Julian R. Maclaren¹, Zhaoying Han¹, Sjoerd B. Vos^1,2, Christoph Seeger^1,3, Alexander Brost¹, Nancy J. Fischbein¹, and Roland Bammer^1
1Center for Quantitative Neuroimaging, Dept. of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States, ²Image Sciences Institute, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands, ³Pattern Recognition Lab, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany

The monitoring of neurodegenerative disease progression may be assisted by quantitative measurement of the volume of structures in the human brain. We performed 120 scans on 3 volunteers over a period of 31 days. The resulting dataset is available online and is a valuable resource for quantifying the repeatability of brain volume measurements. Results show that lateral ventricle volume, in particular, varies significantly from day to day. This could potentially mask the effects of disease and should be taken into consideration in any analysis performed using ventricle volume.

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

The hemispheric asymmetry of different age groups was measured using a multivariate model based on morphological variables to track the decennial evolution of cerebral laterality during healthy aging.

Ryan Hutten¹, Nadia Abbasi¹, Michael Mercury², Victoria Braund², Zoran Grujic³, and Ying Wu^1,4
1Department of Radiology, NorthShore University Health System, Evanston, IL, United States, ²Department of Psychiatry, NorthShore University Health System, Glenview, IL, United States, ³Department of Internal Medicine, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States,⁴Department of Radiology, The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States

Previous imaging studies of Alzheimer's disease have shown regional abnormalities in patients using both diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and magnetization transfer ratio (MTR). We build upon the work of previous studies by combining two commonly used methods into one automated process. In this study, we utilize an autoregional method to isolate specific brain regions, and then perform an autotractography algorithm to target white matter tracts associated with the included brain regions. This procedure detects previously unseen MTR differences between the white matter fiber tracts of AD patients and healthy controls.

Jeffrey William Prescott¹, Arnaud Guidon², Chunlei Liu², Allen Song², Murali Doraiswamy³, Jeffrey Petrella¹, and for the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative^1
1Radiology, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States, ²Brain Imaging Analysis Center, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States, ³Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States

The current analysis was designed to evaluate changes in the structural connections in the brain, as assessed by connectome mapping from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) MR scans, among normal controls (NC), subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and subjects with AD in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Intiative 2 (ADNI2). There were 101 ADNI2 subjects in the analysis. The bilateral insula weighted degree were significantly associated clinical diagnosis.

Claudine Joëlle Gauthier¹, Muriel Lefort², Saïd Mekary³, Laurence Desjardins-Crépeau³, Cécile Madjar³, Louis Bherer⁴, Frédérique Frouin², and Richard D. Hoge^5
1Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Saxony, Germany, ²Inserm 678, UPMC, CHU Pitié Salpêtrière, Paris, Ile-de-France, France, ³CRIUGM, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, ⁴Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, ⁵Physiology, CRIUGM/Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Arteries throughout the body stiffen with age, but vessel hardening may start at the level of the aorta and progress to other organs, including the brain. Vascular impairment may contribute to cognitive changes observed with aging. Furthermore, it may be that regular exercise acts as a modulator to partially attenuate the effects of age on vascular and metabolic physiology. Here we show imaging results indicative of a link between vascular health at the level of the aorta, the carotids and the brain with measures of cardiovascular fitness and cognition.

Claudine Joëlle Gauthier^1,2, Cécile Madjar^3,4, Laurence Desjardins-Crépeau^3,5, Pierre Bellec^3,6, Louis Bherer^3,7, and Richard D. Hoge^2
1Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Saxony, Germany, ²Physiology, CRIUGM/Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, ³CRIUGM, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, ⁴Montreal Neurological Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, ⁵Psychology, UQAM, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, ⁶Computer Science and Operations Research, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, ⁷Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

The BOLD signal is often used as a direct index of neuronal activity to study changes with aging. However, profound changes in cerebrovascular properties in older adults may lead to biases in the interpretation of BOLD signal differences between young and old. Here we show that changes in baseline blood flow, reactivity to hypercapnia and calibration parameter M are present even in healthy aging. These changes may lead to underestimation of metabolic changes with aging.

Jorge Jovicich¹, Moira Marizzoni², Roser Sala-Llonch³, Nuria Bargalló³, David Bartrés-Faz³, Jennifer Arnold⁴, Jens Benninghoff⁴, Jens Wiltfang⁴, Luca Roccatagliata⁵, Flavio Nobili⁵, Christian Zeeh⁶, Peter Schonknecht⁶, Giada Zoccatelli⁷, Franco Alessandrini⁷, Alberto Beltramello⁷, Hélène Gros-Dagnac⁸, Pierre Payoux⁸, Valérie Chanoine^9,10, Jean-Philippe Ranjeva^9,10, Mira Didic^9,10, Melanie Leroy¹¹, Regis Bordet¹¹, and Giovanni Frisoni^2
1University of Trento, Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, Mattarello, Trento, Italy, ²IRCCS San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, LENITEM Lab of Epidem., Neuroim. & Telem, Brescia, Lombardia, Italy, ³Dept. Psychiatry and Clinical Psychobiology, Faculty of Medicine University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain, ⁴Department of Psychiatry and nuclear medicine, Universitaet Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Essen, Germany, ⁵Dept of Neuroscience, Ophthalmology and Genetics, University of Genoa, Genoa, Lombardia, Italy, ⁶Dept of Psychiatry and Dept of Neuroradiology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany, ⁷Dept of Neuroradiology, Verona General Hospital, Verona, Verona, Italy, ⁸U825 - Plateau Technique IRM, INSERM / Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, Toulouse, France, ⁹Hôpital La Timone CIC – UPCET, Marseille, Marseille, France, ¹⁰Centre de Resonance Magnetique Biologique et Medicale, Aix Marseille Université, Marseille, Marseille, France, ¹¹Universitè Lille UL2, Lille, Lille, France

The success in finding clinically useful MRI-derived biomarkers is highly dependent on data acquisition and analysis strategies. In this brain morphometry study we show for the first time the across-session test-retest reproducibility advantages of the fully automated longitudinal FreeSurfer segmentation protocol relative to the cross-sectional analysis, when tested in a consortia using different 3T MRI scanners (Siemens, Philips, GE) acquiring standard 3D MPRAGE data, with 7 out of 8 sites using parallel imaging acquisition (about 5 min acquisition per volume) and no data averaging.

Keith R. Thulborn¹, Saad Jamil¹, Aiming Lu¹, and Ian C. Atkinson^1
1Ctr Magnetic Resonance Research, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, United States

Quantitative sodium MR imaging at 9.4 Tesla has been used to measure cell density in the brain of cognitively normal individuals (N=14) across the adult age range (20-65 years). Despite the known ongoing tissue loss with aging, the constant cell density suggests that this is a highly conserved structural parameter. The brain must shrink with age as cells are lost in order to preserve cell density and hence function. This may be related to the need to maintain the intra- and extra-cellular volumes to preserve the resting membrane potential at the same energy demand of the Na/K ion pumps.

Feng Zhao¹, Li-Hong Zhang², Jing Yuan¹, Queenie Chan³, David Yew², and Yi-Xiang Wang^1
1Department of Imaging and Interventional Radiology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong, ²Brain Research Centre, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong, ³Philips Healthcare, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

T1rho relaxation has been suggested as a sensitive biomarker to detect Alzheimer¡¯s disease and Parkinson¡¯s disease. Aging and hypertension are two major risk factors for common neurodegenerative diseases. Spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) is most extensively investigated for evaluating hypertensive brain damage. In this study, the T1rho values in thalamus, hippocampus and cortices of SHR and WKY control rats at the age of 6, 9 and 12-month were measured longitudinally. T1rho values in these regions of SHR were consistently higher than those in WKY rats. Meanwhile, the regional brain T1rho values of both SHR and WKY rats increased with aging process.

Yong Zhang¹, He Wang¹, Guang Cao¹, Qing Mao¹, Bei Ding², and Hua-Wei Ling^2
1GE Healthcare, Shanghai, Shanghai, China, ²Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai, Shanghai, China

This preliminary study investigated cerebral perfusion changes in Alzheimer¡¯s disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) measured with a novel 3D arterial spin labeling technique to facilitate more accurate voxel-wise comparison. Twenty-four AD patients, seventeen MCI patients and twenty-one healthy controls were recruited. In addition to the decreased CBF regions in the bilateral temporo-parieto-occipital cortex, increased CBF was observed in bilateral thalamus, right temporal lobe and paracentral lobule for AD patients and in bilateral frontal lobes and right temporal lobe for MCI patients. Our results suggested the existence of the different patterns of hyperperfusion along with the disease evolvement.

Shantanu Majumdar¹ and David C. Zhu^1,2
1Department of Radiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States, ²Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States

Integration of resting-state functional connectivity analysis with the DTI based white matter connectivity analysis can provide overall neuronal connectivity information about the regions of interest involved. In Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and amestic mild cognitive impairment patients, certain specific brain regions are affected at early stages than other regions. In this work, we present a quantitative analysis of combined functional-structural connectivity to study the changes in certain cortical regions of the brain known to be affected in AD.

Matthew C. Murphy¹, John Huston¹, Clifford R. Jack¹, Kevin J. Glaser¹, David T. Jones², Matthew L. Senjem¹, Armando Manduca³, Joel P. Felmlee¹, and Richard Leroy Ehman^1
1Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States, ²Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States, ³Department of Physiology and Biomedical Engineering, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States

Building on a previous finding that global brain stiffness is a novel biomarker of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the purpose of this work was to measure regional brain stiffness across the full AD spectrum (i.e. cognitively normal → mild cognitive impairment → AD dementia). Using a novel MR elastography pipeline, this work demonstrates that changes in brain stiffness follow the known topography of AD (frontal, parietal and temporal lobes significantly affected). Furthermore, brain stiffness may provide unique insights into the temporal dynamics of AD progression as it was shown to change non-monotonically with respect to disease severity.

Robert Dawe¹, David A. Bennett¹, Julie Schneider¹, Sue Leurgans¹, and Konstantinos Arfanakis^1,2
1Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, United States, ²Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, United States

The transverse relaxation time constant T2 carries potentially valuable information regarding the condition of brain tissue. Postmortem T2 maps from 211 elderly human brain hemispheres were spatially normalized and voxelwise analysis of covariance (VANCOVA) was carried out, with histopathologic observations serving as explanatory variables. This analysis revealed significant associations between regionally prolonged T2 values and histopathologically confirmed Alzheimer’s disease, as well as gross infarcts. An additional VANCOVA showed that T2 in white matter of the frontal lobe can account for approximately 10% of the cross-sectional variance in semantic and working memory.

Zhaoying Han¹, Julian R. Maclaren¹, Alexander Brost¹, Sjoerd B. Vos^1,2, Christoph Seeger^1,3, Nancy J. Fischbein¹, and Roland Bammer^1
1Center for Quantitative Neuroimaging, Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, United States, ²Image Sciences Institute, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands, ³Pattern Recognition Lab, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany

Biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases derived from MRI brain structures are promising to translate into clinical practice by comparing a patient’s brain to those in a database. The aim of this study was to choose the well-defined standard protocol from the ADNI project and compare it to the standard GE BRAVO sequence used in clinical routine at our institution and assess comparability of volumetric measurements. Statistical analysis shows that ADNI and our clinical BRAVO protocol – although tightly matched in terms of scan parameters – have statistically significant differences in estimated volumes of the lateral ventricles and hippocampus with Freesurfer segmentations.

Firat Kara¹, Fu Chen¹, Itamar Ronen², Huub J. M. de Groot¹, Jorg Matysik^1,3, and A Alia^1,2
1Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands, ²Department of Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands,³Institut fuer Analytische Chemie, Universitaet Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

The estimates of in vivo T2 and T1 at 17.6 T will be useful to optimize pulse sequences for optimal image contrast and will serve as baseline values against which disease-related relaxation changes can be assessed in mice. This study establishes for the first time the normative T2 and T1 values at 17.6 T over different mouse brain regions with age. T2 values at 17.6 T typically increased with age in multiple brain regions except in the hypothalamus and the caudate-putamen, where a slight decrease was observed. Furthermore, T1 values in various brain regions of young and old mice are presented at 17.6 T.

A Alia^1,2, Firat Kara¹, Niels Braakman¹, Mark A. van Buchem², and Reinhard Schliebs^3
1Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands, ²Department of Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands,³University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common neurodegerative disease afflicting mainly the elderly. Glucose metabolism and uptake has been shown to be impaired during AD which is proposed to be an important cause of neurodegeneration. However the cause of impairment of glucose uptake/metabolism in AD brain and its correlation with plaque deposition is not clear. The aim of this study is to investigate regional brain glucose levels changes with age using two dimensional correlated MR spectroscopy (L-COSY) at 9.4 T. Our results indicate that age dependent decline in glucose level occur primarily in plaque affected areas of TG2576 mice.

Guangyu Chen¹, Chunming Xie¹, Guangyu Chen¹, Wenjun Li¹, B. Douglas Ward¹, Jennifer L. Jones², Malgorzata Franczak², Piero G. Antuono², and Shi-Jiang Li^1
1Department of Biophysics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States, ²Department of Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States

Data from 65 Alzheimer's disease and 136 cognitively normal subjects were included in the study. We compared Alzheimer's disease classification techniques, using structural and resting-state functional MRI biomarkers. When the RfMRI classification result agreed with the structural MRI classification result, the subjects were classified with 90% accuracy. The incongruous classification results may predict disease conversion or treatment response.

Andreas Schäfer¹, Solveig Tiepolt², Elisabeth Roggenhofer¹, Robert Trampel¹, Carsten Stueber¹, Vilia Zeisig², Udo Grossmann², Thies H. Jochimsen², Osama Sabri², Robert Turner¹, and Henryk Barthel^2
1Max-Planck-Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany, ²Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

In Alzheimer’s disease (AD) iron is accumulated in regions with beta-amyloid plaques. The aim of this study is to investigate whether a difference in quantitative magnetic susceptibility values in gray matter between postmortem tissue samples of AD patients and healthy controls can be detected using magnetic resonance imaging, via the high sensitivity of quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) to iron content. We have measured a significant susceptibility difference in the GM between beta-amyloid-positive AD and beta-amyloid-negative control tissue, with higher values for the AD tissue.

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

A multivariate model based on morphological variates including cortical surface area, curvature index, thickness, and subjacent white matter volume, was developed to evaluate and track the differences of laterality alterations between male and female genders during healthy aging.

Pablo Garcia-Polo^1,2, Daniel Garcia-Frank³, Alicia Quiros⁴, Zhongmin Lin⁵, Litao Yan⁵, Gopal Avinash⁵, Roberto Garcia-Alvarez⁶, Juan Álvarez-Linera⁷, and Juan Antonio Hernandez-Tamames^1,2
1DTE, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Móstoles, Madrid, Spain, ²CIBERNED, Alzheimer's Project Queen Sofia Foundation, Madrid, Madrid, Spain, ³IDIPAZ, FIBHULP, Madrid, Madrid, Spain, ⁴Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Fuenlabrada, Madrid, Spain, ⁵GE Healthcare, Waukesha, WI, United States, ⁶GE Healthcare, Madrid, Madrid, Spain, ⁷Hospital Ruber Internacional, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

This piece of work compares structural, metabolic and physiological biomarkers in order to characterize the Alzheimer’s disease, which is the most common cause of dementia, with neuroimaging methods. This study asks which biomarkers, or a combination of them, provide the most complete picture of the brain alterations in this pathology.

Laura Serra¹, Lucia Fadda², Roberta Perri², Barbara Spanò¹, Mario Torso¹, Diana Castelli³, Camillo Marra³, Carlo Caltagirone², and Marco Bozzali^4
1Neuroimaging Laboratory, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy, ²Neurological and behavioural laboratory, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy,³Institute of Neurology, Università Cattolica, Roma, Italy, ⁴Neuroimaging Laboratory, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy

Using voxel-based morphometry we investigated the pathophysioological substrate of constructive apraxia (CA) in patients Alzheimer's disease (AD). A peculiar pattern of regional GM atrophy was present in those patients with CA manifestations but not in the others. Our findings fit well with current anatomo-functional theories on CA.

