Xiang Chen¹, Wenjing Xu¹, Xiaoyang Han¹, Yuting Zhai¹, Jiadi Xu², and Xiao-Yong Zhang^1
1Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China, ²F.M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Kennedy Krieger Research Institute, Baltimore, MD, United States

Arterial spin labeling (ASL) is a powerful MRI technique used to noninvasively measure cerebral blood flow (CBF). In preclinical studies, rodent brain CBF serves as an important indicator in many brain disease models. In this work, we established a whole-brain CBF atlas based on 102 adult normal mice and profiled CBF distributions in 27 brain regions. We found that there is a high correlation of CBF between the left and right hemispheres. Additionally, the high-resolution mouse CBF atlas can be used to distinguish mice with autism disorder, indicating the potential applications of the atlas in preclinical studies. 

Ren Li¹, Wenjing Xu¹, Zhifeng Liang², and Xiao-Yong Zhang^1
1Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China, ²Institute of Neuroscience, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Sciences and Intelligence Technology, Key Laboratory of Primate Neurobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China

It is important to investigate neural metabolism and brain functions in awake animals for preclinical studies. However, there are few magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) studies in rodents under awake conditions. In this work, we developed an MRI-compatible restraint device for the measurement of brain metabolism in awake mice. Using ¹H-MRS, we successfully observed the brain metabolic profile of prefrontal cortex and thalamus in awake mice. In addition, we found metabolic alterations between awake and anesthetized states, indicating that anesthesia has a non-negligible impact on brain metabolism.

Fan Yu¹, Qiuxuan Li¹, Cheng Zhao¹, Liangjie Lin², Jiazheng Wang², and Jie Lu^1
1Radiology and Nuclear medicine, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China, ²Philips Healthcare, Beijing, China, Beijing, China

The blood perfusion and protein contents in brain of healthy subjects were measured in this study by 3D pseudo continuous arterial spin labeling and 3D amide proton transfer weighted imaging. Results showed a negative correlation between blood perfusion and the content of mobile cellular proteins and peptides in brain of heathy subjects; and the blood perfusion in normal brain, rather than the protein content, showed a significant dependence to age.

Koji Kamagata¹, Christina Andica¹, Kaito Takabayashi¹, Yuya Saito¹, Toshiaki Taoka², Hayato Nozaki¹, Junko Kikuta¹, Shohei Fujita¹, Kouhei Kamiya³, Akihiko Wada¹, Toshiaki Akashi¹, Masaaki Hori³, Shinji Naganawa², and Shigeki Aoki^1
1Department of Radiology, Juntendo University, Tokyo, Japan, ²Department of Radiology, Nagoya University, Aichi, Japan, ³Department of Radiology, Toho University, Tokyo, Japan

We assessed the non-invasive MRI measurements, such as the diffusivity along the perivascular space (PVS) represented by ALPS index, PVS volume, and fractional volume of free water in the white matter (FW-WM), in cognitively normal subjects and subjects with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Abnormalities were detected in the subjects with AD and MCI, and theirALPS index and FW-WM values were significantly associated with CSF Aβ levels and FDG PET uptake, as well as with multiple cognitive scores, thus suggesting that a glymphatic system dysfunction could be associated with Aβ deposition and cognitive impairments.

Yingqian Chen¹, Shu Su¹, Yan Dai¹, Long Qian², Miaomiao Wang³, and Zhiyun Yang^1
1First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China, ²GE Healthcare, Beijing, China, ³the first affliated hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China

The newly found structure – glymphatic system, may offer a new point for exploring the pathogenesis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),. Our study investigated the change of glymphatic system in the treatment-naïve ADHD children by quantitatively measuring the VRS volume and using DTI-ALPS method. As the results showed, ADHD children have enlarged VRS, and the diffusivities along the VRS and ALPS-index were significantly lower in children with ADHD than in TD subjects, suggesting the impaired glymphatic drainage. Our study suggested that the glymphatic system alternation may play a role in the pathogenesis of ADHD and deserves further investigation.

