Xunda Wang^1,2, Alex T. L. Leong^1,2, Pit Shan Chong³, Lee-Wei Lim³, and Ed X. Wu^1,2
1Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging and Signal Processing, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China, ²Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China, ³School of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China

Memory consolidation, the ability to transform new memory into long-term knowledge, declines with age. Impairment of thalamo-cortical spindle activities at systems level has been proposed as a mechanism underlying such memory dysfunction. However, it remains unknown whether targeted neuromodulation of spindle activities can arrest decline of memory consolidation functions in aging brains. Here, we demonstrate in an accelerated aging animal model that optogenetically-evoked spindle activities from the somatosensory thalamus alleviate associative memory consolidation dysfunction through potentiating brain-wide sensorimotor and limbic regions. Our work provides valuable insights into the therapeutic implications of targeted spindle manipulation to rescue age-related memory consolidation declines. 

Dong Liu¹, lei pan², Weixin Vivian Liu³, and Wenzhen Zhu^4
1Department of Radiology, Affiliated Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, wuhan, China, ²Faculty of Resources and Environmental Science, Hubei University, wuhan, China, ³GE Healthcare, beijing, China, ⁴Affiliated Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

Fish is widely consumed as one of the main sources of animal food and plays a key role in the ecological processes in aquatic ecosystems. Of particular importance to assess the effects of aquatic pollution on the development and health of fish are organ somatic indices (HSI) and physiological indices (e.g. lipid deposition). Traditional assessment of somatic indices and lipid deposition is invasive and required to sacrifice examined animals. The present study was designed to assess HSI and lipid deposition in intraperitoneal tissues and livers of two fish species using a rapid, accurate and noninvasive magnetic resonance imaging  method.

Yeon ji Chae¹, Hwon Heo¹, Chul-Woong Woo², Sang-Tae Kim², Jae-Im Kwon², Monica Young Choi¹, Yoonseok Choi³, and Dong-Cheol Woo^1,2
1Department of Convergence Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea, Republic of, ²Convergence Medicine Research Center, Asan Institute for Life Sciences, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea, Republic of, ³Medical Research Institute, Gangneung Asan Hospital, Gangneung-si, Gangwon-do, Korea, Republic of

Our study aims to monitor the protective effects of silymarin with multi-parametric MRI follow-ups and pathological markers in a TAA-induced liver injury rat model. Moreover, correlations between the MR values and serological markers were analyzed to interpret MR values as indicators of liver functions.

Sirisha Tadimalla¹, Yu-Feng Wang¹, Yu Sun¹, Jonathan Goodwin², Robba Rai^3,4,5, Sheryl Foster^6,7, and Annette Haworth^1
1Institute of Medical Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, ²Department of Radiation Oncology, Calvary Mater Hospital, Waratah, Australia, ³South Western Sydney Clinical School, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, ⁴Liverpool and Macarthur Cancer Therapy Centre, Liverpool, Australia, ⁵Ingham Institute of Applied Medical Research, Liverpool, Australia, ⁶Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, ⁷Department of Radiology, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, Australia

Mapping the intra-tumoral heterogeneity of perfusion before and after treatment offers the opportunity to identify hypoxic regions in the tumour and predict recurrent disease. Intravoxel Incoherent Motion (IVIM) parametric maps were obtained in patients with prostate cancer before and after radiation therapy. IVIM shows potential for the assessment of intra-tumoral heterogeneity of perfusion in prostate cancer.

Hongchuang Li¹, Haidong Li¹, Ming Zhang¹, Xiaoling Liu¹, Xiuchao Zhao¹, Yeqing Han¹, Xianping Sun¹, Chaohui Ye¹, and Xin Zhou^1
1Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems, State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, National Center for Magnetic Resonance in Wuhan, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences- Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Wuhan, China

The mutual restriction of temporal resolution and spatial resolution is a challenge for hyperpolarized gas dynamic MRI. Herein, we proposed a method to enhance the temporal resolution of pulmonary dynamic ventilation imaging without spatial resolution loss using hyperpolarized ¹²⁹Xe MRI. Furthermore, compressed sensing undersampling technique was used to accelerate the MRI data acquisition. 

Xiaoling Liu¹, Haidong Li¹, Hongchuang Li¹, Ming Zhang¹, Xiuchao Zhao¹, Yu Zheng¹, Ming Luo¹, Yecheng Li¹, Xianping Sun¹, Yeqing Han¹, Chaohui Ye¹, and Xin Zhou^1
1Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems, State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, National Center for Magnetic Resonance in Wuhan, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences- Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Wuhan, China

In this study, we tried to use hyperpolarized (HP) ¹²⁹Xe MR to explore pulmonary physiological compensatory mechanisms. With the increased Xe washout times, obvious changes of chemical shift, FWHM, RBC oscillation amplitude and the parameters extracted from MOXE model could be found. Our study demonstrates the feasibility of HP ¹²⁹Xe MR for assessing pulmonary compensatory capacity, which would be helpful for understanding lung function changes caused by pulmonary diseases and early diagnosis.

