Milos Ivkovic¹, Heather Katzen², Ilhami Kovanlikaya¹, Ahmet Bagci², Linda Heier¹, Noam Alperin², Ashish Raj¹, and Norman Relkin^1
1Weill Cornell Medical College, New York City, NY, United States, ²University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL

There are no proven pharmacologic treatments for Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH). Acetazolamide (ACZ) is known to reduce CSF production and interstitial edema. We hypothesized that a low dose of ACZ would reduce CSF production and brain interstitial fluid in NPH. By using a combination of DW-MRI, T1 and T2-FLAIR images, we unequivocally determined that ACZ reduced WM abnormalities and interstitial brain water in NPH patients. T2-FLAIR and T1 volumetrics showed consistent reduction in WM pathology. By the use of DW-MRI, we were able to detect changes within the remaining areas of WM signal abnormalities which would otherwise have gone unnoticed.

Christine MacDonald¹, Ann Johnson¹, James Sorrell¹, Thomas Malone¹, Dana Cooper¹, Elliot Nelson², Nicole Werner¹, Joshua Shimony³, Matthew Parsons³, Abraham Snyder³, Marcus Raichle³, Raymond Fang⁴, Stephen Flaherty⁵, Michael Russell⁶, and David Brody^1
1Neurology, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO, United States, ²Psychiatry, Washington Univeristy, Saint Louis, MO, United States, ³Radiology, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO, United States, ⁴Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Landstuhl, Germany, ⁵Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, Fayetteville, NC, United States, ⁶HQ, US MEDCOM, United States

The effects of blast exposure on human brain in the absence of head impact are unknown. Previous clinical studies, experimental animal models, and computational modeling of blast describe changes to cerebellum and brainstem. In a unique group of US military personnel with isolated, primary blast-related traumatic brain injury and no other insult, we found DTI abnormalities consistent with white matter injury in 75% of subjects specifically in the cerebellum. These findings support the hypothesis that there may be a specific contribution of blast to brain injury in the absence of head impact and that cerebellum may be particularly vulnerable.

Kaundinya Gopinath^1,2, Saurabh Vaidya², Sandeepkumar Ganji², Sergey Cheshkov², Robert Haley³, and Richard Briggs^2,3
1Department of Radiology & Imaging Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States, ²Department of Radiology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States, ³Department of Internal Medicine, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States

Gulf War Illness (GWI) is a multi-symptom disorder characterized by cognition, emotion and sensory deficits. This study used a multi-slice multi-echo T2-mapping sequence to examine WM integrity in GWI veterans with Syndromes1 (Syn1), Syn2 and Syn3, and age-matched controls. The control group’s WM T2s were similar to those observed in T2 relaxometry studies of intact WM. Syn2 and Syn3 groups exhibited WM impairment in the form of increased T2 relaxation times compared to controls, in important WM areas such as the cholinergic pathway which serve a number of cognitive functions. Thus WM impairment could be an important marker for GWI.

Xiufeng Li^1,2, Jeffrey S. Spence^3,4, David M. Buhner⁴, Robert W. Haley⁴, and Richard W. Briggs^2,4
1Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States, ²Radiology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States, ³Clinical Sciences, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States, ⁴Internal Medicine, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States

New ASL hippocampus perfusion study results of Gulf War veterans recruited from a representative national sample of over 8,000 veterans corroborate previous SPECT and ASL results of Gulf War veterans selected from the 24th U.S. Naval Reserve Mobile Construction Battalion that show chronic and perhaps progressive hippocampal perfusion dysfunction both at baseline and in response to challenge with the short-acting, reversible cholinesterase inhibitor physostigmine. The ASL physostigmine challenge test is a valuable biomarker for the diagnosis of Gulf War illness and is practical enough to be implemented diagnostically in a clinical setting.

Pradeep K. Gupta¹, R. K. Garg², R. Verma², V. K. Paliwal³, M. K. Singh², Y. Rai¹, R. S. Rathore⁴, and R. K. Gupta^1
1Department of Radiodiagnosis, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, UP, India, ²Department of Neurology, Chattrapati Sahuji Maharaj Medical University, Lucknow, UP, India, ³Department of Neurology, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, UP, India, ⁴Department of Mathematics & Statistics, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, UP, India

Vitamin B-12 deficiency may leads to microstructural changes in brain white matter. The purpose of this study was to determine the change in DTI metrics in brain white matter and to find out its association with cognitive function among patients with vitamin B-12 deficiency. In this study, we included 8 patients with vitamin B-12 deficiency and 9 healthy controls. ATR and PTR fibers showed significant reduction in FA values with abnormal cognitive function in these patients. These changes in ATR and PTR in patients with vitamin B12 deficiency with normal appearing conventional MRI suggest these findings may be used as image biomarkers of B12 deficiency in future.

Valentina Battistoni¹, Barbara Borroni², Giovanni Giulietti¹, Antonella Alberici², Enrico Premi², Carlo Cerini², Silvana Archetti³, Roberto Gasparotti⁴, Carlo Caltagirone^5,6, Alessandro Padovani², and Marco Bozzali^1
1Neuroimaging Laboratory, Santa Lucia Foundation IRCCS, Rome, Italy, ²Centre for Ageing Brain and Neurodegenerative Disorder, Neurology Unit, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy, ³III Laboratory of Biotechnology, Brescia Hospital, Brescia, Italy, ⁴Neuroradiology Unit, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy, ⁵Department of Clinical and Behavioural Neurology, Santa Lucia Foundation IRCCS, Rome, Italy, ⁶Department of Neuroscience, University of Rome 'Tor Vergata', Rome, Italy

Using diffusion MRI, we investigated the contribution of white matter damage in accounting for the clinical features driven by the GRN Thr272fs mutation in fronto-temporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). VBM showed atrophy of left medial frontal grey matter in mutation carriers (VBM analysis) compared to non-mutation carrier patients. Voxel-wise group comparisons showed anterior regions of FA reduction and increased MD in mutation carrier patients in the anterior corpus callosum. Post-hoc analysis showed a correlation between grey and white matter abnormalities in mutation carrier patients. Although this correlation does not imply causality between the two events, this cannot be ruled out.

Aaron M Rulseh¹, Jiri Keller², Robert Rusina³, Hana Brozova⁴, Robert Jech⁴, and Josef Vymazal^2
1Dept. of Radiology, Na Homolce Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic, ²Na Homolce Hospital, Czech Republic, ³Faculty Thomayer Hospital, Czech Republic,⁴Dept. of Neurology, Charles University in Prague, 1st Faculty of Medicine, Czech Republic

Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) is a sporadic, progressive disease characterized by autonomic dysfunction with varying degrees of parkinsonian and/or cerebellar features, and has been postulated that MSA is a primary oligodendrogliopathy. Twenty patients with probable MSA and twenty healthy volunteers were included. White matter changes in MSA are widespread and not limited to discrete regions. Dramatic changes in RD with nearly unaltered AD support previous studies reporting oligodendrocytes are primarily affected in MSA. Further studies examining white matter changes in diverse regions may extend the utility of DTI in the diagnosis of MSA.

Bader Chaarani¹, Jadwiga Zmudka¹, Joel Daouk¹, Catherine Gondry-Jouet², Roger Bouzerar¹, and Olivier Baledent^1
1University Hospital, Amiens, France, ²Radiology, University Hospital, Amiens, France

 

Noam Alperin¹, Marc Muehlmann², Inga Koerte², Markus Lehner², Aurelia Peraud², and Birgit Ertl-Wagner^2
1University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States, ²University of Munich, Munich, Germany

Reliable noninvasive MR measurement of intracranial pressure (MRICP) may have an important diagnostic role in neurosurgical problems related to altered CSF dynamics. The reliability of the MRICP methodology was assessed by comparing derived MRICP values with shunt opening pressure setup in shunted patients with various CSF related disorders. Under the assumption that ICP values in these patients is well approximated by the shunt opening pressure, a reliable noninvasive estimate of ICP should demonstrate a good correspondence between these two values.

Ha-Kyu Jeong^1,2, Blake E. Dewey^1,3, Jane A. T. Hirtle^1,4, Adam W. Anderson^1,5, John C. Gore^1,2, and Seth A. Smith^1,2
1Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Nashville, TN, United States, ²Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, ³Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, ⁴Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, ⁵Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States

Imaging optic nerve has been considered as technically challenging due to small size, presence of air-filled sinuses and confounding signals from surrounding structures. Typically, single-shot EPI has been used for DW optic nerve imaging combined with ZOOM, reduced FOV or outer-volume-suppression techniques. However, these studies still suffer low SNR and residual EPI-related artifacts. This study presents the first DW multi-shot optic nerve imaging with SENSE and 2D navigator for reduced EPI artifacts and correction of motion-induced linear and non-linear shot-to-shot phase variations. Using developed pulse sequence and reconstruction methods, clear DW optic nerve images are presented free of ghosting and reasonable diffusion indices.

lian xin zhao¹, guang bin wang¹, Queenie Chan², and wei bo chen^2
1Shandong Medical Imaging Research Institute, Shandong University, jinan, shandong, China, ²Philips Healthcare

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of diffusion-weighted (DW) magnetic resonance (MR) neurography of extremity nerves and evaluate the potential clinical applications. DW MR neurography images were displayed using a three-dimensional (3D) maximum intensity projection and evaluated in forty-seven healthy volunteers and eight patients. The results indicate that DW MR neurography is feasible for providing 3D visualization of major extremity nerves. This study suggests that the use of DW MR neurography, as complementary to conventional MR imaging, will improve depiction and evaluation of nerve anatomy and pathology, and their anatomic relationship with a comprehensive overview.

Etay Ziv¹, Olga Tymofiyeva¹, Christopher P Hess¹, Donna M Ferriero², A James Barkovich¹, and Duan Xu^1
1Department of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States, ²Department of Pediatrics, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States

Structural connectivity networks derived from diffusion MRI vary with choice of brain parcellation. In adults, parcellation and subsequent assembly of the large-scale human connectome relies heavily on brain atlases. However, in the context of the rapidly developing pediatric brain, such approaches introduce problematic biases. Here we present a network-driven brain parcellation that does not rely on brain atlases and propose a method to define the optimal number and size of nodes.

Marieke Schouw¹, Anne Marije Kaag¹, Matthan W.A. Caan¹, Jan Booij², A. J. Nederveen¹, and Liesbeth Reneman^1
1Department of Radiology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands, ²Department of Nuclear medicine, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

 

Christian Labadie^1,2, Abdul-Rahman Allouche², Monique Aubert-Frécon², and Harald E Möller^1
1Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany, ²Laboratoire de Spectrométrie Ionique et Moléculaire, Université Claude Bernard, Lyon, France

The interpretation of the early longitudinal relaxation of water in the human brain at high field (B0 ≥ 3 T) is related to an assumption on the exchange rate of water between the confined environment of tight myelin and other spaces: fast exchange is compatible with a magnetization transfer model between semi-solid protons of the myelin membranes and water, whereas slow exchange suggests the distinct observation of mobile water in myelin with a short T₁.

Jin Yamamura¹, Tony Schmidt¹, Roland Fischer², Jerry Wang³, and Gerhard Adam^1
1Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany, ²Children's Hospital and Research Center Oakland, Oakland, California, United States, ³Department of Radiology, Children's Medical Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, United States

DWI of the Brain in Forensic Medicine

Ivana Despotovic¹, Perumpillichira J. Cherian², Maarten De Vos³, Hans Hallez¹, Paul Govaert⁴, Maarten Lequin⁵, Gerhard H. Visser², Renate Renate M. Swarte⁴, Ewout Vansteenkiste¹, Sabine Van Huffel³, and Wilfried Philips^1
1Ghent University, MEDISIP-IPI-IBBT, Ghent, Belgium, ²Erasmus MC-Sophia, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Rotterdam, Netherlands, ³Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, ESAT-IBBT-K.U. Leuven Future Health Department, Leuven, Belgium, ⁴Erasmus MC-Sophia, Department of Neonatology, Rotterdam, Netherlands, ⁵Erasmus MC-Sophia, Department of Pediatric Radiology, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Integrating MRI and EEG data for 3D localization of active sources in the brain is an important diagnostic tool in patients with neurological disorders. However, this method has not yet been sufficiently studied in neonates. To investigate its feasibility, we developed an integrated method for dipole source localization in neonates based on a realistic head model. Here, we present our method and explore its sensitivity to electrode mislocalization and the variations in neonatal skull conductivity and geometry. Experimental results indicate that EEG source imaging is feasible in neonates and with further developments this technique can be a useful diagnostic tool.

Geon-Ho Jahng¹, Chang-Woo Ryu¹, Min-Ji Kim¹, Hyug-Gi Kim¹, Sun Mi Kim¹, Dal Mo Yang¹, Dong Wook Sung², and Woo-Suk Choi^2
1Radiology, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Seoul, Korea, ²Radiology, Kyung Hee University Hospital, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Seoul, Korea

A cognitive deficit is a common problem in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). To prospectively evaluate if MRI can demonstrate the microstructural volume loss, the diffusion and/or cerebral blood flow (CBF) changes in subjects with COPD compared with cognitively normal (CN) elderly subjects, 6 subjects with severe COPD, 13 with moderate COPD, and 12 CN subjects underwent isotropic volumetric T1-weighted imaging and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and arterial spin labeling perfusion imaging. Voxel-based statistical analyses among groups were performed on brain volumes, fractional anisotropy (FA) and trace, and CBF by ANOVA tests.

