Neuro diffusion MRI beyond myelinated white matter: cell structures that influence water diffusion in the fetal brain

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Neuro diffusion MRI beyond myelinated white matter: cell structures that influence water diffusion in the fetal brain Christopher Kroenke1 and Xiaojie Wang1* 1 Oregon Health & Science University, Advanced Imaging Research Center and Oregon National Primate Research Center, United States Distinct populations of neurons and glial cells are stratified in the fetal primate brain across several layers that span from the inner ventricular surface to the outer-most layer of the cerebral cortex. Changes in the sizes of these layers and the morphology of the cells within each layer accompany normal brain development, and the ability to detect deviations from the normal developmental trajectory is highly relevant to the study of many neurodevelopmental disorders. As an example, we have previously demonstrated that water diffusion is very anisotropic in the cerebral cortex at mid-gestation, and that diffusion anisotropy within this tissue layer decreases with maturation. In our modeling approach, we have linked anisotropy in water diffusion to dispersion in the orientation of axonal and dendritic cellular processes. In animal models of three neurodevelopmental disorders, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, perinatal hypoxia/ischemia, and sensory deprivation, we have demonstrated that alterations in morphological development of cerebral cortical neurons can be revealed by diffusion MRI. Here, we focus on the remaining layers of the mid-gestation brain. A diffusion tensor analysis of post-mortem rhesus macaque brain reveals five distinct tissue layers, including the cerebral cortex. These layers are registered to previously-defined tissue zones identified by histological analyses. Interestingly, two of the MRI-defined zones, which exhibit strikingly different water apparent diffusion coefficients, reside within the subplate zone defined in histological studies. Subsequent to diffusion MRI performed histological analyses on the tissue. We find that multiple different cellular processes (axons, radial glial processes, and dendrites) contribute to diffusion anisotropy within each zone. For each of the five layers, these relationships are described, and unanswered questions related to the determinants of the water apparent diffusion coefficient are identified. Keywords: Diffusion, MRI, dMRI, multidimensional, diffusion encoding Conference: New dimensions in diffusion encoding, Fjälkinge, Sweden, 11 Jan - 14 Jan, 2016. Presentation Type: Oral presentation Topic: New Dimensions in Diffusion Encoding Citation: Kroenke C and Wang X (2016). Neuro diffusion MRI beyond myelinated white matter: cell structures that influence water diffusion in the fetal brain. Front. Phys. Conference Abstract: New dimensions in diffusion encoding. doi: 10.3389/conf.FPHY.2016.01.00027 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 07 Jul 2016; Published Online: 07 Jul 2016. * Correspondence: PhD. Xiaojie Wang, Oregon Health & Science University, Advanced Imaging Research Center and Oregon National Primate Research Center, Portland, Oregon, OR 97239, United States, waxia@ohsu.edu Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Christopher Kroenke Xiaojie Wang Google Christopher Kroenke Xiaojie Wang Google Scholar Christopher Kroenke Xiaojie Wang PubMed Christopher Kroenke Xiaojie Wang Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.