1
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Lynch KM, Cabeen RP, Toga AW. Spatiotemporal patterns of cortical microstructural maturation in children and adolescents with diffusion MRI. Hum Brain Mapp 2024; 45:e26528. [PMID: 37994234 PMCID: PMC10789199 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26528] [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: 07/06/2023] [Revised: 10/10/2023] [Accepted: 10/19/2023] [Indexed: 11/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Neocortical maturation is a dynamic process that proceeds in a hierarchical manner; however, the spatiotemporal organization of cortical microstructure with diffusion MRI has yet to be fully defined. This study characterized cortical microstructural maturation using diffusion MRI (fwe-diffusion tensor imaging [DTI] and neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging [NODDI] multicompartment modeling) in a cohort of 637 children and adolescents between 8 and 21 years of age. We found spatially heterogeneous developmental patterns broadly demarcated into functional domains where NODDI metrics increased, and fwe-DTI metrics decreased with age. By applying nonlinear growth models in a vertex-wise analysis, we observed a general posterior-to-anterior pattern of maturation, where the fwe-DTI measures mean diffusivity and radial diffusivity reached peak maturation earlier than the NODDI metrics neurite density index. Using non-negative matrix factorization, we found occipito-parietal cortical regions that correspond to lower order sensory domains mature earlier than fronto-temporal higher order association domains. Our findings corroborate previous histological and neuroimaging studies that show spatially varying patterns of cortical maturation that may reflect unique developmental processes of cytoarchitectonically determined regional patterns of change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirsten M. Lynch
- Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI)USC Mark and Mary Stevens Institute for Neuroimaging and Informatics, USC Keck School of MedicineLos AngelesCaliforniaUSA
| | - Ryan P. Cabeen
- Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI)USC Mark and Mary Stevens Institute for Neuroimaging and Informatics, USC Keck School of MedicineLos AngelesCaliforniaUSA
| | - Arthur W. Toga
- Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI)USC Mark and Mary Stevens Institute for Neuroimaging and Informatics, USC Keck School of MedicineLos AngelesCaliforniaUSA
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2
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Kruggel F, Solodkin A. Analyzing the cortical fine structure as revealed by ex-vivo anatomical MRI. J Comp Neurol 2023; 531:2146-2161. [PMID: 37522626 DOI: 10.1002/cne.25532] [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: 09/26/2022] [Revised: 04/15/2023] [Accepted: 06/21/2023] [Indexed: 08/01/2023]
Abstract
The human cortex has a rich fiber structure as revealed by myelin-staining of histological slices. Myelin also contributes to the image contrast in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Recent advances in Magnetic Resonance (MR) scanner and imaging technology allowed the acquisition of an ex-vivo data set at an isotropic resolution of 100 µm. This study focused on a computational analysis of this data set with the aim of bridging between histological knowledge and MRI-based results. This work highlights: (1) the design and implementation of a processing chain that extracts intracortical features from a high-resolution MR image; (2) a demonstration of the correspondence between MRI-based cortical intensity profiles and the myelo-architectonic layering of the cortex; (3) the characterization and classification of four basic myelo-architectonic profile types; (4) the distinction of cortical regions based on myelo-architectonic features; and (5) the segmentation of cortical modules in the entorhinal cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frithjof Kruggel
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Ana Solodkin
- School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas, Richardson, Texas, USA
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3
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Kundu S, Barsoum S, Ariza J, Nolan AL, Latimer CS, Keene CD, Basser PJ, Benjamini D. Mapping the individual human cortex using multidimensional MRI and unsupervised learning. Brain Commun 2023; 5:fcad258. [PMID: 37953850 PMCID: PMC10638106 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcad258] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2023] [Revised: 08/31/2023] [Accepted: 10/05/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Human evolution has seen the development of higher-order cognitive and social capabilities in conjunction with the unique laminar cytoarchitecture of the human cortex. Moreover, early-life cortical maldevelopment has been associated with various neurodevelopmental diseases. Despite these connections, there is currently no noninvasive technique available for imaging the detailed cortical laminar structure. This study aims to address this scientific and clinical gap by introducing an approach for imaging human cortical lamina. This method combines diffusion-relaxation multidimensional MRI with a tailored unsupervised machine learning approach that introduces enhanced microstructural sensitivity. This new imaging method simultaneously encodes the microstructure, the local chemical composition and importantly their correlation within complex and heterogenous tissue. To validate our approach, we compared the intra-cortical layers obtained using our ex vivo MRI-based method with those derived from Nissl staining of postmortem human brain specimens. The integration of unsupervised learning with diffusion-relaxation correlation MRI generated maps that demonstrate sensitivity to areal differences in cytoarchitectonic features observed in histology. Significantly, our observations revealed layer-specific diffusion-relaxation signatures, showing reductions in both relaxation times and diffusivities at the deeper cortical levels. These findings suggest a radial decrease in myelin content and changes in cell size and anisotropy, reflecting variations in both cytoarchitecture and myeloarchitecture. Additionally, we demonstrated that 1D relaxation and high-order diffusion MRI scalar indices, even when aggregated and used jointly in a multimodal fashion, cannot disentangle the cortical layers. Looking ahead, our technique holds the potential to open new avenues of research in human neurodevelopment and the vast array of disorders caused by disruptions in neurodevelopment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shinjini Kundu
- Department of Radiology, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
- Section on Quantitative Imaging and Tissue Sciences, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Stephanie Barsoum
- Multiscale Imaging and Integrative Biophysics Unit, Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience, National Institute on Aging, NIH, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA
| | - Jeanelle Ariza
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Amber L Nolan
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Caitlin S Latimer
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - C Dirk Keene
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Peter J Basser
- Section on Quantitative Imaging and Tissue Sciences, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Dan Benjamini
- Multiscale Imaging and Integrative Biophysics Unit, Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience, National Institute on Aging, NIH, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA
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4
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Sa de Almeida J, Baud O, Fau S, Barcos-Munoz F, Courvoisier S, Lordier L, Lazeyras F, Hüppi PS. Music impacts brain cortical microstructural maturation in very preterm infants: A longitudinal diffusion MR imaging study. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2023; 61:101254. [PMID: 37182337 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2022] [Revised: 04/25/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 05/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Preterm birth disrupts important neurodevelopmental processes occurring from mid-fetal to term-age. Musicotherapy, by enriching infants' sensory input, might enhance brain maturation during this critical period of activity-dependent plasticity. To study the impact of music on preterm infants' brain structural changes, we recruited 54 very preterm infants randomized to receive or not a daily music intervention, that have undergone a longitudinal multi-shell diffusion MRI acquisition, before the intervention (at 33 weeks' gestational age) and after it (at term-equivalent-age). Using whole-brain fixel-based (FBA) and NODDI analysis (n = 40), we showed a longitudinal increase of fiber cross-section (FC) and fiber density (FD) in all major cerebral white matter fibers. Regarding cortical grey matter, FD decreased while FC and orientation dispersion index (ODI) increased, reflecting intracortical multidirectional complexification and intracortical myelination. The music intervention resulted in a significantly higher longitudinal increase of FC and ODI in cortical paralimbic regions, namely the insulo-orbito-temporopolar complex, precuneus/posterior cingulate gyrus, as well as the auditory association cortex. Our results support a longitudinal early brain macro and microstructural maturation of white and cortical grey matter in preterm infants. The music intervention led to an increased intracortical complexity in regions important for socio-emotional development, known to be impaired in preterm infants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joana Sa de Almeida
- Division of Development and Growth, Department of Paediatrics, Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospitals of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
| | - Olivier Baud
- Division of Neonatal and Intensive Care, Department of Paediatrics, Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospitals of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Sebastien Fau
- Division of Neonatal and Intensive Care, Department of Paediatrics, Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospitals of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Francisca Barcos-Munoz
- Division of Neonatal and Intensive Care, Department of Paediatrics, Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospitals of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Sebastien Courvoisier
- Center of BioMedical Imaging (CIBM), University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Radiology and Medical Informatics, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Lara Lordier
- Division of Development and Growth, Department of Paediatrics, Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospitals of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - François Lazeyras
- Center of BioMedical Imaging (CIBM), University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Radiology and Medical Informatics, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Petra S Hüppi
- Division of Development and Growth, Department of Paediatrics, Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospitals of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
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5
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Ivanov D, De Martino F, Formisano E, Fritz FJ, Goebel R, Huber L, Kashyap S, Kemper VG, Kurban D, Roebroeck A, Sengupta S, Sorger B, Tse DHY, Uludağ K, Wiggins CJ, Poser BA. Magnetic resonance imaging at 9.4 T: the Maastricht journey. MAGMA (NEW YORK, N.Y.) 2023; 36:159-173. [PMID: 37081247 PMCID: PMC10140139 DOI: 10.1007/s10334-023-01080-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2022] [Revised: 03/18/2023] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 04/22/2023]
Abstract
The 9.4 T scanner in Maastricht is a whole-body magnet with head gradients and parallel RF transmit capability. At the time of the design, it was conceptualized to be one of the best fMRI scanners in the world, but it has also been used for anatomical and diffusion imaging. 9.4 T offers increases in sensitivity and contrast, but the technical ultra-high field (UHF) challenges, such as field inhomogeneities and constraints set by RF power deposition, are exacerbated compared to 7 T. This article reviews some of the 9.4 T work done in Maastricht. Functional imaging experiments included blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) and blood-volume weighted (VASO) fMRI using different readouts. BOLD benefits from shorter T2* at 9.4 T while VASO from longer T1. We show examples of both ex vivo and in vivo anatomical imaging. For many applications, pTx and optimized coils are essential to harness the full potential of 9.4 T. Our experience shows that, while considerable effort was required compared to our 7 T scanner, we could obtain high-quality anatomical and functional data, which illustrates the potential of MR acquisitions at even higher field strengths. The practical challenges of working with a relatively unique system are also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dimo Ivanov
- Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Universiteitssingel 40, 6229 ER, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
| | - Federico De Martino
- Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Universiteitssingel 40, 6229 ER, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Elia Formisano
- Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Universiteitssingel 40, 6229 ER, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Francisco J Fritz
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Center for Experimental Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Hamburg, Germany
| | - Rainer Goebel
- Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Universiteitssingel 40, 6229 ER, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Laurentius Huber
- Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Universiteitssingel 40, 6229 ER, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Sriranga Kashyap
- Krembil Brain Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Valentin G Kemper
- Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Universiteitssingel 40, 6229 ER, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Denizhan Kurban
- Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Universiteitssingel 40, 6229 ER, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Alard Roebroeck
- Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Universiteitssingel 40, 6229 ER, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | | | - Bettina Sorger
- Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Universiteitssingel 40, 6229 ER, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Desmond H Y Tse
- Scannexus BV, Oxfordlaan 55, 6229 EV, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Kâmil Uludağ
- Krembil Brain Institute, Koerner Scientist in MR Imaging, University Health Network Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Center for Neuroscience Imaging Research, Institute for Basic Science and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Republic of Korea
| | - Christopher J Wiggins
- Imaging Core Facility (INM-ICF), Institut für Neurowissenschaften und Medizin, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425, Jülich, Germany
| | - Benedikt A Poser
- Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Universiteitssingel 40, 6229 ER, Maastricht, The Netherlands
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6
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Ma Y, Bruce IP, Yeh CH, Petrella JR, Song AW, Truong TK. Column-based cortical depth analysis of the diffusion anisotropy and radiality in submillimeter whole-brain diffusion tensor imaging of the human cortical gray matter in vivo. Neuroimage 2023; 270:119993. [PMID: 36863550 PMCID: PMC10037338 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.119993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2022] [Revised: 02/22/2023] [Accepted: 02/25/2023] [Indexed: 03/04/2023] Open
Abstract
High-resolution diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) can noninvasively probe the microstructure of cortical gray matter in vivo. In this study, 0.9-mm isotropic whole-brain DTI data were acquired in healthy subjects with an efficient multi-band multi-shot echo-planar imaging sequence. A column-based analysis that samples the fractional anisotropy (FA) and radiality index (RI) along radially oriented cortical columns was then performed to quantitatively analyze the FA and RI dependence on the cortical depth, cortical region, cortical curvature, and cortical thickness across the whole brain, which has not been simultaneously and systematically investigated in previous studies. The results showed characteristic FA and RI vs. cortical depth profiles, with an FA local maximum and minimum (or two inflection points) and a single RI maximum at intermediate cortical depths in most cortical regions, except for the postcentral gyrus where no FA peaks and a lower RI were observed. These results were consistent between repeated scans from the same subjects and across different subjects. They were also dependent on the cortical curvature and cortical thickness in that the characteristic FA and RI peaks were more pronounced i) at the banks than at the crown of gyri or at the fundus of sulci and ii) as the cortical thickness increases. This methodology can help characterize variations in microstructure along the cortical depth and across the whole brain in vivo, potentially providing quantitative biomarkers for neurological disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yixin Ma
- Brain Imaging and Analysis Center, Duke University, 40 Duke Medicine Circle, Room 414, Durham, NC 27710, United States; Medical Physics Graduate Program, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Iain P Bruce
- Brain Imaging and Analysis Center, Duke University, 40 Duke Medicine Circle, Room 414, Durham, NC 27710, United States; Department of Neurology, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Chun-Hung Yeh
- Department of Medical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan; Institute for Radiological Research, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan
| | - Jeffrey R Petrella
- Brain Imaging and Analysis Center, Duke University, 40 Duke Medicine Circle, Room 414, Durham, NC 27710, United States; Medical Physics Graduate Program, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States; Department of Radiology, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Allen W Song
- Brain Imaging and Analysis Center, Duke University, 40 Duke Medicine Circle, Room 414, Durham, NC 27710, United States; Medical Physics Graduate Program, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States; Department of Radiology, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States.
| | - Trong-Kha Truong
- Brain Imaging and Analysis Center, Duke University, 40 Duke Medicine Circle, Room 414, Durham, NC 27710, United States; Medical Physics Graduate Program, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States; Department of Radiology, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States.