Cristina Granziera^1,2, Alessandro Daducci³, Samanta Simioni¹, Matthias Cavassini⁴, Alexis Roche², Djalel Meskaldij³, Melanie Michel⁵, Alexandra Calmy⁶, Bernard Hirschel⁶, Gunnar Krueger^2,7, and Renaud Du-Pasquier^1
1Department of clinical neurosciences, CHUV, Lausanne, VD, Switzerland, ²Advanced clinical imaging technology, EPFL, Lausanne, VD, Switzerland, ³EPFL STI IEL LTS5, EPFL, Lausanne, VD, Switzerland, ⁴Department of infectious diseases, CHUV, Lausanne, VD, Switzerland, ⁵Neuropsychology, HUG, Geneva, Switzerland, ⁶Infectious diseases, HUG, Geneva, Switzerland, ⁷Heathcare sector IM&WS S, Siemens Schweiz AG, Renens, VD, Switzerland

Since the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapies, the prognosis of HIV patients has improved but the prevalence of minor neurocognitive disorders (MND) has increased. In this study, we used a multi-contrast MRI approach at 3T, to assess brain micro-structural characteristics in MND+ HIV+ patients, MND- HIV+ patients and healthy controls (HC). Our findings show the presence of micro-structural brain alterations in MND+ patients compared to MND- and HC, suggesting loss of structural integrity. In addition, they suggest that a multi-contrast MRI approach at high field may be a powerful approach to understand the physiopathology of MND.

Hedok Lee¹, Zvi Jacob¹, Haifang Li², Ruth Reinsel¹, Shaonan Zhang¹, and Helene Benveniste^1
1Anesthesiology, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York, United States, ²Radiology, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York

There is little information about brain growth and metabolic changes in children less than 8 years of age. We employed computerized whole brain analysis to analyze age related morphometric changes, in addition to characterizing metabolic status using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1HMRS) in children 2-7 years of age. We found structures belonging to the limbic system and motor control are prominent areas of structural growth during this period while metabolite concentrations appear to be relatively stable during the brain maturation.

Noam Alperin¹, Sudarshan Ranganathan¹, Potyra Aroucha¹, Alexis Morante², Joshua Pasol¹, and Byron L Lam^1
1University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States, ²University of Miami

Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is characterized by elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) of unknown cause. It is widely accepted that IIH is associated with impaired absorption of CSF. Impaired CSF absorption is also the assumed cause for normal pressure hydrocephalous in the elderly. However, unlike hydrocephalous, brain ventricles remain small in IIH. Therefore, if IIH is indeed associated with impaired absorption, an increased extra ventricular CSF volume is expected in IIH. Intra and extra ventricular Cranial CSF volumes have been assessed in cohorts of IIH patients and matches control subjects to verify if this is indeed the case.

Susanne G. Mueller¹, Karl Young², Michael M. Weiner², and Kenneth D. Laxer^3
1Center for Imaging of Neurodegenerative Diseases, San Francisco, CA, United States, ²Center for Imaging of Neurodegenerative Diseases, ³Pacific Epilepsy Program, California Pacifc Medical Center

Synopsis: Voxel-based image analysis approaches, demonstrated different, characteristic abnormality patterns different types of non-lesional partial epilepsy. It is unknown to what degree these patterns exist in individual patients. A two-level multi-modality imaging Bayesian network approach is used with the following aims: 1. to characterize the subtype specific structural abnormalities in non-lesional TLE-MTS, TLE-no and FLE using GAMMA. 2. to the second-level Bayesian network which allows for a robust imaging based subtype classification of single subjects by combining the information obtained at the first level. 3. to identify typical, e.g. FLE gray, and atypical patterns in TLE-MTS, TLE-no and FLE.

Rajesh Kumar¹, Alexa Chavez¹, Paul M Macey^2,3, Mary A Woo², Frisca L Yan-Go⁴, and Ronald M Harper^1,3
1Neurobiology, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ²UCLA School of Nursing, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ³Brain Research Institute, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ⁴Neurology, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients show brain injury in autonomic, cognitive, and mood regulatory regions; however, it is unknown whether the predominant pathology is acute or chronic in newly-diagnosed, treatment-naïve OSA subjects. We examined global and regional mean-diffusivity (MD), which measures average water diffusion within tissue and is capable of differentiating acute from chronic changes, in newly-diagnosed OSA subjects. Global MD values were reduced in OSA, reflected as localized changes in multiple brain sites, and included medullary, cerebellar, basal-ganglia, and limbic regions. The pathological state in newly-diagnosed OSA subjects likely represents acute pathological processes in tissue, possibly induced by hypoxia.

Cristina Granziera^1,2, Alessandro Daducci³, David Romascano², Alexis Roche², Gunther Helms⁴, Gunnar Krueger^2,5, and Nouchine Hadjikhani^6,7
1Department of clinical neurosciences, CHUV, Lausanne, VD, Switzerland, ²Advanced clinical imaging technology, EPFL, Lausanne, VD, Switzerland,³ST/IEL/LTS5, EPFL, Lausanne, VD, Switzerland, ⁴Dept. of Cognitive Neurology, MR-Research in Neurology and Psychiatry, Goettingen, Germany,⁵Healthcare Sector IM&WS S, Siemens Schweiz AG, Renens, VD, Switzerland, ⁶BMI/SV/GRHAD, EPFL, Lausanne, Vd, Switzerland, ⁷Radiology, Martinos center, MGH and Harvard medical school, Charlestown, MA, Switzerland

The thalamus is an important relay of pain processing pathways and exerts a pivotal role in cortical excitability control. In this study, we examined the structural characteristics of the thalamus in a group of migraine patients and healthy controls using a multi-parametric approach at high field MRI (3T). We showed that patients suffering from migraine with aura had different micro-structural features in numerous thalamic nuclei compared to migraineurs without aura and non-migraineurs, pointing at iron accumulation in some thalamic nuclei and at increased cellular presence in others. The observed alterations encompassed the somato-sensory, limbic and visual thalamic regions.

Peiying Liu¹, Yan Cao², Jinsoo Uh¹, and Hanzhang Lu^1
1Advanced Imaging Research Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, United States, ²Department of Mathematical Science, University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, Texas, United States

CMRO2 is an important index of tissue viability and brain function. A previous study proposed an MRI technique to estimate whole-brain CMRO2 by combining non-invasive measures of CBF, arterial and venous oxygenation, which is fast and reliable. The only major obstacle of this technique before wider applications is the slice positioning of the phase-contrast MRI scans for CBF measurement requires considerable training and expertise. We developed an automatic positioning algorithm for the phase-contrast MRI based on image analysis of a time-of-flight angiogram, and thus provide a turn-key solution for the quantitative evaluation of the whole-brain CMRO2, which has minimal operator-dependence.

Andreas Hess¹, Juergen Rech², Arnd Doerfler³, Georg Kollias⁴, Olaf Sporns⁵, and Georg Schett^2
1Institute of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany, ²Department of Internal Medicine 3, Erlangen, Germany, ³of Neuroradiology, FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany, ⁴Institute of Immunology; Alexander Fleming Biomedical Sciences Research Center, Vari, Greece, ⁵Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Programs in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, Indiana, United States

Pain is the key symptom in patients with arthritis. We hypothesized that hypernociception due to chronic TNF overexpression leads to an altered pain processing. Using fMRI we demonstrated that mice overexpressing human tumor necrosis factor (hTNF), as well as rheumatoid arthritis patients exhibit more intensive brain activity upon nociceptive stimuli. Graph-theoretical connectivity analysis showed rewiring under chronic pain conditions i.e. tight clustering of thalamus and periaqueductal grey. Neutralization of TNF by antibodies rapidly reversed this hypernociception in mice and men. This similarity of pain related effects in mouse and man facilitates a translational approach for searching for novel analgesics.

Edward S. Hui¹, Shiliang Huang², Yen-Yu Shih², and Timothy Q. Duong^2
1Dept of Radiology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, United States, ²Research Imaging Institute, UTHSCSA, San Antonio, Texas, United States

Somatosensory responses to nociceptive and non-nociceptive stimuli were altered in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) of diabetic rats (first month after STZ injection) and patients. However, more evidences suggested that the central nervous system (CNS) was also involved. For instance, the evoked potential amplitude in S1 was reduced at 8 weeks of diabetes. Furthermore, a resting state fMRI, which examines neuronal connectivity, study showed impairment of the attention network to external stimuli in diabetic patientm. The goal of the current study was therefore to examine the longitudinal and chronic effect of diabetes on CNS using fMRI and CO2 challenge.

Mai-Lan Ho¹, Rafael Rojas¹, and David Hackney^1
1Radiology, BIDMC, Boston, MA, United States

The purposes of this exhibit are: 1. Describe imaging signs of major cortical regions on conventional CT and MR, with attention to the central sulcus and surrounding anatomic landmarks. 2. Establish the validity of anatomic techniques for localizing eloquent cortex, based on correlation to functional MRI (fMRI) activation maps in selected case studies. 3. Identify scenarios in which technical, patient, and lesion factors may limit anatomic and/or functional characterization.

Domenico Zacá¹, Joshua Nickerson², Gerard Deib¹, and Jay J Pillai^1
1Division of Neuroradiology Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States, ²Division of Neuroradiology, The University of Vermont School of Medicine, Burlington, VT, United States

Language hemispheric dominance determined by BOLD fMRI can depend on the paradigm as well as the region of interest (ROI) considered for the lateralization index (LI) computation. In this retrospective study of 41 brain tumor patients referred for presurgical language mapping we compared the effectiveness of lateralization of four language tasks in anatomical and functional language ROIs. Two expressive tasks, rhyming and silent word generation, were the best lateralizing tasks in expressive ROIs, whereas the receptive and semantic tasks, sentence completion and listening comprehension, did not perform better than the expressive tasks for lateralization in receptive ROIs.

Domenico Zacá¹, and Jay J Pillai^1
1Division of Neuroradiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States

Angiogenesis in high grade gliomas often causes neurovascular uncoupling (NVU), making detection of eloquent cortex near these lesions difficult by BOLD fMRI. Little is known about the prevalence of NVU in low grade gliomas not characterized by angiogenesis. In this study 8 patients with low grade gliomas demonstrated ipsilesional reduced motor activation and reduced cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) following a breath hold (BH) task compared to contralesional homologous areas. These results demonstrate the impact of NVU on presurgical BOLD fMRI activation maps in these patients and the utility of BH CVR for detection of potential NVU.

Paola Valsasina¹, Maria A. Rocca², Letizia Panicari², Gianna Riccitelli², Flavia Mattioli³, Ruggero Capra⁴, Chiara Stampatori³, Giancarlo Comi⁵, and Massimo Filippi^1
1Neuroimaging Research Unit, Institute of Experimental Neurology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, Italy, ²Neuroimaging Research Unit, Institute of Experimental Neurology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, ³Clinical Neuropsychology Unit, Spedali Civili of Brescia, Brescia, Italy, ⁴Multiple Sclerosis Centre, Spedali Civili of Brescia, Brescia, Italy, ⁵Department of Neurology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, Italy

In this study, we used seed-voxel correlation analysis to investigate resting state (RS) functional connectivity (FC) of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in two groups of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS): a treatment group, performing 12 weeks of cognitive rehabilitation of attention/information processing and executive functions, and a control group. At follow up, increased FC between the ACC, the right middle frontal gyrus and inferior parietal lobe was detected in the treated group, while decreased FC between the ACC, the cerebellum and the middle temporal gyrus was detected in the control group.

Maria A. Rocca¹, Paola Valsasina¹, Raffaella Fazio², Stefano Previtali², Elisabetta Pagani¹, Andrea Falini³, Giancarlo Comi², and Massimo Filippi^1
1Neuroimaging Research Unit, Institute of Experimental Neurology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, Italy, ²Department of Neurology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, Italy, ³Department of Neuroradiology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy

We assessed functional connectivity (FC) at resting state (RS) in 25 patients with acquired (A) and hereditary (H) peripheral neuropathy (PN). Compared with controls, PN patients showed decreased FC in the secondary visual network and increased FC in the auditory network. Moreover, APN patients showed decreased FC in the motor, default mode and salience networks. Conversely, increased FC was found in the salience network of HPN patients. Enhanced inter-network connectivity among sensory and motor networks was found in both PN patient groups vs. controls. Such an enhancement was more evident in HPN than in APN patients.

Tae-Hoon Kim¹, Seok-Kwun Kim², and Gwang-Woo Jeong^1,3
1Research Institute of Medical Imaging, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea, ²Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Dong-A University Hospital, Busan, Korea, ³Radiology, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea

Present inferences postulate that the perception of the own sex is linked to sexual differentiation of the brain and that perception in transsexuals differs from the body phenotype. Such a discrepancy is believed to be possible because sex differentiation of the brain occurs later in development than sex differentiation of genitals. Therefore, this implies that neuroanatomy plays a important role in determining transsexualism or gender identity. Recently, Gizewski et al. reported that male-to-female (MtF) transsexuals showed specific cerebral activation in response to visual erotic stimuli, indicating a tendency of female-like cerebral processing in transsexualism. However, female-to-male (FtM) transsexuals are little known. Therefore, this study was to evaluate the brain activation in response to visual erotic stimuli for cross-gender identity in FtM transsexuals by using fMRI.