Linlin Zhu¹, Yuying Feng¹, Pengxuan Bai¹, Yao Ge¹, Congcong Liu¹, Yichu He², Feng Shi², Jian Yang¹, Xiaocheng Wei³, and Chao jin^1
1The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China, ²Shanghai United Imaging Intelligence Co., Shanghai, China, ³GE Healthcare, Beijing, China

Newborn gestational age (GA) and birth indicators (birth weight, birth length and head circumference) have been used as clinical indicators to assess the level of brain development. Cerebral changes are particularly intense during the last weeks of gestation. Previous studies have shown that the total brain volume at birth is about one third of the brain volume of healthy adults^[1], but it remains unclear about the effect factors of brain volume. Our studies have shown that compared with other birth indicators, the gestational age of full-term newborns is strongly correlated with brain volume.

Xing li¹, Xiaoli Meng², Wei Zhang¹, Huipeng Ren¹, Yumiao Zhang¹, Xiaohu Wang¹, Qing Fan¹, Xiaocheng Wei³, and Zhuanqin Ren^1
1Radiology department, Baoji Central Hospital, baoji, China, ²Nuclear medicine department, Xijing Hospital of Air Force Military Medical University, Xi'an, China, ³GE Healthcare, MR Research China, Beijing, Beijing, China

In this study, we aim to investigate whether T1 mapping can be used to assess neonatal brain injury. It was concluded that the influence of bilirubin value on the globus pallidus (GP) and the posterior limb of internal capsule (PLIC) was obvious. Among them, the T1 values of GP, putamen (PU) and PLIC decreased with the increase of bilirubin.

Mingyang Li¹, Tingting Liu¹, Xinyi Xu¹, Qingqing Wen¹, Zhiyong Zhao¹, Yi Zhang¹, Yi-Cheng Hsu², Yi Sun², and Dan Wu^1
1College of Biomedical Engineering & Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang, China, ²MR Collaboration, Siemens Healthineers Ltd, Shanghai, China

Postnatal experience is important for the development of the visual cortex in animal newborns, but its influence in human infants remains unclear. We collected a dataset from the developing human connectome project, including multi-modal MRI of 783 newborns. We found the cortical thickness (CT) and myelination of ventral visual cortex were significantly increased between 37 and 45 weeks of postmenstrual menstrual age (PMA). Interestingly, the CT but not myelination showed significant correlation with postnatal experience in both the V1 and higher-level visual cortex. Our result suggested that experience plays an important role in early cortical thickening

Ya Wang^1,2, Liangjun Chen², Yue Sun², Tengfei Li², Zhengwang Wu², Wenhua Huang¹, Weili Lin², Li Wang², and Gang Li^2
1National Key Discipline of Human Anatomy, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China, ²Department of Radiology and Biomedical Research Imaging Center (BRIC), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States

Early cerebellar development in infant brains is very dynamic and highly related to normal cognitive functions and neurodevelopmental disorders, but remains largely unexplored, due to the lack of densely-sampled longitudinal data of early ages. Herein, we unprecedently explored the dynamic developmental trajectories of the volumes in 27 cerebellar lobules based on 511 high-resolution longitudinal structural MRI scans from 235 healthy infants from the Baby Connectome Project (BCP) densely covering the age ranging from birth to 27 months. The trajectories of the cerebellar structures reveal lobule-specific nonlinear developmental patterns and are sexually dimorphic starting from different ages.

Miaomiao Wang¹, Yao Ge¹, Xianjun Li¹, Congcong Liu¹, and Jian Yang^1
1the first affiliated hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong university, Xi'an, China

MR elastography is a promising approach for describing biomechanical properties. Some studies investigated stiffness of subcortical gray matter (SGM), which are critical for cognitive. However, they have not been explored in infants. MRE has some limitations in application of infants, and this study aims to measure SGM stiffness in preterm and term infants using virtual MRE. Our study suggested that virtual shear stiffness of SGM were similar between the preterm at term equivalent and the term, and GP is the stiffest region. This finding suggested that virtual MRE is a sensitive method to characterize the SMG maturity in infants.

Yan Zhang¹, Miaomiao Wang¹, Congcong Liu¹, Xiaoyu Wang¹, Yao Ge¹, Yichu He², Feng Shi², Xianjun Li¹, and Jian Yang^1
1Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China, ²Department of Research and Development, Shanghai United Imaging Intelligence Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China

Despite studies that have demonstrated population differences due to differences in genetics, culture, and environmental exposures, a comparison of brain structural development between oriental and occidental neonates remains to be fully examined. We compared 108 neonates from ITPNBDI and 170 neonates from dHCP to examine differences in neonatal brain structure. Results demonstrated ITPNBDI neonates held shorter brain length, wider brain width and higher brain height than dHCP neonates. They also had greater total brain volume, greater grey matter and less white matter than dHCP neonates. Specifically, volumes of some brain regions involved in speech perception were different between two datasets.

