Maurizio Bergamino¹, Alberto Fuentes ¹, David J Marmion², Ivette M Sandoval², Christopher Bishop³, Fredric P Manfredsson², and Ashley M Stokes^1
1Neuroimaging Division, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ, United States, ²Translational Neuroscience, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ, United States, ³Department of Psychology, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, United States

The objective of this pilot study was to assess white matter (WM) microstructural integrity in pre-clinical models of Parkinson’s disease using fractional anisotropy (FA) from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). We assessed changes in FA in parkinsonian rats with levodopa-induced dyskinesia both over time and compared with control (sham) rats.

Giles Hamilton-Fletcher¹, Russell W. Chan^1,2, Matthew C. Murphy³, Joel S. Schuman¹, Amy C. Nau^4,5, and Kevin C. Chan^1
1Department of Ophthalmology, New York University Langone Health, New York, NY, United States, ²Neuroscience Institute, New York University Langone Health, New York City, NY, United States, ³Mayo Clinic Rochester, Rochester, MN, United States, ⁴Korb and associates, Boston, MA, United States, ⁵Department of Ophthalmology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, United States

Sensory substitution devices (SSDs) can represent the structure of visual space through sound. To determine whether this representation is topographically organized in the congenitally blind brain, we used NORDIC de-noising and population receptive field mapping (pRF) to correlate functional brain changes to changes in sound stimulus verticality (frequency) and laterality (panning/timing) following SSD principles. We show that NORDIC significantly increased temporal signal-to-noise ratios and activation areas in subjects’ auditory cortices. PRF revealed that auditory topographic maps representing verticality and laterality emerged in occipital-parietal cortices of 3/7 congenitally blind subjects only after 10-minutes of SSD training, indicating rapid cross-modal cortical recruitment.

Yuliya Kupriyanova^1,2, Pavel Bobrov^2,3, Volker Burkart^1,2, Vera Schrauwen-Hinderling^1,2,4, and Michael Roden^1,2,5
1Institute for Clinical Diabetology, German Diabetes Center, Leibniz Institute for Diabetes Research at Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany, ²German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD e.V.), München-Neuherberg, Germany, ³Institute for Biometrics and Epidemiology, German Diabetes Center, Leibniz Institute for Diabetes Research at Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany, ⁴Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, Netherlands, ⁵Department of Endocrinology and Diabetology, Medical Faculty and University Hospital, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany

This study shows the value of multiparametric magnetic resonance measurements for detecting the changes in liver tissue due to diabetes mellitus. Liver fat content (determined by mDixon MRI and ¹H-MR spectroscopy), T2* relaxation time and liver stiffness were compared in humans with type 1 (T1DM), type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) or normal glucose tolerance (control, CON).  

Huan Yang¹, Bo Liu², Qingqing Yin³, Haipeng Wang¹, Liangjie Lin⁴, and Ximing Wang^1
1Radiology, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China, ²Radiology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, China, ³Geriatric Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China, ⁴MSC Clinical & Technical Solutions, Philips Healthcare, Beijing, China

Diabetes mellitus is significantly associated with posterior circulation ischemic stroke. We aimed to compare the characteristics of vertebrobasilar plaques in symptomatic patients with and without diabetes using vessel wall magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomographic angiography. Characteristics of symptomatic vertebrobasilar plaques were compared between patients with and without diabetes. Multivariate analysis demonstrated differences in the presence of T1 hyperintensity and number of spotty calcifications were statistically significant. Symptomatic patients with diabetes have a higher incidence of T1 hyperintensity and larger calcification burden than those without diabetes, indicating the association of diabetes with more advanced plaque features in the posterior circulation.

Penelope Tilsley^1,2, Antoine Moutiez³, Alexandre Brodovitch⁴, Mohamed Mounir El Mendili^1,2, Wafaa Zaaraoui^1,2, Annie Verschueren^1,5, Shahram Attarian⁵, Maxime Guye^1,2, José Boucraut^4,6, Aude-Marie Grapperon^1,5, and Jan-Patrick Stellmann^1,2,3
1Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, CRMBM, Marseille, France, ²APHM, Hôpital de la Timone, CEMEREM, Marseille, France, ³APHM, Hôpital de la Timone, Department of Neuroradiologie, Marseille, France, ⁴Immunology Laboratory, Conception Hospital, AP-HM, Marseille, France, ⁵APHM, Hôpital de la Timone, Referral Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases and ALS, Marseille, France, ⁶INS, INSERM, UMR 1106, Marseille, France

Neurofilament light-chain (NF-L) levels in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) have recently been demonstrated as robust clinical biomarkers in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Nonetheless, the association between NF-L levels and ALS specific neurodegeneration patterns in the precentral cortex, a primarily affected area, has not been fully divulged. Combining 3T and 7T anatomical imaging with NF-L measures, clinical and electrophysiological data, we demonstrated regional-specific degradation within the precentral cortex according to affected limb areas. Further, NF-L levels negatively correlated with cortical thickness within the premotor cortex, suggesting the premotor cortex may be an important contributor to augmented NF-L levels in ALS.