Thao T. Tran¹, Cherise Charleswell¹, Nick O'Dell¹, June Liu¹, Michael Miller², Michael Lindsey³, and Brian D. Ross^1
1Clinical MR, HMRI, Pasadena, CA, United States, ²Webster's Community Pharmacy, Altadena, CA, United States, ³Huntington Memorial Hospital, Pasadena, CA, United States

We demonstrate the impact of minocycline on mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) by employing quantified MR neuro-imaging (qMRI) and neurospectroscopy (MRS).

Nan-Jie Gong¹, Chun-Sing Wong¹, Chun-Chung Chan², Lam-Ming Leung², and Queenie Chan^3
1Diagnostic Radiology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, ²United Christian Hospital, Hong Kong, China, ³Philips Healthcare, Hong Kong, China

Using both quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) and diffusional kurtosis imaging (DKI) methods, we investigated age-related iron depositions in subcortical gray matters of globus pallidus (GP) and putamen (Pu). Besides, the contribution of iron deposition with aging to microstructural alterations in deep gray matter has also been studied by testing correlations between DKI parameters and susceptibility.

Yong Zhang¹, He Wang¹, Guang Cao¹, Lin Zhang², and Gui-Xiang Zhang^2
1GE Healthcare, Shanghai, Shanghai, China, ²Shanghai First People's Hospital, Shanghai, Shanghai, China

This preliminary study investigated functional connectivity changes in Alzheimer¡¯s Disease (AD) using degree centrality (DC), a novel resting-state fMRI parameter to provide voxel-wise whole brain functional connectivity measurement. Six AD patients and nine age- and gender-matched healthy controls were recruited for comparison. In additional to the deceased DC regions in bilateral hippocampus and frontal lobe observed for normal aging controls and AD patients, the right insular showed increased DC for normal controls but decreased DC for AD patients, which might provide interesting insight into the mechanism of the disease.

Victoria N. Poole¹, Larry Leverenz², Eric Nauman^1,3, Thomas Talavage^1,4, and Ulrike Dydak^5,6
1School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States, ²Department of Health and Kinesiology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States, ³School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States, ⁴School of Electrical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States, ⁵School of Health Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States, ⁶Department of Radiology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States

To assess the consequence of repetitive hits on neural metabolism, proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy has been performed in high school American football athletes prior, during, and after their competition season. Our results in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, primary motor cortex, and cerebellum show that these contact sport athletes exhibit significant deviations in season from their pre-season scans that are consistent with glial cell damage and compromised functionality. When the pre-season measures are compared with preliminary data from non-contact athletes serving as controls, the data suggest the contact athletes began the season with incomplete recovery and, quite possibly, have chronic damage.

Michal Bittsansky¹, Stefan Sivak¹, Jan Grossmann¹, Veronika Ilovska¹, Petra Hnilicova¹, Egon Kurca¹, and Dusan Dobrota^1
1Jessenius Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, Martin, Slovakia, Slovakia

In patients with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), our aim was to find correlations between clinical scores and proton metabolite concentrations in different parts of the brain. 21 patients within 2-3 days after injury and 21 matched volunteers were examined with cognitive tests, MR spectroscopic imaging (CSI) and single-voxel spectroscopy. NAA in lateral frontal areas was decreased in all patients, in brain stem only in the individuals with unconsciousness. Significant positive correlations of frontal lateral NAA with cognitive test results were observed. CSI revealed further spatial metabolite information. Our results help resolve the involvement of different brain parts during mTBI.

Christine MacDonald¹, Ann Johnson¹, Octavian Adam², Dennis Rivet², James Sorrell¹, Brian Sammons¹, Dana Cooper¹, Linda Wierzechowski³, Yolanda Barnes³, John Ritter⁴, Todd May⁵, Maria Barefield², Josh Duckworth², Don Labarge², Dean Asher², Benjamin Drinkwine², Joshua S. Shimony⁶, Matthew Parsons⁷, Abraham Snyder⁶, Michael Russell⁸, John Witherow³, Raymond Fang³, Stephen Flaherty³, and David L. Brody^9
1Neurology, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO, United States, ²NATO Role 3 Kandahar Air Field, Kandahar, Afghanistan, ³Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Landstuhl, Germany, ⁴Bastion Hospital, Helmond Province, Afghanistan, ⁵Camp Leatherneck, Helmond Province, Afghanistan, ⁶Radiology, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO, United States, ⁷Radiology, Washington University, Saint Louis, Missouri, United States, ⁸US Army, San Antonio, TX, United States, ⁹Neurology, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, United States

Blast-related traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been called the ‘signature injury’ of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the current study, 4 independent cohorts of individuals exposed to blast were studied with diffusion tensor imaging. These cohorts provided a unique opportunity to compare and contrast imaging findings across patients following blast exposure at varying time points post injury; potentially documenting the temporal evolution of this injury. Although each cohort identified regions of reduced anisotropy indicative of white matter injury, only the left middle cerebellar peduncle was found to be abnormal across all 4 cohorts.

Mingying Du¹, Wei Liao², Su Lui¹, Xiaoqi Huang¹, and Qiyong Gong^1
1Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China, ²Central for Cognition and Brain Disorders, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

Evidences had showed acute impact on the brain activity and functional connectivity in healthy trauma survivors, however, little is known about the long-term impact of trauma on the brain network function of healthy survivors. The aim of current study was to use graph theory analysis to evaluate the alteration of neural network function in survivors 2-year after trauma comparing with healthy controls without traumatic experience. Our results provide evidence that the major trauma has long-term impact on the brain network function in physically healthy survivors, highlighting the need for long-term evaluation and intervention for trauma survivors.

Jiachen Zhuo¹, Teodora Stoica¹, Steven Roys¹, Chandler Sours^1,2, Kathirkamanthan Shanmuganathan¹, and Rao P. Gullapalli^1
1Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States, ²Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States

Patients with mild traumatic-brain-injury (mTBI) pose a special challenge as often the radiological diagnosis may underrepresent the true clinical condition of the patient. In this study, we use diffusion-kurtosis-imaging to study global white and gray matter changes following mTBI at sub-acute and chronic stages and examine their relationship to patients symptoms and cognitive status. mTBI patients with persistent post concussive symptoms showed greater changes in global tissue microstructures. Such changes persist into the chronic stage even when their cognitive performance has recovered. DKI parameters are sensitive to gray matter changes and myelin integrity hence may complement DTI in evaluating mTBI.

Ramtilak Gattu¹, Zhifeng Kou², Robert Welch³, Valerie Mika⁴, Hardik Doshi⁴, Ewart Mark Haacke², and Randall Benson^5
1Radiology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, United States, ²Biomedical Engineering, Radiology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, United States, ³Emergency Medicine, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan, United States, ⁴Biomedical Engineering, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, United States, ⁵Center for Neurological Studies, Novi, Michigan, United States

A method of removing anomalous anatomy is described to be applied to diffusion tensor image processing involving between subject comparison. The method first attempts to spatially register all images into a common space but in some cases the registration is strained by anatomical anomalies which would result in artifactual results if not accounted for. The method described utilizes sampled voxelwise FA variance from controls in order to exclude or mask outlier values over spatial scales consistent with anatomical anomalies. The results reported indicated the value of the method in reducing false positive artifacts in DTI analysis.

Khader M. Hasan¹, Terrell D. Staewen¹, Elisabeth A. Wilde², Emmy R. Miller³, Melisa Frisby², James J. McCarthy⁴, Jill V. Hunter⁵, Harvey S. Levin², Claudia S. Peterson³, and Ponnada A. Narayana^1
1Diagnostic and Interventional Imaging, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, United States, ²Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States, ³Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States,⁴Emergency Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, United States, ⁵Pediatric Radiology, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas, United States

In this report, we applied DTI methods serially on cohorts of healthy orthopedic controls and mTBI to characterize regional and global macrostructural and microstructural attributes of white matter, gray matter and cerebrospinal fluid to identify and differentiate patterns of acute and short-term recovery trends. Given that some previous DTI reports on mTBI in adults implicated the left anterior corona radiata, we analyzed this entire zone using atlas-based methods. Our analysis of the cross-sectional and serial data demonstrates dissociation between volumetric (macrostructural) and tissue integrity (microstructural) attributes and show the potential utility of DTI to capture a pattern of transient vasogenic edema using the DTI measurements of the corona radiata.

Ofer Pasternak¹, Sylvain Bouix¹, Yogesh Rathi¹, Craig A. Branch², Carl-Fredrik Westin¹, Martha E. Shenton^1,3, and Michael L. Lipton^2
1Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, ²The Gruss Magnetic Resonance Research Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, United States, ³VA Boston Healthcare System, Brockton, MA, United States

Detection of brain abnormalities following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is hard since tissue changes are subtle and heterogeneously located, thus not well suited to be detected using group analyses. We study a diagnosis approach in which free-water corrected diffusion MRIs of acute mTBI subjects are individually compared to a normative atlas. By analyzing the distribution of z-scores we are able to demonstrate significant group differences, which were not detected using conventional group analyses. We locate ranges in the distribution that are most specific to the injury, and these infer the types of abnormalities that can be expected in mTBI,

Chandrasekharan Kesavadas¹, Jija S. James, Bejoy Thomas, T. R. Kapilamoorthy, and Sankara Sarma
¹Radiology, SCTIMST, Trivandrum, Kerala, India

A combination of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) and Voxel Based Morphometry (VBM) used together can give better information of the language lateralization than using a single technique alone.The combination of these three techniques provides an opportunity to study the relationship between brain structure and function. In patients especially small children who fail to perform the fMRI language tasks, the presurgical lateralization of language function may be done using diffusion tractography & volumetry of specific cortical structures.

Wei Tian¹, Xiang Liu¹, Jianhui Zhong¹, and Sven Ekholm^1
1Imaging Sciences, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, United States

There are few studies about cognitive functional imaging study in early diabetes Our study analyzed 20 patients with early type 2 diabetes mellitus and 15 demographically similar, healthy subjects. The microalbuminuria, hypoglycemia and ketonic acidosis, cerebral lesions were ruled out. A series psychological tests, nback task fMRI and single-voxel MRS with TE 30 on bilateral PFC were performed on both groups. Our results show decreased cognitive test scores and less activation especially on PFC in patient group. Increase of Glx and decrease of Cho could be detected, p<0.01; while there was no significant change of NAA. Transit memory was negatively correlated with Glx/Cho (F=-0.546, P value =0.013) and Glx/(Cr+Cho) (F=-0.471, P value = 0.036). The number of errors in trail making test A was positively related to NAA/Cr. Our study revealed cognitive dysfunction in early type 2 diabetic patients. The hypofunction in PFC plays an important role in cognitive dysfunction and the emotional abnormality. Increase of Glx and the degeneration of choline neuron system, which maybe contribute to the pathophysiological basis of PFC hypofunction.

Wendy W. Ni^1,2, Thomas Christen¹, and Greg Zaharchuk^1
1Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States, ²Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States

In this study, we demonstrate the feasibility of a novel myelin water fraction (MWF) measurement method that utilizes free induction decay (FID) and post-spin echo refocused gradient echoes acquired with the Gradient-Echo Sampling of FID and Echo (GESFIDE) sequence. Preliminary results are mostly consistent with literature values of MWF in several regions of interest. While the method needs further improvement of the signal model and optimization of imaging parameters, it demonstrates great potential for examining myelination state in the human brain.

Michael Amann¹, Michaela Andelova², Nicole Mueller-Lenke^3,4, Julia Reinhardt³, Stefano Magon^2,4, Stefan Traud⁴, Katrin Weier², Ludwig Kappos², Ernst-Wilhelm Radue⁴, Christoph Stippich³, and Till Sprenger^2
1Neurology/Neuroradiology, Universitätsspital Basel, Basel, BS, Switzerland, ²Neurology, Universitätsspital Basel, Basel, BS, Switzerland, ³Neuroradiology, Universitätsspital Basel, Basel, BS, Switzerland, ⁴Medical Image Analysis Centre, Basel, BS, Switzerland

We investigated the feasibility of FIRST deep grey matter (DGM) segmentation of interpolated 2D T1w data sets by comparing the results with the respective segmentation of 3D data. 30 patients were included in this study. The MR scanning protocol included two T1-weighted scans: an isotropic 3D MPRAGE sequence and a 2D T1w-SE sequence. The 2D data were sinc-interpolated to an isotropic resolution of 1mm³. Then, both interpolated 2D data and 3D data were processed using FIRST. Intra-class correlation coefficients were calculated. Strong agreement was found between total DGM volumes and also for the larger subcortical structures.

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

A substantial literature indicates distinct yet integrated anatomy and function along the longitudinal hippocampus axis. Some diseases also selectively affect anterior-posterior hippocampus regions. A number of rodent studies report cholinergic selectivity along the longitudinal (ventral-dorsal) axis of the hippocampus. Arterial spin labeling studies were performed to explore possible anterior-posterior differences in human hippocampus perfusion response to cholinergic challenge with the reversible cholinesterase inhibitor physostigmine. In agreement with the hypothesis suggested by the animal literature, a trend of larger rCBF response to physostigmine challenge in anterior hippocampus than in the rest of hippocampus was observed.

Luisa Ciobanu¹, Lynn Uhrig², Boucif Djemai¹, Denis Le Bihan¹, and Béchir Jarraya^2,3
1Neurospin, CEA, Gif sur Yvette, France, ²Equipe Avenir INSERM Bettencourt Schueller, Neurospin, CEA, Gif sur Yvette, France, ³Unité de Neurochirurgie Fonctionnelle, Henri-Mondor Hospital, Créteil, France

The non-invasive, in vivo monitoring of the effects of anesthetic agents on brain blood oxygenation remains highly challenging. Even when the systemic hemodynamics is kept stable, anesthetic agents can locally affect the cerebral hemodynamics and metabolism. Taking advantage of the increase in T2* contrast provided by UHF MRI (17.2 T) we study the effects of different anesthetic agents (isoflurane, propofol, midazolam, sevoflurane, ketamine and medetomidine) on the blood oxygenation in subcortical and cortical regions in a rat animal model.

Maolin Qiu¹, Ramachandran Ramani², and Robert Todd Constable^3
1Diagnostic Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States, ²Anesthesiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States, ³Diagnostic Radiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States

Direct Fluorine-19 imaging of anesthesia induced by Sevoflurane will provide important information about the pharmacokinetics of inhalational agents. Together with the pharmacology studies it may provide the whole picture of the neuronal mechanisms of general anesthesia. The extremely low cortical concentrations at clinically-relevant levels make in-vivo 19F imaging of cortical distributions in humans very challenging. With the aid of recent advances in imaging, we have successfully demonstrated in-vivo detecting regional Sevoflurane with a 1H/19F dual-tuned CP head coil during anesthesia at 0.5MAC. Our results not only support the observations from previous animal studies, but have provided new insight into the drug delivery of this agent.

Michael J. Thrippleton¹, Jehill Parikh¹, Bridget Harris², Scott I. Semple³, Peter J. Andrews², Joanna M. Wardlaw¹, and Ian Marshall^1
1Brain Research Imaging Centre, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Lothian, United Kingdom, ²Department of Anaesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Management, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Lothian, United Kingdom, ³Centre for Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Lothian, United Kingdom

MRSI brain temperature mapping at 3T confers a small advantage compared with 1.5T with regard to precision. The largest source of variation arises between voxels.

Katharina Göbel¹, Oliver G. Gruschke², Jochen Leupold¹, Johannes S. Kern³, Cristina Has³, Jan G. Korvink^2,4, Leena Bruckner-Tudermann^3,4, Jürgen Hennig¹, Dominik von Elverfeldt¹, and Nicoleta Baxan^1,5
1Dept. of Radiology, Medical Physics, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany, ²Lab. of Simulation, University of Freiburg - IMTEK, Freiburg, Germany, ³Dept. of Dermatology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany, ⁴Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany, ⁵Bruker BioSpin MRI GmbH, Ettlingen, Germany

MRI of the skin as non invasive alternative to histopathology is challenging as dedicated approaches are required to overcome low sensitivity and contrast of standard MR investigations applied at microscale. The geometry of the skin with layers of large lateral dimensions and micrometre thickness demands high resolution over an enhanced FOV. Here, a home made MR detector arranged in a phased array geometry has been developed to surmount these challenges. Based on findings about coil performance and feasibility of high resolution imaging on healthy human skin, we present first results of diseased skin (Acne inversa) with direct comparison to histopathological sampling.