Senthil S Kumaran¹, Kapil Chaudhary², Manjari Tripathi², and Sarat Chandra^3
1Department of N.M.R., All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, Delhi, India, ²Department of Neurology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, Delhi, India, ³Department of NeuroSurgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, Delhi, India

Left temporal lobe epilepsy (LTLE) is a common cause of mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS) which affects the language networks. In this study we evaluated the presurgical language deficits with increasing complexity from semantic to lexical components in LTLE patients due to MTS using BOLD.

Edward J Novotny^1,2, Andrew Poliakov³, Sandra Poliachik³, Seth Friedman³, Dennis Shaw³, and Jeffrey Ojemann^1,4
1Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States, ²Neurology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States, ³Radiology, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA, United States, ⁴Neurosurgery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Functional connectivity MRI (fcMRI) – an analysis technique based on task-free, resting state fMRI recording -- can demonstrate disruption of connectivity in certain disease states, including epilepsy. We found that interhemispheric connectivity of resting state networks are clearly disrupted in a group of subjects being evaluated for surgical treatment of their epilepsy. These findings demonstrate that this technique may be important as part of the evaluation of subjects with epilepsy and used to investigate the relationship to surgical outcome and comorbid neuropsychological disturbances.

Ahmad Mohamed^1,2, Richard Masterton^2,3, John Archer^2,3, David Abbot^2,3, Michael Kean⁴, Simon Harvey^1,3, and Graeme Jackson^2,3
1Department of Neurology, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, ²Brain Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, ³Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, ⁴Medical Imaging Department, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

This study aimed to test if functional connectivity (FC) can be used to differentiate epileptogenic from non-epileptogenic cortical tubers in four children with tuberous sclerosis complex and refractory seizures. FC was assessed using partial correlation between band-pass filtered (0.01-0.1 Hz) fMRI signal time-courses averaged within regions-of-interest placed in tubers, thalami and posterior default mode network (DMN) regions. No statistically significant difference in tuber-tuber, tuber-thalami and tuber-DMN FC was noted at either individual or group level. The few subjects, imaging under general anaesthesia and lack of simultaneous EEG recording potentially limit the study.

Martha J Holmes^1,2, Zhaohua Ding^1,2, Xue Yang³, Bennett A Landman^2,3, John C Gore^1,2, Bassel Abou-Khalil⁴, Hasan H Sonmezturk⁴, and Victoria L Morgan^1,2
1Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, ²Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, ³Electrical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, ⁴Neurology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is associated with gray matter loss and changes in functional connectivity. The objective of our analysis is to examine the voxel-wise relationship between gray matter concentration (GMC) and resting state functional connectivity to the thalamus in TLE. We found the following: a cluster in the left precuneus/posterior cingulate demonstrated increased negative connectivity to the left thalamus as GMC decreased, and a cluster in the left putamen/insula displayed increased connectivity as GMC decreased in the thalamus. The changes in GMC and functional connectivity in these structures provides further evidence of their involvement in the TLE seizure network.

Ankeeta Sharma¹, Senthil S Kumaran¹, and Rohit Saxena^2
1Department of N.M.R., All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, Delhi, India, ²Dr.R.P. Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, Delhi, India

The loss of one sensory modality results in an increased use of the remaining intact sensory systems; to improve their efficiency, and may result in cortical reorganization processes. We evaluated tactile preception in relation to language reading (using Braille input) in late blind subjects, to understand how they differentiate braille dots from the shapes and objects.

Ling Zou¹, Wei Deng², Tao Li², and Qiyong Gong^3
1Radiology, West China Hospital,Sichuan Uiversity, Chengdu, Sichuan, China, ²psychiatry, West China Hospital,Sichuan Uiversity, ³CMRRC, Radiology Department, West China Hospital,Sichuan Uiversity

Asymmetry of two halves of brain is recognized as a fundamental property and the basis for optimal brain function division. Abnormal asymmetry that may generated in early stage of neurodevelopment was found in schizophrenia patients. However, most studies used the ROI based analysis, which resulted in the failure of exploring overall asymmetry changes. We applied optimized voxel based morphometry (VBM) study on the level of whole brain in normal controls and first-episode, antipsychotic-naive schizophrenia patients, consequently observed overall lateralization patterns and their decease and aberrance in schizophrenia patients. Future study is necessary to gain further insight into our findings.

Jeong-Won Jeong¹, Jeffrey G Kuentzel², Vibhav A Diwadkar³, Carla D Chugani⁴, Varun Shandal⁵, Harry T Chugani⁶, and Diane C Chugani^7
1Pediatrics and Neurology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States, ²Psychology, Wayne State University, ³Behavioral Neuroscience, Wayne State University, ⁴Counseling and Psychological Services, Florida Gulf Coast University, ⁵PET center, Wayne State University, ⁶Pediatrics, Neurology, and Radiology, Wayne State University, ⁷Pediatrics and Radiology, Wayne State University

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a prevalent mental illness characterized by pervasive instability in emotion, interpersonal relationships, self-image, and behavior. The hallmark features of BPD are affective instability and severe mood swings but there have been few functional imaging studies to investigate neuronal substrates underlying these features in BPD patients. Our previous fMRI study reported that there were significant Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) signal increases in the superior temporal gyrus (STG) and fusiform gyrus (FG) of healthy young adults, which respond to emotionally congruent and incongruent music-face images, respectively. We presume that these BOLD gains in STG and FG underlie emotion perception that responds to emotional congruence in multi-modal sensory inputs. This study extends our fMRI technique to examine how STG and FG of BPD patients respond to emotionally paired music-face images, which might provide a mechanism related to elevated response to emotional stimuli.

Karthik Ramakrishnan Sreenivasan¹, Gopikrishna Deshpande^1,2, Hrishikesh Deshpande³, and Rajesh K Kana^4
1AU MRI Research Center,Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, United States, ²Department of Psychology, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, United States, ³Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama, United States, ⁴Department of Psychology, University of Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama, United States

The current study focuses on effective brain connectivity in an fMRI study of Theory-of-Mind (ToM) in high-functioning adults with autism. fMRI time series were first deconvolved with cubature Kalman filter and then the underlying neuronal states subsequently input to a multivariate autoregressive model for finding effective connectivity paths. The results showed that connectivity between ToM regions was greater in control as compared to Autism and those paths mediated the relationship between subject category (control/autism) and behavioral metrics such as Autism Quotient and Mind in the Eyes score.

Meilin Liang¹, Pan Lin¹, Ming Zhang², Chengyu Li¹, Xin Liu¹, Chenwang Jin², and Chen Niu^2
1Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Education Ministry, Xian Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China, ²Department of Medical Imaging, the First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College,Xian Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a commonly observed neurobehavioral disorders of childhood, but its pathogenic mechanism is still unclear. The graph theory deals with the whole brain as a complex network that owns its unique topological properties. It supplies a novel insight into the investigating of human brain network to find how ADHD affect the brain function. The purpose of this study was to investigate the topological properties of complex network in ADHD, and find the disturbed connectivity regions of ADHD patients¡¯ brain using graph theory.

Pan Lin¹, Ming Zhang², Chenwang Jin², Cuiping Mao², Chen Niu², Xin Liu¹, Zhigang Min², Qiaoting Jin³, and Jingxia Dang^3
1Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Education Ministry,Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shannxi, China, ²Department of Medical Imaging, the First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College,Xian Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China, ³Department of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xian Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China

Characterization of the default mode network as a complex network of functionally interacting dynamic systems has received great interest for clinical application. ALS is a progresssive disease that is associated with motor disorder. Little is know about how ALS affects the defualt mode network. The aim of this study is to assess the complex network of DMN while in the resting state, which can provide greated insight into how DMN functional networks are affected by ALS.

Ankeeta Sharma¹, Senthil S Kumaran¹, and Rohit Saxena^2
1Department of N.M.R., All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, Delhi, India, ²Dr.R.P. Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, Delhi, India

Blind Children show altered brain activity in early visual cortex and develop their hearing better to compensate the loss of vision. We evaluated BOLD activity due to sounds, orientation and semantic processing through auditory cues in late blind subjects. Auditory and perception discrimination showed cross-modal activity in visual cortex, suggesting that reorganization may be limited to perception and less affected by attention.

Yen-Peng Liao¹, Chi-Jen Chen¹, Chih-Hsiung Wu², Hui-Ling Hsu¹, Ying-Chi Tseng¹, Ho-Ling Liu³, and Wen-Ta Chiu^4
1Department of Medical Imaging, Taipei Medical University - Shuang Ho Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan, Taiwan, ²Surgery, Taipei Medical University - Shuang Ho Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan, Taiwan, ³Medical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan County, Taiwan, Taiwan, ⁴Graduate Institute of Injury Prevention and Control, Taipei Medical University, Taipei City, Taiwan

Previous functional MRI studies of mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) patients have indeed shown altered patterns of activation during working memory (WM) task. However, the results were inconsistent. This study aimed to analyze the brain activation patterns in response to n-back WM loads after MTBI. The results showed that MTBI-induced differences in WM functional activity were observed in the absence of differences in neuropsychological performance, suggesting that this approach may increase sensitivity to MTBI compared with neuropsychological evaluation alone. The results also lend further evidence to the potential for cerebral plasticity to maintain performance levels on WM tasks after MTBI.

James M Shine¹, Philip Ward², Elie Matar¹, Sharon Naismith¹, and Simon Lewis^1
1Brain and Mind Research Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia, ²School of Psychiatry, The University of New South Wales

Freezing of gait (FOG) is a devastating symptom of advanced Parkinson’s disease in which patients suddenly feel as though their feet have become “stuck to the ground”. Despite a well-characterised clinical phenotype, the condition remains poorly understood. To remedy this, we have combined fMRI with a novel virtual reality walking paradigm, allowing the safe recreation of freezing of gait episodes and the subsequent exploration of the neural correlates of these episodes. In a cohort of 16 patients, we found robust patterns of activation that were consistent with the predictions of a recently-proposed model.

Shin-Eui Park¹, Gwang-Won Kim², Jong-Chul Yang³, Gyung-Ho Jeong⁴, Heoung-Keun Kang², and Gwang-Woo Jeong^1,2
1Interdisciplinary Program of Biomedical Engineering, Chonnam National University, Gwang Ju, Korea, ²Radiology, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwang Ju, Korea, ³psychiatry, Chonbuk national University medical school, ⁴Radiology, Chonbuk national University Medical school

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts that produce uneasiness, apprehension, fear, or worry, by repetitive behaviors aimed at reducing the associated anxiety, or by a combination of such obsessions and compulsions so the author attempts to investigate about explicit memory of Obsessive compulsive disorder

Yi-Ying Wu^1,2, Yu-Wei Tang³, Hsu-Hsia Peng⁴, Cheng-Wen Ko⁵, Cheng-Wen Ko^5,6, Hsiao-Wen Chung^7,8, and Teng-Yi Huang^3
1Biomedical Electronics and Bioinformatics, National Taiwan University, Taipei,Taiwan, Taiwan, ²National Taiwan University, Taipei,Taiwan, Taiwan, Taiwan, ³National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, ⁴National Tsing Hua University, ⁵Computer Science and Engineering, National Sun Yat-Sen University, ⁶National Sun Yat-Sen University, ⁷Biomedical Electronics and Bioinformatics, National Taiwan University, ⁸National Taiwan University

Previous studies have proposed noninvasive phase-contrast flow mapping magnetic resonance imaging method to estimate ICC based on blood/CSF flow rates and CSF pressure gradient. Assuming that the CSF flow direction is mainly caudocranial in the spinal canal at the measurement sites, the phase-contrast technique needs to be applied with only one velocity encoding direction, which greatly shortens the scan time. In this study, we attempted to verify this assumption by using three-direction measurements to examine the contributions of various terms that might cause estimation inaccuracies in MR imaging-based ICC measurements.

Shinji Naganawa¹, Masahiro Yamazaki¹, Hisashi Kawai¹, and Tsutomu Nakashima^2
1Department of Radiology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, ²Department of Otorhynolaryngology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan

FT1 mapping by 3D-GRE can predict poor enhancement of inner ear after intratympanic Gd injection, therefore unnecessary long MR scans can be avoided.

Jin Wook Choi¹, Hyung-Jin Kim¹, Sung Tae Kim¹, Pyoung Jeon¹, Keon Ha Kim¹, and Hong Sik Byun^1
1Radiology, Samsung Medical Center, Kangnamgu, Seoul, Korea

The signal intensity (SI) of the labyrinth in patients with vestibular schwannoma (VS) is known to be increased on FLAIR MRI due to increased protein concentration within the perilymph. We compared SI changes of the cochlear in patients with cerebellopontine angle (CPA) meningioma with VS on 3D FLAIR imaging. The SIs of the cochlear in patients with CPA/IAC meningioma are significantly lower than those in patients with VS on 3D FLAIR imaging. There may exist more complex mechanisms other than mechanical obstruction of the IAC to explain the cause of increased protein concentration in the perilymph in patients with VS.

