New imaging method makes structures in the brain visible
A new imaging technique enables scientists to obtain structural information about brain tissue that was previously difficult to access. Diattenuation imaging (DI) can be used to distinguish brain areas with many thin nerve fibres from regions with few thick nerve fibres. Until now, this separation was not easily possible with other imaging methods.
In the future, the method could be used for research on neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis and multisystem atrophy (MSA). In addition, the technology helps in the reconstruction of complex contiguous regions of the brain and in the identification of tissue types and pathological changes.
JARA-BRAIN scientist Prof. Katrin Amunts, Prof. Kristel Michielsen (JARA-CSD) and Dr. Miriam Menzel (JARA Best Master 2015) are significantly involved in the investigations. The results were recently published in "nature".
Further information can be found on the website of Forschungszentrum Jülich.