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7
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Lynch KM, Cabeen RP, Toga AW. Spatiotemporal patterns of cortical microstructural maturation in children and adolescents with diffusion MRI. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.03.31.534636. [PMID: 37034810 PMCID: PMC10081273 DOI: 10.1101/2023.03.31.534636] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Neocortical maturation is a dynamic process that proceeds in a hierarchical manner; however, the spatiotemporal organization of cortical microstructure with diffusion MRI has yet to be fully defined. This study characterized cortical microstructural maturation using diffusion MRI (fwe-DTI and NODDI multi-compartment modeling) in a cohort of 637 children and adolescents between 8 and 21 years of age. We found spatially heterogeneous developmental patterns broadly demarcated into functional domains where NODDI metrics increased and fwe-DTI metrics decreased with age. Using non-negative matrix factorization, we found cortical regions that correspond to lower-order sensory regions mature earlier than higher-order association regions. Our findings corroborate previous histological and neuroimaging studies that show spatially-varying patterns of cortical maturation that may reflect unique developmental processes of cytoarchitectonically-determined regional patterns of change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirsten M. Lynch
- Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI), USC Mark and Mary Stevens Institute for Neuroimaging and Informatics, USC Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Ryan P. Cabeen
- Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI), USC Mark and Mary Stevens Institute for Neuroimaging and Informatics, USC Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Arthur W. Toga
- Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI), USC Mark and Mary Stevens Institute for Neuroimaging and Informatics, USC Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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8
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Ramos-Llordén G, Lobos RA, Kim TH, Tian Q, Witzel T, Lee HH, Scholz A, Keil B, Yendiki A, Bilgiç B, Haldar JP, Huang SY. High-fidelity, high-spatial-resolution diffusion magnetic resonance imaging of ex vivo whole human brain at ultra-high gradient strength with structured low-rank echo-planar imaging ghost correction. NMR IN BIOMEDICINE 2023; 36:e4831. [PMID: 36106429 PMCID: PMC9883835 DOI: 10.1002/nbm.4831] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2022] [Revised: 08/20/2022] [Accepted: 09/11/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) of whole ex vivo human brain specimens enables three-dimensional (3D) mapping of structural connectivity at the mesoscopic scale, providing detailed evaluation of fiber architecture and tissue microstructure at a spatial resolution that is difficult to access in vivo. To account for the short T2 and low diffusivity of fixed tissue, ex vivo dMRI is often acquired using strong diffusion-sensitizing gradients and multishot/segmented 3D echo-planar imaging (EPI) sequences to achieve high spatial resolution. However, the combination of strong diffusion-sensitizing gradients and multishot/segmented EPI readout can result in pronounced ghosting artifacts incurred by nonlinear spatiotemporal variations in the magnetic field produced by eddy currents. Such ghosting artifacts cannot be corrected with conventional correction solutions and pose a significant roadblock to leveraging human MRI scanners with ultrahigh gradients for ex vivo whole-brain dMRI. Here, we show that ghosting-correction approaches that correct for either polarity-related ghosting or shot-to-shot variations in a separate manner are suboptimal for 3D multishot diffusion-weighted EPI experiments in fixed human brain specimens using strong diffusion-sensitizing gradients on the 3-T Connectom MRI scanner, resulting in orientationally biased dMRI estimates. We apply a recently developed advanced k-space reconstruction method based on structured low-rank matrix (SLM) modeling that handles both polarity-related ghosting and shot-to-shot variation simultaneously, to mitigate artifacts in high-angular resolution multishot dMRI data acquired in several fixed human brain specimens at 0.7-0.8-mm isotropic spatial resolution using b-values up to 10,000 s/mm2 and gradient strengths up to 280 mT/m. We demonstrate the improved mapping of diffusion tensor imaging and fiber orientation distribution functions in key neuroanatomical areas distributed across the whole brain using SLM-based EPI ghost correction compared with alternative techniques.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel Ramos-Llordén
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Rodrigo A. Lobos
- Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Tae Hyung Kim
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Computer Engineering, Hongik University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Qiyuan Tian
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | | | - Hong-Hsi Lee
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Alina Scholz
- Institute of Medical Physics and Radiation Protection, Mittelhessen University of Applied Sciences, Giessen, Germany
| | - Boris Keil
- Institute of Medical Physics and Radiation Protection, Mittelhessen University of Applied Sciences, Giessen, Germany
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Marburg, Philipps University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Anastasia Yendiki
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Berkin Bilgiç
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Justin P. Haldar
- Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Susie Y. Huang
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
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9
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Shih NC, Kurniawan ND, Cabeen RP, Korobkova L, Wong E, Chui HC, Clark KA, Miller CA, Hawes D, Jones KT, Sepehrband F. Microstructural mapping of dentate gyrus pathology in Alzheimer's disease: A 16.4 Tesla MRI study. Neuroimage Clin 2023; 37:103318. [PMID: 36630864 PMCID: PMC9841366 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2023.103318] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2022] [Revised: 01/03/2023] [Accepted: 01/04/2023] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
The dentate gyrus (DG) is an integral portion of the hippocampal formation, and it is composed of three layers. Quantitative magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has the capability to map brain tissue microstructural properties which can be exploited to investigate neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, assessing subtle pathological changes within layers requires high resolution imaging and histological validation. In this study, we utilized a 16.4 Tesla scanner to acquire ex vivo multi-parameter quantitative MRI measures in human specimens across the layers of the DG. Using quantitative diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and multi-parameter MR measurements acquired from AD (N = 4) and cognitively normal control (N = 6) tissues, we performed correlation analyses with histological measurements. Here, we found that quantitative MRI measures were significantly correlated with neurofilament and phosphorylated Tau density, suggesting sensitivity to layer-specific changes in the DG of AD tissues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nien-Chu Shih
- USC Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
| | - Nyoman D Kurniawan
- Center for Advanced Imaging, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia
| | - Ryan P Cabeen
- USC Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
| | - Laura Korobkova
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089. USA
| | - Ellen Wong
- Department of Neurology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA; Department of Neurology, Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, Downey, CA 90242, USA
| | - Helena C Chui
- Department of Neurology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
| | - Kristi A Clark
- Department of Neurology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
| | - Carol A Miller
- Department of Pathology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
| | - Debra Hawes
- Department of Pathology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
| | - Kymry T Jones
- Department of Pathology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA.
| | - Farshid Sepehrband
- USC Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA.
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10
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Avram AV, Saleem KS, Basser PJ. COnstrained Reference frame diffusion TEnsor Correlation Spectroscopic (CORTECS) MRI: A practical framework for high-resolution diffusion tensor distribution imaging. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:1054509. [PMID: 36590291 PMCID: PMC9798222 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.1054509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2022] [Accepted: 11/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
High-resolution imaging studies have consistently shown that in cortical tissue water diffuses preferentially along radial and tangential orientations with respect to the cortical surface, in agreement with histology. These dominant orientations do not change significantly even if the relative contributions from microscopic water pools to the net voxel signal vary across experiments that use different diffusion times, b-values, TEs, and TRs. With this in mind, we propose a practical new framework for imaging non-parametric diffusion tensor distributions (DTDs) by constraining the microscopic diffusion tensors of the DTD to be diagonalized using the same orthonormal reference frame of the mesoscopic voxel. In each voxel, the constrained DTD (cDTD) is completely determined by the correlation spectrum of the microscopic principal diffusivities associated with the axes of the voxel reference frame. Consequently, all cDTDs are inherently limited to the domain of positive definite tensors and can be reconstructed efficiently using Inverse Laplace Transform methods. Moreover, the cDTD reconstruction can be performed using only data acquired efficiently with single diffusion encoding, although it also supports datasets with multiple diffusion encoding. In tissues with a well-defined architecture, such as the cortex, we can further constrain the cDTD to contain only cylindrically symmetric diffusion tensors and measure the 2D correlation spectra of principal diffusivities along the radial and tangential orientation with respect to the cortical surface. To demonstrate this framework, we perform numerical simulations and analyze high-resolution dMRI data from a fixed macaque monkey brain. We estimate 2D cDTDs in the cortex and derive, in each voxel, the marginal distributions of the microscopic principal diffusivities, the corresponding distributions of the microscopic fractional anisotropies and mean diffusivities along with their 2D correlation spectra to quantify the cDTD shape-size characteristics. Signal components corresponding to specific bands in these cDTD-derived spectra show high specificity to cortical laminar structures observed with histology. Our framework drastically simplifies the measurement of non-parametric DTDs in high-resolution datasets with mesoscopic voxel sizes much smaller than the radius of curvature of the underlying anatomy, e.g., cortical surface, and can be applied retrospectively to analyze existing diffusion MRI data from fixed cortical tissues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandru V. Avram
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States,Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine, Bethesda, MD, United States,Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine Inc., Bethesda, MD, United States,*Correspondence: Alexandru V. Avram
| | - Kadharbatcha S. Saleem
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States,Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine, Bethesda, MD, United States,Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine Inc., Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Peter J. Basser
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States
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11
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Avram AV, Saleem KS, Komlosh ME, Yen CC, Ye FQ, Basser PJ. High-resolution cortical MAP-MRI reveals areal borders and laminar substructures observed with histological staining. Neuroimage 2022; 264:119653. [PMID: 36257490 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2022] [Revised: 09/11/2022] [Accepted: 09/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
The variations in cellular composition and tissue architecture measured with histology provide the biological basis for partitioning the brain into distinct cytoarchitectonic areas and for characterizing neuropathological tissue alterations. Clearly, there is an urgent need to develop whole-brain neuroradiological methods that can assess cortical cyto- and myeloarchitectonic features non-invasively. Mean apparent propagator (MAP) MRI is a clinically feasible diffusion MRI method that quantifies efficiently and comprehensively the net microscopic displacements of water molecules diffusing in tissues. We investigate the sensitivity of high-resolution MAP-MRI to detecting areal and laminar variations in cortical cytoarchitecture and compare our results with observations from corresponding histological sections in the entire brain of a rhesus macaque monkey. High-resolution images of MAP-derived parameters, in particular the propagator anisotropy (PA), non-gaussianity (NG), and the return-to-axis probability (RTAP) reveal cortical area-specific lamination patterns in good agreement with the corresponding histological stained sections. In a few regions, the MAP parameters provide superior contrast to the five histological stains used in this study, delineating more clearly boundaries and transition regions between cortical areas and laminar substructures. Throughout the cortex, various MAP parameters can be used to delineate transition regions between specific cortical areas observed with histology and to refine areal boundaries estimated using atlas registration-based cortical parcellation. Using surface-based analysis of MAP parameters we quantify the cortical depth dependence of diffusion propagators in multiple regions-of-interest in a consistent and rigorous manner that is largely independent of the cortical folding geometry. The ability to assess cortical cytoarchitectonic features efficiently and non-invasively, its clinical feasibility, and translatability make high-resolution MAP-MRI a promising 3D imaging tool for studying whole-brain cortical organization, characterizing abnormal cortical development, improving early diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases, identifying targets for biopsies, and complementing neuropathological investigations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandru V Avram
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health,9000 Rockville Pike,Bethesda 20892, MD, USA; Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine, 4301 Jones Bridge Road,Bethesda, 20814,MD, USA; Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine Inc., 6720A Rockledge Drive, Bethesda, 20814, MD, USA.
