View Presentation Video

Bastien Herlin^1,2,3, Ivy Uszynski¹, Maëlig Chauvel¹, Sophie Dupont^2,3, and Cyril Poupon^1
1BAOBAB, NeuroSpin, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, CEA, Gif-sur-Yvette, France, ²AP-HP, Epilepsy Unit, GH Pitié-Salpêtrière-Charles Foix, Paris, France, ³Sorbonne Université, Paris, France

Keywords: White Matter, Brain Connectivity

Superficial white matter (SWM) tracts exhibit a high cross-subject variability, which makes them difficult to study. We used the whole HCP cohort, which included 1065 subjects, to build a comprehensive atlas of the short-range cortico-cortical connections using an advanced diffusion analysis and tractography pipeline, followed by an individual and a group-level fiber clustering. Furthermore, we measured the percentage of occurrence of each cluster within the population. In addition to enabling the automatic labeling of any new subject’s SWM tracts, our atlas paves the way for a thorough cross-subject variability study of superficial connectivity.

View Presentation Video

Elizabeth Meinert-Spyker¹, Tales Santini², Sharadhi Umesh Bharadwaj¹, Enrico Novelli^3,4,5, Tamer Ibrahim^2,6,7, and Sossena Wood^1,8
1Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, ²Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, ³Hematology/Oncology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, ⁴Pittsburgh Heart, Lung and Blood Vascular Medicine Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, ⁵Sickle Cell Center of Excellence, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, ⁶Radiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, ⁷Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, ⁸Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, United States

Keywords: White Matter, Diffusion Tensor Imaging, Sickle cell disease

This abstract compares diffusion tensor imaging parameters between healthy controls and sickle cell disease (SCD) patients. Various softwares were utilized to obtain diffusion metrics and conduct voxelwise comparison was conducted. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and axial diffusivity (AD) values were significantly decreased in patients with SCD compared to controls, while mean diffusivity (MD) and radial diffusivity (RD) were primarily increased in patients compared to controls. Our FA and MD findings are consistent with other studies comparing diffusion metrics of individuals with SCD at a lower magnet field. We also present novel findings comparing AD and RD values for the SCD population.

View Presentation Video

Claire L. MacIver^1,2, Chantal M.W. Tax^2,3, Derek K Jones², Ann-Kathrin Schalkamp⁴, Cynthia Sandor⁴, Grace Bailey⁵, Megan Wadon⁵, and Kathryn J Peall^5
1Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute,, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom, ²Cardiff University Brain Imaging Centre, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom, ³3Image Sciences Institute, University Medical Centre Utrect, Utrect, Netherlands, ⁴UK Dementia Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom, ⁵Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom

Keywords: White Matter, Diffusion/other diffusion imaging techniques, movement disorders

Dystonia is a hyperkinetic disorder involving uncontrolled muscle contractions. Brain motor networks have been implicated, with heterogenous methodology and findings in the existing diffusion MRI literature. We compared diffusion findings in white matter motor pathways in dystonia (n=76) and healthy controls (n=311) derived from the UK biobank, assessing differing preprocessing and analysis approaches. An in-house pipeline identified localised tractometry MD and kurtosis differences in cerebellar peduncles, thalamic radiations and thalamo-premotor tracts in dystonia, findings not replicated using differing analysis and preprocessing approaches. Overall, localised white matter differences are implicated in dystonia, with the impact of methodology on group-level findings highlighted.

View Presentation Video

Stefan E. Poirier^1,2, Jonathan D. Thiessen^1,2, Alexander V. Khaw^1,3, and Udunna C. Anazodo^1,2,3,4
1Lawson Imaging, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, Canada, ²Department of Medical Biophysics, Western University, London, ON, Canada, ³Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences, Western University, London, ON, Canada, ⁴Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada

Keywords: White Matter, Diffusion Tensor Imaging

White matter (WM) damage is associated with post-stroke cognitive impairment. In this study, we used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to investigate changes in WM microstructure in patients within 6-months following stroke. Quantitative DTI measurements were compared in patients at 6-months relative to 4-weeks post-stroke. DTI showed signs of reduced WM integrity in several WM tracts, including rostrum of corpus callosum and superior longitudinal fasciculus III in patients 6-months post-stroke. In elderly adults, WM microstructure can be disrupted following ischemic stroke. These findings motivate larger population stroke studies using advanced diffusion MRI techniques to further assess WM structure in stroke patients.

