Abstract
Limitations of the use of the MP-RAGE to identify neural changes in the brain: recent cigarette smoking alters gray matter indices in the striatum.
Highlights
The magnetization-prepared rapid gradient-echo (MP-RAGE) T1-weighted high resolution structural MRI is a mainstay tool used to identify morphometric biomarkers of disease conditions, progression and treatment effects despite a critical limitation: the relaxation signal on which inferences are based is nearly indistinguishable for gray matter vs. blood flow (Lu et al, 2004; Wright et al, 2008)
Apparent reported morphometric findings might be at least partially related to transient changes in blood flow or other physiological signals. Consistent with this technical limitation, using a standard analysis technique, voxel based morphometry (VBM), we recently reported that a single dose of a medication had “apparent” effects on T1weighted MRIs (Franklin et al, 2013)
In a well-controlled longitudinal VBM study of patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Hoekzema et al (2014) showed that stimulant drugs trigger transient volumetric changes in the ventral striatum, challenging previous VBM studies suggesting that these changes were an intrinsic feature of the disorder (Hoekzema et al, 2014)
Summary
A VBM study demonstrating ‘apparent’ effects of a single dose of medication on T1-weighted MRIs by Franklin, T. The magnetization-prepared rapid gradient-echo (MP-RAGE) T1-weighted high resolution structural MRI is a mainstay tool used to identify morphometric biomarkers of disease conditions, progression and treatment effects despite a critical limitation: the relaxation signal on which inferences are based is nearly indistinguishable for gray matter vs blood flow (Lu et al, 2004; Wright et al, 2008). Apparent reported morphometric findings might be at least partially related to transient changes in blood flow or other physiological signals.
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