Aurea B. Martins-Bach¹, Carmelo Milioto^2,3, Shoshana Spring⁴, Mireia Carcolé^2,3, Thomas J. Cunningham⁵, Elizabeth M. C. Fisher⁶, Adrian M. Isaacs^2,3, Brian J. Nieman⁴, Jason Lerch¹, and Karla L. Miller^1
1Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, ²UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, United Kingdom, ³Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom, ⁴Mouse Imaging Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada, ⁵Mammalian Genetics Unit, MRC Harwell Institute, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, ⁶Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom

Mutations in the C9orf72 gene are the most prevalent genetic alteration in ALS/FTD. This study investigates neuroanatomical phenotypes in two C9orf72 knock-in mouse models separately expressing either poly-(PR) or poly-(GR) dipeptide-repeats. Ex-vivo structural MRI (40 μm isotropic resolution) was acquired at 7T. After registration, the deformation fields were used to estimate voxels and region-of-interest volumes for comparison between mutants and wild-type mice. Although neuroanatomical phenotypes have been previously described in C9orf72 patients and other ALS/FTD mouse models, 20-month-old poly-(PR) and poly-(GR) mice presented subtle alterations. Further investigations to assess microstructural and histological changes in these mouse models are in progress.

Mohamed Mounir El Mendili^1,2, Aude-Marie GRAPPERON^2,3, Rémi DINTRICH ^1,2,3, Jan patrick STELLMANN^1,2, Lauriane PINI^1,2, Claire COSTES^1,2, Jean-Philippe RANJEVA^1,2, Maxime GUYE ^1,2, Annie VERSCHUEREN ³, Shahram ATTARIAN ³, and Wafaa ZAARAOUI ^1,2
1Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, CRMBM, Marseille, France, ²APHM, Hopital de la Timone, CEMEREM, Marseille, France, ³APHM, Hôpital de la Timone, Referral Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases and ALS, Marseille, France

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a heterogeneous condition showing variable progression rates. Conventional MRI lacks sensitivity and specificity to detect abnormalities in ALS and is mainly used to exclude ALS-mimics. Non-conventional MRI has gradually characterized specific neurodegeneration features in ALS.The present brain DTI and sodium MRI study evidenced combined microstructural and sodium homeostasis alterations in ALS and widespread damage in fast progressors. Our results confirm previous reports showing that non-conventional MRI technics might contribute to the diagnostic work-up of patients with different clinical profiles, especially when combined with mathematical modeling enabling predicting disease progression trajectory of a single patient.

Karsten Mueller¹, Harald E Möller¹, Birol Taskin¹, Friederike Thiel^1,2,3, Frank Beutner^3,4, Andrej Teren^3,4, Arno Arno Villringer^1,2,3, and Matthias L Schroeter^1,2,3
1Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany, ²Clinic for Cognitive Neurology, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany, ³Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases, Leipzig, Germany, ⁴Leipzig Heart Center, Leipzig, Germany

Our investigations identified the precuneus as the brain region showing a major involvement in connectivity decline in patients with heart failure. Subsequent seed-based correlation analysis showed decreased putamen connectivity related to decline in cognitive performance. In line with these findings and with current Alzheimer’s Disease models showing precuneus connectivity decline as a key feature of brain degeneration, there might be common underlying mechanisms leading to brain connectivity decrease in heart failure and dementia. This hypothesis would be also supported by specific network centrality alterations between precuneus and widely distributed cortical regions particularly in patients showing reduced cognitive performance.

Jinggang Jenny Ng¹, Boaz Ehiogu², Johnes Obungoloch³, Abiodun Fatade⁴, Mamadou Diop^2,5, Henk-Jan Mutsaerts⁶, Daniel Alexander⁷, Mario Forjaz Secca⁸, Rita Nunes⁹, Patricia Figueiredo⁹, Matteo Figni⁷, Frank J Minja¹⁰, Vikas Gulani¹¹, Andrew G Webb¹², Iris Asllani^13,14, Edward Chege Nganga¹⁵, Sola Adeleke¹⁶, Godwin Ogbole¹⁷, Farouk Dako¹, and Udunna C Anazodo^5,18
1Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States, ²Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, Canada, ³Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda, ⁴Crestview Radiology Ltd, Lagos, Nigeria, ⁵Department of Medical Biophysics, Western University, London, ON, Canada, ⁶Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands, ⁷Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, United Kingdom, ⁸Central Hospital of Maputo, Maputo, Mozambique, ⁹Department of Bioengineering, Instituto Superior, Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal, ¹⁰Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States, ¹¹Department of Radiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States, ¹²Department of Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands, ¹³Clinical Imaging Sciences Centre, Department of Neuroscience, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom, ¹⁴Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, United States, ¹⁵Department of Radiology, Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya, ¹⁶Department of Oncology, Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospital, London, United Kingdom, ¹⁷Department of Radiology, University College Hospital Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria, ¹⁸Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

We examined access to MRI in Sub-Saharan Africa to provide a novel framework to address MRI needs. A 68-question needs assessment survey was distributed to collaborators, radiologists and radiographers in Africa, yielding 158 unique responses. Survey responses were analyzed to provide insight into challenges and opportunities for MRI access. Geographical information systems (GIS) were applied to responses from Nigeria to model access to high-value MRI. To our knowledge, this is the first study that used GIS mapping to estimate MRI access. This novel approach can be applied to low-resource settings globally to provide a comprehensive framework to understand MRI access.

Matthew Kiely¹, Curtis Triebswetter¹, Zhaoyuan Gong¹, Maryam H. Alsameen¹, and Mustapha Bouhrara^1
1Magnetic Resonance Physics of Aging and Dementia Unit, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD, United States

Using myelin water fraction (MWF), a proxy of myelin content, and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) indices, we investigated the retrogenesis paradigm in a large cohort of cognitively unimpaired participants spanning a wide age range. Specifically, we assessed the last-in-first-out and gain-predicts-loss hypotheses, describing trends of tissue degeneration across cerebral regions and comparing maturation and degeneration rates within regions. Our MWF results support the last-in-first-out hypothesis, indicating that posterior regions are generally spared from degeneration compared to anterior regions, as well the gain-predicts-loss paradigm, suggesting that the regional maturation and degeneration rates were approximately symmetric.