View Presentation Video

Agah Karakuzu^1,2, Paule Samson ², and Nikola Stikov^1,2,3
1NeuroPoly Lab, Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada, ²Montreal Heart Institute, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada, ³Center for Advanced Interdisciplinary Research, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, Macedonia

Keywords: White Matter, Quantitative Imaging, vendor-neutral, post-upgrade, T1, MTR, MTsat

We scanned the ISMRM/NIST system phantom and one healthy participant to compare vendor-neutral and vendor-native T1, MTR and MTsat maps pre- and post-upgrade. Our findings indicate a systematic T1 bias in the phantom (up to 18.5%) that is linked to post-upgrade prescan calibrations. In-vivo, MTR remains stable, whereas the T1 bias (up to 9%) affects MTsat more. On the other hand, end-to-end consistency of the vendor-neutral workflow is immune against the software upgrade (e.g., data was consistently exported in the BIDS format). To disentangle the effect of upgrades on longitudinal stability, qMRI would benefit from transparent vendor-neutral prescan calibrations.

Jie Gao¹, Dongsheng Zhang¹, Xuejiao Yan¹, Min Tang¹, Xin Zhang¹, Kai Ai², Xiaoyan Lei¹, and Xiaoling Zhang^1
1Shaanxi Provincial People’s Hospital, Xi’an, China, ²Philips Healthcare, Xi’an, China

Keywords: White Matter, Diabetes

This study aims to use white matter tract integrity (WMTI) model based on DKI to explore white matter alternations in T2DM. DTI and WMTI metrics were compared between 73 T2DM patients and 57 HCs. The widespread increased extra-axonal diffusivity with limited increased intra-axonal diffusivity in T2DM reflected different degrees of axonal edema, vasogenic edema and/or demyelination. D_e,⊥ (radial extra-axonal  diffusivity) was demonstrated to be the most sensitive parameter in detecting the white matter microstructural changes. D_e,⊥ in genu of the corpus callosum was correlated with attention performance, which is expected to be a imaging marker reflecting cognitive impairment in T2DM.

View Presentation Video

Juan Luis Villarreal Haro¹, Remy Marc Gardier¹, Erick Jorge Canales-Rodríguez¹, Gabriel Girard^1,2, Jean-Philippe Thiran^1,3,4, and Jonathan Rafael Patino^1,4
1Signal Processing Laboratory (LTS5), École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, ²Department of Computer Science, Université de Sherbrooke, Monreal, QC, Canada, ³Radiology Department, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, ⁴CIBM Center for Biomedical Imaging, Lausanne, Switzerland

Keywords: White Matter, Phantoms, Monte Carlo simulations for microstructure in DW-MRI

Inferring microscopic tissue properties from the measured signal is one of the main objectives of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. The use of Monte-Carlo Simulations for DW-MRI on realistic substrates will help the study of DWI-MRI signals in controlled environments and investigate, extract, and validate approaches for the understanding of white matter features. This work provides a unique framework for building complex white matter phantoms with novel properties, such as 1) substrates with a high packing density of 95% intra-axonal volume percentage and substrate sizes of (500 um)³, 2) Create, generalise, extend, and preexisting phantom configurations used by other studies.

