Carsten Stueber1, Markus Morawski2, Miriam Waehnert1, Katja Reimann1, Nirav Barapatre3, Stefan Geyer1, Robert Turner1
1Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany; 2Paul-Flechsig-Institute for Brain Research, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany; 3LIPSION Laboratory, Institute of Nuclear Solid State Physics, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
Evidence suggests that myelin largely contributes to most types of MR image contrast (i.e. T1-maps). However, the contribution of iron as an independent source of MR-tissue contrast remains poorly understood, due to the co-localization of myelin and iron in the cortex. We examed the role of iron-derived MR contrast in myelin- and iron-rich cortical areas of human cadaver brain tissue, using ion beam analysis to quantitavely map the iron concentration and comparing MRI of tissue blocks before and after removing iron. We could show that iron does play a significant role in brain tissue T1 contrast.