Jing Yuan¹, Steven Kwok Keung Chow¹, David Ka Wai Yeung¹, Anil T Ahuja¹, and Ann D King^1
1Imaging and Interventional Radiology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong

Dynamic tracer concentration in veins, although as blood collecting vessels, was proposed as a mathematical input function for head and neck DCE-MRI kinetic analysis to compensate for the arterial blood in-flow effect. The tracer concentration in veins and arteries should be theoretically equal in a single-pool and low-permeability model. Dynamic concentration-time-curves (CTCs) in arteries and veins were used for Tofts parameter estimation. Remarkable inter-slice concentration differences were found in arteries and resulted in considerable parameter estimation inconsistency. As comparison, the in-flow effect was significantly reduced and consistent kinetic parameter estimation was achieved by using the venous CTCs.

Munetaka Matoba¹, Yasuaki Kuginuki¹, Ichiro Toyoda¹, Naoto Watanabe¹, and Hisao Tonami^1
1radiology, kanazawa medical university, daigaku 1-1, Ishikawa, Japan

Purpose : To evaluate the efficacy of ADC and SUV for prediction of treatment response to chemoradiotherapy in squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck. Methods : DWI was performed before treatment, and 3 weeks after the start of treatment (3w-Tx). PET/CT was performed before treatment. The relationship between the RECIST and imaging parameters was examined. Results : The change in ADC within 3w-Tx and SUV significantly correlated with the tumor decrease. The CR group showed significantly higher increase in ADC of 3w-Tx than the PR group. Conclusion : ADC and SUV may be used for prediction of tumor response.

Jing Yuan¹, Steven Kwok Keung Chow¹, David Ka Wai Yeung¹, Yujia Li¹, Anil T Ahuja¹, and Ann D King^1
1Imaging and Interventional Radiology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong

This pilot study is to investigate the feasibility of non-Gaussian diffusion models, including diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI), stretched exponential model (SEM), intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) and statistical model, for 3T diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) analysis in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). The results showed that at an extended b-value range up to 1500s/mm2, all non-Gaussian models yielded better diffusion signal fitting than the normal mono-exponential model for both primary tumors and metastatic nodes. Additional to the nominal diffusion coefficient, other non-Gaussian parameters could be extracted as potential biomarkers for NPC lesion detection and characterization in clinical applications.

Shigeaki Umeoka¹, Nobuko Morisawa¹, Masako Kataoka¹, David Andrew Porter², and Kaori Togashi^1
1Diagnostic Imaing & Nuclear Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan, ²Siemens AG, Erlangen, Germany

Read-out segmented echo-planar imaging (RS-EPI) combined with 2D-navigator-based reacquision has been recently established with high resolution with distortion-free, reduced susceptibility artifact and blurring from T2* signal decay compared to conventional single-shot EPI (SS-EPI). RS-EPI DWI of the central neural system has been documented to improve image quality. In our study, RS-EPI DWI could reduce susceptibility artifact and provide better delineation and visualization of internal structure of the parotid gland. Although further improvement might be necessary to shorten the scan time, this newly-developed RS-EPI MRI could be a promising tool to visualize and evaluate the head & neck organs.

Kunwar Bhatia¹, Philippe Garteiser², Ralph Sinkus², David Yeung³, Jing Yuan¹, Yolanda Lee³, Ann King¹, and Anil Ahuja^1
1Imaging and Interventional Radiology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong, ²Department of Radiology and INSERM U773,³Imaging and Interventional Radiology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong

Problem: Conventional imaging has suboptimal diagnostic accuracy for salivary masses. Methods: A study of MR elastography was conducted in nine patients with cytologically-confirmed salivary tumours using a customized mechanical driver and gradient echo MR sequences with fractional motion encoding. Recovered shear moduli (|G*| stiffness) for tumours and normal contralateral glands (controls) were compared using t-tests. Results: Pooled data of |G*| in tumours (0.83±0.47 kPa) overlapped with controls (0.59±0.32 kPa)(p=0.23). However, ratios of |G*|tumour:|G*|control for individual patients exceeded 1 in 8/9 cases (1.41±0.37, p=0.01). Conclusion: Preliminary results suggests that normalized shear moduli on MRE may differentiate salivary tumours from normal glands.

Aaron Niebergall¹, Shuo Zhang¹, Martin Uecker^1,2, and Jens Frahm^1
1Biomedizinische NMR Forschungs GmbH am Max-Planck-Institut fuer biophysikalische Chemie, Goettingen, Germany, ²Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States

Previous dynamic studies of speaking mechanism using MRI suffer mainly from susceptibility artifacts and insufficient temporal resolution. Here, we applied the recently introduced real-time MRI technique based on radial FLASH acquisition and nonlinear inverse reconstruction. Typical images had an in-plane resolution of 1.5 mm and acquisition times of 33 ms (30 fps), and are free from susceptibility or motion artifacts. The movies successfully resolved the rapid and coordinated movements of the main articulators such as the lips, tongue, velum and vocal folds, during production of vowels, consonants, words and sentences. It thus promises a useful tool to study speech production.

Yoon-Chul Kim¹, Ximing Wang², Winston Tran², Michael C.K. Khoo², and Krishna S. Nayak^1
1Electrical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ²Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States

In research studies of obstructive sleep apnea, upper airway (UA) compliance (related to the amount of change in UA cross-sectional area per unit pressure) is a measure of airway collapsibility. Fiberoptic endoscopy is used to measure the area but is invasive. We present a new MR imaging protocol that simultaneously acquires dynamic airway images and physiological signals and is compatible with an external airway occlusion setup. UA compliance was measured after synchronization of the UA area and mask pressure dynamics. The measurements in two volunteers during wakefulness suggest that the velopharyngeal site is likely to collapse first over the oropharyngeal site.

Arthur Wunderlich¹, Marc Scheithauer², Fabian Sommer², and Wolfgang Freund^1
1Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Univ.-Clinic Ulm, Ulm, Germany, ²ENT Dept., Univ.-Clinic Ulm, Ulm, Germany

To study the nasal air flow with finite volume methods, we investigated ten patients with high-resolution MRI during breathing of a) room air, b) menthol and c) after inhalation of the decongestant xylometazoline. Nose cavities were segmented from MRI data and flow was simulated with mathematical methods. Results were compared to those of a healthy control. Simulations show the flow distribution in the nasal cavities and its dependence on medication. In patients, flow is divided nearly equal between both nasal cavities, in contradiction to the physiological flow pattern observed in controls where one nose cavity manages most of the flow.

Jae-Hun Kim¹, Ji Hoon Cha¹, Geun Ho Im², Julius Chung³, and Jung Hee Lee^1
1Department of Radiology, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea, ²Center for Molecular and Cellular Imaging, Samsung Biomedical Research Institute, ³Samsung Advanced Institute for Health Sciences & Technology, Sungkyunkwan University

Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging provides parameters indicating permeability of tumor microvessels which has been shown to be closely related to angiogenesis. In this study, we tested that DCE-MRI can provide a non-invasive imaging biomarker to evaluate anti-angiogenic efficacy of macular degeneration. Our results demonstrated that there were significant changes between permeability parameters computed from drug treated and control group at 14 days (P < 0.01). These findings show the feasibility of permeability parameter as noninvasive biomarker for antiangiogenic drug evaluation in a mouse with choroidal neovascularization

Nicholas G Dowell¹, Edward H Hughes², Andrew Simpson², and Paul S Tofts^1
1Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton, United Kingdom, ²Sussex Eye Hospital, Brighton, United Kingdom

The relaxation parameter T₁ has a dependence on the partial pressure of O₂ (pO₂), since T₁ is reduced by the presence of paramagnetic O₂. Here we discuss the construction of a pO₂ phantom that can be used to precisely determine this T₁ dependence on pO₂, with the intention of performing precise measures of oxygenation in the vitreous humour (the clear gel between the lens and the retina) in the eye. We present the relation between pO₂ and T₁ for balanced salt solution (BSS), which is used as a replacement for the extracted vitreous humour following a vitrectomy.

Nicholas G Dowell¹, Edward H Hughes², Andrew Simpson², and Paul S Tofts^1
1Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton, United Kingdom, ²Sussex Eye Hospital, Brighton, United Kingdom

We use a T₁ mapping technique to determine the partial pressure of oxygen (pO₂) of the vitreous humour (the clear gel that fills the eyeball between the lens and the retina) in a group of patients undergoing a vitrectomy (the extraction of the vitreous). We measured pO₂ in 9 patients before and after vitrectomy and showed that there was no increase in vitreous oxygenation. This finding could have implications for the understanding of the therapeutic benefits of vitrectomy and may help improve patient treatment. The technique itself provides a non-invasive approach to pO₂ measurement that will permit longitudinal studies of the oxygenation mechanism of the eye.

Kotaro Sekiya^1,2, Osamu Sakai¹, Memi Watanabe¹, Rohini N. Nadgir¹, Joseph H. Liao¹, Shun Sakai¹, Takashi Kaneda³, and Hernan Jara^1
1Boston Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States, ²Nihon University Graduate School of Dentistry at Matsudo, Matsudo, Chiba, Japan, ³Department of Radiology, Nihon University School of Dentistry at Matsudo, Matsudo, Chiba, Japan

Purpose: To investigate age-related changes of bone marrow in the mandible using quantitative MRI. Methods: 36 subjects were imaged using the mixed-TSE sequence at 1.5T. The mandible was manually segmented, and further divided into 5 regions. T1 and T2 relaxation time histograms and volumes of the entire mandible and 5 sub-segments were analyzed. Results: T1 and T2 histograms demonstrated expected age-related yellow marrow conversion. Conclusion: Expected progression of marrow change in the mandible by visual estimates is confirmed quantitatively; such quantitative analysis may prove useful in detecting subtle marrow abnormalities prior to becoming visually apparent.

Michael Burdumy^1,2, Louisa Traser², Marco Vicari^1,3, Matthias Weigel¹, Bernhard Richter², Jürgen Hennig¹, Maxim Zaitsev¹, and Matthias Echternach^2
1Department of Radiology, Medical Physics, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany, ²Department of Musicians' Medicine, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany, ³Esaote S.p.a., Genoa, Italy

Only recently MR Imaging has been used to investigate movement patterns in the vocal tract during singing. In our study we compare structures of the vocal tract of a professional tenor while either in supine or prone position using a tilting 0.25T MR-Scanner. The tenor was instructed to sing an ascending scale in both supine and prone position. Then, distances between anatomical landmarks were measured in the acquired sagittal images. Our results indicate only minor differences in these distances in respect to posture.

Sidhartha Nagala¹, Mary McLean², Piyush Jani¹, and John Griffiths^2
1Otolaryngology, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, United Kingdom, ²Cambridge Research Institute, Cancer Research UK, Cambridge, United Kingdom

A demand for new screening tests to discriminate between different thyroid tumors exists. One ex vivo study utilized magnetization transfer ratios to differentiate between normal thyroid, benign and malignant thyroid tumors. In this work, we present the results of the first in vivo study in five normal volunteers and 25 patients with suspected thyroid tumors, prior to surgery. The sensitivity and specificity to discriminate between benign and malignant thyroid tumors using this technique were comparable to the current gold standard, ultrasound-guided needle biopsy. It has potential future clinical use, and maybe valuable when combined with other imaging techniques.

Chunxiang Jiang¹, Lijuan Zhang*¹, Xiaojing Long¹, Weiqi Liao¹, and Wenhui Huang^1
1Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology,Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China

Diurnal alteration of diffusion parameters were observed in grey and subgyral white matter of healthy human brain. Peak ADC changes were found to locate in bilateral occipital lingual and calcarine regions while peak FA changes were located in the frontal lobes. Changes in brain diffusion parameters may reflect the underlying circadian physiological variations of human brain.

Fan-Pei Gloria Yang¹, Yao-Chia Shih^2,3, Ming-Chieh Mindy Fang¹, Kayako Matsuo³, Shen-Hsing Annabel Chen⁴, Toshiharu Nakai⁵, and Wen-Yih Issac Tseng^3,6
1Department of Foreign Languages and Literature, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, ²Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, ³Center for Optoelectronic Biomedicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, ⁴Division of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore, ⁵National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Aichi, Japan, ⁶Department of Medical Imaging, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

Age related decreases in fractional anisotropy (FA) and increases in mean diffusivity (MD) were observed across the entire white matter (WM) skeleton as well as in specific WM tracts. In this study, TBSS was applied to FA and MD images to examine the differences in WM integrity between healthy elderly and young participants. The efficient registration by TBSS successfully demonstrated the differences between healthy young and elderly groups. FA and MD shared the most significant difference in corona radiata. In conclusion, the findings demonstrate the effectiveness of TBSS as a population-wise measure of the WM change on a voxel-by-voxel basis.

Ryo Sakamoto¹, Tomohisa Okada¹, Koji Sakai², Akira Yamamoto¹, Mitsunori Kanagaki¹, Seiko Kasahara¹, Emiko Morimoto¹, Takeshi Sawada¹, Thorsten Feiweier³, David Andrew Porter³, and Kaori Togashi^1
1Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan, ²Department of Human Health Science, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan, ³Siemens AG, Erlangen, Germany

High-resolution DTI with reasonable reproducibility in acceptable scan time for the hippocampus and structures at its vicinity are highly important for detection of faint pathological changes of neurological disorders. Both of two latest high-resolution DTI sequences, single-shot Advanced (Adv)-DTI using a single refocusing RF with distortion correction and multi-shot readout segmented (RS)-DTI, showed high reproducibility of ADC. RS-DTI had less distortion and was considered more accurate for population-based analysis. For FA, Adv-DTI was superior, probably due to higher SNR. In either case, CSF had much higher variance and it had better be excluded from further analysis such as voxel-based morphometry.