| | - Kadharbatcha S Saleem
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health,9000 Rockville Pike,Bethesda 20892, MD, USA; Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine, 4301 Jones Bridge Road,Bethesda, 20814,MD, USA; Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine Inc., 6720A Rockledge Drive, Bethesda, 20814, MD, USA
| | - Michal E Komlosh
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health,9000 Rockville Pike,Bethesda 20892, MD, USA; Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine, 4301 Jones Bridge Road,Bethesda, 20814,MD, USA; Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine Inc., 6720A Rockledge Drive, Bethesda, 20814, MD, USA
| | - Cecil C Yen
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, 20892, MD, USA
| | - Frank Q Ye
- National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, 20892,MD, USA
| | - Peter J Basser
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health,9000 Rockville Pike,Bethesda 20892, MD, USA
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12
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Reveley C, Ye FQ, Mars RB, Matrov D, Chudasama Y, Leopold DA. Diffusion MRI anisotropy in the cerebral cortex is determined by unmyelinated tissue features. Nat Commun 2022; 13:6702. [PMID: 36335105 PMCID: PMC9637141 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-34328-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2021] [Accepted: 10/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) is commonly used to assess the tissue and cellular substructure of the human brain. In the white matter, myelinated axons are the principal neural elements that shape dMRI through the restriction of water diffusion; however, in the gray matter the relative contributions of myelinated axons and other tissue features to dMRI are poorly understood. Here we investigate the determinants of diffusion in the cerebral cortex. Specifically, we ask whether myelinated axons significantly shape dMRI fractional anisotropy (dMRI-FA), a measure commonly used to characterize tissue properties in humans. We compared ultra-high resolution ex vivo dMRI data from the brain of a marmoset monkey with both myelin- and Nissl-stained histological sections obtained from the same brain after scanning. We found that the dMRI-FA did not match the spatial distribution of myelin in the gray matter. Instead dMRI-FA was more closely related to the anisotropy of stained tissue features, most prominently those revealed by Nissl staining and to a lesser extent those revealed by myelin staining. Our results suggest that unmyelinated neurites such as large caliber apical dendrites are the primary features shaping dMRI measures in the cerebral cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colin Reveley
- grid.4991.50000 0004 1936 8948Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Centre for fMRI of the Brain (FMRIB), Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Headington, Oxford, OX9 3DU UK ,grid.12082.390000 0004 1936 7590Department of Informatics, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9QJ UK
| | - Frank Q. Ye
- grid.94365.3d0000 0001 2297 5165Neurophysiology Imaging Facility, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD USA
| | - Rogier B. Mars
- grid.4991.50000 0004 1936 8948Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Centre for fMRI of the Brain (FMRIB), Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Headington, Oxford, OX9 3DU UK ,grid.5590.90000000122931605Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Denis Matrov
- grid.94365.3d0000 0001 2297 5165Section on Behavioral Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD USA
| | - Yogita Chudasama
- grid.94365.3d0000 0001 2297 5165Section on Behavioral Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD USA
| | - David A. Leopold
- grid.94365.3d0000 0001 2297 5165Neurophysiology Imaging Facility, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD USA ,grid.94365.3d0000 0001 2297 5165Section on Cognitive Neurophysiology and Imaging, Laboratory of Neuropsychology, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD USA
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13
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Inter- and intra-individual variation in brain structural-cognition relationships in aging. Neuroimage 2022; 257:119254. [PMID: 35490915 PMCID: PMC9393406 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2022] [Revised: 04/14/2022] [Accepted: 04/16/2022] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
The sources of inter- and intra-individual variability in age-related cognitive decline remain poorly understood. We examined the association between 20-year trajectories of cognitive decline and multimodal brain structure and morphology in older age. We used the Whitehall II Study, an extensively characterised cohort with 3T brain magnetic resonance images acquired at older age (mean age = 69.52 ± 4.9) and 5 repeated cognitive performance assessments between mid-life (mean age = 53.2 ±4.9 years) and late-life (mean age = 67.7 ± 4.9). Using non-negative matrix factorization, we identified 10 brain components integrating cortical thickness, surface area, fractional anisotropy, and mean and radial diffusivities. We observed two latent variables describing distinct brain-cognition associations. The first describes variations in 5 structural components associated with low mid-life performance across multiple cognitive domains, decline in reasoning, but maintenance of fluency abilities. The second describes variations in 6 structural components associated with low mid-life performance in fluency and memory, but retention of multiple abilities. Expression of latent variables predicts future cognition 3.2 years later (mean age = 70.87 ± 4.9). This data-driven approach highlights brain-cognition relationships wherein individuals degrees of cognitive decline and maintenance across diverse cognitive functions are both positively and negatively associated with markers of cortical structure.
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14
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Yendiki A, Aggarwal M, Axer M, Howard AF, van Cappellen van Walsum AM, Haber SN. Post mortem mapping of connectional anatomy for the validation of diffusion MRI. Neuroimage 2022; 256:119146. [PMID: 35346838 PMCID: PMC9832921 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2021] [Revised: 03/02/2022] [Accepted: 03/23/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Diffusion MRI (dMRI) is a unique tool for the study of brain circuitry, as it allows us to image both the macroscopic trajectories and the microstructural properties of axon bundles in vivo. The Human Connectome Project ushered in an era of impressive advances in dMRI acquisition and analysis. As a result of these efforts, the quality of dMRI data that could be acquired in vivo improved substantially, and large collections of such data became widely available. Despite this progress, the main limitation of dMRI remains: it does not image axons directly, but only provides indirect measurements based on the diffusion of water molecules. Thus, it must be validated by methods that allow direct visualization of axons but that can only be performed in post mortem brain tissue. In this review, we discuss methods for validating the various features of connectional anatomy that are extracted from dMRI, both at the macro-scale (trajectories of axon bundles), and at micro-scale (axonal orientations and other microstructural properties). We present a range of validation tools, including anatomic tracer studies, Klingler's dissection, myelin stains, label-free optical imaging techniques, and others. We provide an overview of the basic principles of each technique, its limitations, and what it has taught us so far about the accuracy of different dMRI acquisition and analysis approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anastasia Yendiki
- Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States,Corresponding author (A. Yendiki)
| | - Manisha Aggarwal
- Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Markus Axer
- Forschungszentrum Jülich, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Jülich, Germany,Department of Physics, University of Wuppertal Germany
| | - Amy F.D. Howard
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Anne-Marie van Cappellen van Walsum
- Department of Medical Imaging, Anatomy, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherland,Cognition and Behaviour, Donders Institute for Brain, Nijmegen, the Netherland
| | - Suzanne N. Haber
- Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States,McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States
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15
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Radhakrishnan H, Shabestari SK, Blurton-Jones M, Obenaus A, Stark CEL. Using Advanced Diffusion-Weighted Imaging to Predict Cell Counts in Gray Matter: Potential and Pitfalls. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:881713. [PMID: 35720733 PMCID: PMC9204138 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.881713] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2022] [Accepted: 05/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent advances in diffusion imaging have given it the potential to non-invasively detect explicit neurobiological properties, beyond what was previously possible with conventional structural imaging. However, there is very little known about what cytoarchitectural properties these metrics, especially those derived from newer multi-shell models like Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging (NODDI) correspond to. While these diffusion metrics do not promise any inherent cell type specificity, different brain cells have varying morphologies, which could influence the diffusion signal in distinct ways. This relationship is currently not well-characterized. Understanding the possible cytoarchitectural signatures of diffusion measures could allow them to estimate important neurobiological properties like cell counts, potentially resulting in a powerful clinical diagnostic tool. Here, using advanced diffusion imaging (NODDI) in the mouse brain, we demonstrate that different regions have unique relationships between cell counts and diffusion metrics. We take advantage of this exclusivity to introduce a framework to predict cell counts of different types of cells from the diffusion metrics alone, in a region-specific manner. We also outline the challenges of reliably developing such a model and discuss the precautions the field must take when trying to tie together medical imaging modalities and histology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hamsanandini Radhakrishnan
- Mathematical, Computational and Systems Biology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Sepideh Kiani Shabestari
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, School of Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Mathew Blurton-Jones
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, School of Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Andre Obenaus
- Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Craig E. L. Stark
- Mathematical, Computational and Systems Biology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, School of Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
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16
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Radhakrishnan H, Bennett IJ, Stark CE. Higher-order multi-shell diffusion measures complement tensor metrics and volume in gray matter when predicting age and cognition. Neuroimage 2022; 253:119063. [PMID: 35272021 PMCID: PMC10538083 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2021] [Revised: 03/02/2022] [Accepted: 03/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent advances in diffusion-weighted imaging have enabled us to probe the microstructure of even gray matter non-invasively. However, these advanced multi-shell protocols are often not included in large-scale studies as they significantly increase scan time. In this study, we investigated whether one set of multi-shell diffusion metrics commonly used in gray matter (as derived from Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging, NODDI) provide enough additional information over typical tensor and volume metrics to justify the increased acquisition time, using the cognitive aging framework in the human hippocampus as a testbed. We first demonstrated that NODDI metrics are robust and reliable by replicating previous findings from our lab in a larger population of 79 younger (20.41 ± 1.89 years, 46 females) and 75 older (73.56 ± 6.26 years, 45 females) adults, showing that these metrics in the hippocampal subfields are sensitive to age and memory performance. We then asked how these subfield specific hippocampal NODDI metrics compared with standard tensor metrics and volume in predicting age and memory ability. We discovered that both NODDI and tensor measures separately predicted age and cognition in comparable capacities. However, integrating these modalities together considerably increased the predictive power of our logistic models, indicating that NODDI and tensor measures may be capturing independent microstructural information. We use these findings to encourage neuroimaging data collection consortiums to include a multi-shell diffusion sequence in their protocols since existing NODDI measures (and potential future multi-shell measures) may be able to capture microstructural variance that is missed by traditional approaches, even in studies exclusively examining gray matter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hamsanandini Radhakrishnan
- Mathematical, Computational and Systems Biology, University of California, Postal Address: 1400 Biological Sciences III, Irvine, CA 92697, United States
| | - Ilana J Bennett
- Department of Psychology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, California, United States
| | - Craig El Stark
- Mathematical, Computational and Systems Biology, University of California, Postal Address: 1400 Biological Sciences III, Irvine, CA 92697, United States; Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, California 92697, United States.
