Jun Cao^1,2, Iain Ball³, and Caroline Rae^1,2
1Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia, ²School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, ³Philips Australia & New Zealand, Sydney, Australia

Here we tested the boundaries of the speed and precision of phase MREPT in brain using balanced FFE. Baseline maps with conductivity variance of < 5% could be safely accelerated with compressed SENSE 6 without sacrifice of precision, and scans acquired as quickly as 1.89 s. Precision could be further improved by whole head B₁ mapping. MREPT mapping should be conducted task free for best results.

Chunxiang Zhang¹, Xin Zhao¹, Jinxia Guo², Kaiyu Wang², Meiying Cheng¹, Honglei Shang¹, Xueyuan Wang¹, Desheng Xuan¹, Lingjie Zhang¹, and Xiaoan Zhang^1
1Department of Radiology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China, ²GE Healthcare, MR Research China, Beijing, China

Premature infants with low-grade intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) are accompanied by neurodevelopmental abnormalities. Synthetic MRI is an emerging technology that can provide brain volume quantification. Diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) can be sensitive to assess brain microstructure changes. Smaller myelin volume, brain parenchymal fraction, lower radial kurtosis value in cerebellum were associated with lower neonatal behavioral neurological assessment. DKI and Synthetic MRI are able to quantitatively evaluate the abnormality of the brain development in preterm infants with low-grade IVH.

Yuying Feng¹, Linlin Zhu¹, Peng xuan Bai¹, Yao Ge¹, Congcong Liu¹, Na Zhang¹, Yichu He², Feng Shi², Xiaocheng Wei³, Jian Yang¹, and Chao Jin^1
1The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China, ²Department of Research and Develpoment, Shanghai United Imaging Intelligence Co., Shanghai, China, ³Xiaocheng Wei, GEHealthcare, Beijing, China

Neonatal period is an important stage of brain development, exploring the development and evolution of brain region at this stage is significant for studying brain development and disease mechanisms. We analyzed the relationship between segmented brain region volume and postnatal age in term neonates, the results showed that, after controlling for gestational age, birth weight, body length, head circumference and gender factors, the volume of most brain regions of neonates was positively correlated with postnatal age. In addition, there is no correlation between the volume of most brain regions and neurobehavioral scores.

Kiran Thapaliya^1,2, Donald Staines¹, Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik1¹, Jiasheng Su¹, and Leighton Barnden^1
1Menzies Health Queensland, NCNED, Griffith University, Southport, Australia, ²Centre for Advanced Imaging, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) patients suffer from a variety of physical and neurological complaints indicating involvement of the central nervous system including cognitive and memory dysfunction along with a variety of disabling physical symptoms. The hippocampus plays a key role in cognitive function and is altered in neurodegenerative diseases. In this study, we evaluated the volumetric changes in the subfields of the hippocampus in ME/CFS and performed a correlation between hippocampal subfield volumes and clinical measures.  Our study showed that hippocampal subfield volumes were lower/higher in ME/CFS patients compared with healthy controls and are also associated with clinical measures

Sadhana Singh^1,2, Poonam Rana¹, Pawan Kumar¹, Prabhjot Kaur¹, L Ravi Shankar³, and Subash Khushu^1,2
1NMR Research Centre, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), Delhi, India, ²The University of Trans-disciplinary Health Sciences and Technology, Bangalore, India, ³Thyroid Research Centre, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), Delhi, India

Hyperthyroid patients showed structural and functional abnormalities in the hippocampus region of the brain as suggested by neuroimaging studies. However, the extent of structural, functional, and metabolic changes in hyperthyroid patients is still unclear. We examined the regional hippocampal volume and neuro-metabolite changes in hyperthyroid patients using high resolution T1-weighed imaging and ¹H MRS techniques. Hyperthyroid patients showed reduced bilateral hippocampal volume and altered metabolic changes, i.e., Glu/tCr, mI/tCr, and NAA/tCr ratios in the hippocampus, compared to healthy controls. These findings provide evidence that hyperthyroidism results in structural and metabolic alterations in the hippocampus region of the brain.  

