Quantitative Magnetization Transfer and Diffusion Tensor Imaging Provide Complementary White Matter Information

Gerard Thompson¹, Sha Zhao¹, Alan Jackson¹

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has been widely used to study white matter in health and disease. Quantitative magnetization transfer (qMT) imaging has also been used to a lesser extent. We provide evidence that fractional anisotropy (FA) form DTI and bound fraction (f) from qMT provide complementary information in white matter. Importantly, f remains high even in areas of reduced FA due to fiber crossing. A combination of f and FA may therefore provide complementary information about white matter in health and disease, and allow interrogation of regions of fiber crossing and sub-cortical regions not normally assessable using FA alone.