Anterior fissure, central canal, posterior septum and more: New insights into the cervical spinal cord gray and white matter regional organization using T₁ mapping at 7T

Anterior fissure, central canal, posterior septum and more: New insights into the cervical spinal cord gray and white matter regional organization using T<sub>1</sub> mapping at 7T:

Publication date: Available online 13 October 2019

Source: NeuroImage

Author(s): Aurélien Massire, Henitsoa Rasoanandrianina, Maxime Guye, Virginie Callot

Abstract

T₁ mapping lacks specificity toward a single particular biological feature, however it has the potential to discriminate spinal cord regional tissue organization and characterize tissue microstructural impairments occurring in neurodegenerative pathologies. In this exploratory work, T₁ mapping of the cervical spinal cord with a 300-μm in-plane resolution was performed on fourteen healthy subjects at 7 T, using the MP2RAGE sequence. Individual images from C1 to C7 vertebral levels provided a clear delineation of spinal cord anatomical details and substructures including motor columns within gray matter (GM) horns, anterior median fissure, central canal, ventral, lateral and dorsal white matter (WM) fasciculi, and posterior median septum. Group studies highlighted regional T₁ differences between regions of interest so far hardly visible at lower spatial resolution. Two-dimensional averaged T₁ maps and manual parcellation of GM and WM substructures were built based on these data. Benefiting from the very high spatial resolution achievable at ultra-high field for T₁ mapping, this work contributes to improve the in vivo characterization of the cervical spinal cord. By allowing investigation within a wider range of functional regions, it also opens new perspectives for pathology diagnosis such as motor neuron disease, neuropathic pain or refined investigation of neurodegeneration.

Graphical abstract