Xiaoyu Wang^1,2 and Xin Lou^1
1Department of Radiology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China, ²Nankai University, Tianjing, China

Keywords: White Matter, Treatment, MRgFUS

This is important research to assess the effects of MRgFUS thalamotomy on white matter connectivity in ET. Results showed that MRgFUS might act the topologic properties on brain networks. Rich-club and small-world organizations exist in HC and ET. The right orbital part of the superior frontal gyrus and right putamen were identified as a hub in the ET group only, whereas the left putamen identified as hubs in the  group only. Importantly, gamma and sigma correlated tremor improvement after MRgFUS thalamotomy, playing a role in reflecting tremor improvement for clinical treatment.

View Presentation Video

Szabolcs David¹, Alexander Leemans¹, and Alberto de Luca^1
1UMC Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands

Keywords: White Matter, Brain, crossing fibers, biomarker, NuFO, FA

Diffusion MRI-based biomarkers are commonly used to assess brain microstructural properties. Mathematical models have been developed to calculate various metrics; each are sensitive to different tissue features. Here, we investigate whether there are differences in the number of fiber orientations (NuFO) between male and female brains and how these results compare to corresponding DTI-derived fractional anisotropy (FA) findings. Results show NuFO-based differences with high effect size (>1 Cohen’s D) in hippocampi, which are undetected in FA-tests. Therefore, NuFO could provide complementary aspects to DTI metrics to capture differences in microstructural organization.

View Presentation Video

Yao Wang¹, Yuting Gao¹, Yu Han¹, Xiao Li², Fengyi Wang¹, Fuxin Ren², Weibo Chen³, Muwei Li⁴, and Fei Gao^2
1School of Life Sciences, Tiangong University, Tianjin, China, ²Department of Radiology, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China, ³Philips Healthcare, Shanghai, China, ⁴Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Nashville, TN, United States

Keywords: White Matter, Aging

 Presbycusis is characterized by high-frequency hearing loss and is closely related to cognitive decline. In this study, we aimed to explore the connectivity changes of WM and GM in the brains of presbycusis patients and their relationship with cognitive impairment and hearing loss. The results of this study indicated that the functional connectivity of WM and GM was abnormal in presbycusis patients, mainly in the PLIC, BCC, STG, par opercularis, etc. These changes might be associated with auditory processing and cognitive compensation. This study may provide new insights into the underlying neural mechanisms between presbycusis and cognitive impairment.

View Presentation Video

Benjamin Verhaaren¹, Ahmed Radwan^2,3, Ronald Peeters¹, Alexandra Boogers⁴, Jana Peeters³, Wim Vandenberghe^3,4, Philippe De Vloo^3,5, Bart Nuttin^3,5, and Stefan Sunaert^1,2,3
1Radiology, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, ²Imaging and Pathology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, ³Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, ⁴Neurology, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, ⁵Neurosurgery, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

Keywords: White Matter, Diffusion Tensor Imaging, Deep brain stimulation

We found that the location of the ventral intermediate nucleus (Vim) as determined with dMRI tractography differed only 0.92 mm on average on subsequent scans within the same individual (SD: 0.51 mm) in a test-retest study of 29 healthy individuals. The difference with a commonly used manual method that locates the Vim at fixed distances in relation to the commissures and third ventricular wall was more pronounced: on average 2.44 mm (SD: 0.92 mm). We believe that dMRI tractography based DBS target determination seems feasible and rather accurate, given that acquisition parameters and post-processing are optimal.

View Presentation Video

Stefanie A Tremblay^1,2,3, Dalia Sabra^1,2,3,4, Safa Sanami^1,2, Ali Rezaei^1,2, Zacharie Potvin-Jutras^1,2, Christine Gagnon², Brittany Intzandt⁵, Amélie Mainville-Berthiaume⁶, Lindsay N Wright^1,2, Dajana Vuckovic⁷, Josep Iglesies-Grau^2,8, Thomas Vincent², Mathieu Gayda², Anil Nigam², Louis Bherer^2,8,9, and Claudine J Gauthier^1,2,3
1Physics, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada, ²Centre ÉPIC and Research Center, Montreal Heart Institute, Montreal, QC, Canada, ³PERFORM Centre, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada, ⁴Department of Biomedical Science, Université de Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada, ⁵BrainLab, Hurvitz Brain Sciences Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada, ⁶Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada, ⁷Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada, ⁸Department of Medicine, Université de Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada, ⁹Research Center, Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada