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17
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Preziosa P, Pagani E, Bonacchi R, Cacciaguerra L, Falini A, Rocca MA, Filippi M. In vivo detection of damage in multiple sclerosis cortex and cortical lesions using NODDI. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2022; 93:628-636. [PMID: 34799405 DOI: 10.1136/jnnp-2021-327803] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2021] [Accepted: 10/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To characterise in vivo the microstructural abnormalities of multiple sclerosis (MS) normal-appearing (NA) cortex and cortical lesions (CLs) and their relations with clinical phenotypes and disability using neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI). METHODS One hundred and seventy-two patients with MS (101 relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), 71 progressive multiple sclerosis (PMS)) and 62 healthy controls (HCs) underwent a brain 3T MRI. Brain cortex and CLs were segmented from three-dimensional T1-weighted and double inversion recovery sequences. Using NODDI on diffusion-weighted sequence, intracellular volume fraction (ICV_f) and Orientation Dispersion Index (ODI) were assessed in NA cortex and CLs with default or optimised parallel diffusivity for the cortex (D//=1.7 or 1.2 µm2/ms, respectively). RESULTS The NA cortex of patients with MS had significantly lower ICV_f versus HCs' cortex with both D// values (false discovery rate (FDR)-p <0.001). CLs showed significantly decreased ICV_f and ODI versus NA cortex of both HCs and patients with MS with both D// values (FDR-p ≤0.008). Patients with PMS versus RRMS had significantly decreased NA cortex ICV_f and ODI (FDR-p=0.050 and FDR-p=0.032) with only D//=1.7 µm2/ms. No CL microstructural differences were found between MS clinical phenotypes. MS NA cortex ICV_f and ODI were significantly correlated with disease duration, clinical disability, lesion burden and global and regional brain atrophy (r from -0.51 to 0.71, FDR-p from <0.001 to 0.045). CONCLUSIONS A significant neurite loss occurs in MS NA cortex. CLs show a further neurite density reduction and a reduced ODI suggesting a simplification of neurite complexity. NODDI is relevant to investigate in vivo the heterogeneous pathology affecting the MS cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paolo Preziosa
- Neuroimaging Research Unit, Division of Neuroscience, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milano, Italy.,Neurology Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milano, Italy
| | - Elisabetta Pagani
- Neuroimaging Research Unit, Division of Neuroscience, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milano, Italy
| | - Raffaello Bonacchi
- Neuroimaging Research Unit, Division of Neuroscience, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milano, Italy.,Neurology Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milano, Italy
| | - Laura Cacciaguerra
- Neuroimaging Research Unit, Division of Neuroscience, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milano, Italy.,Neurology Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milano, Italy.,Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milano, Italy
| | - Andrea Falini
- Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milano, Italy.,Department of Neuroradiology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milano, Italy
| | - Maria A Rocca
- Neuroimaging Research Unit, Division of Neuroscience, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milano, Italy.,Neurology Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milano, Italy.,Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milano, Italy
| | - Massimo Filippi
- Neuroimaging Research Unit, Division of Neuroscience, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milano, Italy .,Neurology Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milano, Italy.,Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milano, Italy.,Neurorehabilitation Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milano, Italy.,Neurophysiology Service, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milano, Italy
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18
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Caspers S, Axer M, Gräßel D, Amunts K. Additional fiber orientations in the sagittal stratum-noise or anatomical fine structure? Brain Struct Funct 2022; 227:1331-1345. [PMID: 35113243 PMCID: PMC9046345 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-021-02439-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2021] [Accepted: 12/08/2021] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
The sagittal stratum is a prominent and macroscopically clearly visible white-matter structure within occipital and parietal lobes with a highly organized structure of parallel fibers running in rostro-caudal direction. Apart from the major tract running through, i.e., the optic radiation, the source and arrangement of other fibers within the sagittal stratum is only partially understood. Recent diffusion imaging studies in-vivo suggest additional minor fiber directions, perpendicular to the major rostro-caudal ones, but the spatial resolution does not allow to resolve them, and to unambiguously distinguish it from noise. Taking this previous evidence as motivation, the present study used 3D polarized light imaging (3D-PLI) for micrometer resolution analysis of nerve fibers in postmortem specimens of a vervet monkey brain. The analysis of coronal occipital and parietal sections revealed that the sagittal stratum consisted of an external and an internal layer, which are joined and crossed by fibers from the surrounding white matter and the tapetum. Fibers from different parietal and occipital regions entered the sagittal stratum in the dorsal, ventral or middle sector, as solid large bundles or as several small fiber aggregations. These patterns were remarkably similar to published results of tracer experiments in macaques. Taking this correspondence as external validation of 3D-PLI enabled translation to the human brain, where a similarly complex fiber architecture within the sagittal stratum could be exemplified in a human hemisphere in our study. We thus argue in favor of a dedicated fiber microstructure within the sagittal stratum as a correlate of the additional fiber directions typically seen in in-vivo diffusion imaging studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Svenja Caspers
- Institute for Anatomy I, Medical Faculty & University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany.
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, 52425, Jülich, Germany.
| | - Markus Axer
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, 52425, Jülich, Germany
| | - David Gräßel
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, 52425, Jülich, Germany
| | - Katrin Amunts
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, 52425, Jülich, Germany
- C. and O. Vogt Institute for Brain Research, Medical Faculty & University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany
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19
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Kimura I, Oishi H, Hayashi MJ, Amano K. Microstructural Properties of Human Brain Revealed by Fractional Anisotropy Can Predict the After-Effect of Intermittent Theta Burst Stimulation. Cereb Cortex Commun 2021; 3:tgab065. [PMID: 35083435 PMCID: PMC8784864 DOI: 10.1093/texcom/tgab065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2021] [Revised: 11/24/2021] [Accepted: 12/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) delivered by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) produces a long-term potentiation-like after-effect useful for investigations of cortical function and of potential therapeutic value. However, the iTBS after-effect over the primary motor cortex (M1) as measured by changes in motor evoked potential (MEP) amplitude exhibits a largely unexplained variability across individuals. Here, we present evidence that individual differences in white matter (WM) and gray matter (GM) microstructural properties revealed by fractional anisotropy (FA) predict the magnitude of the iTBS-induced after-effect over M1. The MEP amplitude change in the early phase (5–10 min post-iTBS) was associated with FA values in WM tracts such as right superior longitudinal fasciculus and corpus callosum. By contrast, the MEP amplitude change in the late phase (15–30 min post-iTBS) was associated with FA in GM, primarily in right frontal cortex. These results suggest that the microstructural properties of regions connected directly or indirectly to the target region (M1) are crucial determinants of the iTBS after-effect. FA values indicative of these microstructural differences can predict the potential effectiveness of repetitive TMS for both investigational use and clinical application.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ikko Kimura
- Address correspondence to Ikko Kimura, 1-4 Yamadaoka, Suita 565-0871, Japan. ; Kaoru Amano, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku 113-8656, Japan.
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20
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The effect of beta-amyloid and tau protein aggregations on magnetic susceptibility of anterior hippocampal laminae in Alzheimer's diseases. Neuroimage 2021; 244:118584. [PMID: 34537383 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2021] [Revised: 08/27/2021] [Accepted: 09/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous studies have reported the changes of magnetic susceptibility induced by iron deposition in hippocampus of Alzheimer's disease (AD) brains. It is well-known that hippocampus is divided into well-defined laminar architecture, which, however, is difficult to be resolved with in-vivo MRI due to the limited imaging resolution. The present study aims to investigate layer-specific magnetic susceptibility in the hippocampus of AD patients using high-resolution ex-vivo MRI, and elucidate its relationship with beta amyloid (Aβ) and tau protein histology. We performed quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) and T2* mapping on postmortem anterior hippocampus samples from four AD, four Primary Age-Related Tauopathy (PART), and three control brains. We manually segmented each sample into seven layers, including four layers in the cornu ammonis1 (CA1) and three layers in the dentate gyrus (DG), and then evaluated AD-related alterations of susceptibility and T2* values and their correlations with Aβ and tau in each hippocampal layer. Specifically, we found (1) layer-specific variations of susceptibility and T2* measurements in all samples; (2) the heterogeneity of susceptibility were higher in all layers of AD patients compared with the age- and gender-matched PART cases while the heterogeneity of T2* values were lower in four layers of CA1; and (3) voxel-wise MRI-histological correlation revealed both susceptibility and T2* values in the stratum molecular (SM) and stratum lacunosum (SL) layers were correlated with the Aβ content in AD, while the T2* values in the stratum radiatum (SR) layer were correlated with the tau content in the PART but not AD. These findings suggest a selective effect of the Aβ- and tau-pathology on the susceptibility and T2* values in the different layers of anterior hippocampus. Particularly, the alterations of magnetic susceptibility in the SM and SL layers may be associated with Aβ aggregation, while those in the SR layermay reflect the age-related tau protein aggregation.
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21
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Little G, Beaulieu C. Automated cerebral cortex segmentation based solely on diffusion tensor imaging for investigating cortical anisotropy. Neuroimage 2021; 237:118105. [PMID: 33933593 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2020] [Revised: 04/14/2021] [Accepted: 04/16/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022] Open
Abstract
To extract Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) parameters from the human cortex, the inner and outer boundaries of the cortex are usually defined on 3D-T1-weighted images and then applied to the co-registered DTI. However, this analysis requires the acquisition of an additional high-resolution structural image that may not be practical in various imaging studies. Here an automatic cortical boundary segmentation method was developed to work directly only on the native DTI images by using fractional anisotropy (FA) maps and mean diffusion weighted images (DWI), the latter with acceptable gray-white matter image contrast. This new method was compared to the conventional cortical segmentations generated from high-resolution T1 structural images in 5 participants. In addition, the proposed method was applied to 15 healthy young adults (10 cross-sectional, 5 test-retest) to measure FA, MD, and radiality of the primary eigenvector across the cortex on whole-brain 1.5 mm isotropic images acquired in 3.5 min at 3T. The proposed method generated reasonable segmentations of the cortical boundaries for all individuals and large proportions of the proposed method segmentations (more than 85%) were within ±1 mm from those generated with the conventional approach on higher resolution T1 structural images. Both FA (~0.15) and MD (~0.77 × 10-3 mm2/s) extracted halfway between the cortical boundaries were relatively stable across the cortex, although focal regions such as the posterior bank of the central sulcus, anterior insula, and medial temporal lobe showed higher FA. The primary eigenvectors were primarily oriented radially to the middle cortical surface, but there were tangential orientations in the sulcal fundi as well as in the posterior bank of the central sulcus. The proposed method demonstrates the feasibility and accuracy of cortical analysis in native DTI space while avoiding the acquisition of other imaging contrasts like 3D T1-weighted scans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Graham Little
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Alberta, 1098 Research Transition Facility, 8308-114 Street, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2V2, Canada.
| | - Christian Beaulieu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Alberta, 1098 Research Transition Facility, 8308-114 Street, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2V2, Canada.
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22
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Brain tissues have single-voxel signatures in multi-spectral MRI. Neuroimage 2021; 234:117986. [PMID: 33757906 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.117986] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2020] [Revised: 03/03/2021] [Accepted: 03/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Since the seminal works by Brodmann and contemporaries, it is well-known that different brain regions exhibit unique cytoarchitectonic and myeloarchitectonic features. Transferring the approach of classifying brain tissues - and other tissues - based on their intrinsic features to the realm of magnetic resonance (MR) is a longstanding endeavor. In the 1990s, atlas-based segmentation replaced earlier multi-spectral classification approaches because of the large overlap between the class distributions. Here, we explored the feasibility of performing global brain classification based on intrinsic MR features, and used several technological advances: ultra-high field MRI, q-space trajectory diffusion imaging revealing voxel-intrinsic diffusion properties, chemical exchange saturation transfer and semi-solid magnetization transfer imaging as a marker of myelination and neurochemistry, and current neural network architectures to analyze the data. In particular, we used the raw image data as well to increase the number of input features. We found that a global brain classification of roughly 97 brain regions was feasible with gross classification accuracy of 60%; and that mapping from voxel-intrinsic MR data to the brain region to which the data belongs is possible. This indicates the presence of unique MR signals of different brain regions, similar to their cytoarchitectonic and myeloarchitectonic fingerprints.
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23
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Ganepola T, Lee Y, Alexander DC, Sereno MI, Nagy Z. Multiple b-values improve discrimination of cortical gray matter regions using diffusion MRI: an experimental validation with a data-driven approach. MAGNETIC RESONANCE MATERIALS IN PHYSICS BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE 2021; 34:677-687. [PMID: 33709225 PMCID: PMC8421285 DOI: 10.1007/s10334-021-00914-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2020] [Revised: 12/14/2020] [Accepted: 02/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Objective To investigate whether varied or repeated b-values provide better diffusion MRI data for discriminating cortical areas with a data-driven approach. Methods Data were acquired from three volunteers at 1.5T with b-values of 800, 1400, 2000 s/mm2 along 64 diffusion-encoding directions. The diffusion signal was sampled from gray matter in seven regions of interest (ROIs). Rotational invariants of the local diffusion profile were extracted as features that characterize local tissue properties. Random forest classification experiments assessed whether classification accuracy improved when data with multiple b-values were used over repeated acquisition of the same (1400 s/mm2) b-value to compare all possible pairs of the seven ROIs. Three data sets from the Human Connectome Project were subjected to similar processing and analysis pipelines in eight ROIs. Results Three different b-values showed an average improvement in correct classification rates of 5.6% and 4.6%, respectively, in the local and HCP data over repeated measurements of the same b-value. The improvement in correct classification rate reached as high as 16% for individual binary classification experiments between two ROIs. Often using only two of the available three b-values were adequate to make such an improvement in classification rates. Conclusion Acquisitions with varying b-values are more suitable for discriminating cortical areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tara Ganepola
- Department of Cognitive, Perceptual and Brain Sciences, University College London, London, UK.,Center for Medical Image Computing, Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK
| | - Yoojin Lee
- Laboratory for Social and Neural Systems Research, University of Zurich, Rämistrasse 100, P.O. Box 149, Zurich, Switzerland.,Institute of Biomedical Engineering, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Daniel C Alexander
- Center for Medical Image Computing, Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK
| | - Martin I Sereno
- Department of Cognitive, Perceptual and Brain Sciences, University College London, London, UK.,Department of Psychology and Neuroimaging Centre, SDSU, San Diego, USA
| | - Zoltan Nagy
- Laboratory for Social and Neural Systems Research, University of Zurich, Rämistrasse 100, P.O. Box 149, Zurich, Switzerland. .,Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK.
