain mapping of multicomponent T1 and T2, with data acquisition accomplished within a clinically realistic acquisition time. Unfortunately, previous studies have indicated the limited performance of mcDESPOT in the setting of the modest signal-to-noise range of high-resolution mapping, required for the depiction of small structures and to reduce partial volume effects. Recently, we showed that a new Bayesian Monte Carlo (BMC) analysis substantially improved determination of MWF from mcDESPOT imaging data. However, our previous study was limited in that it did not discuss determination of relaxation times. Here, we extend the BMC analysis to the simultaneous determination of whole-brain MWF and relaxation times using the two-component mcDESPOT signal model. Simulation analyses and in-vivo human brain studies indicate the overall greater performance of this approach compared to the stochastic region contraction (SRC) algorithm, conventionally used to derive parameter estimates from mcDESPOT data. SRC estimates of the transverse relaxation time of the long T2 fraction, T2,l, and the longitudinal relaxation time of the short T1 fraction, T1,s, clustered towards the lower and upper parameter search space limits, respectively, indicating failure of the fitting procedure. We demonstrate that this effect is absent in the BMC analysis. Our results also showed improved parameter estimation for BMC as compared to SRC for high-resolution mapping. Overall we find that the combination of BMC analysis and mcDESPOT, BMC-mcDESPOT, shows excellent performance for accurate high-resolution whole-brain mapping of MWF and bi-component transverse and longitudinal relaxation times within a clinically realistic acquisition time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mustapha Bouhrara
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy Section, Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Intramural Research Program, BRC 04B-116, 251 Bayview Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA.
| | - Richard G Spencer
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy Section, Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Intramural Research Program, BRC 04B-116, 251 Bayview Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA.
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Bouhrara M, Spencer RG. Improved determination of the myelin water fraction in human brain using magnetic resonance imaging through Bayesian analysis of mcDESPOT. Neuroimage 2016; 127:456-471. [PMID: 26499810 PMCID: PMC4854306 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.10.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2015] [Revised: 09/26/2015] [Accepted: 10/14/2015] [Indexed: 10/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Myelin water fraction (MWF) mapping with magnetic resonance imaging has led to the ability to directly observe myelination and demyelination in both the developing brain and in disease. Multicomponent driven equilibrium single pulse observation of T1 and T2 (mcDESPOT) has been proposed as a rapid approach for multicomponent relaxometry and has been applied to map MWF in the human brain. However, even for the simplest two-pool signal model consisting of myelin-associated and non-myelin-associated water, the dimensionality of the parameter space for obtaining MWF estimates remains high. This renders parameter estimation difficult, especially at low-to-moderate signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), due to the presence of local minima and the flatness of the fit residual energy surface used for parameter determination using conventional nonlinear least squares (NLLS)-based algorithms. In this study, we introduce three Bayesian approaches for analysis of the mcDESPOT signal model to determine MWF. Given the high-dimensional nature of the mcDESPOT signal model, and, therefore the high-dimensional marginalizations over nuisance parameters needed to derive the posterior probability distribution of the MWF, the Bayesian analyses introduced here use different approaches to reduce the dimensionality of the parameter space. The first approach uses normalization by average signal amplitude, and assumes that noise can be accurately estimated from signal-free regions of the image. The second approach likewise uses average amplitude normalization, but incorporates a full treatment of noise as an unknown variable through marginalization. The third approach does not use amplitude normalization and incorporates marginalization over both noise and signal amplitude. Through extensive Monte Carlo numerical simulations and analysis of in vivo human brain datasets exhibiting a range of SNR and spatial resolution, we demonstrated markedly improved accuracy and precision in the estimation of MWF using these Bayesian methods as compared to the stochastic region contraction (SRC) implementation of NLLS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mustapha Bouhrara
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy Section, Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA.
| | - Richard G Spencer
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy Section, Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA.
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Bouhrara M, Spencer RG. Incorporation of nonzero echo times in the SPGR and bSSFP signal models used in mcDESPOT. Magn Reson Med 2015; 74:1227-35. [PMID: 26407635 PMCID: PMC4619140 DOI: 10.1002/mrm.25984] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2015] [Revised: 08/03/2015] [Accepted: 08/21/2015] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE To analyze the effect of neglecting nonzero echo times (TEs) in the conventional model of multicomponent driven equilibrium single pulse observation of T1 and T2 (mcDESPOT). THEORY AND METHODS Formulations of the two-component spoiled gradient recalled echo (SPGR) and balanced steady state free precession (bSSFP) models that incorporate nonzero TE effects are presented in the context of mcDESPOT and compared with the conventionally used SPGR and bSSFP models which ignore nonzero TEs. Relative errors in derived parameter estimates from conventional mcDESPOT, omitting TE effects, are assessed using simulations over a wide range of experimental and sample parameters. RESULTS The neglect of nonzero TE leads to an overestimate of the SPGR signal and an underestimate of the bSSFP signal. These effects can introduce large errors in parameter estimates derived from conventional mcDESPOT under realistic imaging conditions. CONCLUSION SPGR and bSSFP signal models accounting for nonzero TE effects should be incorporated into quantitative mcDESPOT analyses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mustapha Bouhrara
- Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA
| | - Richard G. Spencer
- Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA
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