Graeme M. Bydder¹, Richard M. Znamirowski², Michael Carl³, and Nikolaus M. Szeverenyi^2
1Radiology, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States, ²Radiology, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States,³GE Healthcare, San Diego, CA, United States

In this study we describe imaging of peripheral nerves in tissue samples, intact cadavers and human subjects using short and ultrashort echo time (TE) pulse sequences. The emphasis was on detection of short T2 components within nerves. This is of particular interest in peripheral nerves because there is significant ordered collagen in all three layers of peripheral nerves and this tissue tends to have a short T2.

Malek I. Makki¹, Cyrile Cappel², Bader Chaarani², Catherine Gondry-Jouet³, and Olivier Baledent^2
1MRI Research, University Children Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland, ²BioFlowImage, University Hospital Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens, France, ³Radiology, University Hospital Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens, France

The major source of errors affecting the assessment of cerebro-spinal fluid (CSF) dynamic with 2D cine phase-contrast MRI (cine-PC) in the aqueduct of Sylvius and the subarachnoid space are artifacts from blood leakage and inappropriate velocity encoding value. These make it difficult for an early and accurate diagnosis of impaired CSF flow and bias the quantification of velocity and volume leading to poor predictive outcome of surgical intervention. This investigation aims to develop a new 2D cine-PC sequence to assess CSF flow free of such artifacts and sensitive to slow CSF flow.

Kyung Mi Lee¹, Min-Ji Kim², Chang Woo Ryu², Ji Seon Park¹, Hak Young Rhee³, Eui Jong Kim¹, and Geon-Ho Jahng^2
1Radiology, Kyung Hee University Hospital, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Seoul, Korea, ²Radiology, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Seoul, Korea, ³Neurology, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Seoul, Korea

To prospectively evaluate whether Apolipoprotein E4 (APOE4) carriers were altered in brain diffusion anisotropy compared with noncarriers in Alzheimer disease (AD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and cognitively normal (CN) subjects, 25 AD, 25 MCI, and 25 CN subjects were scanned DTI data. Furthermore, we applied a partial volume correction (PVC) method to minimize contributions of cerebrospinal fluid on FA and trace maps. We concluded that regional microstructural changes of brain in APOE4 carriers of AD and MCI subjects were found and application of the PVC should be helpful for accurate evaluation of microstructural changes in cognitive decline patients.

Jean-Philippe Coutu^1,2, H. Diana Rosas^1,3, and David H. Salat^1,4
1MGH/MIT/HMS Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, Massachusetts, United States, ²Health Sciences and Technology, MIT/Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, ³Neurology, MGH, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, ⁴Radiology, MGH, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Diffusion kurtosis imaging and diffusion tensor imaging have been used to investigate microstructural differences in the aging white matter of carriers of APOE allele 4, a risk factor for sporadic Alzheimer's disease. Our study shows that carriers seem to have a greater cross-sectional increase in mean, axial and radial diffusivity and decrease in mean and radial diffusional kurtosis with increasing age, pointing to greater loss of diffusional heterogeneity. These findings could be observed as early as middle age, and might be related to the predisposition of carriers of APOE allele 4 to sporadic Alzheimer’s disease.

Jorge Jovicich¹, Moira Marizzoni², Roser Sala-Llonch³, Nuria Bargalló³, David Bartrés-Faz³, Jennifer Arnold⁴, Jens Benninghoff⁴, Jens Wiltfang⁴, Luca Roccatagliata⁵, Flavio Nobili⁵, Christian Zeeh⁶, Peter Schonknecht⁶, Giada Zoccatelli⁷, Franco Alessandrini⁷, Alberto Beltramello⁷, Hélène Gros-Dagnac⁸, Pierre Payoux⁸, Valérie Chanoine⁹, Jean-Philippe Ranjeva⁹, Mira Didic⁹, Melanie Leroy¹⁰, Regis Bordet¹⁰, and Giovanni Frisoni^2
1University of Trento, Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, Mattarello, Trento, Italy, ²IRCCS San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, LENITEM Lab of Epidem., Neuroim. & Telem, Brescia, Lombardia, Italy, ³Dept. Psychiatry and Clinical Psychobiology, Faculty of Medicine University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain, ⁴Department of Psychiatry and nuclear medicine, Universitaet Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Essen, Germany, ⁵Dept of Neuroscience, Ophthalmology and Genetics, University of Genoa, Genoa, Lombardia, Italy, ⁶Dept of Psychiatry and Dept of Neuroradiology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany, ⁷Dept of Neuroradiology, Verona General Hospital, Verona, Verona, Italy, ⁸U825 - Plateau Technique IRM, INSERM / Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, Toulouse, France, ⁹Hôpital La Timone CIC – UPCET, Marseille, Marseille, France, ¹⁰Universitè Lille UL2, Lille, Lille, France

Multi-site longitudinal diffusion MRI studies are of interest in the search for biomarkers that can reliably predict disease progression and/or therapeutic treatment effects. Previous multi-site 3T MRI studies evaluating across-session reproducibility are limited to few sites or to long dedicated acquisitions with multiple DTI averages. In this study we evaluate and compare across-session test-retest reproducibility of fractional anisotropy, mean, axial and radial diffusivities across eight different 3T MRI sites (Siemens, Philips, GE), on a group of healthy elderly subjects, using a single DTI acquisition that is part of a protocol aimed at studying other anatomical and functional parameters.

Yong Zhou^1
1Radiology Services, Spectrum Health, Grand Rapids, MI, United States

In this investigation we have evaluated the precision of the volumetric measurement attainable by some recently available FDA approved commercial software. The results have shown significant variation that would need to be taken into account if this methodology is widely used in clinical diagnosis and longer monitoring of patients with dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Alison Burgess¹, Yuexi Huang¹, David Goertz^1,2, and Kullervo Hynynen^1,2
1Physical Sciences, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, ²Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

In this study, we examine if stand-alone, high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), can induce clot dissolution in a rabbit model of acute ischemic stroke. Emboli were delivered through the internal carotid artery and angiography was used to confirm blockage of the proximal middle cerebral artery. MRI was used to further characterize and target the clot for HIFU. At the highest power tested, HIFU restored flow in 5 of 7 (~71%) of blocked vessels. Histology was used to show that the targeted vessels remained intact following sonication. These results suggest that HIFU warrants further investigation as a thrombolytic therapy for ischemic stroke.

Edward S. Hui^1,2, Jens H. Jensen^1,2, Xingju Nie^1,2, Ali Tabesh^1,2, Maria F. Falangola^1,2, Joseph A. Helpern^1,2, and DeAnna L. Adkins^3
1Center for Biomedical Imaging, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, United States, ²Dept of Radiology and Radiological Science, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, United States, ³Dept of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, United States

Diffusional kurtosis imaging (DKI) has been demonstrated to be a promising tool for ischemic stroke assessment. Diffusional kurtosis of ischemic tissue has been shown in prior studies to remain elevated during subacute ischemia, amid pseudonormalization of diffusivity. However, these bulk diffusion metrics lack information on specific microstructural properties such as the sizes, orientations, volume fractions, and diffusivities of prescribed cellular compartments. In this work, we employ a new tissue model, termed cerebral microenvironment modeling (CMM), which generalizes a previously proposed method so that specific microstructural properties of cortical infarction may be obtained with DKI.

Kai-Hsiang Chuang¹, Elaine Manigbas², Douglas Collins², Flordeliza de Villa², Rosario Perez², and Lynn Collura^2
1Magnetic Resonance Imaging Group, Singapore Bioimaging Consortium, A*STAR, Singapore, Singapore, Singapore, ²Maccine Pte Ltd, Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

We assessed using pulsed ASL for CBF measure in a middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model in the cynomolgus macaque. PICORE ASL was applied before and 24 hours after 3-hour transient MCAO. Good perfusion signal was obtained in all animals and showed extensive reduction of CBF comparable to ADC. However the large variation and very long transit time leaded to hyperintensity in artery and underestimation of CBF. Very long inversion time would be needed to quantify the CBF in this model.

Phillip Zhe Sun¹, Yu Wang¹, Jie Lu², Xunming Ji², and Eng H. Lo^3
1Radiology, Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA, United States, ²Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital, Beijing, Beijing, China, ³Radiology and Neurology, Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA, United States

Normobaric oxygen (NBO) treatment is a promising treatment strategy that may mitigate ischemic tissue damage. However, the mechanisms of NBO therapy are poorly understood, elucidation of which may assist development of more effective combinational treatment. Given that pH is a surrogate tissue metabolic marker, our study applied pH imaging to evaluate the emerging NBO treatment. Our pilot study found that whereas penumbral tissue showed pH recovery upon initiation of NBO therapy, its pH degraded significantly after the termination of NBO. Our pilot data suggest that NBO may transiently relieve ischemic tissue injury, and reperfusion is needed for long-term outcome improvement.

Silun Wang¹, Xiaohuan Gu², Ko-Eun Choi², Yumei Yan¹, Ling Wei², Shan-Ping Yu², and Xiaodong Zhang^1
1Yerkes Imaging Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States, ²Department of Anesthesiology and Department of Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States

We evaluated the pharmacologically induced hypothermia treatment response in focal cerebral ischemia induced white matter injury in a mice model using DTI. Results indicated that significantly reduced infraction volume in the treatment group compared to control group. Significantly decreased FA and λ// were only found in the ipsilateral external capsule and fornix than contralateral sides in control group. Less reduction of FA and λ// were found in the hypothermia treated group. Our results support the use of DTI as a biomarker to non-invasively monitor the hypothermia treatment response in ischemia induced stroke injury.

Ursula I. Tuor^1,2, Melissa Morgunov¹, Manasi Sule¹, Min Qiao¹, Tadeusz Foniok², and Adam Kirton^3
1Physiology and Pharmacology and Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, ²Experimental Imaging Centre, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, ³Pediatrics and Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Cerebral hypoxia-ischemia (HI) in neonates causes perinatal brain damage and subsequent injury in descending tracts (e.g. cerebral peduncle). Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and histological changes were investigated at 2h,1d,2d and 7d post-HI in neonatal rats. In cerebral peduncle: ADC and eigenvalues were reduced acutely normalizing/increasing by 7d; FA ratios, fiber tracts and neurofilament staining were reduced ipsilaterally at all times; staining for myelin, microglia/macrophages or reactive astrocytes was unchanged acutely. Axonal changes in cerebral peduncle are detected within hours following hypoxia+unilateral ischemia using standard imaging and DTI. FA detects well axonal degenerative changes at acute and subacute time points.

Qiang Shen¹, Virendra Desai¹, and Timothy O. Duong^2
1Research Imaging Institute, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, United States, ²Research Imaging Institute, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, United States

Acute diffusion data has been used to predict ischemic tissues fate on a pixel-by-pixel basis. Predictions however were made based on acute MRI data from a single time point. This study proposes a novel approach to incorporate the temporal characteristics of acute ADC (apparent diffusion coefficient) changes to characterize tissue fate based on a pixel by pixel basis. This approach was tested on rat stroke models subjected to permanent, 60-min and 30-min middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). We concluded that there were distinct temporal patterns that determined tissue salvageability and incorporating temporal information can improve prediction accuracy.

Qiang Shen¹, Fang Du¹, Shiliang Huang¹, Yash Vardhan Tiwari¹, and Timothy O. Duong^2
1Research Imaging Institute, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, United States, ²Research Imaging Institute, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, United States

We evaluated the initial lesion volume 30 mins after stroke and infarct volume at day 2 for multiple middle cerebral arterial occlusion (MCAO) durations in rats. Our results showed that the infarct volumes at day 2 were smaller than the initial lesion volumes at 30 mins after MCAO in 30- and 45-min MCAO groups but larger in 60- and 90-min groups. In the 30-min MCAO group, half the initial ADC lesion was reversed, whereas in the 60- and 90-min MCAO groups, only about 10% of the initial ADC lesion was reversed, and there was a weak dependence on duration.

Dushyant Kumar^1,2, Peter Ludewig³, Ashish Raj⁴, Tim Magnus³, Jens Fiehler¹, Christoph Heesen⁵, Susanne Siemonsen^1,2, and Jan Sedlacik^1
1Neuroradiology, University Medical Center, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany, ²Multiple Sclerosis Imaging Center, University Medical Center, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany, ³Neurology, University Medical Center, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany, ⁴Radiology, Weill Cornell Medical College, Newyork, New York, United States,⁵Institute for Neuroimmunology and Clinical MS Research, University Medical Center, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

Problem: White matter (WM) lesions are shown to have prognostic values in predicting stroke occurrence and recurrence in patients. Though T2-weighted images can be used to detect the WM lesion and stroke core, it lacks in specificity. Methods: To gain better understanding of stroke lesion progression, we applied quantitative T2-relaxometry (QT2R) and diffusion weighted imaging in a mouse stroke model. Results & Conclusions: We demonstrate the feasibility of QT2R at moderate SNR and high resolution. We also demonstrate that by combining ADC data to QT2R analysis, it may be possible to gain better understanding of the progression of stroke lesions.

Duen-Pang Kuo^1,2, Hsiao-Wen Chung³, Chen Chang⁴, Huan-Chu Lo², and Cheng-Yu Chen^5
1Electrical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, ²Department of Radiology, Taoyuan Armed Forces General Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan,³National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, ⁴Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, ⁵Department of Radiology, Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

The aim of this research is to measure the FA in IP and IC regions respectively, as well as longitudinal observation of the FA in those regions.

Ping-Huei Tsai^1,2, Yi-Hua Hsu³, Yu-Yin Tung³, Chien-Hsiang Huang³, Chiao-Chi Chen³, Wing P. Chan², and Fong Y. Tsai^1
1Imaging Research Center, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan, ²Department of Radiology, Wan Fang Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan,³Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academic Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan

The purpose of this study is using SWI, DWI and 3D £GR2-based micro-MRA to assess the relationship between them and stroke evolution in rats with middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) during progression of stroke. Our preliminary finding demonstrates that the combination of SWI, DWI and 3D £GR2-based micro-MRA provides additional information for evaluation of rat brain with acute ischemic stroke, and may have a potential to contribute to determining the penumbra and predicting of the stroke prognosis, as well as further quantitative measurements.

Ji-Yeon Suh¹, Woo Hyun Shim¹, Christian Thomas Farrar¹, Jeong Kon Kim², and Young Ro Kim^1
1Athinoula A, Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusettes General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States, ²Department of medical imaging, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan, Seoul, Korea, Democratic People's Republic of

Cerebral vasoreactivity to hypercapnic stimulation has been used for assessing the cerebrovascular function altered by various pathophysiological states. In this study, in order to characterize hemodynamic changes during the inhalation of different CO2 gas concentration, multiple MRI-derived hemodynamic parameters were measured using an alternating GE/SE EPI and an intravascular contrast agent in the spontaneously breathing mice. Significant vasodilation was observed, in which the dynamic features of response curve and response magnitude were CO2 dose-dependent. Our results demonstrated the experimental setting that produces consistent vasoreactive responses in mice, thus validating the hypercapnic method that can be used to evaluate the altered hemodynamic function in various cerebrovascular disease models.

Xiaowei Zhang¹, Bill Siders², Xiaoyou Ying², and Russell E. Jacobs^1
1Biological Imaging Center, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States, ²R&D Hub, Sanofi Boston, Boston, MA, United States

Brain and spinal cord EAE (experimental allergic encephalomyelitis) lesions in MOG35-55 induced EAE mice were imaged using a T2* weighted FLASH protocol at pre and post iron injection throughout the time course EAE acquisition. EAE lesions in the brain and spinal cord could be readily identified prior to iron injection. Comparison between the pre and post iron images revealed that administration of Feraheme had limited ability to improve MRI lesion detection.

Elizabeth Zakszewski¹, Nagesh Adluru¹, Ned Kalin¹, and Andrew L. Alexander^1
1University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States

Since ROI-based analysis of WM pathways in the rhesus macaque is useful in studies using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data, we have here created an atlas based on a publicly available DTI-based template of young rhesus macaques. The atlas was constructed to mimic the structure of an existing human atlas that is widely used, making results translatable between species. Parcellations were carefully hand-drawn on a principle-direction color coded fractional anisotropy image of the population template. The resulting atlas can be used as reference to which to register individual rhesus data for the purpose of white-matter parcellation, or individual regions from the atlas may be warped into individual space to be used in ROI-based analyses.