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24
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McKenna F, Miles L, Donaldson J, Castellanos FX, Lazar M. Diffusion kurtosis imaging of gray matter in young adults with autism spectrum disorder. Sci Rep 2020; 10:21465. [PMID: 33293640 PMCID: PMC7722927 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-78486-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2020] [Accepted: 10/29/2020] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Prior ex vivo histological postmortem studies of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have shown gray matter microstructural abnormalities, however, in vivo examination of gray matter microstructure in ASD has remained scarce due to the relative lack of non-invasive methods to assess it. The aim of this work was to evaluate the feasibility of employing diffusional kurtosis imaging (DKI) to describe gray matter abnormalities in ASD in vivo. DKI data were examined for 16 male participants with a diagnosis of ASD and IQ>80 and 17 age- and IQ-matched male typically developing (TD) young adults 18-25 years old. Mean (MK), axial (AK), radial (RK) kurtosis and mean diffusivity (MD) metrics were calculated for lobar and sub-lobar regions of interest. Significantly decreased MK, RK, and MD were found in ASD compared to TD participants in the frontal and temporal lobes and several sub-lobar regions previously associated with ASD pathology. In ASD participants, decreased kurtosis in gray matter ROIs correlated with increased repetitive and restricted behaviors and poor social interaction symptoms. Decreased kurtosis in ASD may reflect a pathology associated with a less restrictive microstructural environment such as decreased neuronal density and size, atypically sized cortical columns, or limited dendritic arborizations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Faye McKenna
- Department of Radiology, Center for Biomedical Imaging, New York University School of Medicine, 660 First Ave, Fourth Floor, New York, NY, USA.
- Vilcek Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Laura Miles
- Department of Radiology, Center for Biomedical Imaging, New York University School of Medicine, 660 First Ave, Fourth Floor, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jeffrey Donaldson
- Department of Radiology, Center for Biomedical Imaging, New York University School of Medicine, 660 First Ave, Fourth Floor, New York, NY, USA
| | - F Xavier Castellanos
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA
| | - Mariana Lazar
- Department of Radiology, Center for Biomedical Imaging, New York University School of Medicine, 660 First Ave, Fourth Floor, New York, NY, USA
- Vilcek Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
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25
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Beutel T, Dzimiera J, Kapell H, Engelhardt M, Gass A, Schirmer L. Cortical projection neurons as a therapeutic target in multiple sclerosis. Expert Opin Ther Targets 2020; 24:1211-1224. [PMID: 33103501 DOI: 10.1080/14728222.2020.1842358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory-demyelinating disease of the central nervous system associated with lesions of the cortical gray matter and subcortical white matter. Recently, cortical lesions have become a major focus of research because cortical pathology and neuronal damage are critical determinants of irreversible clinical progression. Recent transcriptomic studies point toward cell type-specific changes in cortical neurons in MS with a selective vulnerability of excitatory projection neuron subtypes. AREAS COVERED We discuss the cortical mapping and the molecular properties of excitatory projection neurons and their role in MS lesion pathology while placing an emphasis on their subtype-specific transcriptomic changes and levels of vulnerability. We also examine the latest magnetic resonance imaging techniques to study cortical MS pathology as a key tool for monitoring disease progression and treatment efficacy. Finally, we consider possible therapeutic avenues and novel strategies to protect excitatory cortical projection neurons. Literature search methodology: PubMed articles from 2000-2020. EXPERT OPINION Excitatory cortical projection neurons are an emerging therapeutic target in the treatment of progressive MS. Understanding neuron subtype-specific molecular pathologies and their exact spatial mapping will help establish starting points for the development of novel cell type-specific therapies and biomarkers in MS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatjana Beutel
- Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty Mannheim, MCTN, Heidelberg University , Mannheim, Germany
| | - Julia Dzimiera
- Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty Mannheim, MCTN, Heidelberg University , Mannheim, Germany
| | - Hannah Kapell
- Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty Mannheim, MCTN, Heidelberg University , Mannheim, Germany
| | - Maren Engelhardt
- Institute of Neuroanatomy, Medical Faculty Mannheim, MCTN, Heidelberg University , Mannheim, Germany.,Interdisciplinary Center for Neurosciences, Heidelberg University , Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Achim Gass
- Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty Mannheim, MCTN, Heidelberg University , Mannheim, Germany
| | - Lucas Schirmer
- Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty Mannheim, MCTN, Heidelberg University , Mannheim, Germany.,Interdisciplinary Center for Neurosciences, Heidelberg University , Heidelberg, Germany
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26
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De Luca A, Guo F, Froeling M, Leemans A. Spherical deconvolution with tissue-specific response functions and multi-shell diffusion MRI to estimate multiple fiber orientation distributions (mFODs). Neuroimage 2020; 222:117206. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2020] [Revised: 07/20/2020] [Accepted: 07/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
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27
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Bletsch A, Schäfer T, Mann C, Andrews DS, Daly E, Gudbrandsen M, Ruigrok ANV, Dallyn R, Romero-Garcia R, Lai MC, Lombardo MV, Craig MC, Suckling J, Bullmore ET, Baron-Cohen S, Murphy DGM, Dell'Acqua F, Ecker C. Atypical measures of diffusion at the gray-white matter boundary in autism spectrum disorder in adulthood. Hum Brain Mapp 2020; 42:467-484. [PMID: 33094897 PMCID: PMC7775996 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2020] [Revised: 09/08/2020] [Accepted: 09/30/2020] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a highly complex neurodevelopmental condition that is accompanied by neuroanatomical differences on the macroscopic and microscopic level. Findings from histological, genetic, and more recently in vivo neuroimaging studies converge in suggesting that neuroanatomical abnormalities, specifically around the gray‐white matter (GWM) boundary, represent a crucial feature of ASD. However, no research has yet characterized the GWM boundary in ASD based on measures of diffusion. Here, we registered diffusion tensor imaging data to the structural T1‐weighted images of 92 adults with ASD and 92 matched neurotypical controls in order to examine between‐group differences and group‐by‐sex interactions in fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity sampled at the GWM boundary, and at different sampling depths within the superficial white and into the gray matter. As hypothesized, we observed atypical diffusion at and around the GWM boundary in ASD, with between‐group differences and group‐by‐sex interactions depending on tissue class and sampling depth. Furthermore, we identified that altered diffusion at the GWM boundary partially (i.e., ~50%) overlapped with atypical gray‐white matter tissue contrast in ASD. Our study thus replicates and extends previous work highlighting the GWM boundary as a crucial target of neuropathology in ASD, and guides future work elucidating etiological mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anke Bletsch
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Tim Schäfer
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Caroline Mann
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Derek S Andrews
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the M.I.N.D. Institute, University of California, Davis, California, USA
| | - Eileen Daly
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, and the Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, UK
| | - Maria Gudbrandsen
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, and the Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, UK
| | - Amber N V Ruigrok
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Robert Dallyn
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, and the Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, UK
| | - Rafael Romero-Garcia
- Brain Mapping Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Meng-Chuan Lai
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.,Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and The Hospital for Sick Children, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.,Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Michael V Lombardo
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.,Laboratory for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Center for Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rovereto, Italy
| | - Michael C Craig
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, and the Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, UK.,National Autism Unit, Bethlem Royal Hospital, London, UK
| | - John Suckling
- Brain Mapping Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Edward T Bullmore
- Brain Mapping Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Simon Baron-Cohen
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | | | - Declan G M Murphy
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, and the Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, UK
| | - Flavio Dell'Acqua
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, and the Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, UK
| | - Christine Ecker
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany.,Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, and the Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, UK
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28
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No Effect of Anodal tDCS on Verbal Episodic Memory Performance and Neurotransmitter Levels in Young and Elderly Participants. Neural Plast 2020; 2020:8896791. [PMID: 33029128 PMCID: PMC7528151 DOI: 10.1155/2020/8896791] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2020] [Revised: 08/14/2020] [Accepted: 09/01/2020] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Healthy ageing is accompanied by cognitive decline that affects episodic memory processes in particular. Studies showed that anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) may counteract this cognitive deterioration by increasing excitability and inducing neuroplasticity in the targeted cortical region. While stimulation gains are more consistent in initial low performers, relying solely on behavioural measures to predict treatment benefits does not suffice for a reliable implementation of this method as a therapeutic option. Hence, an exploration of the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms regarding the differential stimulation effect is warranted. Glutamatergic metabolites (Glx) and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) are involved in learning and memory processes and can be influenced with tDCS; wherefore, they present themselves as potential biomarkers for tDCS-induced behavioural gains, which are affiliated with neuroplasticity processes. In the present randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled, crossover study, 33 healthy young and 22 elderly participants received anodal tDCS to their left DLPFC during the encoding phase of a verbal episodic memory task. Using MEGA-PRESS edited magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), Glx and GABA levels were measured in the left DLPFC before and after the stimulation period. Further, we tested whether baseline performance and neurotransmitter levels predicted subsequent gains. No beneficial group effects of tDCS emerged in either verbal retrieval performances or neurotransmitter concentrations. Moreover, baseline performance levels did not predict stimulation-induced cognitive gains, nor did Glx or GABA levels. Nevertheless, exploratory analyses suggested a predictive value of the Glx : GABA ratio, with lower ratios at baseline indicating greater tDCS-related gains in delayed recall performance. This highlights the importance of further studies investigating neurophysiological mechanisms underlying previously observed stimulation-induced cognitive benefits and their respective interindividual heterogeneity.