Minhua Ni^1,2, Linfeng Yan¹, Xiaocheng Wei³, and Guangbin Cui^1
1Tangdu Hospital, XI an, China, ²Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xian yang, China, ³MR Research, GE Healthcare, Beijing, China

In this study, change of susceptibility level in the gray matter nucleus of T2DM patients and their functional connectivity were investigated using quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) and fMRI techniques. We found iron deposition decreased in the thalamus and functional connectivity increased between the thalamus and the hippocampus. Susceptibility reduction suggested an involvement of chronic microglia activation in the depletion of iron from oligodendrocytes in this central and integrative brain region. The functional connectivity may indicate a compensatory enhancement. These results remind that the thalamus may play an important role in patients with T2DM.

Rui Hu¹, Yangyingqiu Liu¹, Bingbing Gao¹, Wanyao Li¹, Weiwei Wang¹, Qingwei Song¹, Ailian Liu¹, and Yanwei Miao^1
1Radiology, First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, China

Assessing whole-structural and regional high iron content in deep gray matter nuclei using STAGE-based QSM in T2DM Patients. Excessive deposition and uneven distribution of iron protein occur in all nuclei in T2DM patients. The MSV_wh of significant differences (P < 0.05) between groups were present in right HCN, right PUT, bilateral GP, right STN and left GF, with the largest AUC of 0.723 in the right GP. The MSV_hi in right HCN, right PUT, bilateral GP and left GF were significant differences (P < 0.05) With a largest AUC of 0.714 in right GP.

Rui Hu¹, Yangyingqiu Liu¹, Bingbing Gao¹, Wei Du¹, Weiwei Wang¹, Qingwei Song¹, Ailian Liu¹, and Yanwei Miao^1
1Radiology, First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, China

The relationship between iron accumulation and cognitive decline in T2DM has not been fully revealed and publicized. This research focuses on assessing the global iron content and high iron content levels of the gray nucleus using QSM, and to analyze the correlation between MSV with significant differences and clinical laboratory indicators and cognitive scores in T2DM Patients. Excessive deposition and uneven distribution of iron protein occur in all nuclei in T2DM patients. Iron is important in the pathophysiology of T2DM, especially the MSV_hi in the right PUT was significantly negatively correlated with MoCA (r = -0.485, P = 0.004).

Tae-Hoon Kim¹, Chang-Won Jeong¹, ByoungRyun Kim², Youe Ree Kim³, Chungsub Lee¹, Young Hwan Lee³, and Kwon-Ha Yoon^3
1Medical Convergence Research Center, Wonkwang University, Iksan, Korea, Republic of, ²Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wonkwang University School of Medicine and Hospital, Iksan, Korea, Republic of, ³Radiology, Wonkwang University School of Medicine and Hospital, Iksan, Korea, Republic of

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in menopausal women can reduce troublesome menopause symptoms and prevent cognitive decline. Several structural and volumetric researches reported that localized morphologic changes associated with estrogen meditation. However, it is still unclear how to minimize menopausal symptoms and to protect a woman’s brain from decline. This study investigated the potential effects of HRT on sex hormone level and brain morphology using an optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM) method.

Huan Lan¹, Xueling Suo¹, Chao Zuo¹, Nanfang Pan¹, Song Wang¹, and Qiyong Gong^1
1Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

Post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and post-traumatic growth (PTG) might develop after a major trauma, but their neurological bases are largely unknown. Here, we used structural magnetic resonance imaging acquired prepandemic to explore the neuroanatomical correlates in 115 college students. The PTSS and PTG scores were collected during the epidemic. We found that PTSS was positively associated with gray matter volume (GMV) in the medial prefrontal cortex, and PTG was negatively correlated with the GMV in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Our research revealed the neural underpinnings of post-traumatic consequences in healthy students, suggesting PTSS and PTG are two distinct psychological changes.

Uma Sharma¹, Vishwa Rawat¹, Prasenjit Das², Achal Kumar Srivastava³, and Govind Makharia^4
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 Neurology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India, ⁴Department of Gastroenterology and Human Nutrition, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India

Present study evaluated the neurochemical profile of vermis and right cerebellum of GA patients using 1H MRS. The concentration of N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), glycerophosphocholine (GPC)+phosphocholine (PC), creatine (Cr) + phosphocreatine  (PCr) and glutamine (Gln)+glutamate (Glu) were significantly lower in the right cerebellum of patients with GA compared to HC. The concentration of NAA, Cr and Glu were significantly lower in vermis region of patients with GA compared to HC indicating altered cerebral metabolism in GA patients that would have contributed to cerebral damage.  The metabolites NAA, GPC+PC, Glu+Gln may have the potential to serve as early indicators of neuronal damage.