Jürgen Baudewig¹, Kristin Kötz¹, Denis Schewe², and Susann Boretius^1
1Klinik für Diagnostische Radiologie, Sektion Biomedzinische Bildgebung, Christian-Albrechts-Universität, Kiel, Germany, ²Klinik für Allgemeine Pädiatrie, Christian-Albrechts-Universität, Kiel, Germany

Increasing awareness in animal protection creates a significant demand for alternatives to conventional animal experiments. Here, we wanted to evaluate the potential of MRI and MRS methods to study anatomical and metabolic changes of living turkey embryos in ovo. Immobilizations by cooling and by isoflurane anesthesia were compared concerning effects on motion artifacts and on brain metabolites. 10 min of ice-cooling allowed for almost motion-artifact-free MRI and MRS without any detectable impairment of viability. Moreover, as shown on the example of ethanol, localized proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy may be used in this model to obtain neurochemical profiles.

Taeko Inoue¹, Tabassum Majid², Daniela Marcano³, Errol L. Samuel³, Helen Zheng³, James Tour³, and Robia G. Pautler^2,4
1Department of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States, ²Interdepartmental Program for Translational Biology & Molecular Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States, ³Department of Chemistry, Rice University, Houston, TX, United States,⁴Molecular Physiology & Biophysics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States

Oxidative stress is the imbalance of pro-oxidant and antioxidant molecules in favor of pro-oxidants. This imbalance leads to damage of DNA, proteins, lipids, interference of key signaling pathways and has been well documented to play a key role in pathogenesis of many neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. As a result, there have been many antioxidant-based therapies throughout the years targeted at fighting oxidative stress. They have, however, been largely ineffective due to low radical scavenging efficacy, as well as, poor localization in needed areas. As a result, we have developed a nanoantioxidant that can potentially meet several of the currently unmet needs.

Faisal Mahmood¹, Rasmus H. Hansen², Birgit Agerholm-Larsen³, Hanne Gissel⁴, Per Ibsen⁵, and Julie Gehl^1
1Department of Oncology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Herlev, Denmark, ²Herlev Hospital, Herlev, Denmark, ³Glostrup Hospital, Glostrup, Denmark,⁴Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark, ⁵Hvidovre Hospital, Hvidovre, Denmark

Purpose: To evaluate diffusion weighted MRI (DW-MRI) as a non-invasive technique to monitor permeabilized zones in the brain. Methods: Using an in vivo rat brain model, electroporation was applied for inducing transient and permanent cell permeabilization in predefined zones. DW-MRI was acquired up till 48 hr after electroporation. Results: Significant changes in ADC and kurtosis were observed in the permeabilized zones, showing temporal differences between transiently and permanently permeabilized zones. These findings were correlated with histology. Conclusions: DW-MRI may potentially be used for response evaluation of membrane permeabilizing treatments, such as radiation therapy of cancer.

Serguei Liachenko¹, Jaivijay Ramu¹, Merle G. Paule¹, Larry Schmued¹, and Joseph Hanig^2
1Division of Neurotoxicology, NCTR / FDA, Jefferson, AR, United States, ²CDER/FDA, White Oak, MD, United States

Assessing neurotoxicity is a very important part of the evaluation of new drug safety and is usually assessed using conventional histology and biochemistry. The current study utilizes non-invasive MRI techniques involving T2 mapping approach to enable the development of the sensitive early biomarkers of neurotoxicity. Acute changes in T2 values consistent with the neurotoxic mechanism of action of prototypic compounds were detected as early as 2 hours after injection of kainic acid. Such methodology has the potential to improve our understanding of brain toxicity and provide promising tools for the development and qualification of new biomarkers of neurotoxicity.

Chu-Yu Lee^1,2, Kevin M. Bennett³, and Josef P. Debbins^1,2
1Neuroimaging Research, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, Arizona, United States, ²Electrical Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States, ³School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States

The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of the monoexponential model has been shown to decrease following ischemic stroke. The underlying mechanisms of the reduction in the ADC remain unclear. The increased cell volume fraction is suggested to be one mechanism that results in more hindered extracellular diffusion. However, the intracellular diffusion was found to decrease or increase by separate studies. Another factor of reduced membrane permeability was shown to have a minor impact on the reduced ADC. Recently, with a b-value up to 2500 s/mm², the statistical distribution model and diffusion kurtosis model (DKI) have been used to study biophysical and pathological changes, potentially exhibiting higher sensitivity compared to the ADC. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the non-monoexponential models and microstructural changes in ischemic stroke. For this purpose, we studied the fitted parameters: σ_stat of the statistical distribution model (width of the distribution of diffusion rates) and K_app of the DKI model (measure of non-Gaussian diffusion) in response to the simulated microstructural changes. We compared our simulation results to the in vivo measurements of human ischemic stroke (n = 6). The results suggest that the non-monoexponential models may be useful in identifying the biophysical mechanisms in ischemic stroke.

Ying-Chia Lin¹, Alessandro Daducci², Djalel Eddine Meskaldji², Gloria Menegaz¹, Jean-Philippe Thiran^2,3, Reto Meuli³, Gunnar Krueger^4,5, and Cristina Granziera^5,6
1Computer Science, University of Verona, Verona, Italy, ²Signal Processing Lab 5 (LTS5), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland, ³Radiology, CHUV, Lausanne, Switzerland, ⁴Advanced Clinical Imaging Technology, Siemens Healthcare IM S AW, Lausanne, Switzerland, ⁵CIBM-AIT, Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland, ⁶Neurology, CHUV, Lausanne, Switzerland

Connectivity plasticity in the uninjured hemisphere after stroke has been reported in a number of experimental and human studies with diffusion MRI. Whether the observed changes in diffusion properties (es. FA) are due to axonal remodeling or myelin plasticity remains however an open issue. In this context, we wanted to study the behaviour of the Magnetisation Transfer Ratio in the contra-lateral motor network and to correlate it to the longitudinal changes in diffusion anisotropy.

Toshiaki Taoka¹, Masayuki Fujioka², Masahiko Sakamoto¹, Toshiaki Akashi¹, Toshiteru Miyasaka¹, Tomoko Ochi¹, Saeka Hori¹, Takeshi Wada¹, Masato Uchikoshi³, and Kimihiko Kichikawa^1
1Radiology, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Nara, Japan, ²Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Nara, Japan,³Siemens Japan KK, Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan

Diffusion kurtosis reported to be increase in the lesions of acute cerebral infarction. However, time course of the diffusion kurtosis of the cerebral infarction is not investigated enough. The purpose of the current study is to evaluate the changes in diffusion kurtosis in the cases with early cerebral infarction. Diffusion kurtosis value which is axial to the eigenvector showed increase in the lesions of the early infarction and showed earlier decrease compared to the diffusion weighted images. Additional information for the tissue with very early infarction will be provided by diffusion kurtosis imaging.

David E. Crane¹, Sandra E. Black^1,2, Anoop Ganda¹, Deanna S. Reynolds³, and Bradley J. MacIntosh^1,4
1Heart and Stroke Foundation Centre for Stroke Recovery, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada, ²Department of Medicine, Division of Neurology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada, ³Medical Imaging, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada, ⁴Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

Unlike contrast-enhanced perfusion-weighted imaging techniques like Dynamic Susceptibility Contrast MRI or Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography, Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL) relies on tracer kinetics from magnetically labeled blood water to estimate perfusion. Two disadvantages of the ASL technique are 1) the low signal-to-noise ratio and 2) the relatively short half-life. In this aging study (total N=35 elderly, 16 young) we characterize perfusion signals in grey, white and white matter diseased tissues types. A voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis was performed to reveal hippocampal grey matter is negatively correlated with extent of white matter disease.

William M. Spees^1,2, Dmitriy A. Yablonskiy^1,3, G. Larry Bretthorst¹, Alexander L. Sukstankii¹, Jeffrey J. Neil^1,4, and Joseph J.H. Ackerman^1,5
1Department of Radiology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, United States, ²Hope Center for Neurological Disorders, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, United States, ³Department of Physics, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, United States, ⁴Department of Pediatric Neurology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, United States, ⁵Department of Chemistry, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, United States

The source of the post-ischemic drop in the apparent diffusion coefficient of water in brain remains in question. In the current work, the diffusion properties of the intraneuronal metabolite N-acetylaspartate are characterized according to a biophysical model in rat brain pre- and post-ischemia at 37 °C. Based on the model, which accounts for local, microscopic diffusion anisotropy and diffusion kurtosis, a ~19% increase in intraneuronal cytoplasmic viscosity post-ischemia and evidence (via the increase in the kurtosis term) for beading of neurites are observed. Neither occurrence appears of sufficient magnitude to account principally for the decrease in water diffusion with stroke.

Steven Mocking¹, Natalia S. Rost², Kaitlin M. Fitzpatrick², Allison Kanakis², Lisa Cloonan², Jonathan Rosand², Karen L. Furie³, and Ona Wu^1
1Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA, United States, ²Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States, ³Department of Neurology, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States

Automated Algorithms for segmenting ischemic stroke lesions in diffusion MRI based on ADC thresholding and Naive Bayes classification are evaluated against manual outlines in independent data from stroke patients seen with 48 h of admission. Manual outlines took approximately 5-30 minutes/subject. Naive Bayes significantly outperformed ADC thresholding in terms of voxel-wise sensitivity and Dice similarity metric. Both automated algorithms took 20-40s/subject.Genome wide association studies seeking to link genetic variants with imaging phenotypes that require thousands of subjects would benefit from automated lesion segmentation techniques.

Evan Calabrese¹, Alexandra Badea², and G. Allan Johnson^1,2
1Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States, ²Radiology, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States

The rat is a powerful model system for studying neurodevelopment and neurotoxicology. However, the complex spatiotemporal changes that occur during rat neurodevelopment remain to be elucidated. This work establishes the first diffusion tensor magnetic resonance histology (DT-MRH) atlas of the developing rat brain. The atlas establishes a timeline of normal morphometric and diffusion tensor changes throughout neurodevelopment and represents a quantitative database of rat neurodevelopment for characterizing rat models of human neurologic disease. We demonstrate the use of the atlas as a database for quantitative morphometry and DTI tissue microstructural metrics throughout normal postnatal neurodevelopment.

Markus Breu^1,2, Dominik Maria Reisinger^1,2, Dan Wu³, Yajing Zhang³, Ali Fatemi^1,2, and Jiangyang Zhang^4
1Hugo W. Moser Research Institute, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, United States, ²Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States, ³Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States, ⁴Radiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States

To investigate the relationships between diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) based markers and micro-structural changes in the developing brain, in vivo high resolution DTI was used to characterize neonatal rat brain development from postnatal day 2 (P2) to P10. The DTI contrasts allowed delineation and tracking of major structures in the neonatal rat brain. The results showed modest increases in apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and small increases in fractional anisotropy (FA) in major white matter structures at P2-P10. During the same period, rapid decline in FA and complex changes in ADC were found in the neonatal cortex.

Emi Takahashi¹, Emiko Hayashi¹, Rebecca D. Folkerth², Jeremy D. Schmahmann³, and Patricia Ellen Grant^4
1Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States, ²Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States,³Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States, ⁴Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States

Our objective in this study was to further apply HARDI tracography to the developing human cerebellum ranging from fetal to toddler stages, to outline in broad strokes the 3-dimensional development of white matter and local gray matter organization in the cerebellum. Our results show the usefulness of HARDI tractography to image developing cerebellar connectivity. We observed regression of radial organization in the cerebellar cortex and the emergence of regional specificity of cerebellar peduncles that were similar to our previous observations on the development of cerebral cortex. Our results demonstrated the potential for HARDI tractography to improve our understanding of neuronal circuitry and connectivity in both white and gray matter in the developing cerebellum.

Yasheng Chen¹, Hongtu Zhu², Hongyu An², Dinggang Shen², and Weili Lin^2
1University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States, ²UNC-CH, Chapel Hill, NC, United States

Most of the current brain developmental studies model growth trajectory with a global parametric model such as nonlinear polynomials. These approaches may neglect subtle local temporal features in the data and the physiological meanings of the derived high order nonlinear polynomial terms may be elusive. To overcome these limitations, we proposed a powerful approach to model brain growth for large-scale longitudinal datasets from NIH pediatric DTI brain developmental study. Through the combination of the greater flexibility of the free-knot B-spline fitting with quasi-least squares longitudinal analysis, we are able to delineate the complex process of brain growth from newborns to early adulthood into a series of linear spans so that growth velocity based physiological inference can be made.

Yasheng Chen¹, Hongtu Zhu², Hongyu An², Dinggang Shen², John Gilmore², and Weili Lin^2
1University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States, ²UNC-CH, Chapel Hill, NC, United States

DTI based early brain developmental study has limitations in quantifying complex white matter structures. In this study, we have performed a large scale longitudinal analysis on diffusion profiles obtained with multiple encoding directions (HARDI). In early brain development, we found significant temporal changes of multiple HARDI parameters including the absolute power, relative weight and geometrical shapes of diffusion profiles represented by high order spherical harmonics. To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first diffusion based early brain developmental study moving beyond the DTI regime.

Vincent J. Schmithorst¹, Ashok Panigrahy¹, and Jessica L. Wisnowski^1
1Radiology, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, Pittsburgh, PA, United States

We investigated the relation between global functional network topology, as measured by intrinsic-connectivity fMRI (ic-fMRI), and DTI parameters, which reflect regional differences in white matter microstructure, in preadolescent Brazilian children. Changes were predominantly located in a single crossing-fiber region in the right hemisphere involving the corona radiata, superior longitudinal fasciculus, and callosal fiber. FA was positively correlated with network integration and negatively with network segregation. FA increases were due to increased AD and decreased RD, indicating increased fiber organization in a white matter region connecting distal regions of the brain is associated with more efficient cognitive function.

Minjie Wu¹, Alexander Kmicikewycz¹, Donatello Arienzo¹, Lisa Lu^1,2, Shaolin Yang¹, and Mani Pavuluri^1
1Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States, ²Psychology, Roosevelt University, Chicago, IL, United States

Combining rs-fcMRI and graph theory analyses, this study aims to quantitatively characterize the organizational change of functional brain networks in normal development during childhood and adolescence. No significant correlation was found between age and global network metrices (small-worldness or global efficiency). Significant age-related changes were found in local efficiency and degree at node level at right lingual gyrus, left medial orbitofrontal area, pericalcarine, anterior cingulate gyri. These age-related changes in node-level metrices but not global metrices may suggest topological fine tuning of resting state brain networks in children and adolescents.

Vincent J. Schmithorst^1,2, Scott Holland², and Elena Plante^3
1Radiology, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, ²Radiology, Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States, ³Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, University of Arizona - Tucson, Tucson, AZ, United States

Little is currently known about how subtle sensory deficits may affect the development of higher-order cognitive processing. Children with unilateral hearing loss (UHL) exhibit deficits in sound localization, as the additional information from binaural input is unavailable. We investigated the neural correlates of audio-visual association in children with UHL as compared with normal-hearing controls. While minimal differences in activation patterns were seen, children with UHL displayed reduced deactivation in anterior and posterior default-mode network (DMN) regions. This neurobiological deficit, also seen in ADHD and math disability, may underlie the academic and behavioral deficits seen in children with UHL.

Vivek Kumar¹, Pawan Kumar², Uma Sharma², T C. Nag¹, Naranamangalam R. Jagannathan², and Shashi Wadhwa^1
1Department of Anatomy, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, Delhi, India, ²Department of NMR & MRI Facility, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, Delhi, India

Proper functional development of the auditory cortex and its synaptic connections require balance between excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission, which is affected by the acoustic stimulation. Our proton NMR data showed that chronic noise exposure significantly decreases GABA level and increases the glutamate level. This NMR based metabonomic study revealed that chronic exposure of high decibel sound (110dB) significantly alters this balance in the developing auditory cortex. Further, results indicated that the sound characteristic [patterned (music) and un-patterned (noise)] has a profound effect on this balance. High sound pressure level also significantly affects the energy metabolism of the developing auditory cortex.