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29
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Balasubramanian M, Mulkern RV, Neil JJ, Maier SE, Polimeni JR. Probing in vivo cortical myeloarchitecture in humans via line-scan diffusion acquisitions at 7 T with 250-500 micron radial resolution. Magn Reson Med 2020; 85:390-403. [PMID: 32738088 DOI: 10.1002/mrm.28419] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2019] [Revised: 06/15/2020] [Accepted: 06/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE The goal of this study was to measure diffusion signals within the cerebral cortex using the line-scan technique to achieve extremely high resolution in the radial direction (ie, perpendicular to the cortical surface) and to demonstrate the utility of these measurements for investigating laminar architecture in the living human brain. METHODS Line-scan diffusion data with 250-500 micron radial resolution were acquired at 7 T on 8 healthy volunteers, with each line prescribed perpendicularly to primary somatosensory cortex (S1) and primary motor cortex (M1). Apparent diffusion coefficients, fractional anisotropy values, and radiality indices were measured as a function of cortical depth. RESULTS In the deep layers of S1, we found evidence for high anisotropy and predominantly tangential diffusion, with low anisotropy observed in superficial S1. In M1, moderate anisotropy and predominantly radial diffusion was seen at almost all cortical depths. These patterns were consistent across subjects and were conspicuous without averaging data across different locations on the cortical sheet. CONCLUSION Our results are in accord with the myeloarchitecture of S1 and M1, known from prior histology studies: in S1, dense bands of tangential myelinated fibers run through the deep layers but not the superficial ones, and in M1, radial myelinated fibers are prominent at most cortical depths. This work therefore provides support for the idea that high-resolution diffusion signals, measured with the line-scan technique and receiving a boost in SNR at 7 T, may serve as a sensitive probe of in vivo laminar architecture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mukund Balasubramanian
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Department of Radiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Robert V Mulkern
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Department of Radiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Jeffrey J Neil
- Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Stephan E Maier
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Institute of Clinical Sciences, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Jonathan R Polimeni
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA.,Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
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30
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Menon V, Gallardo G, Pinsk MA, Nguyen VD, Li JR, Cai W, Wassermann D. Microstructural organization of human insula is linked to its macrofunctional circuitry and predicts cognitive control. eLife 2020; 9:53470. [PMID: 32496190 PMCID: PMC7308087 DOI: 10.7554/elife.53470] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2019] [Accepted: 06/03/2020] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The human insular cortex is a heterogeneous brain structure which plays an integrative role in guiding behavior. The cytoarchitectonic organization of the human insula has been investigated over the last century using postmortem brains but there has been little progress in noninvasive in vivo mapping of its microstructure and large-scale functional circuitry. Quantitative modeling of multi-shell diffusion MRI data from 413 participants revealed that human insula microstructure differs significantly across subdivisions that serve distinct cognitive and affective functions. Insular microstructural organization was mirrored in its functionally interconnected circuits with the anterior cingulate cortex that anchors the salience network, a system important for adaptive switching of cognitive control systems. Furthermore, insular microstructural features, confirmed in Macaca mulatta, were linked to behavior and predicted individual differences in cognitive control ability. Our findings open new possibilities for probing psychiatric and neurological disorders impacted by insular cortex dysfunction, including autism, schizophrenia, and fronto-temporal dementia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vinod Menon
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, Stanford, United States.,Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, Stanford, United States.,Stanford Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, Stanford, United States
| | - Guillermo Gallardo
- Athena, Inria Sophia Antipolis, Université Côte d'Azur, Sophia Antipolis, France.,Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Mark A Pinsk
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, United States
| | - Van-Dang Nguyen
- Department of Computational Science and Technology Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Jing-Rebecca Li
- Defi, Inria Saclay Île-de-France, École Polytechnique Université Paris Sud, Palaiseau, France
| | - Weidong Cai
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, Stanford, United States
| | - Demian Wassermann
- Parietal, Inria Saclay Île-de-France, CEA Université Paris Sud, Palaiseau, France
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31
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Preziosa P, Kiljan S, Steenwijk MD, Meani A, van de Berg WDJ, Schenk GJ, Rocca MA, Filippi M, Geurts JJG, Jonkman LE. Axonal degeneration as substrate of fractional anisotropy abnormalities in multiple sclerosis cortex. Brain 2020; 142:1921-1937. [PMID: 31168614 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awz143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2019] [Revised: 03/14/2019] [Accepted: 04/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Cortical microstructural abnormalities are associated with clinical and cognitive deterioration in multiple sclerosis. Using diffusion tensor MRI, a higher fractional anisotropy has been found in cortical lesions versus normal-appearing cortex in multiple sclerosis. The pathological substrates of this finding have yet to be definitively elucidated. By performing a combined post-mortem diffusion tensor MRI and histopathology study, we aimed to define the histopathological substrates of diffusivity abnormalities in multiple sclerosis cortex. Sixteen subjects with multiple sclerosis and 10 age- and sex-matched non-neurological control donors underwent post-mortem in situ at 3 T MRI, followed by brain dissection. One hundred and ten paraffin-embedded tissue blocks (54 from multiple sclerosis patients, 56 from non-neurological controls) were matched to the diffusion tensor sequence to obtain regional diffusivity measures. Using immunohistochemistry and silver staining, cortical density of myelin, microglia, astrocytes and axons, and density and volume of neurons and glial cells were evaluated. Correlates of diffusivity abnormalities with histological markers were assessed through linear mixed-effects models. Cortical lesions (77% subpial) were found in 27/54 (50%) multiple sclerosis cortical regions. Multiple sclerosis normal-appearing cortex had a significantly lower fractional anisotropy compared to cortex from non-neurological controls (P = 0.047), whereas fractional anisotropy in demyelinated cortex was significantly higher than in multiple sclerosis normal-appearing cortex (P = 0.012) but not different from non-neurological control cortex (P = 0.420). Compared to non-neurological control cortex, both multiple sclerosis normal-appearing and demyelinated cortices showed a lower density of axons perpendicular to the cortical surface (P = 0.012 for both) and of total axons (parallel and perpendicular to cortical surface) (P = 0.028 and 0.012). In multiple sclerosis, demyelinated cortex had a lower density of myelin (P = 0.004), parallel (P = 0.018) and total axons (P = 0.029) versus normal-appearing cortex. Regarding the pathological substrate, in non-neurological controls, cortical fractional anisotropy was positively associated with density of perpendicular, parallel, and total axons (P = 0.031 for all). In multiple sclerosis, normal-appearing cortex fractional anisotropy was positively associated with perpendicular and total axon density (P = 0.031 for both), while associations with myelin, glial and total cells and parallel axons did not survive multiple comparison correction. Demyelinated cortex fractional anisotropy was positively associated with density of neurons, and total cells and negatively with microglia density, without surviving multiple comparison correction. Our results suggest that a reduction of perpendicular axons in normal-appearing cortex and of both perpendicular and parallel axons in demyelinated cortex may underlie the substrate influencing cortical microstructural coherence and being responsible for the different patterns of fractional anisotropy changes occurring in multiple sclerosis cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paolo Preziosa
- Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Neuroimaging Research Unit, Institute of Experimental Neurology, Division of Neuroscience, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy.,Department of Neurology, Institute of Experimental Neurology, Division of Neuroscience, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
| | - Svenja Kiljan
- Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Martijn D Steenwijk
- Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Alessandro Meani
- Neuroimaging Research Unit, Institute of Experimental Neurology, Division of Neuroscience, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
| | - Wilma D J van de Berg
- Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Geert J Schenk
- Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Maria A Rocca
- Neuroimaging Research Unit, Institute of Experimental Neurology, Division of Neuroscience, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy.,Department of Neurology, Institute of Experimental Neurology, Division of Neuroscience, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
| | - Massimo Filippi
- Neuroimaging Research Unit, Institute of Experimental Neurology, Division of Neuroscience, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy.,Department of Neurology, Institute of Experimental Neurology, Division of Neuroscience, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
| | - Jeroen J G Geurts
- Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Laura E Jonkman
- Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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32
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Movahedian Attar F, Kirilina E, Haenelt D, Pine KJ, Trampel R, Edwards LJ, Weiskopf N. Mapping Short Association Fibers in the Early Cortical Visual Processing Stream Using In Vivo Diffusion Tractography. Cereb Cortex 2020; 30:4496-4514. [PMID: 32297628 PMCID: PMC7325803 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaa049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Short association fibers (U-fibers) connect proximal cortical areas and constitute the majority of white matter connections in the human brain. U-fibers play an important role in brain development, function, and pathology but are underrepresented in current descriptions of the human brain connectome, primarily due to methodological challenges in diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) of these fibers. High spatial resolution and dedicated fiber and tractography models are required to reliably map the U-fibers. Moreover, limited quantitative knowledge of their geometry and distribution makes validation of U-fiber tractography challenging. Submillimeter resolution diffusion MRI—facilitated by a cutting-edge MRI scanner with 300 mT/m maximum gradient amplitude—was used to map U-fiber connectivity between primary and secondary visual cortical areas (V1 and V2, respectively) in vivo. V1 and V2 retinotopic maps were obtained using functional MRI at 7T. The mapped V1–V2 connectivity was retinotopically organized, demonstrating higher connectivity for retinotopically corresponding areas in V1 and V2 as expected. The results were highly reproducible, as demonstrated by repeated measurements in the same participants and by an independent replication group study. This study demonstrates a robust U-fiber connectivity mapping in vivo and is an important step toward construction of a more complete human brain connectome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fakhereh Movahedian Attar
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Evgeniya Kirilina
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.,Department of Education and Psychology, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience Berlin, Free University Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Daniel Haenelt
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Kerrin J Pine
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Robert Trampel
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Luke J Edwards
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Nikolaus Weiskopf
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.,Felix Bloch Institute for Solid State Physics, Faculty of Physics and Earth Sciences, Leipzig University, 04109 Leipzig, Germany
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33
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Balasubramanian M, Polimeni JR, Mulkern RV. In vivo measurements of irreversible and reversible transverse relaxation rates in human basal ganglia at 7 T: making inferences about the microscopic and mesoscopic structure of iron and calcification deposits. NMR IN BIOMEDICINE 2019; 32:e4140. [PMID: 31322331 PMCID: PMC6817385 DOI: 10.1002/nbm.4140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2018] [Revised: 05/29/2019] [Accepted: 06/12/2019] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
The goal of this study was to measure irreversible and reversible transverse relaxation rates in the globus pallidus and putamen at 7 T, and to use these rates to make inferences about the sub-voxel structure of iron and calcification deposits. Gradient Echo Sampling of a Spin Echo (GESSE) data were acquired at 7 T on eighteen volunteers spanning a large range of ages (23-85 years), with calcifications in the globus pallidus incidentally observed in one volunteer. Maps of transverse relaxation rates were derived from the GESSE data, and the mean value of these rates in globus pallidus and putamen was estimated for each volunteer. Both irreversible and reversible transverse relaxation rates increased with the expected age-dependent iron content in these structures, except for the individual with calcifications for whom extremely large reversible relaxation rates but normal irreversible relaxation rates were found in the globus pallidus. Given the sensitivity of irreversible and reversible transverse relaxation rates to microscopic and mesoscopic field variations, respectively, our findings suggest that joint consideration of these rates may yield information not only about the amount of iron and calcification deposited in the brain, but also about the sub-voxel structure of these deposits, perhaps revealing certain aspects of their geometry and cellular distribution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mukund Balasubramanian
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Radiology, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jonathan R. Polimeni
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA
- Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Robert V. Mulkern
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Radiology, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
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34
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Ultra-high resolution and multi-shell diffusion MRI of intact ex vivo human brains using kT-dSTEAM at 9.4T. Neuroimage 2019; 202:116087. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2019] [Accepted: 08/08/2019] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
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35
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Assaf Y. Imaging laminar structures in the gray matter with diffusion MRI. Neuroimage 2019; 197:677-688. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.12.096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2017] [Revised: 12/15/2017] [Accepted: 12/30/2017] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
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36
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Caspers S, Axer M. Decoding the microstructural correlate of diffusion MRI. NMR IN BIOMEDICINE 2019; 32:e3779. [PMID: 28858413 DOI: 10.1002/nbm.3779] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2016] [Revised: 06/28/2017] [Accepted: 07/05/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Diffusion imaging has evolved considerably over the past decade. While it provides valuable information about the structural connectivity at the macro- and mesoscopic scale, bridging the gap to the microstructure at the level of single nerve fibers poses an enormous challenge. This is particularly true for the human brain with its large size, its large white-matter volume and availability of histological techniques for studying human whole-brain sections and subsequent 3D reconstruction. Classic post-mortem techniques for studying the fiber architecture of the brain, such as myeloarchitectonic staining or dye tracing, are complemented by novel histological approaches, such as 3D polarized light imaging or optical coherence tomography, enabling unique insight into the fiber architecture from large fiber bundles within deep white matter to single nerve fibers in the cortex. The present review discusses the benefits and challenges of these latest developments in comparison with the classic techniques, with particular focus on the mutual exchange between in vivo and post-mortem diffusion imaging and post-mortem microstructural approaches for understanding the wiring of the brain across different scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Svenja Caspers
- C. and O. Vogt Institute for Brain Research, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany
- JARA-BRAIN, Jülich-Aachen Research Alliance, Jülich, Germany
| | - Markus Axer
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany
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37
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Roebroeck A, Miller KL, Aggarwal M. Ex vivo diffusion MRI of the human brain: Technical challenges and recent advances. NMR IN BIOMEDICINE 2019; 32:e3941. [PMID: 29863793 PMCID: PMC6492287 DOI: 10.1002/nbm.3941] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2016] [Revised: 04/17/2018] [Accepted: 04/17/2018] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
This review discusses ex vivo diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) as an important research tool for neuroanatomical investigations and the validation of in vivo dMRI techniques, with a focus on the human brain. We review the challenges posed by the properties of post-mortem tissue, and discuss state-of-the-art tissue preparation methods and recent advances in pulse sequences and acquisition techniques to tackle these. We then review recent ex vivo dMRI studies of the human brain, highlighting the validation of white matter orientation estimates and the atlasing and mapping of large subcortical structures. We also give particular emphasis to the delineation of layered gray matter structure with ex vivo dMRI, as this application illustrates the strength of its mesoscale resolution over large fields of view. We end with a discussion and outlook on future and potential directions of the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alard Roebroeck
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology & NeuroscienceMaastricht UniversityMaastrichtthe Netherlands
| | | | - Manisha Aggarwal
- Department of RadiologyJohns Hopkins University School of MedicineBaltimoreMDUSA
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38
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Timmler S, Simons M. Grey matter myelination. Glia 2019; 67:2063-2070. [PMID: 30860619 DOI: 10.1002/glia.23614] [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: 01/11/2019] [Revised: 02/21/2019] [Accepted: 02/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
There is now increasing evidence that myelin is not only generated early in development, but also during adulthood possibly contributing to lifelong plasticity of the brain. In particular, human cortical areas responsible for the highest cognitive functions seem to require decades until they have reached their maximal amount of myelination. Currently, we know very little about the mechanisms and the functions of grey matter myelination. In this emerging field key questions await to be addressed: How long does myelination last in humans? How is grey matter myelination regulated? What is the function of myelin in the grey matter? Does grey matter myelination limit and/or promote neuronal plasticity? Finding answers to these questions will be important for our understanding of normal, but also abnormal cortex function in a number of neurological and psychiatric diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Timmler
- Institute of Neuronal Cell Biology, Technical University Munich, Munich, Germany.,Institute of Neuronal Cell Biology, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Munich, Germany
| | - Mikael Simons
- Institute of Neuronal Cell Biology, Technical University Munich, Munich, Germany.,Institute of Neuronal Cell Biology, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Munich, Germany.,Munich Cluster of Systems Neurology (SyNergy), Munich, Germany.,Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine, Göttingen, Germany
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39
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Jones DK, Alexander DC, Bowtell R, Cercignani M, Dell'Acqua F, McHugh DJ, Miller KL, Palombo M, Parker GJM, Rudrapatna US, Tax CMW. Microstructural imaging of the human brain with a 'super-scanner': 10 key advantages of ultra-strong gradients for diffusion MRI. Neuroimage 2018; 182:8-38. [PMID: 29793061 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.05.047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 105] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2017] [Revised: 05/17/2018] [Accepted: 05/18/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The key component of a microstructural diffusion MRI 'super-scanner' is a dedicated high-strength gradient system that enables stronger diffusion weightings per unit time compared to conventional gradient designs. This can, in turn, drastically shorten the time needed for diffusion encoding, increase the signal-to-noise ratio, and facilitate measurements at shorter diffusion times. This review, written from the perspective of the UK National Facility for In Vivo MR Imaging of Human Tissue Microstructure, an initiative to establish a shared 300 mT/m-gradient facility amongst the microstructural imaging community, describes ten advantages of ultra-strong gradients for microstructural imaging. Specifically, we will discuss how the increase of the accessible measurement space compared to a lower-gradient systems (in terms of Δ, b-value, and TE) can accelerate developments in the areas of 1) axon diameter distribution mapping; 2) microstructural parameter estimation; 3) mapping micro-vs macroscopic anisotropy features with gradient waveforms beyond a single pair of pulsed-gradients; 4) multi-contrast experiments, e.g. diffusion-relaxometry; 5) tractography and high-resolution imaging in vivo and 6) post mortem; 7) diffusion-weighted spectroscopy of metabolites other than water; 8) tumour characterisation; 9) functional diffusion MRI; and 10) quality enhancement of images acquired on lower-gradient systems. We finally discuss practical barriers in the use of ultra-strong gradients, and provide an outlook on the next generation of 'super-scanners'.
