Patric Birr1, Andreas Fehlner2, Sebastian Hirsch2, Florian Dittmann2, Jing Guo2, Jürgen Braun2, Ingolf Sack2, and Stefan Hetzer3
1Physics, Humboldt University Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 2Radiology, Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 3Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging, Berlin, Germany
Two imaging modalities, magnetic resonance elastography (MRE)
and arterial spin labeling (ASL), were used to compare mechanical properties of
brain tissue with regional perfusion across subcortical brain regions. An
inverse correlation of stiffness (|G*|) and average perfusion (CBF) was
observed in deep gray matter when accounting for structurally and functionally
distinct areas. In the |G*|-CBF space, globus pallidus, hippocampus, thalamus
and amygdala clearly clustered from putamen and nucleus accumbens highlighting
their anatomical differences in network density and vasculature. Differences in
the microstructure between the striatum and other analyzed regions are not
apparent by MRE or ASL alone.