Andrew Melbourne¹, Giles Kendall², Alan Bainbridge³, Manuel Jorge Cardoso¹, Nicola Robertson², Neil Marlow², and Sebastien Ourselin^1
1Centre for Medical Image Computing, University College London, London, United Kingdom, ²Institute for Womens Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom, ³University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom

This work investigates correlations between multi-component T2 imaging and diffusion imaging in the neonatal brain at 30 and 40 weeks equivalent gestational age.

Yajing Zhang¹, Linda Chang², Thomas Ernst², Jon Skranes³, Steven Buchthal², Daniel Alicata², Heather Johansen², Antonette Hernandez², Robyn Yamakawa², Lillian Fujimoto⁴, Michael Miller¹, Susumu Mori⁵, and Kenichi Oishi^5
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, ²University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, ³Department of Laboratory Medicine, Children's & Women's Health, Norwegian Univ. of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway,⁴Straub Mililani Clinic, Mililani, Hawaii, United States, ⁵Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States

MRI is a sensitive method for detecting subtle anatomical abnormalities in neonatal brains. The tissue composition of the neonatal brain is substantially different from that of the adult, and therefore, the use of a neonate-specific atlas might be more appropriate. To optimize the normalization, we introduce a method to create a Bayesian neonatal brain atlas to represent the studied population. Anatomical parcellation can be obtained automatically, avoiding the labor-intensive manual drawings of 3D ROIs. This tool is expected to be applicable for whole-brain detection of subtle developmental abnormalities, and for identifying MRI-based markers of neurological disorders in neonatal brain development.

Xue Luo^1,2, Jie Gao¹, Xianjun Li^1,2, Mingxi Wan³, and Jian Yang^1,2
1Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Xi¡¯an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shannxi, China, ²School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shannxi, China, ³School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an, Shannxi, China

The aim of this study is to combine 3D T1WI and DTI to primarily investigate the correlations between the variations of GM and WM in frontal lobe and occipital lobe during preschool period. FreeSurfer and MedINRI were used to analyze 3D T1WI and DTI data separately. The results of correlation analysis showed there were strong positive correlations between GM volume of frontal cortex, occipital cortex and numbers of fibers through these two cortexes and age. The correlation coefficients related with frontal cortex were all larger than them related with occipital cortex. This is the first study that demonstrated the positive relationship between GM volume in frontal cortex and occipital cortex and number of WM fibers through corresponding cortex in preschool children.

Weili Lin¹, Li Wang¹, Gang Li¹, Feng Shi¹, Jingxin Nie¹, and Dinggang Shen^1
1Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States

Healthy pediatric subjects were recruited for a longitudinal study. Each subject was scanned every three mons starting from birth to 1 yr-old and again at 18mons old. A novel approach taking advantage information available from the longitudinal design was employed for CTH measures. The CTH of the temporal and frontal lobes outgrow the parietal and occipital lobes and reach ~ 4mm at 18mons. The primary language and auditory areas exhibit the largest CTH increase CTH < 6mons of life when compared to motor/sensory/visual cortices. Interestingly, the visual cortex exhibits a relatively stable CTH throughout the first 18mons of life.

Weili Lin¹, Wei Gao¹, Feng Shi¹, Li Wang¹, Gang Li¹, Jingxin Nie¹, Hongtu Zhu¹, and Dinggang Shen^1
1Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States

It has been suggested that brain regions with similar functions may exhibit a similar growth trajectory, also known as coordinated brain growth. Using gray and white matter volume and cortical thickness growth trajectories during the first 18mons of life through a longitudinal imaging study of normal pediatric subjects, brain structural networks of motor, sensory and visual functions were discerned. Results are consistent with the known brain regions possessing these functions. The existence of coordinated brain anatomical growth in early infancy may offer an invaluable tool to explore maturation processes of higher order brain functional networks during early brain development.

Mayank A. Jog¹, Emily Kilroy², Varsha Jain³, Felix Wehrli³, and Danny J.J. Wang^2
1Biomedical Engineering, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States, ²Neurology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States, ³Radiology, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

This study explored the developmental trajectories of global oxygen extraction fraction (OEF), cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO2) in 47 children aged 7 to 17. A novel non-invasive MRI method was utilized including susceptometry to quantify OEF, phase-contrast (PC) MRI to quantify CBF and Fick’s principle for CMRO2. CBF and CMRO2 were found to decrease with age while OEF did not vary with age. PC measurements of global CBF were positively correlated with pseudo-continuous ASL measurements, lending support to the validity of this method.

Thomas Neuberger^1,2, Cairsty Grassie³, and Victoria Braithwaite^3
1The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, United States, ²Department of Bioengineering, Pennsylvania State Univesity, University Park, PA, United States, ³The Center for Brain, Behavior, & Cognition, Department of Ecosystem Science & Management, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, United States

The zebrafish is widely recognized as a key model organism in developmental and neurobehavioral research, yet very little is known about how housing and handling have an effect on brain development. Zebrafish were reared in four different treatments that varied in their exposure to environmental enrichment and a chronic mild stress (chasing with a net). After 78 days the fish were culled and imaged (14T system, 20microns resolution). The telencephalon (which processes spatial and emotional learning) was segmented. Our study demonstrates that the development of the zebrafish telencephalon is influenced by environmental factors, but is not affected by handling stress.

Douglas C. Dean III¹, Jonathan O'Muircheartaigh^1,2, Lindsay Walker¹, Holly Dirks¹, Nicole Waskiewicz¹, Katie Lehman¹, Beth A. Jerskey^1,3, and Sean C. L. Deoni^1
1Advanced Baby Imaging Lab, School of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States, ²Dept. of Neuroimaging Sciences, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom, ³Dept. Oof Psychiatry & Human Behavior, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States

Rapid neurodevelopmental changes can be investigated using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). An anatomical model of development can be obtained by modeling quantitative maps of healthy infants and toddlers. In this work we modeled regional and whole-brain T1, T2, and MWF maps of healthy children under 5 years of age. This model can be used to characterize normal development and serve as a baseline of typical development.

Jae W. Song¹, Paul D. Michell¹, James Kolasinski², Rebecca D. Folkerth³, Patricia Ellen Grant⁴, Albert M. Galaburda⁵, and Emi Takahashi^1
1Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States, ²Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States, ³Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States, ⁴Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States, ⁵Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States

We aimed to describe and quantify emerging asymmetry of white matter pathways including limbic (cingulum, fornix) and association pathways (inferior longitudinal fasciculus [ILF], inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus [IFOF], and arcuate fasciculus [AF]) in fetal, newborn, and children younger than 3 years old, using high angular resolution diffusion imaging tractography. Our results suggest that the ILF compared to the IFOF and AF develops laterality during the early developmental stage before 3 years old. Leftward dominant myelination may proceed in ILF during the early developmental stage, and the development of the IFOF and AF may proceed differentially from that of the ILF.

Hao Huang¹, Tina Jeon¹, and Linda J. Richards^2
1Advanced Imaging Research Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States, ²The Queesland Brain Institute, The University of Queesland, Brisbane, Queesland, Australia

The cerebral wall of human fetal brain is the place where active molecular and cellular activities take place during 2nd trimester fetal development, resulting in distinctive microstructures in different layers. High contrasts from DTI and histological staining are complementary to provide insight on microstructural configuration of different layers of the cerebral wall. In this study, we coupled quantitative measures from high resolution DTI data from postmortem 2nd trimester human fetal brain DTI and histology stained with hematoxylin or immunohistochemically labeled with anti-glial fibrillary acidic protein and neurofilament antibody. Differential FA values across the cerebral wall layers were quantified.

Virendra Mishra¹, Ni Shu², Lina Chalak³, Nancy K. Rollins⁴, Cathy Halovanic⁵, Yong He², and Hao Huang^1
1Advanced Imaging Research Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States, ²State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, Beijing, China, ³Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States, ⁴Department of Radiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States, ⁵Children's Medical Center of Dallas, Dallas, TX, United States

Characterizing the normal prenatal brain network development will not only expand our understanding of formation of functionally significant brain circuits, but also shed light on understanding the abnormal network development associated with child mental health. However, prenatal brain network development has not been characterized in the literature. In this study, high resolution DTI data of ex vivo fetal brains at 20 weeks of gestation and in vivo neonatal brain at term were acquired. Graph theory analysis was conducted with the brain nodes parcellated from a template free algorithm and edges quantified based on DTI tractography.

Devasuda Anblagan^1,2, Kaiming Yin¹, Rebecca Reynolds³, Fiona Denison², Mark E. Bastin⁴, Colin Studholme⁵, Jane Norman², Scott I. Semple¹, and Neil Roberts^1
1Clinical Research Imaging Centre, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, ²MRC Centre for Reproductive Health, Queen's Medical Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, ³Centre for Cardiovascular Sciences, Queen's Medical Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, ⁴Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, ⁵Department of Pediatrics Neonatology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States

Fetal MRI is increasingly used to study brain development, but is challenging due to fetal motion. While motion correction is now possible with fetal brain, it remains unclear what the ideal segmentation technique is to extract brain structures. Here, we report the practicality, time efficiency and precision of three stereology designs (Isotropic Cavalieri (IsoC), Invariator, and Nucleator) in estimating fetal brain volume on motion-corrected 3D fetal brain images, by comparing corresponding values obtained from the same MR images without motion correction. Our work suggests IsoC is the most precise and time efficient stereology method; Invariator and Nucleator may be convenient.

Nathalie Doorenweerd^1,2, Chiara S.M. Straathof², Eve M. Dumas², Beatrijs H.A. Wokke², Erik H. Niks², Janneke C. van den Bergen², Debby G.M. Schrans³, Jos G.M. Hendriksen³, Andrew G. Webb¹, Mark A. van Buchem¹, Jan J.G.M. Verschuuren², and Hermien E. Kan^1
1Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands, ²Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands, ³Department of Neurological Learning Disabilities, Kempenhaeghe Epilepsy Centre, Heeze, Brabant, Netherlands

Brain morphology in boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) was studied and compared to healthy age-matched controls. Widespread differences were found such as lower grey matter volume and higher white matter tissue water content in DMD. The global spread of the morphological differences may be related to the (lack of) dystrophin isoforms in the brain in DMD. These data may also provide clues to understanding the etiology of the higher incidence of learning and behavioral problems in DMD.

Reem S. Awwad¹, Wilburn E. Reddick¹, Bryan Winter², Yimei Li², John O. Glass¹, Roland N. Kaddoum³, Zoltan Patay¹, Amar Gajjar⁴, and Julie H. Harreld^1
1Radiological Sciences, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, United States, ²Biostatistics, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, United States, ³Anesthesiology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, United States, ⁴Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, United States

We retrospectively reviewed DSC perfusion MRI of normal-appearing brain in 38 children to investigate whether, as in gray matter (GM), white matter (WM) or GM/WM ratios of CBF or CBV differed between propofol-sedated (IV) and non-sedated (NS) children. Differences in WM CBF & CBV between groups were not the same as in GM. CBVGM/WM did not differ between groups. NS CBFGM/WM > IV in PCA territory only. Age- and weight-related trends of all measures differed between groups. CBFGM/WM and CBVGM/WM, though less variable than GM or WM measures alone, should be used with caution, as age-related trends may differ with propofol.

Qinli Sun¹, Yumiao Zhang¹, Jie Gao¹, Jianghong Han¹, Bolang Yu¹, and Jian Yang^1
1Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shannxi Province, China

The purpose in this study is to compare detected numbers of punctate white matter lesion (PWML) between 3D-FSPGR T1WI and other MRI sequences. A total of 294 lesions were detected on 3D-FSPGR T1WI, while only 158, 131, 129, 85, 34 lesions were observed on ADC, T2WI, reconstructed T1WI, magnitude and phase maps respectively. The detectivity of PWML between 3D-FSPGR T1WI and other MR sequences showed significant difference. This study first demonstrates that 3D T1WI is more sensitive in detecting PWML in neonatal brains relative to other MRI sequences. It is greatly recommended to use 3D T1WI as a routine sequence for neonatal brain MR examination.

Maria A. Rocca¹, Sandra Strazzer², Anna Turconi², Paola Valsasina¹, Martina Absinta¹, Elena Beretta², Monica Cazzagon³, Andrea Falini⁴, and Massimo Filippi^1
1Neuroimaging Research Unit, Institute of Experimental Neurology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, MI, Italy,²Department of Neurology, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, La Nostra Famiglia, Bosisio Parini, LC, Italy, ³Department of Neurology, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, La Nostra Famiglia, Pasian di Prato, UD, Italy, ⁴Department of Neuroradiology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, MI, Italy

From 14 children with acquired or congenital brain injury and 10 sex- and age-matched healthy controls, we acquired resting state (RS) functional MRI data before constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) (baseline), at the end of CIMT (week 10) and after 6 months. Functional network connectivity was used to assess significant interactions among resting state networks at baseline, and changes of association between networks at the two follow-up evaluations. Changes of resting state connectivity among sensory, motor and cognitive networks were detected in pediatric patients with chronic hemiplegia after CIMT. Such changes correlated with clinical improvement following treatment.

Elda Fischi-Gomez^1,2, Djalel Eddine Meskaldji¹, Lana Vasung², François Lazeyras^3,4, Jean-Philippe Thiran^1,5, and Petra Susan Hüppi^6
1École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Signal Processing Laboratory 5(LTS5), Lausanne, (VD), Switzerland, ²Division of Development and Growth. Department of Pediatrics. University of Geneva, Geneva, (GE), Switzerland, ³Center for Biomedical Imaging (CIBM), Lausanne and Geneva, Geneva, (GE), Switzerland, ⁴Department of Radiology, University of Geneva and University Hospital of Geneva, Geneva, (GE), Switzerland, ⁵Department of Radiology of the University Hospital Center (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Lausanne, (VD), Switzerland, ⁶University of Geneva, Geneva, (GE), Switzerland

In this study, we hypothesized that underlying changes in neurogenesis due to early exposure to environmental factors or due to altered in-utero environment are associated to axonal fiber development and white matter connectivity and organization. Using diffusion MRI-derived brain graphs we studied children born extreme preterm (EP) and born moderate preterm with intra-uterine growth restriction (IUGR) at school age. The localized significant differences found in node degree within some subcortical regions for both groups of subjects and in betweenness centrality in case of EP may suggest a direct link between events occurring in critical developmental periods and specific cognitive capacities.

Ashok Panigrahy^1,2, Jessica L. Wisnowski^3,4, Rafael C. Ceschin⁵, and Stefan Bluml^2
1Pediatric Radiology, Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, ²Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States,³Pediatric Radiology, Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, ⁴Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United States, ⁵Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States

We used MRS to examine cerebral metabolism in the parietal white matter of a large cohort of high-risk preterm infants in relation to two MRI defined patterns of white matter injury and present the first evidence of altered NAA/MI ratio, T2 relaxation, and thalamic volume, in association with punctate white lesions, but not diffuse extensive high signal intensity (DESHI)

Ruth L. O'Gorman¹, Carola Sabandal¹, Vera Bernet¹, Cornelia Hagmann², Martin A. Janich³, and Ralph Noeske^4
1University Children's Hospital, Zurich, CH, Switzerland, ²University Hospital, Zurich, CH, Switzerland, ³Diagnostics & Biomedical Tech Laboratory, GE Global Research, München, Germany, ⁴Applied Science Laboratory, GE Healthcare, Berlin, Germany

This study investigates the relative sensitivity of lactate editing in comparison to standard PRESS MRS for detecting lactate in neonates with suspected hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). Measured lactate concentrations and Lac/NAA ratios were higher for the lactate-edited spectra relative to corresponding values from standard PRESS (TE=35/144 ms). The short TE (35 ms) and lactate-edited spectra show comparable sensitivity to lactate but the specificity and fit reliability was higher for the lactate-edited spectra. Therefore, lactate-edited MRS can improve the specificity and reliability of lactate detection in infants with suspected HIE, particularly in the presence of strong lipid signals.

Jill Britt De Vis¹, Esben Thade Petersen¹, Manon J.N.L. Benders², Petra M.A. Lemmers², Thomas Alderliesten², Frank van Bel², and Jeroen Hendrikse^1
1Radiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands, ²Neonatology, Wilhelmina Children's Hospital, Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands

Evaluation of cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO2) in neonates has been hampered due to the invasiveness of the available techniques. Here we propose a technique which enables non-invasive assessment of global CMRO2 in this population. Initial results are promising as we were able to show a decreased CMRO2 in infants diagnosed with asphyxia.