Takashi Yoshiura¹, Akio Hiwatashi¹, Satoshi Suzuki², Tsuyoshi Okamoto³, Osamu Togao¹, Koji Yamashita¹, Kazufumi Kikuchi¹, and Hiroshi Honda^1
1Department of Clinical Radiology, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan, ²Department of Neuropathology, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan, ³Department of Advanced Medical Initiatives, Kyusuh University, Fukuoka, Japan

Intracortical myelinated fiber (ICMF) is an essential component to characterize microarchitecture of the cerebral cortex. Our purpose was to test the feasibility of in-vivo detection of ICMF in the human hippocampal formation by high-resolution diffusion tensor (DT) imaging. DT images of the hippocampal formation were obtained with an in-plane resolution of 0.85 mm. Fractional anisotropy (FA) in 3 different cortical subregions were compared. FA in subiculum was significantly higher than those in the other regions, which was in accordance with histological findings in myelin-stained specimens. Results suggested that in-vivo detection of ICMF using high resolution DT imaging is feasible.

Wen-zhen Zhu¹, and He Wang^2
1Department of Radiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, ²Applied Science Lab, GE Healthcare

The diffusion attenuation of brain water does not follow monoexponential decay and will deviate from straightness when b-factor exceed 1000 s/mm². The purpose of this study was to evaluate the application value of multiple b-value DWI with stretched- exponential model in grading of astrocytomas.The results demonsttrated that the quantitative parameters (DCC and ) of stretched exponential model multi-b DWI provides a more accurate estimate in the preoperative grading of gliomas than ADC of the standard mono-exponential model DWI, which can be new imaging markers to differentiate the grade of gliomas and evaluate the effectiveness of therapy.

Madhura A Ingalhalikar¹, Luke Bloy¹, Drew Parker¹, Raquel Gur², Ruben Gur², and Ragini Verma^1
1Section of Biomedical Image Analysis, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, ²Brain Behavior Laboratory, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

This study investigates the presence of endophenotypic brain patterns in the family members of patients with schizophrenia via a structural network analysis. High dimensional gender specific classifiers based on local and global network properties were constructed for patients diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and healthy controls. The classifier associated a distributed network connectivity score (DNCS) with each of the asymptomatic family member. Forty percent of the FM’s were classified closer to patients. Furthermore, females displayed enhanced genetic susceptibility based on the specificity of the classifier and the DNCS scores of the family members.

Elisabetta Pagani¹, Maria A. Rocca¹, Paolo Preziosa¹, Sarlota Mesaros², Bruno Colombo³, Mark A. Horsfield⁴, Andrea Falini⁵, Giancarlo Comi³, and Massimo Filippi^1
1Neuroimaging Research Unit, Institute of Experimental Neurology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, Italy, ²Clinic of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, ³Department of Neurology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, Italy, ⁴Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom,⁵Department of Neuroradiology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, Italy

In 113 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and 35 healthy subjects, we calculated the angle between the principal diffusion direction and the cortical surface within each voxel of the brain cortex. It has previously been suggested that, in normal mature GM no preferential direction for diffusion exists, because of the cellular structures components that run both parallel (dendrites) and perpendicular (neurons and neuritis) to the cortex. MS patients (particularly those with the progressive disease clinical phenotypes) had an increased number of GM voxels with an angle close to 90 degrees, suggesting a degeneration of the structures running perpendicular to the cortical surface.

Malek I Makki¹, Jeremy Laukka^2,3, and James Garbern^4
1MRI Research, University Children Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, ²Radiology and Neurology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mi, United States, ³Neurology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Mi, United States, ⁴Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Wayne State University, Detroit, Mi, United States

DTI was performed on twelve patients with Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease. These had different PLP1 mutation categories: null, moderate, and severe. Patients with moderate mutation exhibited the lowest radial diffusion and ADC and the highest FA in the splenium. This suggested hypomyelination and axonopathy. We also observed significant differences in radial diffusion and anisotropy between moderate and null mutations in the splenium showing that these patients have mild reduction in myelin with generally preserved axons.

David K. Wright^1,2, David B. Grayden³, Jhodie R. Duncan¹, and Leigh A. Johnston^1,3
1Florey Neuroscience Institutes, Parkville, Victoria, Australia, ²Centre for Neuroscience, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia,³NeuroEngineering Laboratory, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Melbourne

Cochlear implants have been remarkably successful in providing hearing to the profoundly deaf, however there is great variability in the benefit that individual cochlear implant users experience. It is accepted that the condition of the auditory nerve correlates with implant success. To date, diffusion imaging studies have focused on higher auditory pathways rather than assessing the auditory nerve itself. As such, we assess high angular resolution diffusion imaging and q-space approaches in ex vivo rat cochlea, with the aim of developing a clinical tool to predict the viability of cochlea implantation prior to surgery.

Vincent J Schmithorst¹, Scott K Holland², and Robert W Keith^3
1Radiology, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, ²Children's Hospital, Pediatric Neuroimaging Research Consortium, Cincinnati, OH, United States, ³Audiology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, United States

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) were performed on normal-hearing children and children with unilateral sensorineural hearing loss (USNHL). USNHL was predicted by reduced mean diffusivity (MD) in the sublenticular part of the left internal capsule, and the reduced MD was the result of decreased radial diffusivity (RD). Our results likely indicate activity-dependent changes in myelination in children with USNHL in the final part of the auditory pathway in the left hemisphere. The decreased MD did not correlate with higher-order auditory performance, indicating a likely cortical etiology for these deficits in children with USNHL.

Nina L. Reislev^1,2, Maurice Ptito^1,3, Ron Kupers², Hartwig R. Siebner^1,2, and Tim B. Dyrby^1
1Danish Research Center for Magnetic Resonance, section 340, Copenhagen University Hospital Hvidovre, Hvidovre, Denmark, ²Department for Neuroscience and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark, ³Université de Montréal, School of Optometry, Montréal, Québec, Canada

This study examines the effect of the functional reorganization in the visually deprived human brain on the underlying white matter microstructure. White matter changes were examined in the inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF) that belongs to the ventral visual pathway. Diffusion weighted MRI was acquired in 6 congenitally blind, 6 late blind, and 6 matched sighted controls. Left and right ILF were extracted from deterministic tractography. Diffusion parameters related to microstructural properties were determined. We found that compared to control subjects, congenitally blind and late blind subjects had significantly lower fractional anisotropy of ILF.

Shize Jiang¹, Rui Xia¹, Lei Wang¹, and Fabao Gao^1
1Department of Radiology, Molecular Imaging Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is one of the most important interfaces that keep the homeostasis of brain. However, it also prevents drugs from entering in morbid state. VEGF is an important growth factor that promotes neovascularization. We think it might be helpful to increase the permeability of the BBB. To test this hypothesis, we used KM mice with the venous injection of Hu-VEGF165 and detect the permeability of the BBB both in MRI and histological methods. We find that VEGF can increase the permeability of the BBB and may be a new direction for the CNS drugs delivery.

Jun Tazoe¹, Kei Yamada¹, Koji Sakai², and Kentaro Akazawa^1
1Radiology, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan, ²Human Health Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan

Brain temperature is known to increase in severe head trauma patients. In mild head trauma cases, however, temperature measurement is not possible and the alteration in brain temperature has not been assessed. We tried assessing their cerebral ventricular temperature by DWI. 20 patients of within-30-day from mild head trauma were compared with the normal controls (14 subjects). 4 patients at the over-30-day period were compared to other groups. In our study, the temperature difference was found statistically significant when within-30-day and normal controls were compared. This decrease in temperature was considered to be the reflection of decline in metabolism.

Nikolaus Krebs^1,2, Christian Langkammer³, Stefan Ropele³, Franz Fazekas³, Walter Goessler⁴, Kathrin Yen⁵, and Eva Scheurer^1,2
1Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Clinical-Forensic Imaging, Graz, Austria, ²Medical University, Graz, Austria, ³Department of Neurology, Medical University, Graz, Austria, ⁴Institute of Chemistry - Analytical Chemistry, Karl-Franzens University, Graz, Austria, ⁵Institute of Legal Medicine and Traffic Medicine, University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany

Diffuse axonal injury can be observed following traumatic brain injury (TBI) and might be associated with diffusivity changes. Therefore, fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity values were investigated using in situ diffusion tensor imaging in corpses having died of TBI and an uninjured age and temperature matched control group. Additionally, wet-to-dry mass ratios of the same regions were determined to estimate influence of posttraumatic edema. Decreased fractional anisotropy and significantly increased mean diffusivity values were observed in posttraumatic white matter regions. In combination with indifferent wet-to-dry mass ratios these results might suggest a direct influence of traumatic injury on postmortem diffusivity.

Virginia Newcombe^1,2, Guy Williams², Joanne Outtrim¹, Doris Chatfield¹, Giulia Abate¹, Thomas Geeraerts¹, Anne Manktelow¹, Hywel Room¹, Leela Mariappen¹, Peter Hutchinson³, Jonathan Coles¹, and David Menon^1,2
1Division of Anaesthesia, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom, ²Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom, ³Academic Department of Neurosurgery, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is often exacerbated by secondary events that lead to secondary brain injury, and represent potentially modifiable cause of mortality and morbidity post TBI. One potential means of improving such translation is to characterise tissue at risk using early imaging studies, and define markers of injury progression in these tissue compartments to use as biomarkers. This study used diffusion tensor imaging to characterise contusions and their growth during the acute phase of injury. Distinct regions were observed including a low diffusivity rim that may represent an area of at risk tissue (a “traumatic penumbra”) following TBI which may be a potential target for therapy.

Zhifeng Kou¹, Ramtilak Gattu², Randall Benson³, Hardik Doshi⁴, Jie Yang⁵, Valerie Mika⁴, Grace Ma⁶, Robert Welch⁷, John Woodard⁸, Scott Millis⁹, and E Mark Haacke^1
1Biomedical Engineering and Radiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, United States, ²Radiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, United States, ³Neurology and Radiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, ⁴Biomedical Engineering, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States, ⁵Radiology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States, ⁶Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, United States, ⁷Emergency Medicine, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, United States, ⁸Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States, ⁹Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States

There is limited data reported the neurocognitive status and their injury pattern of mild traumatic brain injury at the acute stage. Our data demonstrated significant neurocognitive deficits and DTI white matter lesions in mild traumatic brain injury patients at the acute stage.

Chiara Mastropasqua^1,2, Marco Bozzali¹, Mara Cercignani^1,3, Barbara Basile¹, Sonia Bonnì⁴, and Giacomo Koch^4,5
1Neuroimaging laboratory, Santa Lucia Foundation IRCCS, Rome, Italy, ²Neuroscience, Trieste University, Trieste, Italy, ³Brighton & Sussex Medical School,Clinical Imaging Sciences Centre, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom, ⁴Laboratory of Clinical and Behavioural Neurology, Santa Lucia Foundation IRCCS, Rome, Italy, ⁵Stroke Unit, Department of Neuroscience, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy

Using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS), we investigated the contribution of left hemisphere (LH) microstructural white matter (WM) changes in accounting for the presence and severity of hemispatial neglect in patients suffering from right-side stroke. TBSS analysis revealed a diffuse reduction of FA in most WM tracts of the LH, and a an association between neuropsychological measures of neglect severity and FA values in the region of the CC connecting the two parietal cortices. This study supports, on a microstructural basis, the theory that hemispatial neglect originates, by disconnection mechanism, from an unbalance of interhemispheric interaction between the two parietal cortices.

Manoj Kumar Sarma¹, Rajakumar Nagarajan¹, April Thames², Vanessa Streiff ³, Tim Arentsen³, Stella Panos⁴, Jason Smith³, Charles H Hinkin^2,3, and M. Albert Thomas^1
1Radiological Sciences, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ²Psychiatry, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ³VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare Service, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ⁴UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, United States

The synergistic effects of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co-infection on Hepatitis C virus (HCV) remains poorly understood with only a few studies on neuropsychological sequelae. Here, using diffusion tensor imaging and employing an automated atlas based analysis, we examined the neurostructural effects of HCV mono-infection and HIV/HCV co-infection through two markers, mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA). We investigated sixteen HCV mono-infected, eleven HIV/HCV co-infected, and fifteen healthy controls. We found widespread brain regions with elevation of MD and increase/decrease of FA values in both HCV/HIV co-infected and HCV mono-infected adults relative to healthy controls. The decrease in white matter (WM) integrity is best seen in increases in MD. Indications of WM axonal integrity present a more complicated picture, with both increased and decreased FA.

Gonzalo Pajares¹, Juan Antonio Hernández-Tamames², Pablo García-Polo³, Norberto Malpica², Ana Ramos⁴, and Juan Álvarez-Linera^5
1Fundación CIEN - Fundación Reina Sofía, Madrid, Madrid, Spain, ²Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain, ³Centro de Tecnología Biomédica, Spain, ⁴Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, Spain, ⁵Hospital Ruber Internacional, Spain

The aim of the present work is to study differences in the basal ganglia in several diseases, using Diffusion Tensor Imaging. Although no differences in gray matter are expected when using this technique, an increase in Fractional Anisotropy values has been observed in patients with respect to controls. Depending on the pathology, this increase affecs different structures: substantia nigra in PD; pallidus, putamen and substantia nigra in PSP, or pallidus, putamen and frontal cortex in m-MCI and AD. These results seem to related to the accumulation of iron in the brain.

