Name
Abstract | ||
|---|---|---|
Many developmental processes, such as plasticity and aging, or pathological processes such as neurological diseases are characterized by modulations of specific cellular types and their microstructures. Diffusion-weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging (DW-MRI) is a powerful technique for probing microstructure, yet its information arises from the ubiquitous, non-specific water signal. By contrast, diffusion-weighted Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (DW-MRS) allows specific characterizations of tissues such as brain and muscle in vivo by quantifying the diffusion properties of MR-observable metabolites. Many brain metabolites are predominantly intracellular, and some of them are preferentially localized in specific brain cell populations, e.g., neurons and glia. Given the microstructural sensitivity of diffusion-encoding filters, investigation of metabolite diffusion properties using DW-MRS can thus provide exclusive cell and compartment-specific information. Furthermore, since many models and assumptions are used for quantification of water diffusion, metabolite diffusion may serve to generate a-priori information for model selection in DW-MRI. However, DW-MRS measurements are extremely challenging, from the acquisition to the accurate and correct analysis and quantification stages. In this review, we survey the state-of-the-art methods that have been developed for the robust acquisition, quantification and analysis of DW-MRS data and discuss the potential relevance of DW-MRS for elucidating brain microstructure in vivo. The review highlights that when accurate data on the diffusion of multiple metabolites is combined with accurate computational and geometrical modeling, DW-MRS can provide unique cell-specific information on the intracellular structure of brain tissue, in health and disease, which could serve as incentives for further application in vivo in human research and clinical MRI. |
Year | DOI | Venue |
|---|---|---|
2018 | 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.11.028 | NeuroImage |
Keywords | Field | DocType |
Diffusion,Metabolites,Intracellular space,Cell structure,Tissue microstructure,Brain,1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy | Neuroscience,Cognitive psychology,Intracellular,Psychology,In vivo,Cell structure,Brain Cell,Metabolite,Magnetic resonance imaging,Intracellular structure,Brain tissue | Journal |
Volume | ISSN | Citations |
182 | 1053-8119 | 5 |
PageRank | References | Authors |
0.42 | 9 | 4 |
Name | Order | Citations | PageRank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marco Palombo | 1 | 47 | 5.08 |
| Noam Shemesh | 2 | 51 | 4.29 |
| Itamar Ronen | 3 | 65 | 12.11 |
| Julien Valette | 4 | 23 | 2.60 |