Kerstin Pannek¹, Simon Scheck², Roslyn Boyd², and Stephen Rose^3
1The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, ²The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, ³The Australian E-Health Research Centre, CSIRO, Brisbane, Australia

Alterations in connectivity in children with left and right cerebral palsy compared to typically developing children were assessed. Connections with altered FA or MD were identified automatically from the connectome. Only pathways within the ipsilesional hemisphere, and interhemispheric pathways showed reductions in FA and increases in MD compared to typically developing children. In both children with left and right hemiplegia, connections between the motor regions and the brain stem, the thalamus, cerebellum and posterior cingulate were altered, as well as fronto-parietal connections and the interhemispheric motor pathway.

Mathieu Dehaes^1,2, Nora M. Raschle^1,3, Danielle D. Sliva², Jennifer Zuk³, Marie Drottar², Michelle Chang³, Barbara Peysakhovich³, Bryce Becker³, Sara Smith³, Rudolph Pienaar^1,2, Nadine Gaab^1,3, and Patricia Ellen Grant^2,4
1Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States, ²Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States, ³Developmental Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States, ⁴Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States

Developmental dyslexia (DD) is a specific language-based learning disorder affecting 5-17% of all children, characterized by difficulties with word recognition, poor spelling and decoding. Currently DD can only be diagnosed around 3rd grade, restricting the implementation of early intervention. It remains unclear how early these differences manifest. Functional resting-state connectivity MRI is a safe technique that can reveal resting-state network (RSN). Here we used an independent component analysis to estimate RSNs in infants with and without familial risk for DD at 7-12 months. Results indicate successful detection of RSNs. fMRI maps may be used as seed regions to reveal RSNs.

Ling Zou^1,2, Waverly Harrel³, Zoe A. Englander⁴, Micah Johnson², Allen W. Song², and Vandana Shashi^3
1CMRRC,Radiology Department, West China Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan, China, ²Duke-UNC Brain Imaging and Analysis Center (BIAC), Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, United States, ³Department of Pediatrics, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, United States, ⁴Duke-UNC Brain Imaging and Analysis Center (BIAC), Duke University, Durham, NC, United States

Patients with 22q11.2 deletion have significant neurocognitive deficits. Childhood cognitive difficulties such as working memory (WM) are universal in patients. Structure MRI studies have found multiple brain parenchyma abnormalities, most of which are inside the brain WM circuits. But brain activities under hierarchical WM loads in patients have not been explored so far. In the present study we explored the hierarchical impairment patterns of WM deficits of the disorder using consecutive n-back task based fMRI, which may potentially serve as functional imaging biomarkers of the disorder and contribute to the evaluation of cognitive remediation in patients.

Jeong-Won Jeong^1,2, Eishi Asano^1,2, Diane C. Chugani^2,3, and Harry T. Chugani^2,4
1Pediatrics and Neurology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, United States, ²PET center, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, Michigan, United States, ³Pediatrics and Radiology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, United States, ⁴Pediatrics, Neurology, and Radiology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, United States

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurologic disorders restricting the quality of life in affected individuals. The current gold standard for identifying primary motor areas in children with epilepsy is electrical stimulation mapping (ESM) which, however, is invasive and often not adequately sensitive in young children. To investigate whether DWI tractography can provide automatic localization of cortical areas and white matter pathways associated with movement of mouth/lip, fingers, and legs, the present study proposed a new method, a maximum a posteriori probability classification using neural connectivity of the cortico-spinal tract between precentral gyrus and posterior limb of internal capsule.

Deanne K. Thompson¹, Christopher Adamson¹, Cristina G. Omizzolo¹, Lex W. Doyle², Gary F. Egan³, Terrie E. Inder⁴, and Peter J. Anderson^1
1Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Parkville, Victoria, Australia, ²Royal Women's Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia, ³Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia, ⁴St Louis Children's Hospital, St Louis, Missouri, United States

This study is the first to map the early developmental trajectory of regional hippocampal changes between infancy and childhood. Hippocampi were manually traced at term-equivalent and at 7 years on 24 full-term and 119 very preterm subjects. Longitudinal regional changes were observed using the spherical harmonic point distribution model, and a group comparison was made. Both full-term and very preterm infants’ hippocampi undergo infolding or ‘curling up’ between infancy and 7 years. Furthermore, the developmental trajectory of the hippocampus between infancy and 7 years in VPT children differs from that of FT children, particularly for the left side.

Jeong-Won Jeong¹, Harry T. Chugani², and Csaba Juhasz^1
1Pediatrics and Neurology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, United States, ²Pediatrics, Neurology, and Radiology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, United States

Sturge-Weber syndrome is a rare disorder with a variety of nervous system problems, including motor deficit, visual field impairment, cognitive decline and seizures. The degree of motor cortex and corticospinal tract involvement is difficult to determine in children who are unable to cooperate with functional MRI. To investigate whether diffusion weighted imaging tractography can provide a functional localization of primary motor areas in-vivo, we developed a new method based on tract connectivity between precentral gyrus and posterior limb of internal capsule. This can provide localization of functionally specific segments of the primary motor area only by using the tractography information.

Suchandrima Banerjee¹, Orit A. Glenn², Emine U. Saritas³, Xin Mu², Duan Xu², Pauline W. Worters¹, and Ajit Shankaranarayanan^1
1Applied Science Lab, GE Healthcare, Menlo Park, CA, United States, ²University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States,³Bioengineering, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States

Diffusion weighted imaging of fetal brain can help in assessment of brain development. Unfortunately, consistent image quality and high spatial resolution is difficult to achieve, even with current state of the art technology. In this work we use a reduced field-of-view (rFOV) technique based on 2D spatially selective RF excitation with the single-shot echo-planar imaging sequence to achieve high resolution in fetal brain DWI with less off-resonance artifacts. We also retrospectively employ adaptive averaging to mitigate fetal motion artifacts. Feasibility study in ten subjects demonstrates that the rFOV technique and adaptive averaging can improve image quality of fetal brain DWI.

Jie Gao¹, Xianjun Li^1,2, Yumiao Zhang¹, Jianghong Han¹, Xue Luo^1,2, Gang Niu¹, Bolang Yu¹, Ed X. Wu³, and Jian Yang^1,2
1Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shannxi, China, ²Biomedical Engineering, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an, Shannxi, China, ³Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging and Signal Processing, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China

This DTI study aimed to investigate and document the different white matter (WM) variations due to punctate white matter lesions (PWML) with varying severity using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) analysis. 21 normal preterm neonates and 36 preterm neonates with PWML (18 cases in grade I, 7 cases in grade II and 11 cases in grade III) underwent conventional MRI and DTI. The results showed that there were no significant increased or decreased DTI metrics in major WM tracts of PWML neonates of grade I. For grade II, there was decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) in optic radiation (OR), cerebral peduncle (CP), posterior limb of internal capsule (PLIC), splenium of corpus callosum (SCC) and body of corpus callosum (BCC). For grade III, there were decreased FA with increased radial diffusivity (RD) and mean diffusivity (MD) in OR, PLIC, SCC, BCC, genu of corpus callosum (GCC) and external capsule (EC). These findings indicated the different outcomes of neonates associated with specific severity grade in PWML. Further study will be carried out to follow up these neonates.

Dustin Kenneth Ragan¹ and Jose A. Pineda^1
1Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, United States

We investigated the reliability of ASL for studies in children. Because children have more rapid hemodynamics than adults, they are potentially susceptible to failure of the labeling process, particularly in neonates.

Ruth L. O'Gorman¹, Hans Ulrich Bucher², Brigitte Koller², Hadwig Speckbacher¹, David C. Alsop^3,4, Ajit Shankaranarayanan⁵, Jean-Claude Fauchere², and Cornelia Hagmann^2
1University Children's Hospital, Zurich, CH, Switzerland, ²University Hospital, Zurich, CH, Switzerland, ³Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States, ⁴Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States, ⁵Global Applied Science Laboratory, GE Healthcare, Menlo Park, CA, United States

This study investigates the link between cerebral perfusion and white matter injury in preterm infants. Cerebral perfusion images were acquired using a background suppressed pulsed continuous arterial spin labeling sequence, and white matter injury scores were derived from structural T1- and T2-weighted MRI using a standardized scoring system. The correlation between perfusion and white matter injury was assessed on a voxelwise basis by permutation testing. White matter injury scores were negatively correlated with perfusion in the cerebellum, basal ganglia, and thalamus, suggesting that perfusion may reflect a selective vulnerability to lesions in these areas and in the cerebral white matter.

Hua-Shan Liu¹, Abbas Jawad¹, Nina Laney¹, Robert Schultz¹, Christos Davatzikos¹, Divya Moodalbail¹, Susan Furth¹, and John A. Detre^1
1University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is associated with systematic changes of physiological factors that can alter cerebral blood flow (CBF) and brain function. In the present study, we demonstrated the feasibility of measuring CBF with arterial spin labeling in pediatric patients with CKD. Our findings indicated that hematocrit is the most significant determinant of CBF changes. A deviation of correlation between age and white matter CBF observed in pediatric CKD patients may reflect developmental changes in regional brain function as compared with control subjects.

He Wang¹, Guang Cao², Yuhua Li³, and Xiujie Duan^3
1MR Research China, GE Healthcare, Shanghai, China, ²GE Healthcare, Shanghai, China, ³Radiology, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China

In this study, detailed diffusion measurements of pediatric glioma using multiple b-factors ranging up to 4000 s/mm2 have been made. 17 children with brain tumors underwent brain MR examinations at 3T scanner. Results showed that the biexponential and stretched-exponential model can all meet the WHO classification of the pediatric gliomas in the brain more accurately than the standard ADC. Multi-exponential diffusion decay functions are required for diffusion signal decay curves when sampled over an extended b-factor range, providing additional, unique tissue characterization parameters for pediatric gliomas in the brain.

Yi Sui^1,2, Guanzhong Liu¹, He Wang³, Frederick C. Damen^1,4, Yuhua Li⁵, and Xiaohong Joe Zhou^1,6
1Center for MR Research, University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System, Chicago, IL, United States, ²Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States, ³Applied Science Lab, GE Healthcare, Shanghai, China, ⁴Department of Radiology, University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System, Chicago, IL, United States, ⁵Department of Radiology, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai, China, ⁶Departments of Radiology, Neurosurgery and Bioengineering, University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System, Chicago, IL, United States

A systematic comparison of non-Gaussian diffusion models is conducted in the context of differentiating pediatric brain tumors. Three non-Gaussian diffusion models - FROC, kurtosis and bi-exponential models - were selected for evaluation of their performance for differentiating low-grade from high-grade pediatric brain tumors. Our results suggested that FROC model had the best performance, although the other two models also produced excellent results. In conclusion, non-Gaussian diffusion models with high b-values (up to 4000 s/mm²) can provide valuable and reliable information for characterizing pediatric brain tumors.

Naoaki Yamada¹, Yoshiaki Morita¹, Koji Iihara², Hatsue Ishibashi-Ueda³, Masahiro Higashi¹, and Hiroaki Naito^4
1Radiology, National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, Suita, Osaka, Japan, ²Nuerosurgery, National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, Suita, Osaka, Japan, ³Pathology, National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, Suita, Osaka, Japan, ⁴National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, Suita, Osaka, Japan

Relationship between high signals on T1-weighted imaging and age of intraplaque hemorrhage is not sufficiently solved. Sixty-four sections from 16 specimens excised by endoarterectomy were studied to compare ex vivo MRI and histology. In the 64 sections, 46 lipid rich necrotic cores (LRNCs) were identified. Ex vivo MRI was performed to make a T1 map on a 1.5 T system. After MRI, the specimens were processed for pathology and stained by HE, MT and Anti-glycopholin A antibody. In the results, T1 of LRNC with chronic hemorrhage was short that was similar to those with recent hemorrhage.

Anja G. van der Kolk¹, Jaco J.M. Zwanenburg¹, Wim G.M. Spliet², Fredy Visser^1,3, Peter R. Luijten¹, and Jeroen Hendrikse^1
1Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands, ²Department of Pathology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands, ³Philips Healthcare, Best, Netherlands

Histopathological studies form the basis of our understanding of pathogenesis of atherosclerotic disease. However, they require ex vivo material, obtained by invasive techniques. Using ultrahigh-field 7T MRI, we might have the spatial resolution and high tissue contrast necessary to noninvasively image intracranial atherosclerosis. In this study, 5 Circle-of-Willis specimens were scanned at 7T with a protocol consisting of a 0.11x0.11mm in-plane resolution T₁-, T₂-, T₂*- and PD-weighted sequence, and compared to histological cuts. On MR, several distinct areas could be identified within the atherosclerotic plaques, suggesting a future role of high-resolution 7T MRI for noninvasive assessment of intracranial atherosclerosis.

Alexander Radbruch^1,2, Johanna Mucke¹, Markus Graf², Ralf Floca², Matthias Roethke², Heinz-Peter Schlemmer², Sabine Heiland¹, Martin Bendszus¹, and Stefan Rohde^1
1Department of Neuroradiology, Heidelberg University Medical Center, Heidelberg, Germany, ²Department of Radiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany

The penumbra concept based on MRI diffusion and perfusion imaging is frequently used within clinical practice. However, it has become under debate since perfusion MRI is supposed to overestimate the tissue at risk. Susceptibility Weighted imaging provides an alternative method for penumbra determination due to the appearance of hypointense vessels within the hypoxic area. In our study we compared the penumbra determined by either SWI or time to peak perfusion (TTP) maps and found the penumbra determined on SWI to be significantly smaller than TTP maps (p<0.0001). Hence SWI may determine the penumbra more accurately than TTP maps.

Venkata Veerendranadh Chebrolu¹, Suresh E. Joel¹, Dattesh D. Shanbhag¹, Ananda Narasimha Murthy¹, Vivek Vaidya¹, Patrice Hervo², Marc-Antoine Labeyrie³, Catherine Oppenheim^3,4, and Rakesh Mullick^1
1Medical Image Analysis Lab, GE Global Research, Bangalore, Karnataka, India, ²GE Healthcare, Buc, France, ³Departments of Radiology and Neurology, Centre Hospitalier, Sainte-Anne, Paris, France, ⁴Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France

The classification of cerebral regions into normal and infarcted tissues based on Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) characteristics plays a critical role in MRI based stroke patient management. The use of both DWI images and Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (ADC) maps may achieve better classification accuracy than using ADC or DWI alone. In this work, we presented a dual feature (ADC and DWI) based Receiver Operating Characteristic analysis and proposed a novel acute ischemic infarct classification criteria. Results demonstrate better agreement with ground-truth using dual features (specificity-98%; sensitivity-60%) as compared to ADC alone based infarct segmentation (specificity-96%; sensitivity-53%) in 65 subjects.

Toshiaki Akashi¹, Toshiaki Taoka¹, Saeka Hori¹, Tomoko Ochi¹, Toshiteru Miyasaka¹, Masahiko Sakamoto¹, Megumi Takewa², Tomoyuki Okuaki³, and Kimihiko Kichikawa^1
1Radiology, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Nara, Japan, ²Radiology, Heisei Memorial Hospital, Kashihara, Nara, Japan, ³Philips Electronics Japan, Minato-Ku, Tokyo, Japan

We evaluated T1rho of acute cerebral infarctions of human. Seven patients with 8 lesions were enrolled. T1rho MRI was acquired by 3.0T clinical scanner (spin lock pulse; 500 Hz for 1, 10, and 80ms). T1rho maps were compared with hyperintense areas on DWI (haDWI). Seven of all showed entirely prolonged T1rho. In 4 of 7 lesions, mild elevation of T1rho was found around haDWI. One cortical lesion showed variable T1rho values, and area with abnormal T1rho was much larger than the haDWI. These mismatches between T1rho map and DWI may indicate penumbra regions or other pathological processes.

