Microstructure Informed Susceptibility Source Separation (MI-SSS) Reveals Demyelination in Alzheimer’s Disease

Motivation: Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia and the pathogenesis of AD is not well understood. Microstructural changes such as demyelination is known to be involved in AD progression and can noninvasive estimation of myelin content can help us better understand AD. Goal(s): The aim of this study is to show MI-SSS potential in detection myelination changes in AD. Approach: AD patient negative susceptibility content is compared with that in healthy subjects on both region and voxel level. Results: MI-SSS demonstrated significantly lower negative susceptibility content in AD patients signaling AD pathology related demyelination. Impact: Noninvasive imaging of brain microstructure may help to better understand pathological changes in Alzheimer’s Disease. Microstructure Informed Susceptibility Source Separation (MI-SSS) provides important information about the brain microstructure such as myelin content that can easily be adopted in clinical settings.