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Affiliation(s)
- D K Jones
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Maindy Road, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ, UK; School of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Victoria, 3065, Australia.
| | - D C Alexander
- Centre for Medical Image Computing (CMIC), Department of Computer Science, UCL (University College London), Gower Street, London, UK; Clinical Imaging Research Centre, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - R Bowtell
- Sir Peter Mansfield Magnetic Resonance Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, UK
| | - M Cercignani
- Department of Psychiatry, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton, UK
| | - F Dell'Acqua
- Natbrainlab, Department of Neuroimaging, King's College London, London, UK
| | - D J McHugh
- Division of Informatics, Imaging and Data Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK; CRUK and EPSRC Cancer Imaging Centre in Cambridge and Manchester, Cambridge and Manchester, UK
| | - K L Miller
- Oxford Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - M Palombo
- Centre for Medical Image Computing (CMIC), Department of Computer Science, UCL (University College London), Gower Street, London, UK
| | - G J M Parker
- Division of Informatics, Imaging and Data Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK; CRUK and EPSRC Cancer Imaging Centre in Cambridge and Manchester, Cambridge and Manchester, UK; Bioxydyn Ltd., Manchester, UK
| | - U S Rudrapatna
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Maindy Road, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ, UK
| | - C M W Tax
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Maindy Road, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ, UK
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40
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Microstructural imaging of human neocortex in vivo. Neuroimage 2018; 182:184-206. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.02.055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2017] [Revised: 02/13/2018] [Accepted: 02/26/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
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41
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Kroenke CD. Using diffusion anisotropy to study cerebral cortical gray matter development. JOURNAL OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE (SAN DIEGO, CALIF. : 1997) 2018; 292:106-116. [PMID: 29705039 PMCID: PMC6420781 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmr.2018.04.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2017] [Revised: 03/07/2018] [Accepted: 04/20/2018] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (diffusion MRI) is being used to characterize morphological development of cells within developing cerebral cortical gray matter. Abnormal morphology is a shared characteristic of cerebral cortical neurons for many neurodevelopmental disorders, and therefore diffusion MRI is potentially of high value for monitoring growth-related anatomical changes of relevance to brain function. Here, the theoretical framework for analyzing diffusion MRI data is summarized. An overview of quantitative methods for validating the interpretations of diffusion MRI data using light microscopy is then presented. These theoretical modeling and validation methods have been used to precisely characterize changes in water diffusion anisotropy with development in the context of several animal model systems. Further, in diffusion MRI studies of several preclinical models of neurodevelopmental disorders, the ability is demonstrated of diffusion MRI to detect abnormal morphological neural development. These animal model studies are reviewed along with recent initial efforts to translate the findings into an approach for studies of human subjects. This body of data indicates that diffusion MRI has the requisite sensitivity to detect abnormal cellular development in the context of several models of neurodevelopmental disorders, and therefore may provide a new strategy for detecting abnormalities in early stages of brain development in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher D Kroenke
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, and Advanced Imaging Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, United States.
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42
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Gulban OF, De Martino F, Vu AT, Yacoub E, Uğurbil K, Lenglet C. Cortical fibers orientation mapping using in-vivo whole brain 7 T diffusion MRI. Neuroimage 2018; 178:104-118. [PMID: 29753105 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.05.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2017] [Revised: 03/28/2018] [Accepted: 05/02/2018] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Diffusion MRI of the cortical gray matter is challenging because the micro-environment probed by water molecules is much more complex than within the white matter. High spatial and angular resolutions are therefore necessary to uncover anisotropic diffusion patterns and laminar structures, which provide complementary (e.g. to anatomical and functional MRI) microstructural information about the cortex architectonic. Several ex-vivo and in-vivo MRI studies have recently addressed this question, however predominantly with an emphasis on specific cortical areas. There is currently no whole brain in-vivo data leveraging multi-shell diffusion MRI acquisition at high spatial resolution, and depth dependent analysis, to characterize the complex organization of cortical fibers. Here, we present unique in-vivo human 7T diffusion MRI data, and a dedicated cortical depth dependent analysis pipeline. We leverage the high spatial (1.05 mm isotropic) and angular (198 diffusion gradient directions) resolution of this whole brain dataset to improve cortical fiber orientations mapping, and study neurites (axons and/or dendrites) trajectories across cortical depths. Tangential fibers in superficial cortical depths and crossing fiber configurations in deep cortical depths are identified. Fibers gradually inserting into the gyral walls are visualized, which contributes to mitigating the gyral bias effect. Quantitative radiality maps and histograms in individual subjects and cortex-based aligned datasets further support our results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Omer F Gulban
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Federico De Martino
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - An T Vu
- Veterans Affairs Health Care System, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Essa Yacoub
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Kamil Uğurbil
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Christophe Lenglet
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
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43
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Fukutomi H, Glasser MF, Zhang H, Autio JA, Coalson TS, Okada T, Togashi K, Van Essen DC, Hayashi T. Neurite imaging reveals microstructural variations in human cerebral cortical gray matter. Neuroimage 2018; 182:488-499. [PMID: 29448073 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.02.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 131] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2017] [Revised: 01/08/2018] [Accepted: 02/09/2018] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
We present distinct patterns of neurite distribution in the human cerebral cortex using diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We analyzed both high-resolution structural (T1w and T2w images) and diffusion MRI data in 505 subjects from the Human Connectome Project. Neurite distributions were evaluated using the neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) model, optimized for gray matter, and mapped onto the cortical surface using a method weighted towards the cortical mid-thickness to reduce partial volume effects. The estimated neurite density was high in both somatosensory and motor areas, early visual and auditory areas, and middle temporal area (MT), showing a strikingly similar distribution to myelin maps estimated from the T1w/T2w ratio. The estimated neurite orientation dispersion was particularly high in early sensory areas, which are known for dense tangential fibers and are classified as granular cortex by classical anatomists. Spatial gradients of these cortical neurite properties revealed transitions that colocalize with some areal boundaries in a recent multi-modal parcellation of the human cerebral cortex, providing mutually supportive evidence. Our findings indicate that analyzing the cortical gray matter neurite morphology using diffusion MRI and NODDI provides valuable information regarding cortical microstructure that is related to but complementary to myeloarchitecture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hikaru Fukutomi
- RIKEN Center for Life Science Technologies, Kobe, Japan; Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Matthew F Glasser
- Department of Neuroscience, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Luke's Hospital, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Hui Zhang
- Centre for Medical Image Computing and Department of Computer Science, University College London, UK
| | | | - Timothy S Coalson
- Department of Neuroscience, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Tomohisa Okada
- RIKEN Center for Life Science Technologies, Kobe, Japan; Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Kaori Togashi
- Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan
| | - David C Van Essen
- Department of Neuroscience, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Takuya Hayashi
- RIKEN Center for Life Science Technologies, Kobe, Japan; RIKEN Compass to Healthy Life Research Complex Program, Kobe, Japan.
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44
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Salo RA, Belevich I, Manninen E, Jokitalo E, Gröhn O, Sierra A. Quantification of anisotropy and orientation in 3D electron microscopy and diffusion tensor imaging in injured rat brain. Neuroimage 2018; 172:404-414. [PMID: 29412154 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.01.087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2017] [Revised: 01/16/2018] [Accepted: 01/30/2018] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) reveals microstructural features of grey and white matter non-invasively. The contrast produced by DTI, however, is not fully understood and requires further validation. We used serial block-face scanning electron microscopy (SBEM) to acquire tissue metrics, i.e., anisotropy and orientation, using three-dimensional Fourier transform-based (3D-FT) analysis, to correlate with fractional anisotropy and orientation in DTI. SBEM produces high-resolution 3D data at the mesoscopic scale with good contrast of cellular membranes. We analysed selected samples from cingulum, corpus callosum, and perilesional cortex of sham-operated and traumatic brain injury (TBI) rats. Principal orientations produced by DTI and 3D-FT in all samples were in good agreement. Anisotropy values showed similar patterns of change in corresponding DTI and 3D-FT parameters in sham-operated and TBI rats. While DTI and 3D-FT anisotropy values were similar in grey matter, 3D-FT anisotropy values were consistently lower than fractional anisotropy values from DTI in white matter. We also evaluated the effect of resolution in 3D-FT analysis. Despite small angular differences in grey matter samples, lower resolution datasets provided reliable results, allowing for analysis of larger fields of view. Overall, 3D SBEM allows for more sophisticated validation studies of diffusion imaging contrast from a tissue microstructural perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raimo A Salo
- Biomedical Imaging Unit, A. I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, PO Box 1627, FI-70211 Kuopio, Finland
| | - Ilya Belevich
- Electron Microscopy Unit, Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, PO Box 56, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland
| | - Eppu Manninen
- Biomedical Imaging Unit, A. I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, PO Box 1627, FI-70211 Kuopio, Finland
| | - Eija Jokitalo
- Electron Microscopy Unit, Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, PO Box 56, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland
| | - Olli Gröhn
- Biomedical Imaging Unit, A. I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, PO Box 1627, FI-70211 Kuopio, Finland
| | - Alejandra Sierra
- Biomedical Imaging Unit, A. I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, PO Box 1627, FI-70211 Kuopio, Finland.