Bob L. Hou¹, Majid Haghighat Ahoar¹, Sanjay Bhatia², Rachel Lagos¹, and Jeff S. Carpenter^1
1Radiology, WVU, Morgantown, WV, United States, ²Surgery, WVU, Morgantown, WV, United States

Arteriovenous malformations (AVM) lesion cause venous hypertension within the draining vein and relative arterial hypotension in the surrounding brain tissue. This steal effect in which high blood volume and low pressure in the feeding arteries create hypoperfusion in surrounding normal brain has been reported to lead to brain functional reorganization. In this study, we investigated brain motor, language and auditory functions and associated functional connectivity for AVM patients by fMRI and resting state fMRI (rfMRI). We hypnotized that this condition results in changes (i.e., reorganization) in brain functions and or in brain functional connectivity

Mohamed Tachrount¹, Fiona Kennedy¹, David A. Doig¹, Matthew Adams¹, Tarek A. Yousry¹, Xavier Golay², David L. Thomas¹, and Rolf H. Jager^1
1Department od brain repair and rehabilitation, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom, ²Department od brain repair and rehabilitation, University College London, London, United Kingdom

Plaque ulceration, thrombosis and intraplaque haemorrhage are the main causes of stroke and clinical symptoms of atherosclerosis. In addition to the degree of luminal narrowing, characterisation of the plaque composition and ultrastructure is important for the assessment of stroke risk. Ex vivo MRI at very high magnetic field allows for detailed assessment of the plaques components. In this multimodal study, ex vivo plaque contrast and relaxation characteristics were analysed based on high spatial resolution images and compared to in vivo MRI and CT images.

Takahiro Koji¹, Yoshitaka Kubo¹, Toshiyuki Murakami¹, Takamasa Nanba¹, Makoto Sasaki², Akira Ogawa¹, and Kuniaki Ogasawara^1
1Department of Neurosurgery, Iwate Medical University, Morioka, Iwate, Japan, ²Division of Ultrahigh Field MRI, Institute for Biomedical Sciences, Iwate Medical University, Morioka, Iwate, Japan

This study investigated preoperative evaluation of the origins of the perforating arteries using 7-Tesla magnetic resonance image (7T MRI) in patients with unruptured aneurysms. Six patients underwent 3D time-of-flight spoiled gradient echo MRA (3D-TOF MRA) at 7T MR imager before surgery. In three of these 6 patients, relationship of the origins of the perforating arteries to the aneurysms was clearly displayed on the MRA. The relationship on the MRA corresponded with findings of intraoperative view through microscope. 3D-TOF MRA on 7T MR imager can evaluate relationship of the origins of the perforating arteries to the aneurysms.

Meritxell Garcia^1,2, Monika Gloor³, Michael A. Chappell^4,5, Peter Jezzard⁵, James V. Byrne², Oliver Bieri³, and Thomas W. Okell^5
1Division of Diagnostic & Interventional Neuroradiology, Department of Radiology, Clinic of Radiology & Nuclear Medicine, University of Basel Hospital, Basel, Switzerland, ²Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences and Department of Neuroradiology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, ³Division of Radiological Physics, Department of Medical Radiology, University of Basel Hospital, Basel, Switzerland, ⁴Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Engineering, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, ⁵Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

The efficacy of quantitative Vessel-Encoded Pseudocontinuous Arterial Spin Labelling (VEPCASL) in the assessment of regional perfusion alterations in arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) was analysed. VEPCASL perfusion was compared with Dynamic Susceptibility Contrast MRI (DSC-MRI). The lack of a need for contrast agent, lower data variation, and absent sensitivity to distortion artefacts makes ASL superior to DSC-MRI for perfusion assessment in AVMs. The ability to label different vascular territories separately with VEPCASL may be of significant use in the determination of perfusion normalisation between treatment stages. Different perfusion patterns in different AVM subtypes can be explained by differences in abnormal vessel composition.

Jie Song¹, Leo Walton², Brittany Young², Veena A. Nair³, Svyat Vergun⁴, HuiChun Chen⁵, Dorothy Farrar-Edwards⁵, Mitch E. Tyler¹, Justin Sattin⁶, Justin C. Williams¹, and Vivek Prabhakaran^3
1Biomedical Engineering, UW-Madison, Madison, WI, United States, ²Neuroscience Training Program, UW-Madison, Madison, WI, United States, ³Radiology, UW-Madison, Madison, WI, United States, ⁴Medical Physics, UW-Madison, Madison, WI, United States, ⁵Kinesiology, UW-Madison, Madison, WI, United States, ⁶Neurology, UW-Madison, UW-Madison, WI, United States

We investigate a closed-loop neurological feedback device which combines Brain computer interface-EEG and functional electrical muscle stimulation together with tongue stimulation and combines the subject’s intention-to-move with the stimulated output thus providing patients with both visual and sensory feedback and direct control of the stimulus intensity. We use fMRI and DTI to elucidate the neural mechanisms by which the training with this device can facilitate brain reorganization and white matter change leading to greater functional recovery.

Iris Asllani¹, Shazia Dharssi¹, Marykay Pavol¹, Ronald L. Lazar¹, and Randolph S. Marshall^1
1Columbia University, New York, NY, United States

There is converging evidence that cerebral hemodynamic failure affects cognitive function in carotid artery disease, but inconsistent methods of measuring both the behavioral and the hemodynamic state have hindered this line of inquiry from influencing clinical management. Here, we present preliminary data from patients with 100% carotid stenosis on whom we measured hemodynamic parameters such as baseline and activation CBF as well as arterial transit times (ATT) using PCASL fMRI.

Shogo Oda¹, Keiichi Kikuchi², Kohsuke Kudo³, Yoshiyasu Hiratsuka², Hitoshi Miki¹, Teruhito Mochizuki², Hideaki Watanabe⁴, and Yoshiaki Kumon^4
1Radiology, Ehime Prefectual Central Hospital, Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan, ²Radiology, Ehime University School of Medicine, Toon City, Ehime, Japan,³Advanced Medical Science Center, Iwate Medical University, Morioka, Iwate, Japan, ⁴Neurosurgery, Ehime University School of Medicine, Toon City, Ehime, Japan

Evaluation of cerebral vascular reactivity with acetazolamide challenge DSC-MRI

Huimin Wu¹, Walter F. Block^1,2, Patrick Turski³, Charles A. Mistretta¹, and Kevin M. Johnson^1
1Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States, ²Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States, ³Radiology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States

Fully 3D compressed sensing was implemented with iterative soft thresholding (IST) and used for reconstruction of 3D intracranial angiograms obtained with PCASL-VIPR. A data-driven threshold selection method based on SURE (Stein’s Unbiased Risk Estimator) was utilized at each iteration to adaptively calculate the threshold. Standard non-iterative reconstruction, auto-tuned CS and manually tuned CS were compared on a static PCASL-VIPR dataset with an isotropic resolution of 0.43 mm. CS was able to greatly improve the SNR and vessel visualization with acceleration as high as 20X without manual parameter tuning.

Can Wu¹, Timothy J. Carroll¹, Parmede Vakil¹, Sameer A. Ansari², Bernard R. Bendok², Hunt Batjer³, and Michael Markl^1
1Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Radiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States, ²Departments of Radiology and Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States, ³Department of Neurological Surgery, UT Southwestern, Dallas, TX, United States

4D flow and perfusion MRI were successfully employed to provide quantitative information on both macro- and micro-vascular hemodynamics in AVM patients during embolization. Schematic AVM models were built for macrovascular flow quantification. Contralateral and ipsilateral tissue perfusion was quantified to evaluate the impact of embolization on systemic hemodynamic changes. Spatial co-registration of the 4D flow and perfusion data provides a joint visualization of macrovascular 3D blood flow and microvascular tissue perfusion. The results demonstrate the potential of the joint 4D flow-perfusion MRI method for AVM pre-treatment planning and post-treatment evaluation.

David A. Saloner¹, Alastair Martin², Daniel Hurwit², Sahand Sohrabi², Andrew Lee², Vitaliy L. Rayz², William Young³, Wade Smith⁴, Randall Higashida², Michael Lawton⁵, and Charles McCulloch^6
1Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, VAMC/UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States, ²Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States, ³Anesthesiology, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States, ⁴Neurology, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States, ⁵Neurological Surgery, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States, ⁶Epidemiology and Biostatistics, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States

This study reports on the serial imaging of subjects with untreated intracranial aneurysms. 74 aneurysms in 68 patients were thrombus-free and studies were conducted over a total of 226 intervals. The standard error of measurement was found to be 4.9%. Approximately 15% of aneurysms were found to grow over time.

Rajiv G. Menon¹, Edward G. Walsh², Donald B. Twieg³, and Timothy J. Carroll^1,4
1Radiology Department, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States, ²Neuroscience, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, United States, ³Biomedical Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States, ⁴Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States

Oxygen extraction fraction (OEF) is shown to be an independent predictor of stroke. There is an unmet clinical need for a robust MR based OEF measurement technique. A novel PARSE (Parameter Assessment by Retrieval from Signal Encoding) MRI based technique is reported here to measure OEF. We tested the technique on 5 normal subjects and provide anecdotal evidence on an AVM (Arterio-Venous Malformation) patient. Calculated PARSE MR-OEF correlate well with published Positron Emission Tomography (PET) data. Further clinical validation on subjects is required to establish the efficacy of this technique to clinically diagnose stroke risk in a patient.

Rajiv G. Menon¹, Charles G. Cantrell¹, Edward G. Walsh², Donald B. Twieg³, and Timothy J. Carroll^1
1Radiology Department, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States, ²Neuroscience, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, United States, ³Biomedical Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States

OEF(Oxygen Extraction Fraction) is shown to be an independent predictor of stroke We previously reported an MR technique to measure OEF. Here we show that we can measure dynamic changes in OEF (OEF Reactivity) by inducing mild hypercapnia using a breath-hold experiment. We tested the method on 5 normal volunteers and demonstrate that we can measure OEF changes related to mild physiologic stress. OEF reactivity as a surrogate measure of cerebrovascular reserve would provide supplemental information in patients who receive diamox/acetazolamide challenge to determine information on collateralization, and correlate with more favorable outcomes in revascularization therapy.

Takayuki Masui¹, Motoyuki Katayama¹, Koji Yoneyama¹, Masayoshi Sugimura¹, Naoyuki Takei², Kimihiko Sato¹, Kei Tsukamoto¹, Kenichi Mizuki¹, and Hiroyuki Kabasawa^2
1Radiology, Seirei Hamamatsu General Hospital, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan, ²GE Healthcare Japan, Hino, Tokyo, Japan

Noncontrast enhanced (NC)-MRA with inflow inversion recovery technique, IFIR FSE can be obtained for the evaluation of the arteries from the aortic arch to the skull base using peripheral pulse gating at 3T in combined use of compressed sensing and parallel imaging ARC. This technique may be used as a screening method covering the wide areas of the arteries within an acceptable short imaging time and image quality in the patients with cerebral vascular diseases. In those cases, robust imaging parameters have to be applied for stable NC-MRAs.

Asimina Lazaridou^1,2, Loukas Astrakas^1,2, Dionyssios Mintzopoulos^1,2, Azadeh Khanicheh³, Aneesh Singhal⁴, Michael Moskowitz², Bruce Rosen², and Aria A. Tzika^1,2
1NMR Surgical Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital and Shriners Burn Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States, ²Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Boston, MA, United States, ³Mechanical Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States, ⁴Department of Neurology, Stroke Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States

A large proportion of the focus of stroke research remains on novel rehabilitation interventions. Using volumetric and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) at 3T in conjunction with a novel MR-compatible hand-induced robotic device (MR_CHIROD) we investigated neuroplasticity in chronic stroke by probing structural changes. New CST fiber tracts projecting progressively closer to motor cortex indicated structural neuroplasticity. Volumetric imaging showed significant increase in the cortical thickness of the ventral postcentral gyrus areas. The results demonstrate the potential of training-induced neuroplasticity in chronic stroke, where stroke rehabilitation is relatively new, having suffered from the longstanding view that lost functions were not recoverable.

Ping-Huei Tsai^1,2, Chia-Yuen Chen², Chin-I Chen³, Fong Y. Tsai¹, Hsiao-Wen Chung⁴, and Wing P. Chan^2
1Imaging Research Center, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan, ²Department of Radiology, Wan Fang Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan, ³Department of Neurology, Wan Fang Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan, ⁴Department of Electrical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

The aim of this study is using an auto segmentation method based on data clustering to investigate the symmetry of brain SWI in normal subjects and facilitate the quantification of the asymmetric distribution of the deoxygenated vessels in patients with acute ischemic stroke for a better prediction of the evolution. Our preliminary finding demonstrates that the proposed method provides objective information for evaluation of the patients, and may have a potential to contribute to determining the penumbra and predicting of the stroke prognosis, as well as the following treatment.

Jill Britt De Vis¹, Jeroen Hendrikse¹, and Esben Thade Petersen^1
1Radiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands

In patients with cerebrovascular disease outcome can be predicted by evaluating hemodynamic parameters. Here we present a comprehensive protocol designed to evaluate all hemodynamic parameters.

Francois Nicoli¹, Timothe Boutelier², Fabrice Pautot², and Nadine Girard^3
1Medical Affairs, Olea Medical, La Ciotat, Bouches du Rhone, France, ²Research & Innovation, Olea Medical, La Ciotat, Bouches du Rhone, France,³Neuroradiology, La Timone University Hospital, Marseille, Bouches du Rhone, France

Recently, an index of collateral flow that is predictive of the rate of recanalization of MCA-M1 occlusions in patients treated with IV Thrombolysis (IVT) has been described. This index, named the normalized Collateral Circulation Deficit (nCCD), is based on Tmax maps at different time points (calculated using a block-circulant SVD). To confirm that the nCCD index determined using cSVD is significantly correlated with the speed of the supplying flow inside the MCA territory, we performed a Bayesian estimation of hemodynamic parameters in a cohort of patients with an acute MCA-M1 occlusion. The Bayesian method (BM) is a rigorous probabilistic estimation of hemodynamic parameters. From a quantitative point of view, this method outperforms deconvolution methods (standard, block-circulant or oscillating SVD).

Kambiz Nael¹, Arash Meshksar¹, Benjamin Ellingson², Pablo J. Villablanca², and Noriko Salamon^2
1Medical Imaging, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States, ²Radiological Sciences, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Using a pseudo-continuous ASL with background suppression and a 2 second post-labeling delay, ASL performs with only moderate agreement with DSC in quantitative assessment of mismatch classification in revascularized patients with acute stroke. In particular ASL appears less sensitive for detection of reperfusion in successfully recanalized patients. Since the cerebral hemodynamics and arterial arrival time are different in pre and post revascularized patients, different post-labeling delay or ASL methods independent of arterial arrival time (velocity selective ASL) may be needed for better evaluation.

Jun Liu¹, Liang Xu¹, Chunming Liu¹, and Zhengchao Dong^2,3
1Union Medical Center, Tianjin, Tianjin, China, ²Columbia University, New York, NY, United States, ³New York State of Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, United States

Early prediction of Hemorrhagic transformation (HT) of acute cerebral infarction is crucially important but is very difficult due to the rapid development and the complexities of the pathophysiology of the disease. In this communication, we report a multimodal MRI approach to studying the HT in acute cerebral infarction. Our fundamental hypothesis is that each modality of the MRI techniques provide complimentary information about HT; by applying multimodal MRI techniques in a synergetic way, we would be able to obtain a stereoscopic picture of the HT and, thereby, to improve the prediction of HT in cerebral infarction.

Li Yang¹, Guangbin Wang¹, Lili Li¹, Queenie Chan², and Weibo Chen^3
1Shandong Medical Imaging Research Institute, Jinan, Shandong, China, ²Philips Healthcare, Hongkong, Hongkong, China, ³Philips Healthcare, Shanghai, Shanghai, China

Phase difference enhanced (PADRE) imaging technique uses three-dimensional (3D) principle of echo shifting with a train of observations (PRESTO) which can selectively enhance the phase difference between the targets and surrounding tissue. Our purpose is to evaluate the findings of the optic radiation and the myelinated layers in striate cortex (stria of Gennari) in vivo using PADRE and measure the phase values in optic radiation and striate cortex.The PADRE technique can differentiate the two layers of the optic radiation and identify the stria of Gennari, which, at least in part, seems to be associated with differential myelin content.