Archith Rajan¹, Shweta Prasad², Priyanka Tupe Waghmare^1,3, Jitender Saini⁴, Pramod Kumar Pal⁵, and Madhura Ingalhalikar^1
1Symbiosis Centre for Medical Image Analysis, Symbiosis International University, Lavale, Mulshi, Pune, India, ²Department of Clinical Neurosciences and Neurology, National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences, Bangalore, India, Bengaluru, India, ³Symbiosis Institute of Technology, Symbiosis International University, Lavale, Mulshi, Pune, India, ⁴Department of Neuroimaging & Interventional Radiology, National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences, Bangalore, India, Bengaluru, India, ⁵Department of Neurology, National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences, Bangalore, India, Bengaluru, India

The cerebellum and its connections (cerebellar peduncles) have been implicated to play a significant role in the pathogenesis of essential tremor (ET). However, these abnormalities may not be grossly evident on basic structural imaging. To this end, we employ radiomics on 3D-T1 weighted images to capture subtle features of pathology and use it in a machine learning framework to deliniate patients with ET.  We demonstrate a test accuracy of 83% with radiomics features from dentate nucleus contributing the most, followed by the right V. It thus suggests the potential utility of radiomics features from these structures for diagnosis of ET.

Xiaojuan Wu¹, Shuting Han¹, Yang Yang¹, Hui Dai¹, Peng Wu², Hongru Zhao³, and Yonggang Li^1
1Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China, ²Philips Healthcare, Shanghai, China, ³Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China

Increasing neurophysiological studies had revealed that regional excitation-inhibition imbalance in brain played a key role in the pathogenesis of migraine. This study explored the alterations in GABA and Glx levels in the anterior cingulate gyrus (ACC) and medial prefrontal lobe (mPFC) of patients with migraine without aura (MWoA) using MEGA-PRESS at 3 Tesla. Compared with healthy controls, the GABA+ levels in the ACC and mPFC of patients were lower and correlated with attack frequency, and Glx levels had no difference, suggesting a relationship of the abnormalities of GABAergic system in the ACC and mPFC with the pathophysiological mechanism of MWoA. 

Pankaj Pankaj¹, S Senthil Kumaran¹, Achal Kumar Srivastava², and Ramesh Kumar Agrawal^3
1Department of NMR & MRI Facility, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India, ²Department of Neurology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India, ³School of Computer & Systems Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India

Spinocerebellar Ataxia (SCA) is a genetic and hereditary disorder that leads to severe disability in balance, speech, posture, etc. SCA2 and SCA12 are two sub-types, which have different CAG repeat expansion on chromosome with different pathologies. In vivo MR spectroscopy was acquired using single voxel Point Resolved Spectroscopy Sequence (PRESS) in the left cerebellum. SCA2 showed a decrease in NAA and Cho and increased mI concentration as compared to controls and an increase in mI values as compared to that in SCA12, which may be attributed to the motor and cognitive dysfunctions in SCA, reflecting more atrophy in SCA2.

Toshiaki Taoka¹, Rintaro Ito¹, Rei Nakamichi², Toshiki Nakane², Kazushige Ichikawa³, Mayuko Sakai⁴, and Shinji Naganawa^2
1Department of Innovative Biomedical Visualization (iBMV), Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan, ²Department of Radiology, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan, ³Devision of Radiology, Nagoya University Hospital, Nagoya, Japan, ⁴Canon Medical Systems Corporation, Otawara, Japan

The diffusion tensor image analysis along the perivascular space (DTI-ALPS) method has been developed to evaluate glymphatic function. In order to evaluate wider clinical cases, we developed a diffusion weighted image ALPS (DWI-ALPS) technique. The ALPS-index was retrospectively calculated by clinical DWI of normal subjects and those with pathologies. In normal subjects, the ALPS-index was highest in those in their forties and lowest in those in their seventies. Patients with Alzheimer’s disease and subdural hematoma showed a lower ALPS-index than age-matched normal subjects. The DWI-ALPS method seems to be feasible for evaluation of glymphatic function in the clinical practice.