Samuel W. Holder^1,2, Dayna L. Richter^1,2, David C. Hike^1,2, Michael G. Harrington³, and Samuel C. Grant^1,2
1National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, United States, ²Chemical & Biomedical Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, Tallahassee, FL, United States, ³Neurology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States

²³Na FID-based 3D CSI was implemented in female rats at 21.1 T to examine sex differences in sodium response to NTG-triggered central sensitization. The female brainstem was resilient to NTG-triggered increases in sodium seen with males, despite sodium increases in the female cisterna magna and fourth ventricle. Lateral ventricles and thalamus sodium in females decreased with NTG trigger. Female resilience in brainstem and thalamus, both connected to trigeminal first order neuron, holds interesting implications for migraine. 

Myrte Strik¹, Meaghan Clough², Emma J Solly², Owen B White², Scott C Kolbe², and Joanne Fielding^2
1Department of Radiology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia, ²Department of Neuroscience, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

Visual snow syndrome (VSS) is a neurological disorder characterized by continuous visual disturbances, and accompanied by a range of non-visual symptoms, including tinnitus and migraine. Little is known about the pathological mechanisms underlying VSS. In this study we assessed brain morphometry and microstructure in VSS patients using high-resolution structural (MP2RAGE, 0.75 mm iso) and quantitative (T1 mapping) 7T MRI. In VSS patients, we observed similar morphometry, but widespread changes in the grey matter microstructure (lower T1 values), which followed a caudal-rostral pattern affecting the occipital cortices most profoundly. Migraine did not appear to independently affect these changes.

Randall Sky Jones¹, Manus Donahue², Spencer Waddle³, Larry Taylor Davis³, Sumit Pruthi³, Chelsea Lee¹, Niral Patel¹, Michael DeBaun¹, Adetola Kassim⁴, Mark Rodeghier⁵, and Lori Jordan^1
1Pediatric Neurology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States, ²Neurology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States, ³Radiology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States, ⁴Medicine; Hematology and Oncology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States, ⁵Rodeghier Consulting, Chicago, IL, United States

Brain tissue volumes were calculated in adults and children with sickle cell disease (SCD) across the lifespan for different segmentation algorithms and clinical indicators of disease. Tissue volume reductions in persons with SCD without prior stroke were detected when using FreeSurfer, but not other software, highlighting algorithm bias. Arterial oxygen content was directly related to tissue volumes when using FreeSurfer and SIENAX. Brain tissue volume was not associated with silent cerebral infarcts (SCIs). Findings highlight the subtlety of tissue volume changes in SCD, provide age-specific reference-standards, and motivate an integrated approach of anatomical and functional assessments for informing SCD care.

Parker L La¹, Ashley D Harris¹, Robyn Walker¹, Julie M Joyce¹, Tiffany Bell¹, William Craig², Quynh Doan³, Miriam H Beauchamp⁴, Roger Zemek⁵, Pediatric Emergency Research Canada (PERC)⁶, Keith O Yeates⁷, and Ashley D Harris^1
1Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada, ²Pediatrics, University of Alberta and Stollery Children's Hospital, Edmonton, AB, Canada, ³Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ⁴Psychology, University of Montreal and St Justine Hospital, Montreal, QC, Canada, ⁵Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine, University of Ottawa and Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, ON, Canada, ⁶University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada, ⁷Psychology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

Disruptions in brain metabolites following concussion are commonly reported in the literature. However, studies have typically included only one timepoint, studied adults and/or had limited sample size. In the largest MRS dataset in pediatric concussion to date, we show that metabolites do not differ significantly over time points with longitudinal data collected sub-acutely (<14 days post-injury) and at 3- or 6-months follow-up. This lack of change may indicate that metabolites are relatively stable, that changes are regionally specific or occur more acutely, or there are subgroups that need to be specifically considered.

Miriam S Menken¹, Pedro Rodriguez Rivera¹, Amal Isaiah^2,3, Thomas Ernst¹, Christine C Cloak¹, and Linda Chang^1,4,5
1Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States, ²Otorhinolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States, ³Pediatrics, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States, ⁴Neurology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States, ⁵Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States

Few studies identified brain morphometric changes associated with peer-victimization (“being bullied”), and no study examined how these changes can mediate the relationship between bullying and cognition. Using T1-weighted MRI scans and cognitive test scores from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development longitudinal dataset, we found that bullying is associated with reduced cognitive performance over time. Bullied children had smaller putamen volumes and right insula surface areas, thinner left precentral and banks of superior temporal sulcus cortices, but larger left entorhinal and right pars orbitalis surface areas. Importantly, these altered brain measures partially mediated the relationship between bullying and cognitive scores.

Yukai Zou^1,2, Aravinthan Varatharaj^1,3, Charlotte Stuart¹, Finn Lennartsson⁴, Angela Darekar², Claudia AM Gandini Wheeler-Kingshott⁵, and Ian Galea^1,3
1Clinical Neurosciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom, ²Medical Physics Department, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton, United Kingdom, ³Wessex Neurological Centre, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton, United Kingdom, ⁴Department of Clinical Sciences, Diagnostic Radiology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden, ⁵NMR Research Unit, Department of Neuroinflammation, Queen Square MS Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom

This study aims to develop quantitative MRI measures that are more statistically straightforward to correlate with clinical disability of progressive MS individuals, whose brains often show atrophy and tissue damage that vary amongst regions, which is hard to interpret clinically. The impacts of different software packages and MR contrasts on estimating brain atrophy were investigated. Individual DTI profiles characterised specific progression within each brain region, preserving the heterogeneity amongst individuals. Some of the measures were shown to capture the overall progression and correlate with clinical disability. In summary, this framework shows promise to integrate quantitative MRI into routine clinical care. 