Wei Bian^1,2, Christopher P. Hess², Susan M. Chang³, Sarah J. Nelson^1,2, and Janine M. Lupo^2
1Graduate Program in Bioengineering, University of California San Francisco & Berkeley, San Francisco, CA, United States, ²Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States, ³Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States

A computer-aided method is proposed to identify cerebral microbleeds on minimum intensity projected susceptibility-weighted MR images. It utilizes the 2D fast radial symmetry transform to initially detect nearly all possible putative CMBs. False positives are subsequently eliminated by examining geometric features measured after performing 3D region growing on the putative CMBs. The performance of the method was evaluated on 15 patients with total 420 CMBs induced by radiation treatment for resected gliomas. The evaluation showed that our method achieved a detection sensitivity of 88.3% using only 1 minute computation, which is much more sensitive and faster than previously published methods.

Kiho Im¹, Nora M. Raschle¹, Jennifer Zuk¹, Jennifer Minas², Ola Ozranov-Palchik¹, Nadine Gaab¹, and Patricia Ellen Grant^3
1Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States, ²Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States,³Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States

Developmental dyslexia (DD) is one of the most prominent specific learning disabilities, affecting 5-17% of children. The goal of this study was to investigate possible structural pre-markers of DD in pre-readers as well as beginning readers using sulcal pattern analysis.

Martina F. Callaghan¹, Antoine Lutti¹, Siawoosh Mohammadi¹, and Nikolaus Weiskopf^1
1Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom

Quantitative MRI aims to produce measurements of diagnostic value that are independent of scanner and acquisition protocol. Biophysical models can provide validation for these markers and bring us a step closer to accessing important biological parameters in vivo that are normally only available post mortem. We explored the validity of using quantitative transverse relaxation rate and magnetisation transfer maps as markers for macromolecular and iron content in a linear model of longitudinal relaxation rate in 100 subjects. The linear model fit with a high Pearson coefficient and exhibited stability in the coefficients across the large cohort.

Kieran O'Brien¹, Tobias Kober², Jose Marques³, François Lazeyras¹, Rolf Gruetter^1,4, and Gunnar Krueger^2
1CIBM, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland, ²Advanced Clinical Imaging Technology, Siemens Healthcare IM S AW, Lausanne, Switzerland, ³CIBM-AIT, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne & Univertisy of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, ⁴CIBM-AIT, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

At ultra high fields (>3T), whole brain 3D MP2RAGE acquisition suffer from poor inversion in the Cerebellum. In particular, when a subject’s head size is large relative to the physical “z” coverage of the transmit coil, the radiofrequency (RF) power available is not sufficient to overcome the adiabatic condition. Introducing thin dielectric pads enables the RF distribution’s hot spot to be redistributed towards the cerebellum. This improves the RF power and ensures better inversion efficiency enabling high quality whole brain coverage in 3D MP2RAGE scans for all subjects to be obtained.

Martin Krämer¹, Karl-Heinz Herrmann¹, Martin Stenzel², Hans-Joachim Mentzel², and Jürgen R. Reichenbach^1
1Medical Physics Group, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology I, Jena University Hospital - Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany,²Pediatric Radiology, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology I, Jena University Hospital - Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany

We report of a rare case of a persistent metopic suture in an adult male which was imaged using high resolution gradient echo magnetic resonance imaging. A curved surface reconstruction was performed along the cranial surface for an improved visualization of the suture. Although very rare clinicians and radiologists should be aware of this condition in order to avoid misdiagnoses, for example as vertical facture.

Enrico De Vita^1,2, Harpreet Hyare^3,4, Gerard R. Ridgway⁵, Marie-Claire Porter^3,4, Andrew Thompson^3,4, Chris Carswell^3,4, Ana Lukic^3,4, Rolf H. Jager^1,2, Diana Caine^3,4, Peter Rudge^3,4, Tarek A. Yousry^1,2, John Collinge^3,4, Simon Mead^3,4, and John Thornton^1,2
1Lysholm Department of Neuroradiology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, UCLH NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom,²Academic Neuroradiological Unit, Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom, ³MRC Prion Unit, Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom, ⁴National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, UCLH NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom, ⁵Wellcome Department of Cognitive Neurology, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom

Human prion diseases (transmissible spongiform encephalopathies) are progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disorders. Voxel based morphometry (VBM) has only been used to study prion disease pathology in cross sectional studies. Only whole-brain summary measures have been employed to assess progressive degeneration longitudinally. Here we followed up a large numbr of prion disease patients with serial cerebral MRI and applied longitudinal VBM to characterize progressive structural change. We reveal significant regional changes in brain atrophy in prion patients consistent with known prion pathology and show correlation of rates of structural change with change in clinical assessment scores.

Anna I. Blazejewska¹, Stefan T. Schwarz², Alain Pitiot³, Mary C. Stephenson¹, James Lowe⁴, Nin Bajaj⁵, Richard W. Bowtell¹, Dorothee P. Auer², and Penelope A. Gowland^1
1SPMMRC, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, Notts, United Kingdom, ²Division of Radiological and Imaging Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, Notts, United Kingdom, ³School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, Notts, United Kingdom, ⁴Division of Pathology, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham, Notts, United Kingdom, ⁵Division of Neurology, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham, Notts, United Kingdom

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is caused by loss of dopaminergic cells particularly from the nigrosomes of the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc). In this study we correlated in vivo, post mortem MRI and histochemical data proving the ability of high resolution 7T MRI imaging to directly visualise nigrosome 1. Further assessment of T2*w scans of PD patients versus healthy controls by the neurologists suggested that the absence of nigrosome 1 in the SNpc on MR scans may provide a neuroimaging diagnostic test for the Parkinson's disease.

Andreia V. Faria¹, Shoko Yoshida¹, Kenichi Oishi¹, Kanako Sato¹, Argye Hillis², MIchael I. Miller³, and Susumu Mori^1
1Radiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States, ²Neurology, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, United States, ³Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States

We report our attempt to develop a technology to structurize image features and facilitate image searching. The structurization was based on automated parcellation of the entire brain into 211 structures using T1-WIs and high-dimensional normalization method. We tested if the structurized anatomical data actually captured the anatomical features in a population with atrophy at different degrees and locations by comparing the results with trained clinicians evaluation. We explored the data and tested individual classifications using PCA and discriminant analysis. The structurization of image data through image-vector conversion was effective, and provides opportunities to mine clinical database for medical decision support

Michael G. Dwyer¹, Niels P. Bergsland¹, and Robert Zivadinov^1
1Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, United States

We describe a novel technique for substantially improving the reliability of longitudinal gray matter atrophy measurement through the extension of SIENAX’s hidden Markov random field model from 3 dimensions to 4. We validate our approach using both simulation and real clinical data, and show a marked improvement in effect size and statistical power.

Jyh-Wen Chai^1,2, Clayton Chi-Chang Chen³, Hsian-Min Chen⁴, Yi-Ying Wu¹, Pei-Hua Lo¹, Chu-Jing Song¹, Yi-Hsin Tsai², San-Kan Lee³, Yen-Chien Ouyang⁵, and Chein-I Chang^6
1Department of Radiology, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, Taiwan, ²College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan, Taiwan, ³Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, Taiwan, ⁴Department of Biomedical Engineering, HungKuang University, Taichung, Taiwan, Taiwan, ⁵Department of Electrical Engineering, National Chung Hsin University, Taichung, Taiwan, Taiwan, ⁶Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Baltimore, MD, United States

With no need of a prior knowledge about the tissue intensity or anatomical information, the supervised hybrid classifier was utilized for tissue classification of multispectral MRI in the native coordinate space by using only one small set of training samples. The preliminary results demonstrated that the proposed method can perform an accurate and reproducible brain volume morphometry of multispectral 3D high spatial resolution MRI in synthetic image data and in different groups of human subjects. This supervised method has shown potential in clinical applications, particularly promising for longitudinal studies of brain morphometry with multispectral MRI.

Ronald Mooiweer¹, Alessandro Sbrizzi¹, Fredy Visser^1,2, Cornelis A.T. van den Berg¹, Peter R. Luijten¹, and Hans Hoogduin^1
1UMC Utrecht, Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands, ²Philips Healthcare, Best, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands

High resolution T2* weighted images of the hippocampal formation are presented using spatially selective excitation combined with a reduced FOV readout at 7T.

Martina F. Callaghan¹, Patrick Freund^1,2, Bogdan Draganski³, Marinella Cappelletti¹, Thomas Fitzgerald¹, Peter Smittenaar¹, Antoine Lutti¹, and Nikolaus Weiskopf^1
1Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom, ²Spinal Cord Injury Center Balgrist, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, ³LREN, Department des Neurosciences Cliniques, CHUV, Universite de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

Quantitative MR parameters reflect changes occurring in tissue on a microstructural level. We acquired quantitative maps of longitudinal relaxation rate (R1), transverse relaxation rate (R2*) and magnetisation transfer (MT) from a population of 100 healthy volunteers with an age range of 18-74 years. Voxel-based statistical analysis of the whole brain, incorporating spinal cord metrics, identified changes significantly correlated with age consistent with changes in myelination and iron content known to occur on a microstructural level during aging. Robust quantitative mapping will be of great benefit for establishing normative parameter values and gaining insight into the underlying causes of pathological conditions.

Tianhao Zhang¹ and Christos Davatzikos^1
1Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Voxel-Based Morphometry (VBM) has been widely applied for characterizing brain changes on structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging. However in the conventional VBM methods, Gaussian smoothing, which is always used prior to General Linear Model (GLM) to integrate imaging signals from a region, proves critical due to lack of the spatial adaptivity necessary to optimally match image filtering with an underlying region of interest. In this work, Optimally-Discriminative Voxel-Based Analysis (ODVBA), as a recently-developed method utilizing a new spatially adaptive smoothing scheme to determine group differences, is evaluated in comparison with the conventional VBM method, two other spatially adaptive smoothing methods, and two cluster enhancing methods, in three studies on schizophrenia, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Deepika Bagga¹, Namita Singh¹, Shilpi Modi¹, Prabhjot Kaur¹, Debajyoti Bhattacharya², Mohan Lal Garg³, and subash khushu^1
1NMR Research Centre, INMAS, New Delhi, New Delhi, India, ²Department of psychiatry, Base Hospital, New Delhi, New Delhi, India, ³Department of Biophysics, Panjab University, chandigarh, chandigarh, India

Chronic alcoholism leads to a number of transient or persistent neurological and psychiatric deficits. The aim of our study was to associate the cognitive deficits observed in visuospatial information processing as assessed by PGIBBD (PGI-Battery of Brain Dysfunction) in alcohol dependents with the brain morphometry changes and duration of alcohol consumption. To that end, VBM analysis was carried out in alcohol dependents and healthy controls. Significant gray and white matter volume loss in fronto-parietal regions was observed which could account for the impaired visuospatial information processing skills in alcohol dependents.

Timothy M. Shepherd¹, Christopher B. Glielmi², Christian Geppert³, and Josef Pfeuffer^4
1Radiology, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, United States, ²Siemens Medical Solutions, New York, NY, United States, ³Siemens Medical Systems, New York, NY, United States, ⁴Siemens Healthcare, Erlangen, Germany

This presentation describes using 2D-selective RF excitation with a 2-channel parallel transmit coil to obtain zoomed DTI for interrogating diffusion and functional connectivity within the medial temporal lobe structures.

Sean Foxley¹, Saad Jbabdi¹, Wilfred Lam¹, and Karla Miller^1
1FMRIB Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

Post-mortem human brain imaging is of interest both to validate in-vivo measures and to scan for long periods of time to achieve high spatial resolution. Use of diffusion weighted steady-state free precession (DW-SSFP) has been demonstrated to perform significantly better than diffusion-weighted spin echo techniques for post-mortem human brain tractography at 3T. However limitations in SNR have made voxel-by-voxel secondary fibre population estimation difficult. This indicates worse contrast-to-noise ratio than what is currently used for in-vivo protocols. In this work we explore DW-SSFP at 7T with two different b_eff values to investigate potential improvements in secondary fibre estimations.

Mansi B. Parekh¹, Robert Fisher², Kevin Graber², Ryan Purcell³, Rishi Raman³, Leandro Bouzon³, Scott Atlas¹, Samantha J. Holdsworth¹, Stefan Skare¹, Rolland Bammer¹, and Michael Zeineh^1
1Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States, ²Neurology & Neurological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States, ³Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States

Discerning the microstructural abnormalities of the epileptogenic focus are not always possible with conventional MRI in patients with epilepsy. However, ultra-high resolution diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) may provide adequate microanatomical information to study subtle structural changes that underlie the epileptogenic focus. Recent published work from our group has shown promise in being able to study the mesial temporal lobe (MTL) structures using DTI. In this study, we further study fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity and connectivity changes in the MTL structures of patients with unilateral mesial temporal sclerosis.

Masaya Misaki¹, Jonathan Savitz^1,2, Vadim Zotev¹, Raquel Phillips¹, Han Yuan¹, Kymberly D. Young¹, Wayne C. Drevets¹, and Jerzy Bodurka^1,3
1Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, United States, ²Tulsa School of Community Medicine, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, United States,³College of Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Tulsa, OK, United States

We propose a new structural image contrast from a novel combination of T1- and T2-weighted images. A specific combination of T1 and T2 images, CI=(T1-T2)/(T1+T2), could reduce noise and enhance contrast between brain structures. The utility of the new contrast image was evaluated using automatic segmentation software: FAST in FSL for white and gray matter segmentation and FreeSurfer for segmenting subcortical regions. The combined image had significantly higher contrast between white and gray matters as well as between subcortical structures. The contrast enhancement offered by the combined image can improve accuracy of structural analysis of the human brain.

Vikas Kotari¹ and Vasiliki N. Ikonomidou^2
1Electrical Engineering, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, United States, ²Bioengineering, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, United States

Virchow-Robin spaces are perivascular structures whose dilation can be a biomarker of microvascular disease, vascular dementia, hypertension etc; therefore their detection and characterization may prove useful for disease monitoring. In this study, we present a novel automatic detection technique for VRS detection based on multispectral fusion of information derived from a combination of MPRAGE and T2 weighted images. The approach minimizes noise-driven false positives, resulting in high sensitivity and specificity. The technique is fast and fully automated, making it appropriate for routine use.

Sune Darkner¹, Matthew George Liptrot¹, and Jon Sporring^1
1Department of Computer Science, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Many of the analysis methods applied to neuroimaging are dependent upon correct co-registration of datasets. The direction in which the registration is applied (image A registered to image B, or vice-versa) may vary depending upon the topic of interest without consideration of possible confounds this may involve. Here we show how even affine registration is subject to “inverse inconsistency”, where the co-registration result is different depending upon the direction chosen. A difference of 0.5 voxels is demonstrated for a pure translational, affine registration. Care must therefore be taken when performing co-registration in order to minimize subsequent directionality-based confounds.

Yunyan Zhang¹, Lenora Brown¹, and Luanne M. Metz^1
1University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

T2-weighted MRI and DTI were performed in the white matter of five healthy volunteers. Fractional anisotropy (FA), radial and axial diffusivity were computed in 4 brain regions. Using T2 MRI, texture spectral similarity that dictates inter-voxel relationships was computed based on polar Stockwell transform. The genu and splenium of the corpus callosum demonstrated greater FA, axial diffusivity, and texture dissimilarity than the other structures, opposite to the pattern of radial diffusivity. With equivalent power to DTI indices, texture spectral similarity may be a sensitive measure of white matter architecture based on conventional MRI and embedded into clinical practice.

Michael Bach^1,2, Bram Stieltjes¹, Frederik B. Laun^1,2, Alexander Leemans³, and Klaus Hermann Fritzsche^1,4
1Quantitative Imaging-based Disease Characterization, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany, ²Dpt. of Medical Physics in Radiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany, ³Image Sciences Institute, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands, ⁴Medical Imaging and Biological Informatics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany

Considering the widespread and growing use of tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS), it is important to fully understand the potential limitations of this approach. In this work the voxels of the cingulum bundle (CB) and corpus callosum (CC) are followed up through the TBSS-process. Our results reveal that CB voxels are assigned to the CC-skeleton and vice versa. This strongly influences the statistical inference, as shown here for a group comparison between 15 Alzheimer’s diseases patients and 15 healthy controls. In conclusion the potential misassignment of adjacent white matter tracts must be born in mind when interpreting TBBS results.