Advances in MRI to probe the functional and structural network of the macaque brain

Abstract

Diffusion MRI and fMRI have provided neuroscientists with non-invasive tools to probe the functional and structural network of the brain. Diffusion MRI is a neuroimaging technique capable of measuring the diffusion of water in neural tissue. It can reveal histological architecture irresolvable by conventional magnetic resonance imaging methods and has emerged as a powerful tool to investigate a wide range of neuropathologies. fMRI is a neuroimaging technique sensitive to hemodynamics which is indirectly linked to neural activity. Despite the applications of diffusion MRI and fMRI in basic and clinical neuroscience, the underlying biophysical mechanisms of cerebral diffusion and the hemodynamic response remain largely unknown. Also, these neurotechnqiues suffer from low SNR compared to conventional MRI. The challenges associated with the acquisition and interpretation of diffusion MRI and fMRI limit the application of these powerful non-invasive neuroimaging tools to study the functional and structural network of the brain. The purpose of this thesis is three fold; (1) improve the acquisition and reconstruction of the diffusion MRI and fMRI signals and (2) develop an MR-compatible cortical cooling system to reversibly deactivate cerebral glucose metabolism, and (3) apply the cortical cooling system to investigate the effect of cerebral glucose metabolism on cerebral diffusion and the hemodynamic response. First, I describe a novel phased array monkey coil capable of improving the resolution of diffusion MRI (4 fold increase) and fMRI (2 fold increase) in monkeys. Secondly, I present a novel reconstruction method to resolve complex white matter architecture which boosts the sampling efficiency of the diffusion MRI acquisition by 274-377%.

(cont.) Thirdly, I present a MR-compatible cortical cooling system capable of reversibly deactivating cerebral metabolism in monkeys. The cortical cooling system has been applied to study the effect of cerebral glucose metabolism on the cerebral diffusion of water. I use MR temperature maps to quantify the region and degree of deactivation (accuracy of ±1 °C in vivo). Then, I show that reversible deactivation of cerebral glucose metabolism affects the magnitude of cerebral diffusion (12-20%) but not the anisotropy. Finally, I apply the cortical cooling system to study the effect of reversibly deactivating cerebral glucose metabolism in V1 and its effect on the hemodynamic response in the visual system. Reversible deactivation of V1 decreased the hemodynamic response in visually driven regions upstream and downstream from V1. Compensatory effects were observed in V1 in both hemispheres and ipsilateral TEO with in 2 minutes of deactivation. Here I have described the tools to probe the functional and structural network of the macaque brain.