Stefan Skare^1,2, Adam van Niekerk^1,2, Tim Sprenger^2,3, Aleksandra Ramolli¹, Yords Österman¹, Jan Svoboda¹, Ola Norbeck^1,2, Henric Rydén^1,2, Enrico Avventi^1,2, and Johan Berglund^2
1Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden, ²Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, ³GE Healthcare, Stockholm, Sweden

Selected pediatric patients (3-9Y) scheduled for a clinical brain MRI under general anesthesia are enrolled in this ongoing study to be scanned awake, while watching a movie for entertainment, using a new motion-robust brain MRI protocol. The protocol consists solely of custom-made, inherently motion-robust, sequences, with all necessary MR contrasts for clinical use. All but one sequence uses real-time correction of head motion with an external tracking device. All eight unsedated pediatric patients scanned so far resulted in diagnostic images, despite some patients moving their heads in excess of 30 degrees (peak-peak) during the exam.

Courtney A. Bishop¹, Thomas Lodeweyckx², Jan de Hoon², Koen Van Laere^3,4, Michel Koole⁴, Wim Vandenberghe⁵, Gaia Rizzo¹, Eugenii Rabiner^1,6, Renee Martin⁷, Anthony Ford⁷, and Gabriel Vargas^7
1Invicro, London, United Kingdom, ²Center for Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, ³Division of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, ⁴Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, ⁵Department of Neurology, University Hospital Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, ⁶Centre for Neuroimaging Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College, London, United Kingdom, ⁷CuraSen Therapeutics, San Carlos, CA, United States

Initial evidence is provided for central effects of the β2-AR agonist clenbuterol on CBF in healthy volunteers. Regions showing particular effect (the hippocampus and thalamus) are associated with cognition and neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Disease, so similar targeting of β2-AR may prove beneficial in these conditions. Further work is required to determine the extent of central mediation of the effect of β2-AR agonism with clenbuterol in healthy volunteers.
 

Catarina Rua¹, Mark R Symms², Ali Ghayoor³, Brian Avants³, Courtney Bishop¹, and Lino Becerra^3
1Invicro LLC, A Konica Minolta Company, London, United Kingdom, ²GE Healthcare, London, United Kingdom, ³Invicro LLC, A Konica Minolta Company, Needham, MA, United States

The locus coeruleus (LC) is the principal source of noradrenaline production in humans. Histology studies have shown that severe loss of neurons in the LC is associated with many neurodegenerative disorders. Damage is thought to be non-uniform and occurring in stages, hence there is a growing interest in imaging the LC in vivo in these patient populations. In this work we propose a protocol for imaging the LC at clinical field strengths using a 3D magnetization-transfer prepared imaging sequence strategy and the application of super-resolution techniques to increase the LC features within the brainstem region.

Alexander JS Beckett^1,2, Jingjia Chen³, Shajan Gunamony^4,5, An T Vu^6,7, Salvatore Torrisi^1,2, Chunlei Liu^1,3, Jason Stockmann^8,9, and David A Feinberg^1,2
1Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, United States, ²Advanced MRI Technologies, Sebastopol, CA, United States, ³Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, CA, United States, ⁴Imaging Centre of Excellence, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom, ⁵MR CoilTech Limited, Glasgow, United Kingdom, ⁶Radiology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, United States, ⁷San Francisco Veteran Affairs Health Care System, San Francisco, CA, United States, ⁸Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States, ⁹Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology, MIT, Cambridge, MA, United States

The 128-channel receive, 16-channel parallel transmit capabilities of the new NexGen 7T system, in conjunction with the high amplitude and slew rate of the novel “Impulse” head gradient coil, provide many potential benefits for high-resolution 3D neuroimaging. High channel array coils allow acceleration on two phase encoded axes for very high total acceleration factors, and faster gradients can reduce image readout time for additional benefits. We demonstrate these benefits in different 3D imaging applications (MP2RAGE, FLAIR, FLASH, SWI) at 7T.

Rongwen Tain^1,2, Benjamin M. Ellingson^3,4, Craig Stark^1,2,5, Catalina Raymond Guzman^3,4, Kelli Sharp^6,7, and Joanne Armour Smith^8
1Campus Center for Neuroimaging, University of California, Irvine, CA, United States, ²Facility for Imaging and Brain Research, University of California, Irvine, CA, United States, ³Brain Tumor Imaging Laboratory, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ⁴Department of Radiology and Psychiatry, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ⁵Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA, United States, ⁶Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of California, Irvine, CA, United States, ⁷Department of Dance, University of California, Irvine, CA, United States, ⁸Department of Physical Therapy, Chapman University, Orange, CA, United States

A recent animal study demonstrates that CEST MRI is a potential tool to detect neuronal activation. In this work, we study CEST effects in the secondary somatosensory cortex during rest and during a goal-directed lower extremity sensorimotor task (small amplitude left leg lifting) in 10 healthy participants. Significantly higher CEST effects were observed in participants performing the leg task in the secondary somatosensory cortex, but not in a prefrontal cortex control region. This indicates that CEST MRI is a potential tool to detect brain metabolism associated with neuronal activity in human subjects at 3T.