Huiling Peng¹, Amanda J. Moffitt¹, Dawn Peck¹, Desirée A. White², and Shawn E. Christ^1
1University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, United States, ²Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, United States

Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a genetic condition characterized by an impaired ability to metabolize the amino acid phenylalanine into tyrosine, a precursor of dopamine and other neurotransmitters. The aim of this study was to investigate white matter fiber changes in individuals with early-treated PKU (ETPKU) by means of tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) approach. Significant reductions of axial, radial, and mean diffusivity were detected in numerous white matter tracts of patients with ETPKU compared to normal controls. A negative correlation between age and mean value of all diffusivity of the whole brain white matter skeleton was also found within the ETPKU group.

Amy Kuceyeski¹, Dieter Meyerhoff^2,3, Timothy Durazzo^2,3, and Ashish Raj^1
1Radiology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, United States, ²Radiology and Biomedical Engineering, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States, ³Center for Imaging of Neurodegenerative Diseases, San Francisco Veterans Administration Medical Center, San Francisco, CA, United States

In this study, we implement a recently developed measure called the Comparative Connectivity Loss (CCL) that gives the amount of white matter connectivity disruption for a particular gray matter region, and apply it to a group of alcohol-dependent cohorts. We show that the Brain Reward System is preferentially disrupted, without leading to more widespread and global network changes. We also show that the CCL is a more sensitive and specific metric than gray matter atrophy when differentiating between alcohol dependent individuals and non/light drinking controls.

Fuchun Lin¹, Guangyao Wu², Shiqi Yang², Haopeng Peng², Prasanna Ghimire², Ling Zhu², Guobing Liu², and Hao Lei^1
1State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China, ²Department of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Zhongnan Hospital, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

Tract-based spatial statistics was used to investigate white matter integrity in heavy smokers. Compared to healthy non-smokers, smokers show abnormalities in the left anterior corpus callosum connecting the bilateral orbifrontal and prefrontal cortices. The decreased FA in this region was reflected by decreased axial diffusivity and increased radial diffusivity, which is probably caused by axonal loss and disrupted integrity of myelin. Moreover, in smokers, radial diffusivity in the left anterior corpus callosum was positively correlated with the duration of smoking. Our findings suggested that longer exposure to cigarette smoking is associated with decreased microstructural integrity of the left anterior corpus callosum in smokers.

Yamada Hirofumi¹, Yamamoto Akira¹, Okada Tomohisa¹, Kanagaki Mitsunori¹, Kasahara Seiko¹, Sawada Takeshi¹, Morimoto Emiko¹, Sakamoto Ryo¹, Okuchi Sachi¹, and Togashi Kaori^1
1Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan

We investigated diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) parameters of the optic radiation by region of interest (ROI) analysis of readout segmented DTI (RS-DTI) with healthy volunteers. In ROI analysis we observed significant differences of radial diffusivity (RD), fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) between the external sagittal stratum and the internal sagittal stratum. We suppose these differences may reflect the disparities of myelination rather than that of axonal density.

Anastasiya Batrachenko^1,2, Arnaud Guidon^1,3, Jessica Sun⁴, Mohamad Mikati⁵, Joanne Kurtzberg^6,7, and Allen W Song^1,8
1Brain Imaging and Analysis Center, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States, ²Medical Physics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States, ³Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States, ⁴Pediatrics, Pediatric Oncology, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States, ⁵Pediatric Neurology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States, ⁶Pediatrics, Pediatrics Blood & Marrow Transplantation, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States, ⁷Pathology, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States, ⁸Radiology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States

In this study, we correlate diffusion connectivity metrics of the corticospinal tract with clinical behavioral scores in children with cerebral palsy undergoing autologous cord blood stem cell treatment. In diplegic and quadriplegic patients, total tract volumes were shown to have a significant inverse linear correlation with the disease severity scores. In hemiplegic patients, the fraction of the affected tract volume generally tends to decrease with greater disease severity, but also suggests cases of possible functional compensation by the unaffected tract. Standardized quantitative DTI will furthermore help characterize causes and effects of cerebral palsy manifestations and the treatment response mechanisms.

Clarisse Longo dos Santos^1,2, Oliver Riff¹, Claire Ewenczyk^3,4, Jerôme Yelnik^3,5, Cecile Gaudebout^3,4, Eric Bardinet^2,6, Linda Marrakchi-Kacem^1,3, Sara Fernandez Vidal^3,6, Chantal Francois^3,5, Marie-Laure Welter^3,4, Bertrand Gaymard^3,4, Cecile Gallea^2,3, Salma Mesmoudi⁵, Sophie Lecomte¹, Habib Benali⁵, Stephane Lehericy^2,3, Marie Vidailhet^3,4, and Cyril Poupon^1
1Neurospin, CEA/I2BM, Gif-sur-Yvette, France, ²CR-ICM / CENIR, Paris, France, ³CR-ICM / AP-HP, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Faculté de Médecine, Paris, ⁴Centre d’Investigation Clinique, Fédération des Maladies du Système Nerveux, France, ⁵INSERM, ⁶CNRS-UMR7225, France

We have combined structural and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the connectivity of the pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN) region in Parkinson's disease and Progressive supranuclear palsy patients. A total of 87 participants were recruited, including 45 patients PD, 12 patients PSP and 30 age-matched controls. Images were acquired using a 3T (Trio Siemens; T1; T2; diffusion 60 directions b-value 1500s/mm²) and a 7T (Trio Siemens; T2* 0.6x0.6x0.6mm3). Data analysis was performed using BrainVISA/Connectomist-2.0 and FreeSurfer tools. Preliminary results suggest that the method used here can effectively show the topographical representation of the connections between PPN and the motor cortex.

Stephen Rose¹, Kerstin Pannek², Kate Sinclair³, and Martin Lavin^4
1University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, ²University of Queensland, ³Royal Childrens Hospital, ⁴Queensland Institue for Medical Research

Structural connectivity studies employing diffusion-weighted MRI (dMRI) and probabilistic tractography can provide new insight into the loss in integrity of important white matter (WM) motor pathways. However, such imaging studies in children with severe ataxias present a significant challenge, due to the likelihood of artifacts induced by involuntary head movement. To overcome this constraint, we have developed an image processing strategy to reduce such effects and present novel information about the degeneration of specific cerebellar-corticomotor pathways in children with ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T). Such information improves our understanding of the clinical phenotype in A-T.

Sanju Lama¹, Boguslaw Tomanek², and Garnette R Sutherland^1
1Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, ²Clinical Neurosciences, Experimental Imaging Center, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Intra-operative MR imaging (iMRI) and fiber tracking using Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) provides 3D knowledge of white matter tracts anatomy and their relationship to neurosurgical pathology intra-operatively. Image quality and definition is dependent on magnetic and gradient field strengths. A single center prospective study including 177 patients using 3.0T iMRI system, showed that intra-operative DTI tractography can be a valuable adjunct to neurosurgery affecting neurosurgical planning in up to 16% of cases. Furthermore such a discipline provided an excellent educational forum for the discussion of white matter anatomy in relation to the target lesion amongst residents and staff neurosurgeons.

Linda Chan¹, Deanne K Thompson¹, Peter J Anderson¹, Alan Connelly², Jeanie Cheong¹, and Lex W Doyle^1
1Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, ²3Brain Research Institute, Florey Neuroscience Institutes, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Extremely preterm birth or extremely low birth weight are associated with brain white matter abnormalities and motor impairments. Structural and diffusion MRIs were obtained in 186 extremely preterm and 136 full-term adolescents at 18 years of age. Constrained spherical deconvolution tractography was performed. Extremely preterm infants had altered microstructural organization in the superior corticospinal tract regions, which related to neonatal brain injury. Motor impairment was related to reduced tract volume. Thus, preterm adolescents may have delayed corticospinal tract development. This may be a consequence of neonatal brain injury, and may relate to impaired motor outcomes in extreme prematurity.

Virginia Newcombe¹, Linus Schumacher², Guy Williams³, Jo Outtrim¹, Anne Manktelow¹, Jonathan Coles¹, Peter Hutchinson⁴, Marta Correia², and David Menon^1
1Division of Anaesthesia, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom, ²MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge University, ³Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, Cambridge University, ⁴Academic Department of Neurosurgery, Cambridge University

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. It is clear that many of the sequelae are not just direct consequences of the acute but event represent dynamic processes with changes occurring many years after the precipitating injury. In this study, the temporal course of white matter injury from acute to chronic phases after injury was quantified using probabilistic tractography. Such knowledge of longitudinal change is important to aid interpretation of imaging findings, to provide further insight into pathophysiology, and help to provide a framework that allows DTI to be used as an imaging biomarker of therapy response.

Andrew D Nichols^1,2, Bradford A Moffat^3,4, Helen V Danesh-Meyer⁵, and Andrew H Kaye^1,2
1Department of Surgery (RMH/WH), University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, ²Department of Neurosurgery, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, ³Department of Radiology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, ⁴Department of Radiology, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, ⁵Department of Ophthalmology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Brain tumours can cause optic chiasm compression and lead to visual deficits. This is the first study to use diffusion tensor imaging tractography of the optic radiation to investigate the downstream effects of brain tumours in these patients. In this study, patients with persistent visual deficits lasting over one year post surgery show decreased fractional anisotropy, increased radial diffusivity and decreased optic radiation size compared to patients with normal vision. Additional diffusion tensor imaging tractography studies of the visual pathway in these patients will continue to investigate the relationship between tumours causing optic chiasm compression and visual deficits.

Yu-Chun Lo¹, Susan Shur-Fen Gau², and Wen-Yih Isaac Tseng^1,3
1Center for Optoelectronic Biomedicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, ²Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, ³Department of Medical Imaging, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

This study investigated structural connectivity of the dorsal and ventral pathways of the language network using diffusion spectrum imaging tractogrpahy, and its functional significance corresponding to verbal IQ (VIQ) and verbal comprehension index (VCI). The results showed that structural connectivity of the left dorsal pathway in neurotypicals was associated with VIQ (r = 0.493, p=.0027), whereas structural connectivity of the left ventral pathway was associated with VCI (r = 0.447, p=.0048). These findings suggest that the functional significance of structural connectivity for language processing is altered in ASD.

Chen-Hao Wu¹, Hai-Go Hwu², Chih-Ming Liu², Chen-Chung Liu², Chung-Ming Chen¹, and Wen-Yih Isaac Tseng^3,4
1Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, ²Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ³Center for Optoelectronic Biomedicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, ⁴Department of Medical Imaging, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

Diffusion Spectrum Imaging Tractography Study of Ventral and Dorsal Pathways for Language in Schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that goes along with progressively feeble symptoms. The clinical manifestations include auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking with significant social or occupational dysfunction. Abnormalities within language-related brain structures have been associated with clinical symptoms in schizophrenia. Recent functional and anatomical studies suggest that two distinct white matter tracts, called ventral and dorsal pathways provide communication between the two regions that are crucial to language processing. In this study, we used diffusion spectrum imaging tractography to reconstruct the connections involved in the ventral and dorsal pathways for language and to study the alteration of its structural connectivity in schizophrenia.

Yu-Chun Lo¹, Yung-Chin Hsu², Hsiao-Lan Sharon Wang¹, and Wen-Yih Isaac Tseng^1,3
1Center for Optoelectronic Biomedicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, ²Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, ³Department of Medical Imaging, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

Diffusion tractography has raised interests in the neuroscience community for in vivo tracking of white matter fiber pathways. This technique, however, requires substantial maneuver and thus very subjective and less reproducible. In this study we proposed a standard procedure of tractography that could minimize the human intervention. This procedure entailed a diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI) template on which interested fiber pathways and their ROIs were determined once for all. The proposed method may improve the reproducibility and efficiency of tractography-based analysis that involves multiple pathways in a large number of subjects.

Amy Kuceyeski¹, Norman Relkin^2,3, and Ashish Raj^1
1Radiology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, United States, ²Neurology and Neuroscience, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, United States, ³NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY, United States

There are many tools to assess pathologic brain changes with MRI, but, to our knowledge, the LoCo (Loss in Connection) Tool presented here is the first that associates localized white matter (WM) lesions with disruptions in gray matter connectivity as a step toward understanding the lesions’ functional implications. This tool uses tractograms (set of WM fibers) from a large set of normal healthy individuals in a common space (MNI) to assess structural local and global network disruption related to a WM lesion mask. We apply this methodology to patients with Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, and show large amounts of orbital-frontal disruption.

