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The role of whole‐brain diffusion MRI as a tool for studying human in vivo cortical segregation based on a measure of neurite density
Author(s) -
Calamante Fernando,
Jeurissen Ben,
Smith Robert E.,
Tournier JacquesDonald,
Connelly Alan
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
magnetic resonance in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.696
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1522-2594
pISSN - 0740-3194
DOI - 10.1002/mrm.26917
Subject(s) - diffusion mri , neuroscience , human connectome project , magnetic resonance imaging , human brain , myelin , neurite , white matter , orientation (vector space) , tractography , fractional anisotropy , computer science , biomedical engineering , nuclear magnetic resonance , psychology , biology , medicine , central nervous system , functional connectivity , physics , radiology , mathematics , biochemistry , geometry , in vitro
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 T 1 , T 2 , andT 2 * ) 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.