Taeyi You^1,2, Jeong-Yun Lee², Choong-Hee Lee², Geun Ho Im², Heewon Seo², Choong-Wan Woo^1,2,3, and Seong-Gi Kim^1,2,3
1Biomedical Engineering, Sungkyungkwan University, Suwon, Korea, Republic of, ²Center for Neuroscience Imaging Research, Institute for Basic Science, Suwon, Korea, Republic of, ³Intelligent Precision Healthcare Convergence, Sungkyungkwan University, Suwon, Korea, Republic of

Pain involves a multidimension network of brain circuits related to both somatosensation and cognitive-motivational dimension. Mouse fMRI allows for the in-vivo brain-wide functional mapping that can help explore the pain circuits at a systems level. We utilized transgenic mice in which we suppressed the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) with optogenetics to better understand its role in pain. Our behavior and fMRI results show that the ACC is involved in the cognitive-motivational dimension of pain, but not in the sensation of pain. In addition, we detected other brain regions as potential targets related to pain hypersensitivity with fMRI.

Fei Tang¹, Jun Liu¹, Yongming Dai², Liyun Zheng², Xiaojie Zhang¹, Huihui Zheng¹, Wenhan Yang¹, and Yanyao Du^1
1The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China, ²MR Collaboration, Central Research Institute, United Imaging Healthcare, Shanghai, China

NM-MRI is a newly developed magnetic resonance imaging technique, which indirectly measures dopamine synthesis and demonstrate neuromelanin-related contrast. In this study, ten rats with acute methamphetamine exposure underwent a NM-MRI scan at different time points. The NM-MRI data of four brain regions were measured and compared. The results showed significantly higher NM-MRI signal in substantia nigra compared to other brain regions, and the NM-MRI signal gradually increased over time in almost all measured brain regions. These findings demonstrated the potential of NM-MRI as biomarker and the predictive value of NM-MRI for dopamine function.

Ching Cheng¹, Chia-Feng Lu¹, Bao-Yu Hsieh², and Yu-Chieh Jill Kao^1
1Department of Biomedical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, National Yang-Ming Chiao-Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan, ²Department of Medical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang-Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan

Long-term effects of repetitive mild traumatic brain injury (rmTBI) with the short versus long interinjury interval were explored using quantitative DTI and immunohistological staining. Significant changes in DTI metrics under the impact site and the lateral part of white matter in the ipsilesional brain after rmTBI may suggest the exacerbated microstructural damage induced by repetitive injury with the short interval.

Palkin Arora¹, Richa Trivedi¹, Kavita Singh^1,2, and Megha Kumari^1
1RNAIS, INMAS-DRDO, New Delhi, India, ²Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States

Closed head injury (CHI) can lead to both neurological disabilities and systemic alterations through HPA axis activation. A dysregulated HPA function allows relocation of energy substrates and alterations in metabolic pathways and systemic inflammation. Assessment of time-dependent changes in serum metabolites and inflammatory markers showed unique pattern between mild and moderate injured rats. These alterations were found to be associated with HPA hyperactivity with increased serum corticosterone levels and hypothalamic microglial activation post mild and moderate TBI. The study suggests an important relation between HPA axis induced changes in systemic metabolomics.

Uma Sharma¹, Deepti Upadhyay¹, Ritu Tyagi¹, Prasenjit Das², and Govind Makharia^3
1Department of NMR, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India, ²Department of Pathology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India, ³Department of Gastroenterology and Human Nutrition, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India

The present study revealed a correlation of metabolic activity of intestinal mucosa with enzymatic, secretory, and functional activity in patients with celiac disease (CeD). Significantly lower concentrations of choline, GPC, and histidine were observed patients along with the significantly lower expression of villin in both villi and crypt of the CeD compared to disease controls (DC) controls. Higher expression of Mucin 3 in the crypt of the CeD was seen. A significant correlation between expression of villin, mucin and metabolites GPC and histidine provided an insight into underlying biochemical and functional mechanism of mucosal damage in CeD.

kunkun liu^1,2, Weibin Dai¹, Yueyou Peng¹, Tianfeng Shi^1,2, Tingting Liu^1,3, Ningning Song^1,3, Yueluan Jiang⁴, Yunhui Kang⁵, and Yanfeng Meng^1
1MR, Taiyuan Central Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Shanxi, China, ²Physiology, Shanxi Medical University, Shanxi, China, ³Medical Imaging, Shanxi Medical University, Shanxi, China, ⁴MR Scientific Marketing, Siemens Healthineers, Beijing, China, ⁵MR Customer Application Specialist, Siemens Healthineers Digital Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Beijing, China

This study conducted a preliminary phantom study of MRI-guided vascular intervention, and evaluated the image quality of MR real-time sequences for MR compatible guidewire and balloon imaging with a 3D printed aorta phantom in a 3T MRI scanner. The results showed that the two real-time imaging sequences have sufficient guiding ability to guide the guidewire and balloon to the expected position. After comprehensive evaluation, it was concluded that the FLASH sequence was better than the True FISP sequence.