Kyle Taljan^1,2, Angela Noecker², Ken Sakaie³, Mark Lowe³, and Cameron McIntyre^2
1Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, United States, ²Biomedical Engineering, Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland, OH, United States, ³Cleveland Clinic Imaging Institute, Cleveland, OH, United States

Deep brain stimulation, an effective treatment of movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease, can cause cognitive side effects. It is hypothesized that stimulation of tissue connected to motor cortex is beneficial whereas stimulation of tissue connected to nonmotor regions leads to side effects. Previous work showed a reduction in side effects by optimizing stimulation so that the volume of tissue activated was limited to motor regions of the subthalamic nucleus. We use tractography to compare anatomical connectivity of a VTA associated with side effects and one that limited side effects. The VTA associated with side effects showed greater anatomical connectivity to non-motor cortical regions than the model based VTA. This preliminary result points to the potential of integrating diffusion MR-based tractography with stimulation modeling in deep brain stimulation to improve patient outcomes.

Ryan Payne Cabeen¹, Daniel Dickstein², and David H Laidlaw^1
1Computer Science, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States, ²Psychiatry & Human Behavior, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States

We computed and compared quantitative diffusion tractography metrics in three children with bipolar disorder (BD) and three typically-developing controls (TDC) without psychiatric illness. An automated process was used to choose tracks connecting the amygdala and accumbens, a track of interest (TOI) chosen a priori from previous findings in voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) analysis. We found decreases in mean FA and sum length-weighted FA in left hemisphere tracks of the BD group. No differences were found in right hemisphere metrics or subcortical volumes.

Dolly Thai¹, Deanne K Thompson^1,2, Lex W Doyle^1,3, Jeanie Cheong^1,3, Michael J Kean¹, Jeff Neil⁴, Terrie E Inder^1,4, Peter J Anderson¹, and Rod W Hunt^1
1Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, ²Centre for Neuroscience, Florey Neuroscience Institutes,University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, ³Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, ⁴St Louis Children’s Hospital, Washington University in St Louis, St Louis, Missouri, United States

Children born very preterm are at risk of developing visual impairments. This study examines 142 very preterm and 32 full-term 7 year old children scanned with a 3T MRI scanner. Optic radiations were reconstructed using constrained spherical deconvolution. Radial diffusivity was significantly higher in preterm children, thus myelination appears to be particularly disrupted, especially in the more anterior segments of the optic radiation. These changes were associated with visual field defects and poorer visual acuity. In conclusion, the microstructural organisation of the optic radiation is less developed in preterm children, which negatively impacts visual function at seven years.

Richa Trivedi¹, Maria M D'souza¹, Hemal Grover¹, Ajay Chaudhary², Pawan Kumar¹, Prabhjot Kaur¹, Rajendra P Tripathi¹, and Subash Khushu^1
1Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, Delhi, Delhi, India, ²Neurosurgery, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Delhi, Delhi, India

Given the widespread interhemispheric connections that course through the corpus callosum (CC), callosal pathway disruptions can have a profound impact on cognitive functioning. Serial quantitative diffusion tensor tractography was performed in five patients with moderate unifrontal lobe TBI. On follow-up study, significantly reduced callosal FA values were observed on moving from controls to injured hemisphere through contra-lateral normal appearing hemisphere in the subregions of anterior CC. We conclude that DTT based quantification in frontal lobe injury may be useful for wide spread assessment of DAI in callosal fibers and help in prognosticating disease outcome.

David Vaughan¹, Jacques-Donald Tournier^1,2, Alan Connelly^1,2, and Graeme Jackson^1,2
1Brain Research Institute, Florey Neuroscience Institutes, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, ²Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

A transient "lesion" of the splenium of the corpus callosum occasionally occurs in patients with epilepsy. The cause remains unknown. We present probabilistic fibre tracking in such a patient, from the ictal onset zone to the contralateral region of seizure spread. Tracks that traversed the corpus callosum all passed through the splenium at the site of the lesion, and similar tracks were identified in non-epileptic controls. We suggest the lesion is related to excess epileptic activity in this pathway.

Mark J Lowe¹, Ken E Sakaie¹, Jian Lin¹, Lael Stone², and Micheal D Phillips^1
1Imaging Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, United States, ²Neurologic Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, United States

We have previously introduced pathway dependent diffusion measures as a way of determining functionally relevant disease burden in multiple sclerosis. This method determines the mean diffusion properties (i.e. FA, radial diffusivity, longitudinal diffusivity) along a pathway determined with probabilistic tractography. There is a significant drawback to the method in that the sensitivity can be quite low due to the fact that tissue diffusion parameters will vary substantially along some pathways. In this study, we utilize a parametric approach to determining local pathway diffusion properties and derive a statistical approach to determine if a given fiber path contains significant disease burden.

Shengwei Zhang¹, and Konstantinos Arfanakis^1
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, United States

This work demonstrated that diffusion imaging studies employing automated ROI selection by means of conventional atlas-based segmentation suffer from misregistration. We adopted the main principles of TBSS and proposed an alternative automated approach, termed here “skeletonized atlas-based segmentation”, which is relatively immune to misregistration. Furthermore, a new skeletonized atlas was developed in ICBM152 space based on the IIT2 DTI template. The combination of the whole brain DTI template and skeletonized WM atlas has the potential to increase the accuracy and sensitivity of both voxel-wise and ROI analyses in DTI as well as high-angular resolution diffusion imaging studies.

Norbert W. Schuff^1,2, Yu Zhang³, Karl Young⁴, Howard Rosen⁴, and Michael W. Weiner^1,5
1UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States, ²VAMC, San Francisco, California, United States, ³UCSF, San Francisco, California, United States, ⁴UCSF, ⁵VAMC

The best approach for maximizing information from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a matter of intense debate, especially when it comes to quantifying the integrity of nerve fiber bundles. We explored the value of information theoretic measures, such as Kullback-Leibler divergence, for quantifying DTI variations along fibers as indeces of fiber uniformity. Simulations suggest that the approach is useful for capturing global and local features. We also applied the approach to experimental DTI data from patients with cognitive impairments, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The results are consistent with the idea that AD is associated with diminishing structures within fiber bundles.

Lorenzo Mannelli¹, Theodore J Dubinsky¹, Mariam Moshiri¹, Manjiri K Dighe¹, and Jeffrey H Maki^1
1University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States

The kidney is very appealing to be studied with DTI because of the renal medulla radially oriented architecture. The main challanges are differentiating the vascular flow from the tubular flow, and an acquisition tecnique easy to apply in clinical practice

Liang Zhan¹, Neda Jahanshad¹, Christophe Lenglet², Bryon A. Mueller³, Guillermo Sapiro⁴, Noam Harel², Kelvin O. Lim³, and Paul M. Thompson^1
1Department of Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ²Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, United States, ³Dept. of Psychiatry, Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States, ⁴Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States

High-field diffusion imaging can be used to map anatomical connectivity in the living brain, but little is known about how the resulting connectivity maps compare to those obtained at lower fields. Five young healthy subjects (two male, age: 32.4±14.6 years) were scanned at 3T and with a 7T protocol with 1.5mm isotropic voxels (called “7T-1.5mm” below). To assess field strength effects while keeping voxel size constant, we also scanned 2 of the 5 subjects using a protocol called “7T-2mm” for comparison purposes. Connections between rostral anterior cingulate and the lateral orbitofrontal, caudal middle frontal and rostral middle frontal cortex in the left hemisphere were more prominent at 7T-1.5mm, and showed the most significant differences by protocol. Smaller voxels allowed more connections to be recovered, particularly shorter ones, and this affected the relative prominence of different connections in the matrices.

Madison Berl¹, Lindsay Walker², Joelle Sarlls³, and Carlo Pierpaoli^4
1Children's Research Institute, Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC, United States, ²Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, United States, ³STBB, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States,⁴NICHD, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States

We expand on a systematic vibration artifact in three important ways: 1) the artifact is more widespread than first described, 2) we offer another potential solution to reduce the artifact and 3) identify that the artifact may be the basis of a clinical misinterpretation that has been cited as evidence to change policy and practice.

Yosef A. Berlow^1,2, Steve Kohama³, James Pollaro¹, Manoj Sammi¹, and William Rooney^1,2
1Advanced Imaging Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States, ²Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States, ³Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States

This study measured age associated brain iron accumulation in Japanese macaques (JM) and humans. Eighty-eight JM and 43 healthy human control subject were included. Proton density and T₂-weighted TSE images were used to calculate R₂ maps. The effects of age on R₂ were modeled in caudate, putamen and pallidum. JM R₂ values increase rapidly during the first two decades of life and then begin to plateau at levels that are much greater than those seen in humans. These findings suggest that JM accumulate brain iron throughout their adulthood and attain brain iron concentrations that are much greater than humans.

Tracy L. Wilson¹, Brandon A. Ally^2,3, Erin P. Hussey³, Swati D. Rane¹, Tricia A. Thornton-Wells^4,5, Shashwath A. Meda^4,5, John C. Gore¹, and Manus J. Donahue^1,2
1Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, ²Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, ³Neurology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, ⁴Center for Human Genetics Research, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, ⁵Molecular Physiology & Biophysics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

Noninvasive MRI approaches capable of assessing tissue-level modulations in cerebral hemodynamics hold significant potential for gauging disease severity and progression in patients with, and at-risk for, Alzheimer's disease (AD). We implemented a customized arterial spin labeling (ASL) sequence specifically capable of assessing cerebral blood flow (CBF), simultaneously in cortical and subcortical structures. The ASL technique implemented showed high reproducibility in young and older adults. In patients, we observed positive relationships between cortical CBF and cognitive performance in all volunteers, but an inverse trend between hippocampus CBF and cognitive performance in at-risk and control participants.

Yuan-Yu Hsu^1,2, Ho-Ling Liu³, Ling-Yi Huang^1,3, and Kun-Eng Lim^1,2
1Radiology, Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital-Taipei Branch, Xindien, Taipei, Taiwan, ²School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Hualien, Taiwan,³Department of Medical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan

This study aimed to evaluate the regional differences in cerebrovascular response to hypercapnia challenges between young and elderly adults. Twenty young (F/M = 10/10, mean age = 28.2 y/o) and twenty elderly (F/M = 12/8, mean age = 64.4 y/o) adults were studied by 3-T BOLD MRI during repeated 15-second breath-holdings. Significant breath-hold regulated BOLD signal increases were identified in gray matters. Compared to the young group, the elderly had a 50% decrease in the activation volume. There were significantly less BOLD signal increase in amygdala and dentate nucleus in elderly than in young adults (P < 0.001).

Swati Rane¹, Tracy Porchak¹, Brandon Ally², Erin Hussey², Tricia Thornton-Wells^3,4, Shashwath Meda³, John C Gore^1,5, and Manus Donahue^1,6
1Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States,²Neurology, Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, ³Center for Human Genetics Research, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, ⁴Molecular Physics and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, ⁵Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, ⁶Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States

A multi-modal comparison comprising of baseline BOLD and ASL was employed to compare mechanisms of verbal memory deficits in healthy older adults, adults at risk of Alzheimer’s disease and adults with MCI. Alterations in the default mode network and their correlation with baseline blood flow were studied. Further, synchrony of BOLD fluctuations between the hippocampus and the precuneus/posterior cingulate regions of the brain was evaluated and correlated with verbal memory (CERAD) scores.

Dustin Kenneth Ragan^1,2, Randall Bateman^3,4, Virginia D Buckles^3,4, Jose A Pineda^1,3, John C Morris^3,4, and Tammie LS Benzinger^2,4
1Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, United States, ²Department of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, United States, ³Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, United States,⁴Knight Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, United States

We investigated early changes to cerebral oxygen extraction in patients who had a familiar history of autosomal-dominant Alzheimer’s Disease by measuring magnetic susceptibility in cerebral veins. Oxygen extraction was showed a decrease around the age of onset, with a return to normal values 5 years after onset. This may indicate an important early marker of the disease process.

Pablo Garcia-Polo Garcia¹, Juan Antonio Hernández-Tamames², Roberto García-Álvarez³, Eva Alfayate⁴, and Juan Álvarez-Linera^5
1Neuroimaging Lab., Centre for Biomedical Imaging, Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid, Spain, ²Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Móstoles, Madrid, Spain,³Research and Collaborations Department, GE Healthcare, Buc, France, ⁴Cien Foundation - Centre for Alzheimer's Disease Queen Sofia Foundation, Madrid, Spain, ⁵Hospital Ruber Internacional, Madrid, Spain

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a type of dementia that exhibits decreased perfusion-metabolism and GM loss in the brain. This work examines the correlation between both rCBF-ASL and FDG-PET in a group of 24 subjects. In addition, ASL was utilized in a second group of 99 subjects (Control, MCI and AD) to assess hypoperfusion in AD. Significant correlation between rCBF and FDG-PET was found. Hypoperfusion patterns were seen in posterior cingulate and posterior lobes in AD. This work demonstrates both: a high correlation between ASL and FDG-PET, and the capability of ASL to become a promising technique to monitor the AD.

Kenichi Oishi¹, Michelle M Mielke^2,3, Michael I Miller⁴, Marilyn S Albert⁵, Constantine G Lyketsos², and Susumu Mori^6,7
1Radiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States, ²Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, ³2Division of Epidemiology, College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, ⁴Center for Imaging Science, Johns Hopkins University, ⁵Neurology, Johns Hopkins University,⁶Radiology, Johns Hopkins University, ⁷F.M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Kennedy Krieger Institute

We applied a machine-learning framework to characterize anatomical alterations of early-stage Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and to investigate a classifier that can predict conversion from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to AD within 36 months. The Eve atlas was used to measure the fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) of 148 brain structures, followed by principal component analysis (PCA) and support vector machine-based classification. PCA detected subtle but widespread FA&MD alterations related to AD. The trained classifier could differentiate MCI-converters from non-converters with sensitivity of 0.67 and specificity of 1, supporting the potential of DTI in identifying early-stage AD patients.

