Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 6
From Diffusion MRI to Brain Connectomics
Aurobrata Ghosh and Rachid Deriche
6.1
Introduction
The main objective of this chapter is to present some mathematical models and
computational tools for analyzing and modeling the complex central nervous
system's (brain and spinal cord) neural connectivity. These models and tools will
help to better understand the white matter architecture of the human central nervous
system (CNS) and in a long term, will also help in addressing important and
challenging clinical and neuroscience questions. Indeed, due to our aging society,
diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease (PD) and depression will affect a
large population. These examples of CNS diseases as well as others, like multiple
sclerosis have characteristic abnormalities in the microstructure of brain's tissues
such as its white matter, which are not apparent and cannot be revealed reliably
by standard imaging techniques. Diffusion MRI (dMRI), a recent imaging modality
based on the measurement of the random thermal movement (diffusion) of water
molecules within samples, can make visible these co-lateral damages to the fibers
of the CNS white matter that connect different brain regions. This is why in this
chapter, dMRI is the major anatomical imaging modality that will be considered to
recover the neural connectivity in the CNS.
We begin this chapter by presenting the CNS, in particular the brain, before
delving into the mathematical framework for dMRI. Section 6.1 is dedicated to a
perusal of its general structure and organization, the tissues constituting it, and in
highlight, the brain's major neuronal pathways interconnecting its various regions.
It aims to provide a context for understanding the general physical problem dMRI
attempts to solve.
A. Ghosh ( ) ยท R. Deriche
Inria Sophia Antipolis Mediterranee, Athena project-team, 2004 Route des Lucioles, 06902,
Sophia Antipolis, France
e-mail: aurobrata.ghosh@inria.fr ; rachid.deriche@inria.fr
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