Structural connectivity of autonomic, pain, limbic, and sensory brainstem nuclei in living humans based on 7 Tesla and 3 Tesla MRI.

ABSTRACT: Autonomic, pain, limbic, and sensory processes are mainly governed by the central nervous system, with brainstem nuclei as relay centers for these crucial functions. Yet, the structural connectivity of brainstem nuclei in living humans remains understudied. These tiny structures are difficult to locate using conventional in vivo MRI, and ex vivo brainstem nuclei atlases lack precise and automatic transformability to in vivo images. To fill this gap, we mapped our recently developed probabilistic brainstem nuclei atlas developed in living humans to high-spatial resolution (1.7 mm isotropic) and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) at 7 Tesla in 20 healthy participants. To demonstrate clinical translatability, we also acquired 3 Tesla DWI with conventional resolution (2.5 mm isotropic) in the sa

SUBMITTER: Singh K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9188976 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature