Secretariat, Alumni Association, IDAC
Date	Thursday, March 22, 2018 (17:00 – 18:00)
Room	7th Floor, Seminar Room 1, Center for Basic Aging Research, IDAC
Title	Quantitative analysis of diffusion MRI of the brain
Speaker	Keigo Simoji
Affiliation	Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital
Organizer	Yasuyuki Taki (Department of Nuclear Medicine and Radiology Division of Medical Neuroimaging Analysis Department of Community Medical Supports Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization) (Contact : Yasuko Tatewaki, Department of Nuclear Medicine and Radiology・ext 8559)
Abstract	Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) is the only noninvasive technique that can identify and quantify white matter tracts by evaluating the diffusion of water in biological tissues. Neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging is an advanced diffusion imaging technique that provides additional information on tissue microstructure, including intracellular volume fraction. While association fibers are bundles of axons within the brain that unite different parts of the same cerebral hemisphere, projection fibers are bundles of axons that unite the cortex with the lower parts of the brain and the spinal cord. Moreover, the commissural fibers are axon bundles that connect the two hemispheres of the brain. Quantitative analysis of dMRI can be roughly classified into three types: 1) region of interest analysis, 2) tract-specific analysis, and 3) fully automated hypothesis free whole brain analysis. TBSS is a new approach that uses an anatomically based, nonlinear registration procedure to project results onto an alignment-invariant tract representation. Reproducibility of image statistical analysis is improved by automatic analysis that can eliminate complicated and error-prone manual work. Brain image statistical analysis can be efficiently advanced with a script optimized for one’s own machine environment.