Keywords: White Matter, Diffusion/other diffusion imaging techniques, DTI, NODDI

Here we characterized the impact of coronary artery disease (CAD) on the brain’s white matter (WM) using diffusion tensor (DTI) and neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI). Mean diffusivity was higher in CAD patients in occipital WM and there were differences in orientation dispersion in several tracts between CAD patients and healthy controls. Alterations in fiber dispersion of cerebellar WM were associated with global cognition, episodic memory, and processing speed. Our study supports the use of advanced diffusion imaging models for the early detection of subtle WM damage in populations at risk of developing dementia such as CAD patients.

View Presentation Video

Tomasz Pieciak¹, Guillem París¹, Dani Beck^2,3,4, Ivan I. Maximov^3,5, Antonio Tristán-Vega¹, Rodrigo de Luis-García¹, Lars T. Westlye^2,3,6, and Santiago Aja-Fernández^1
1ETSI Telecomunicación, Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain, ²Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, ³NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, ⁴Department of Psychiatric Research, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway, ⁵Department of Health and Functioning, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, Norway, ⁶KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

Keywords: White Matter, Diffusion/other diffusion imaging techniques

Diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) allows quantifying Gaussian and non-Gaussian effects in diffusion MRI signal and has already proved its relevance, including assessing age-related brain alterations. Hitherto, the standard DKI follows a single-component signal representation with no explicitly defined free-water factor that might lead to a reduced specificity of tensor-based measures. This work demonstrates the free-water corrections to the DKI and revisits the variations in the metrics across the adult lifespan. Our study shows a significant reduction in variability and dynamics of the kurtosis fractional anisotropy and the preservation of the status quo in the mean kurtosis tensor with age.

Qinger Guo¹, Jingfeng Duan², Shuyang Cai¹, Jiaxi Zhang³, Tao Chen¹, and Hong Yang^1
1Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China, ²Department of Psychiatry, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China, ³Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China

Keywords: White Matter, Psychiatric Disorders

Objective. To describe the abnormalities in WM function and structure in drug-naive first-episode MDD patients.

Methods. 33 patients and 34 HCs were included. Different frequency bands of ALFF and FA were used to analyze the differences between the two groups.

Results. Compared to HCs, patients showed decreased ALFF in PTR and SLF in slow-5 band, which were negatively correlated with the HAMD-17 anxiety/somatization factor items. No difference in FA between two groups.

Conclusions. WM dysfunction relate to the pathophysiological mechanisms of MDD and predates structural damage. Compared to the typical and slow-4 bands, the slow-5 band is more sensitive for early detecting WM dysfunction.

Muwei Li¹, Yurui Gao¹, Dylan R Lawless¹, Lyuan Xu¹, Yu Zhao¹, Kurt G schilling¹, Zhaohua Ding¹, Adam W Anderson¹, Bennett A Landman¹, and John C Gore^1
1Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Nashville, TN, United States

Keywords: White Matter, Aging

Recent studies have consistently reported that BOLD effects in WM reflect neural activities, and thus represent a new window into brain function. Here we evaluate the potential value of BOLD measurements in WM as an indicator of functional changes during normal aging. We observed a widespread reduction of metrics of WM BOLD effects, suggesting changes occur in information exchange in WM with aging. Our findings converge to support the notion that WM BOLD signals in specific regions and their interactions with others have the potential to serve as imaging markers of aging.