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45
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Ganepola T, Nagy Z, Ghosh A, Papadopoulo T, Alexander DC, Sereno MI. Using diffusion MRI to discriminate areas of cortical grey matter. Neuroimage 2017; 182:456-468. [PMID: 29274501 PMCID: PMC6189525 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.12.046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2017] [Revised: 12/12/2017] [Accepted: 12/14/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Cortical area parcellation is a challenging problem that is often approached by combining structural imaging (e.g., quantitative T1, diffusion-based connectivity) with functional imaging (e.g., task activations, topological mapping, resting state correlations). Diffusion MRI (dMRI) has been widely adopted to analyse white matter microstructure, but scarcely used to distinguish grey matter regions because of the reduced anisotropy there. Nevertheless, differences in the texture of the cortical 'fabric' have long been mapped by histologists to distinguish cortical areas. Reliable area-specific contrast in the dMRI signal has previously been demonstrated in selected occipital and sensorimotor areas. We expand upon these findings by testing several diffusion-based feature sets in a series of classification tasks. Using Human Connectome Project (HCP) 3T datasets and a supervised learning approach, we demonstrate that diffusion MRI is sensitive to architectonic differences between a large number of different cortical areas defined in the HCP parcellation. By employing a surface-based cortical imaging pipeline, which defines diffusion features relative to local cortical surface orientation, we show that we can differentiate areas from their neighbours with higher accuracy than when using only fractional anisotropy or mean diffusivity. The results suggest that grey matter diffusion may provide a new, independent source of information for dividing up the cortex. Diffusion MRI provides architectonic contrast between a variety of cortical areas. dMRI provides complementary information in areas of low myelin content. High order rotational invariants provide more reliable parcellation results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tharindu Ganepola
- Department of Cognitive, Perceptual and Brain Sciences, UCL, London, UK; Centre for Medical Image Computing, Department of Computer Science, UCL, London, UK.
| | - Zoltan Nagy
- Laboratory for Social and Neural Systems Research, UZH, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Aurobrata Ghosh
- Centre for Medical Image Computing, Department of Computer Science, UCL, London, UK
| | | | - Daniel C Alexander
- Centre for Medical Image Computing, Department of Computer Science, UCL, London, UK
| | - Martin I Sereno
- Department of Psychology and Neuroimaging Centre, SDSU, San Diego, USA
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46
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Super-Resolution Track-Density Imaging Reveals Fine Anatomical Features in Tree Shrew Primary Visual Cortex and Hippocampus. Neurosci Bull 2017; 34:438-448. [PMID: 29247318 DOI: 10.1007/s12264-017-0199-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2017] [Accepted: 10/07/2017] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) is widely used to study white and gray matter (GM) micro-organization and structural connectivity in the brain. Super-resolution track-density imaging (TDI) is an image reconstruction method for dMRI data, which is capable of providing spatial resolution beyond the acquired data, as well as novel and meaningful anatomical contrast that cannot be obtained with conventional reconstruction methods. TDI has been used to reveal anatomical features in human and animal brains. In this study, we used short track TDI (stTDI), a variation of TDI with enhanced contrast for GM structures, to reconstruct direction-encoded color maps of fixed tree shrew brain. The results were compared with those obtained with the traditional diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) method. We demonstrated that fine microstructures in the tree shrew brain, such as Baillarger bands in the primary visual cortex and the longitudinal component of the mossy fibers within the hippocampal CA3 subfield, were observable with stTDI, but not with DTI reconstructions from the same dMRI data. The possible mechanisms underlying the enhanced GM contrast are discussed.
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47
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Seki F, Hikishima K, Komaki Y, Hata J, Uematsu A, Okahara N, Yamamoto M, Shinohara H, Sasaki E, Okano H. Developmental trajectories of macroanatomical structures in common marmoset brain. Neuroscience 2017; 364:143-156. [PMID: 28939259 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2017.09.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2017] [Revised: 08/11/2017] [Accepted: 09/12/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Morphometry studies of human brain development have revealed characteristics of some growth patterns, such as gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM), but the features that make human neurodevelopment distinct from that in other species remain unclear. Studies of the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus), a small New World primate, can provide insights into unique features such as cooperative behaviors complementary to those from comparative analyses using mouse and rhesus monkey. In the present study, we analyzed developmental patterns of GM, WM, and cortical regions with volume measurements using longitudinal sample (23 marmosets; 11 male, 12 female) between the ages of one and 30months. Regional analysis using a total of 164 magnetic resonance imaging datasets revealed that GM volume increased before puberty (5.4months), but subsequently declined until adulthood, whereas WM volume increased rapidly before stabilizing around puberty (9.9months). Cortical regions showed similar patterns of increase and decrease, patterns with global GM but differed in the timing of volume peak and degree of decline across regions. The progressive-regressive pattern detected in both global and cortical GM was well correlated to phases of synaptogenesis and synaptic pruning reported in previous marmoset studies. A rapid increase in WM in early development may represent a distinctive aspect of human neurodevelopment. These findings suggest that studies of marmoset brain development can provide valuable comparative information that will facilitate a deeper understanding of human brain growth and neurodevelopmental disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fumiko Seki
- Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan; Central Institute for Experimental Animals, Kawasaki, Japan; Laboratory for Marmoset Neural Architecture, Brain Science Institute RIKEN, Wako, Japan
| | - Keigo Hikishima
- Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan; Central Institute for Experimental Animals, Kawasaki, Japan; Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Yuji Komaki
- Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan; Central Institute for Experimental Animals, Kawasaki, Japan
| | - Junichi Hata
- Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan; Central Institute for Experimental Animals, Kawasaki, Japan; Laboratory for Marmoset Neural Architecture, Brain Science Institute RIKEN, Wako, Japan
| | - Akiko Uematsu
- Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan; Central Institute for Experimental Animals, Kawasaki, Japan; Laboratory for Marmoset Neural Architecture, Brain Science Institute RIKEN, Wako, Japan
| | - Norio Okahara
- Central Institute for Experimental Animals, Kawasaki, Japan
| | | | | | - Erika Sasaki
- Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan; Central Institute for Experimental Animals, Kawasaki, Japan
| | - Hideyuki Okano
- Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan; Laboratory for Marmoset Neural Architecture, Brain Science Institute RIKEN, Wako, Japan.
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48
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Calamante F, Jeurissen B, Smith RE, Tournier JD, Connelly A. The role of whole-brain diffusion MRI as a tool for studying human in vivo cortical segregation based on a measure of neurite density. Magn Reson Med 2017; 79:2738-2744. [PMID: 28921634 DOI: 10.1002/mrm.26917] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2017] [Revised: 08/01/2017] [Accepted: 08/21/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE To investigate whether diffusion MRI can be used to study cortical segregation based on a contrast related to neurite density, thus providing a complementary tool to myelin-based MRI techniques used for myeloarchitecture. METHODS Several myelin-sensitive MRI methods (e.g., based on T1 , T2 , and T2*) have been proposed to parcellate cortical areas based on their myeloarchitecture. Recent improvements in hardware, acquisition, and analysis methods have opened the possibility of achieving a more robust characterization of cortical microstructure using diffusion MRI. High-quality diffusion MRI data from the Human Connectome Project was combined with recent advances in fiber orientation modeling. The orientational average of the fiber orientation distribution was used as a summary parameter, which was displayed as inflated brain surface views. RESULTS Diffusion MRI identifies cortical patterns consistent with those previously seen by MRI methods used for studying myeloarchitecture, which have shown patterns of high myelination in the sensorimotor strip, visual cortex, and auditory areas and low myelination in frontal and anterior temporal areas. CONCLUSION In vivo human diffusion MRI provides a useful complementary noninvasive approach to myelin-based methods used to study whole-brain cortical parcellation, by exploiting a contrast based on tissue microstructure related to neurite density, rather than myelin itself. Magn Reson Med 79:2738-2744, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fernando Calamante
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia.,Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.,Department of Medicine, Austin Health and Northern Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Ben Jeurissen
- iMec-Vision Lab, Department of Physics, University of Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Robert E Smith
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia
| | - Jacques-Donald Tournier
- Centre for the Developing Brain, King's College London, London, UK.,Department of Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Alan Connelly
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia.,Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.,Department of Medicine, Austin Health and Northern Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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49
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Takemura H, Pestilli F, Weiner KS, Keliris GA, Landi SM, Sliwa J, Ye FQ, Barnett MA, Leopold DA, Freiwald WA, Logothetis NK, Wandell BA. Occipital White Matter Tracts in Human and Macaque. Cereb Cortex 2017; 27:3346-3359. [PMID: 28369290 PMCID: PMC5890896 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhx070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2016] [Revised: 03/01/2017] [Accepted: 03/04/2017] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
We compare several major white-matter tracts in human and macaque occipital lobe using diffusion magnetic resonance imaging. The comparison suggests similarities but also significant differences in the tracts. There are several apparently homologous tracts in the 2 species, including the vertical occipital fasciculus (VOF), optic radiation, forceps major, and inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF). There is one large human tract, the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, with no corresponding fasciculus in macaque. We could identify the macaque VOF (mVOF), which has been little studied. Its position is consistent with classical invasive anatomical studies by Wernicke. VOF homology is supported by similarity of the endpoints in V3A and ventral V4 across species. The mVOF fibers intertwine with the dorsal segment of the ILF, but the human VOF appears to be lateral to the ILF. These similarities and differences between the occipital lobe tracts will be useful in establishing which circuitry in the macaque can serve as an accurate model for human visual cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiromasa Takemura
- Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNet), National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, and Osaka University, Suita-shi, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
- Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Suita-shi, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Franco Pestilli
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
| | - Kevin S. Weiner
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Georgios A. Keliris
- Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, 72072 Tübingen, Germany
- Bio-Imaging Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk 2610, Belgium
| | - Sofia M. Landi
- Laboratory of Neural Systems, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Julia Sliwa
- Laboratory of Neural Systems, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Frank Q. Ye
- Neurophysiology Imaging Facility, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA
| | | | - David A. Leopold
- Neurophysiology Imaging Facility, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA
| | - Winrich A. Freiwald
- Laboratory of Neural Systems, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | | | - Brian A. Wandell
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
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50
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Sengupta S, Fritz FJ, Harms RL, Hildebrand S, Tse DHY, Poser BA, Goebel R, Roebroeck A. High resolution anatomical and quantitative MRI of the entire human occipital lobe ex vivo at 9.4T. Neuroimage 2017; 168:162-171. [PMID: 28336427 PMCID: PMC5862655 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.03.039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2016] [Revised: 03/17/2017] [Accepted: 03/19/2017] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Several magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrasts are sensitive to myelin content in gray matter in vivo which has ignited ambitions of MRI-based in vivo cortical histology. Ultra-high field (UHF) MRI, at fields of 7 T and beyond, is crucial to provide the resolution and contrast needed to sample contrasts over the depth of the cortex and get closer to layer resolved imaging. Ex vivo MRI of human post mortem samples is an important stepping stone to investigate MRI contrast in the cortex, validate it against histology techniques applied in situ to the same tissue, and investigate the resolutions needed to translate ex vivo findings to in vivo UHF MRI. Here, we investigate key technology to extend such UHF studies to large human brain samples while maintaining high resolution, which allows investigation of the layered architecture of several cortical areas over their entire 3D extent and their complete borders where architecture changes. A 16 channel cylindrical phased array radiofrequency (RF) receive coil was constructed to image a large post mortem occipital lobe sample (~80×80×80 mm3) in a wide-bore 9.4 T human scanner with the aim of achieving high-resolution anatomical and quantitative MR images. Compared with a human head coil at 9.4 T, the maximum Signal-to-Noise ratio (SNR) was increased by a factor of about five in the peripheral cortex. Although the transmit profile with a circularly polarized transmit mode at 9.4 T is relatively inhomogeneous over the large sample, this challenge was successfully resolved with parallel transmit using the kT-points method. Using this setup, we achieved 60μm anatomical images for the entire occipital lobe showing increased spatial definition of cortical details compared to lower resolutions. In addition, we were able to achieve sufficient control over SNR, B0 and B1 homogeneity and multi-contrast sampling to perform quantitative T2* mapping over the same volume at 200 μm. Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampling provided maximum posterior estimates of quantitative T2* and their uncertainty, allowing delineation of the stria of Gennari over the entire length and width of the calcarine sulcus. We discuss how custom RF receive coil arrays built to specific large post mortem sample sizes can provide a platform for UHF cortical layer-specific quantitative MRI over large fields of view. Custom-built 16 channel 9.4 T RF-coil to image large post mortem samples at high resolution. Parallel transmit techniques allow homogenization of B1+ for 3D GRE imaging at UHF. 60 μm anatomical MRI of the entire human occipital lobe. 200 μm isotropic quantitative T2* mapping of the entire human occipital lobe. A platform for future UHF cortical layer specific qMRI over large FoVs.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Sengupta
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
| | - F J Fritz
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - R L Harms
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - S Hildebrand
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - D H Y Tse
- Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - B A Poser
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - R Goebel
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - A Roebroeck
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
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