NeuroImage
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Comparative Study
Sensitivity of voxel-based morphometry analysis to choice of imaging protocol at 3 T.
The objective of this study was to determine which 3D T(1)-weighted acquisition protocol at 3 T is best suited to voxel-based morphometry (VBM), and to characterize the sensitivity of VBM to choice of acquisition. First, image quality of three commonly used protocols, FLASH, MP-RAGE and MDEFT, was evaluated in terms of SNR, CNR, image uniformity and point spread function. These image metrics were estimated from simulations, phantom imaging and human studies. ⋯ The required population sample size estimates to detect a difference in GM density in longitudinal VBM studies, i.e. based only on methodological variance, were lowest for MDEFT. Although MP-RAGE requires more subjects than FLASH, its higher cortical CNR improves the accuracy of the tissue classification results, particularly in the motor cortex. For cross-sectional VBM studies, the variance in morphology across the population is likely to be the primary source of variability in the power analysis.
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Multiple sclerosis (MS) affects both white matter and gray matter (GM). Measurement of GM volumes is a particularly useful method to estimate the total extent of GM tissue damage because it can be done with conventional magnetic resonance images (MRI). Many algorithms exist for segmentation of GM, but none were specifically designed to handle issues associated with MS, such as atrophy and the effects that MS lesions may have on the classification of GM. ⋯ The scan-rescan reproducibility test resulted in a mean coefficient of variation of 1.1% for GM fraction. Tests of the effects of varying the size of MS lesions revealed a moderate and consistent dependence of GM volumes on T2 lesion volume, which suggests that GM volumes should be corrected for T2 lesion volumes using a simple scale factor in order to eliminate this technical artifact. The new segmentation algorithm can be used for improved measurement of GM volumes in MS patients, and is particularly applicable to retrospective datasets.
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We used the [F-18]FDG micro PET neuroimaging technique to investigate changes in brain activity induced by acute stress in rats. Animals were given immobilization stress for 1 or 2 h, or 1-h stress followed by 1-h recovery, after which their brains were scanned. Plasma corticosterone levels measured at various time points in separate groups of rats showed a rapid increase during stress and slower decrease after termination of the stress. ⋯ Additional brain areas such as the septum and prelimbic cortex now showed deactivation during recovery. Changes in glucose metabolism in the dorsal hippocampus and hypothalamus exhibited a highly significant negative correlation, supporting the view that the hippocampus is involved in regulating the stress response of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis. The advantages and limitations of the [F-18]FDG micro PET used in this study are discussed.
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The changes of directional diffusivities derived from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), i.e. decreased axial diffusivity (lambda(||)) and increased radial diffusivity (lambda( perpendicular)), have shown significant correlation with axonal and myelin damage, respectively. However, after formalin fixation, reduced sensitivity of lambda(||) in detecting axonal damage in tissue has raised the concern of applying DTI ex vivo. In order to distinguish whether death or the fixation process diminishes the sensitivity of DTI in detecting lesions, in vivo, pre-fixed postmortem, and fixed postmortem DTI were conducted on mouse optic nerves 3 and 14 days after transient retinal ischemia. ⋯ From pre-fixed postmortem to fixed postmortem, lambda(||) and lambda( perpendicular) decreased by 40 to 50% in normal and 3-day injured optic nerves, but only by 15 to 25% in 14-day injured optic nerves. Consequently, for the 14-day injured optic nerves, the differences between healthy and injured nerves were not preserved after fixation: the 40% decreased lambda(||) and 200% increased lambda( perpendicular) in injured nerves as compared to the normal nerves were measured in vivo and pre-fixed postmortem, but after the fixation process, 300% increased lambda( perpendicular) and insignificant changes in lambda(||) were found in injured nerves as compared to the normal nerves. This study clarified that fixation process, but not death, could change the sensitivity of DTI in detecting injury.
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The blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) signal is dependent on multiple physiological factors such as cerebral blood flow (CBF), local oxygen metabolism (CMRO(2)) and cerebral blood volume (CBV). Since caffeine affects both CBF and neural activity, its effects on BOLD remain controversial. The calibrated BOLD approach is an excellent tool to study caffeine because it combines CBF and BOLD measures to estimate changes in CMRO(2). ⋯ The results show that caffeine decreases n, the CBF:CMRO(2) coupling ratio, from 2.58 to 2.33 in motor (p=0.006) and from 2.45 to 2.23 in visual (p=0.002) areas respectively. The current study also demonstrated that caffeine does not alter cerebrovascular reactivity to CO(2). These results highlight the importance of the calibrated BOLD approach in improving interpretation of the BOLD signal in the presence of substances like caffeine.