View Presentation Video

Liuhui Wu¹, Huaqiong Qiu¹, Shu Su¹, Yingxi Chen¹, Long Qian², and Zhiyun Yang^1
1Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China, ²GE Healthcare, Beijing, China

Keywords: White Matter, Diffusion Tensor Imaging, Idiopathic growth hormone deficiency, TBSS

Idiopathic growth hormone deficiency (IGHD) is an important and unknown causes of pediatric short stature. Although grey matter morphological changes in the cerebral cortex of IGHD have been proved, the knowledge about white matter (WM) is poorly investigated. Whether the mental status of IGHD children is associated with WM abnormalities is unclear. In this study, 50 pediatric with IGHD and 48 age- and gender-matched typically developing (TD) children included for TBSS analysis. Our results indicated that IGHD children showed the WM abnormalities (especially in bilateral posterior corona radiata), which are correlated with behavioral and mental problems.

Mengmeng Feng¹, Wen Hongwei^2,3, Xin Haotian¹, Shengpei Wang^4,5, Chaofan Sui⁶, Yian Gao⁶, Changhu Liang^1,6, and Lingfei Guo^1,6
1Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, China, ²Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Ministry of Education), Chongqing, China, ³School of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China, ⁴Research Center for Brain-inspired Intelligence, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, ⁵University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, ⁶Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China

Keywords: White Matter, Diffusion Tensor Imaging

We used probabilistic diffusion tractography and graph theory based on DTI to investigate the topologic organization of white matter (WM) structural networks in 54 patients with severe CSVD burden (CSVD-s), 117 patients with mild CSVD burden (CSVD-m) and 73 healthy controls. Compared with CSVD-m patients and controls, CSVD-s patients exhibited significantly increased local efficiency, normalized clustering coefficient and small world index, with partially reorganized hub distributions. In addition, the CSVD-s patients showed significantly increased nodal efficiency in some brain regions. Intriguingly, the significant correlation between node efficiency and cognitive parameters existed in CSVD-m and control groups.

View Presentation Video

Hind Errame^1,2, Holly Rayson^1,2, Alice Massera^1,2, Yann Bihan-Poudec^1,2, Franck Lamberton³, Mathilda Froesel^1,2, Maeva Gacoin^1,2, Suliann Ben Hamed^1,2, Nathalie Richard^1,2, Pier-Francesco Ferrari^1,2, and Bassem Hiba^1,2
1Institut des sciences cognitives Marc Jeannerod (ISC) , CNRS, LYON, France, ²Claude Bernard University, Lyon 1, LYON, France, ³CERMEP - Centre d'Etude et de Recherche Multimodal Et Pluridisciplinaire en imagerie du vivant, LYON, France

Keywords: White Matter, Diffusion Tensor Imaging

Using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and behavioral observation, this study investigated the longitudinal effects of early social adversity (ESA) on risk for anxiety and the neural mechanisms underlying this relationship across adolescence. 

Diffusion MRI data were collected from 21 macaques comprising two groups that differed in exposure to ESA; mother-reared and nursery-reared. Each monkey was scanned at 2.5, 3.5 and 4.5 years old, with anxiety-like behavior assessed at each time-point.

Results suggest that ESA has long-term effects on WM fractional anisotropy (FA) in several regions, with differences in frontolimbic and frontostriatal WM tracts modulating the relationship between ESA and anxiety . 

Huang ming ming¹, Yu Hui¹, Li Xiao Bao¹, Liu Jian Tao², Zhang Aaron³, and Gao Bo^4
1Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China, ²Philips Healthcare China, Xi an, China, ³Philips Healthcare China, Guangzhou, China, ⁴Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China

Keywords: White Matter, Diffusion Tensor Imaging, type 2 diabetes mellitus

DTI provides an effective way to investigate the white matter integrity and white matter connectivity. In this study, almost the white matter integrity was injured in cognitive impairment T2DM patients with CSVD , which were accompanied with reduction of FA value and increasing of λ∥、λ⊥ and ADC values . These results suggested that axonal injuries and demyelinating diseases maybe exist and induce the network connectivity disruption in these patients. More over, In patients with T2DM, network parameters were associated with memory and attention, significantly correlation were found between network parameters and cognitive assessment scores. These findings may provide new insights into how white matter abnormalities and white matter network disruption can affect cognitive function in patients with diabetes.