The influence of complex white matter architecture on the mean diffusivity in diffusion tensor MRI of the human brain

Vos, Sjoerd B., Jones, Derek K. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4409-8049, Jeurissen, Ben, Viergever, Max A. and Leemans, Alexander 2012. The influence of complex white matter architecture on the mean diffusivity in diffusion tensor MRI of the human brain. NeuroImage 59 (3) , pp. 2208-2216. 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.09.086

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Abstract

In diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DT-MRI), limitations concerning complex fiber architecture (when an image voxel contains fiber populations with more than one dominant orientation) are well-known. Fractional anisotropy (FA) values are lower in such areas because of a lower directionality of diffusion on the voxel-scale, which makes the interpretation of FA less straightforward. Moreover, the interpretation of the axial and radial diffusivities is far from trivial when there is more than one dominant fiber orientation within a voxel. In this work, using (i) theoretical considerations, (ii) simulations, and (iii) experimental data, it is demonstrated that the mean diffusivity (or the trace of the diffusion tensor) is lower in complex white matter configurations, compared with tissue where there is a single dominant fiber orientation within the voxel. We show that the magnitude of this reduction depends on various factors, including configurational and microstructural properties (e.g., the relative contributions of different fiber populations) and acquisition settings (e.g., the b-value). These results increase our understanding of the quantitative metrics obtained from DT-MRI and, in particular, the effect of the microstructural architecture on the mean diffusivity. More importantly, they reinforce the growing awareness that differences in DT-MRI metrics need to be interpreted cautiously.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC) Psychology
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Diffusion tensor MRI; Crossing fibers; Complex fiber architecture; Trace; Mean diffusivity
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	1053-8119
Last Modified:	20 Oct 2022 07:53
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/26797

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