Amy Kuceyeski¹, Yu Zhang^2,3, and Ashish Raj^1
1Radiology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, United States, ²Center for Imaging of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Department of Veteran's Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, CA, United States, ³Radiology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States

We implement a metric called Comparative Connectivity Loss (CCL) that gives the amount of structural white matter connectivity disruption incurred by a gray matter region for a particular pattern of white matter integrity loss. This metric is calculated on a standard atlas for three groups, Alzheimer's disease, fronto-temporal dementia, and age-matched normal controls. We show significant correlations of CCL with atrophy patterns in the two diseases. In addition, we show that the CCL outperforms gray matter atrophy when classifying individuals into the three groups, while having similar levels of accuracy with white matter integrity measures of radial and longitudinal diffusivity.

Nico D. Papinutto^1,2, Sebastiano Galantucci^2,3, Jorge Jovicich¹, and Maria Luisa Gorno-Tempini^2
1CIMeC, University of Trento, Mattarello, TN, Italy, ²University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States, ³Scientific Institute and University Hospital San Raffaele, Milano, MI, Italy

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent and localization of white matter (WM) damages in individuals with primary progressive aphasia (PPA) by using Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS), extending the findings of previous voxel and tract-based analyses of multi-subject Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) data. WM integrity was studied by comparing three groups of patients (three major subtypes of PPA: non-fluent/agrammatic (PNFA), semantic variant (SD) and logopenic variant (LPA)) with a group of age-matched healthy controls. Characteristic patterns of WM damage in the three major variants of primary progressive aphasia were evidenced and characterized by means of TBSS.

Xiaojing Long¹, Weiqi Liao¹, Chunxiang Jiang¹, Bensheng Qiu¹, Yang Liu¹, and Lijuan Zhang*^1
1Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China

Relevant structural variates were collectively explored for a comprehensive morphological assessment on brain hemispheric asymmetry alterations among groups of healthy aging, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) converters, and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Region specific preservation, reduction or reverse of hemispheric asymmetries were found to differ among groups of MCI and AD as compared with healthy aging, which may reflect the underlying mechanisms useful for disease diagnosis, differentiation and monitoring of MCI and AD.

Sarah Biedermann¹, Johannes Fuss², Claudia Falfán-Melgoza³, Lei Zheng³, Alexander Sartorius³, Gabi Ende¹, Peter Gass², and Wolfgang Weber-Fahr^3
1Neuroimaging, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany, ²Animal Models in Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany, ³Translational Imaging, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany

To reveal underlying mechanisms of exercise-induced gray matter increase, mice underwent hippocampal irradiation, blocking hippocampal neurogenesis, followed by voluntary wheel-running. Voxel based morphometry was performed before and after the exercise period. Age related decreased hippocampal gray matter was seen in all mice after the treatment period. Sham irradiated running mice had higher hippocampal gray matter compared to sedentary mice and a decreased loss of hippocampal gray matter over time, whereas irradiated mice did not have higher hippocampal gray matter after exercise. These findings indicate mechanisms of neuroplasticity in exercise induced hippocampal alterations.

Aikaterini Kotrotsou¹, Niranjini Rajendran², David A. Bennett², and Konstantinos Arfanakis^1,2
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, United States, ²Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, United States

An increasing number of studies use brain MRI to assess volumetric changes due to neurodegenerative diseases in the elderly. Crucial to these studies is segmentation of anatomical brain MRI data. Multi-atlas segmentation is one of the approaches used for automated labeling; however the performance of this method in subjects with age-related atrophy has not been thoroughly investigated. In this work, the performance of multi-atlas segmentation in data from elderly subjects (>80 years of age) was compared to that of FreeSurfer. It was demonstrated that multi-atlas segmentation provides results that are similar to those of FreeSurfer, in a fully automated manner.

Weiqi LIAO^1,2, Xiaojing LONG^1,2, Lijuan ZHANG*^1,2, Chunxiang JIANG^1,2, and Wenhui HUANG^1,2
1Paul C Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China, ²Key Lab of Health Informatics, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China

Multivariate analysis of covariance was performed in addition to ANOVA to compositively evaluate brain morphological alteration indexed by surface area, curvature, cortical thickness, and subjacent white matter volume in groups of healthy ageing, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) converter and Alzheimer¡¯s disease (AD). Age independent global rather than regional specific alterations were revealed to differ significantly among the aforementioned groups. MANCOVA may possess the potential powerfulness of differentiating MCI and AD from healthy ageing where single structural index was not adequate to do so.

Parastou Foroutan^1,2, Melissa M Murray³, Shinsuke Fujioka⁴, Katherine J Schweitzer⁴, Dennis W Dickson³, Zbigniew K Wszolek⁴, and Samuel Colles Grant^1,5
1Center for Interdisciplinary Magnetic Resonance, The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Tallahassee, Florida, United States, ²Imaging, The H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida, United States, ³Pathology and Neuroscience, The Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida, United States,⁴Neurology, The Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida, United States, ⁵Chemical & Biomedical Engineering, The Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, United States

The two most common forms of dementia are Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and diffuse Lewy Body disorder (DLBD), but clinical similarities make it difficult to distinguish between them. In this study, fixed postmortem sections of human hippocampi diagnosed with AD and DLBD were evaluated using MRI at 21.1 T. The samples were analyzed using high resolution 3D datasets, diffusion-weighted imaging and relaxation maps of T₂ and T₂* compared to histology to identify MR biomarkers specific to the different pathologies. Data suggests that lower T₂ and T₂* times are correlated with chronic DLBD while increased relaxation and ADC coincide with chronic AD.

Brian B Avants¹, Corey McMillan², Philip A Cook¹, James C. Gee³, and Murray Grossman^2
1University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States, ²Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States, ³Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States

We employ quantitative longitudinal neuroimaging to contrast cortical atrophy rates between controls and patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) or frontotemporal degeneration (FTD) defined on the basis of autopsy-confirmed cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) values of tau:Abeta1-42 ratio. We demonstrate that unbiased quantification of specific cortical regions improves detection power over whole brain analysis in both AD and FTD.

Sandra M. Meyers¹, Irene M. Vavasour², Cornelia Laule^2,3, Shannon H. Kolind^4,5, Roger Tam^2,6, Burkhard Maedler⁷, David K. Li^2,6, Alex L. MacKay^1,2, and Anthony L. Traboulsee^8
1Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ²Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada,³Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ⁴FMRIB Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, ⁵Neuroimaging, University College London, London, United Kingdom, ⁶MS/MRI Research Group, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ⁷University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany, ⁸Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Accurate water content (WC) measurement is valuable for assessing edema and monitoring effects of therapy. While hydration has been shown to significantly affect brain volume, the effect of fluid intake on MR brain WC is currently unknown. To investigate this question, 20 healthy volunteers were scanned at 3T with 3DT2 and IR sequences four times: (1) baseline, (2) after consuming 3L of water, and (3/4) twice after overnight dehydration. WC was calculated as the integral under the T2 distribution, relative to that of a water standard, with additional corrections. Hydration did not have a significant, measurable effect on brain WC.

Ying Wu^1,2, Ryan Hutten¹, Ana Barion^3,4, Michael Mercury^3,4, Zoran Grujic⁵, Victoria Braund^3,4, Christopher Glielmi⁶, Nadia Abbasi¹, Ann Ragin⁷, and Robert R. Edelman^1
1Radiology, NorthShore University Health System, Evanston, IL, United States, ²Radiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States,³Neurology, NorthShore University Health System, Glenview, IL, United States, ⁴Neurology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States,⁵Neurology, Central DuPage Hospital Neuroscience Institute, Winfield, IL, United States, ⁶Siemens Healthcare, Chicago, IL, United States, ⁷Radiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States

We demonstrate the findings of a comprehensive automated high resolution magnetization transfer imaging at 3T. The method detected subtle brain changes in the hippocampus, caudate, putamen, cerebral cortex and white matter and differentiated mild Alzheimer’s group from the normal elderly control group. The field strength at 3T, as well as increased scan resolution for accurate quantification in small brain regions may have contributed to the additional positive findings that complement other MRI-derived measures of disease burden in AD. In addition, this automated method entirely removes operator induced measurement errors, which may contribute to both longitudinal and multi-center studies for the standardization of quantification.

Feng Zhao¹, Jing Yuan¹, Tian Jiu², Gang Lu², Queenie Chan³, Wai-Sang Poon², and Yi-Xiang Wang^1
1Department of Imaging and Interventional Radiology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong, ²Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong, ³Philips Healthcare, Hong Kong

An alternate MRI contrast mechanism, T1rho relaxation, has been suggested as a sensitive biomarker to detect Alzheimer¡¯ disease and Parkinson¡¯s disease in patients. However, whether normal brain aging is associated with brain T1rho relaxation change remains unknown. In this study, we longitudinally measured T1rho values in the bilateral thalamus, hippocampus and cortices of 18 male Sprague-Dawley rats at 5, 8, 10 and 15 months old. A trend of T1rho value rising in these rat brain regions following aging was found.

Carlos J Perez-Torres^1,2, and Robia G Pautler^1,2
1Interdepartmental Program in Translational Biology and Molecular Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States, ²Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States

Early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) remains a critical challenge for the management of this disease. Most work has focused on non-invasive imaging of amyloid beta plaques. However, it is known that amyloid neurotoxicity begins before plaque formation, so techniques are needed that can identify AD before plaque formation. In this work, we apply Magnetization Transfer Contrast (MTC), an MRI methodology already in use clinically. Our results show an increase in MTC signal that predates plaque formation in the Tg2576 mouse model of AD. The source of the MTC signal appears to be Tau and not the expected amyloid beta.

Valerie C. Anderson¹, David P. Lenar¹, Phillip C. Berryhill¹, Joseph F. Quinn², Jeffrey A. Kaye², and William D. Rooney^3
1Neurological Surgery, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States, ²Neurology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States, ³Advanced Imaging Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States

¹H₂O R₁ values were determined in the superior lateral ventricles of 34 healthy older subjects (68  6 yrs; 13 M, 21 F) at 7T before and 3 times (within 50 min) after gadoteridol (CR) administration. Fractional CSF volume was determined by segmentation of structural T₁-w images. A significant inverse correlation of pre-CR R₁ values with ventricular volume was observed. R₁ values increased at each time point after injection of CR, confirming that administration of CR increases R₁ in the ventricles of the human brain. R₁ values after CR administration were increased significantly more in women than men.

Robert Dawe¹, Julie Schneider¹, David Bennett¹, and Konstantinos Arfanakis^1,2
1Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, United States, ²Department of Biomedical Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, United States

Using postmortem MRI, we mapped T₂ in 228 fixed cerebral hemispheres. After spatial registration, we performed voxelwise analysis of covariance to identify T₂ alterations associated with histopathologically confirmed Alzheimer’s disease and other neuropathology among the elderly. T₂ prolongation was observed in association with Alzheimer’s disease in the white matter of the temporal, frontal, and parietal lobes. T₂ prolongation in association with gross infarcts was observed throughout the majority of white matter and was most intense in the frontal lobe. This study demonstrates the utility of postmortem T₂ mapping and provides candidates for MRI-based biomarkers of disease.

Hugo J. Kuijf¹, Manon Brundel², Max A. Viergever¹, Geert Jan Biessels², and Koen L. Vincken^1
1Image Sciences Institute, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands, ²Department of Neurology, Rudolf Magnus Institute of NeuroScience, UMC Utrecht

The current standard for cerebral microbleed detection is visual rating, which is laborious and has limited reproducibility. Semi-automated methods for detection of microbleeds on clinical images have been suggested before, but suffer from a large number of false positives. In this study, we present a method for microbleed detection based on the radial symmetry transform. This results in a high sensitivity of 75% and a limited number of false positives, requiring just two minutes of rater time to censor them. Furthermore, the method outperforms other known methods in terms of specificity.

Live Eikenes¹, Eelke Visser², and Asta Håberg^1
1Department of Neuroscience, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway, ²Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands

White matter (WM) microstructure were studied at the population level in a cohort of 1006 healthy participants (50-65 years) using a new automated tractography method and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS). The tractography results demonstrated that mean fractional anisotropy (FA) and volume of corpus callosum was higher in males compared to females. TBSS showed decreased FA in large areas of the white matter with increasing age, and higher FA in females than males in the occipital lobe, and higher FA in males than females in the deep central WM structures and in association tracts in the frontal and temporal lobes.

L. Z. Diaz-de-Grenu¹, G. B. Williams¹, J. Acosta-Cabronero¹, J. M. Pereira¹, and P. J. Nestor^1
1Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom

Support vector machines (SVM) using T1-weighted images offer moderate accuracy in diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Recent work suggests, however, that T2-weighted scans may contain more pathologically relevant information. This study, therefore, tested if T2 data could improve SVM classification. T1 and T2 were compared in whole-brain images and regions of interest (ROI) known to be affected in AD. An ROI focused on the mesial temporal lobe (known to be atrophic) yielded similar accuracy for T1 and T2 (both 88.5%), however adding ROIs known to be rich in beta-amyloid improved diagnostic accuracy (92.3%) but only when using T2 data.