Assessing quantitative MRI techniques using multimodal comparisons
The study of brain structure and change in neuroscience is commonly conducted using macroscopic morphological measures of the brain such as regional volume or cortical thickness, providing little insight into the microstructure and physiology of the brain. In contrast, quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) allows the monitoring of microscopic brain change non-invasively in-vivo, and provides directly comparable values between tissues, regions, and individuals. To support the development and common use of qMRI for cognitive neuroscience, we analysed a set of qMRI and dMRI metrics (R1, R2*, Magnetization Transfer saturation, Proton Density saturation, Fractional Anisotropy, Mean Diffusivity) in 101 healthy young adults. Here we provide a comprehensive descriptive analysis of these metrics and their linear relationships to each other in grey and white matter to develop a more complete understanding of the relationship to tissue microstructure. Furthermore, we provide evidence that combinations of metrics may uncover informative gradients across the brain by showing that lower variance components of PCA may be used to identify cortical gradients otherwise hidden within individual metrics. We discuss these results within the context of microstructural and physiological neuroscience research.
Authors
- Francis Carter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0994-2347)
- Nikolaus Weiskopf (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5239-1881)
- Alfred Anwander (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4861-4808)
- Antoine Lutti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3281-5477)
- Pierre‐Louis Bazin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0141-5510)
- Christopher J. Steele (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1656-7928)
- Angela D. Friederici (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6328-865X)
- Claudine Joëlle Gauthier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5137-5019)
- Helyne Adamson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3477-4296)
- Marc A. Johnson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0827-1887)
- Thomás Goucha
Institutions
- Montreal Heart Institute (CA)
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (DE)
- Concordia University (CA)
- University of Amsterdam (NL)
- Leipzig University (DE)
- University of Lausanne (CH)
Publication Details
- Journal
- PLoS ONE
- Published
- 2025-07-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0327828
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.72
Funders
- Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
- European Commission
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
- Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
- Max-Planck-Institut für Kognitions- und Neurowissenschaften
- Horizon 2020 Framework Programme
- Heart And Stroke Foundation Of Quebec
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- FP7 Ideas: European Research Council