Xiaoyang Han¹, Yuting Zhai¹, and Xiao-Yong Zhang^1
1Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

We investigated the structural and functional changes induced by exposure in PM_2.5 in the mouse model using MRI at 11.7T. We compared the gray matter volume ratio (GMR) of major brain regions between mice exposed to concentrated PM_2.5 (PM) and mice exposed to filtered air (FA) after 30-day and 90-day exposure. Our results demonstrate that exposure to PM_2.5 for 90 days may induce brain structural and functional changes.

hongwei zhou¹, kexin zhao¹, and tianjing zhang^2
1the First Hospital of Jilin University, Chang Chun, China, ²Philips Healthcare, Guangzhou, China

Primary angiitis of the central nervous system(PACNS) is a kind of rare disease, but the clinical diagnosis is difficult. Recently, high-resolution HR-3D-VW-MRI(3-dimensional vessel wall MR imaging) method has been used to evaluate cerebral vessels because it could directly show the vessel wall as well the lumen; thus it can assist in differentiating various types of vasculopathy. The purpose of our study was to summarize the typical imaging performance of PACNS and evaluate the value of 3D- VW-MRI sequence in demonstrating the detailed information in detection, diagnosis, evaluation, and follow-up for PACNS.

hongwei zhou¹, kexin zhao¹, and tianjing zhang^2
1Radiology, the First Hospital of Jilin University, Chang Chun, China, ²Philips Healthcare, Guangzhou, China

The stability of intracranial of middle cerebral artery(MCA) and basilar artery( BA) plaques related to the stroke events is a crucial issue. However, the discrimination of the plaque’s stability could be rather challenging. Compared with traditional imaging methods such as CTA, MRA or DSA, high-resolution vessel wall MR imaging(HR-VW-MRI) method could demonstrate the abnormality of the vessel wall .It could also potentially evaluate the stability of the intracranial artery. This study aims to compare HR-VW-MRI’s characteristic features of MCA plaque with BA plaque, and to figure out the relationship between plaques’ imaging features with the stroke events. 

Liu Xiaoming¹, Kong Xiangchuang¹, Li Qiang², Sun Peng³, and Liu Dingxi^1
1Departments of Radiology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China, Wuhan,Hubei,China, China, ²Departments of Radiology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan,Hubei,China, China, ³Philips Healthcare, Beijing, China, Beijing,China, China

The main cause of hemifacial spasm is neurovascular compression syndrome. It is very important to preoperative evaluate the relationship between nerve and responsible blood vessel and its compression site. High-resolution 3D MR cisternography techniques were used preoperatively to assess neurovascular anatomy in patients with neurovascular compression syndrome, but the contrast between vessels and cranial nerves at the point of neurovascular contact is limited. In this study, we evaluated 3D VIBE image to could not only clearly show the structure of nerves and blood vessels, but also improve the contrast between blood vessels and nerves or surrounding brain stem.

Dan Du¹, Lanxiang Liu¹, and Qinglei Shi^2
1The first hospital of Qinhuangdao, Qinhuangdao, China, ²Scientific Clinical Specialist，Siemens Ltd, Beijing, China

In this study we studied the value of LR model established with first-order features based on ADC map in evaluating the neuroprotective effect of Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) for acute traumatic brain injury (TBI). The results demonstrated that the model based on the first-order features may have potential value in predicting the therapy effect of LITUS in clinical practice in future.

Wangli Cai¹, Guangyu Tang¹, Jilei Zhang², Ruiling Zhang¹, and Lidi Wan^1
1Shanghai Tenth People’s Hospital, Shanghai, China, ²Philips Healthcare, Shanghai, China

Functional constipation (FCon) is a common functional gastrointestinal disorder, with a considerable proportion of patients has anxiety and depression. Neuroimaging studies have shown that the functional/structural abnormalities across patients. We aimed to better understand the relationships between cortical atrophy and clinical observations in FCon, and its relationship with the underlying molecular mechanisms. Based on the densely sampled gene expression data from the Allen Human Brain Atlas, we conducted the transcription-neuroimaging association analysis and found genes associated with the central nervous system and the bowel to understand the molecular functions of brain regions that are vulnerable to cortical atrophy in FCon.