In connection to a guest visit at CFIN, researcher Noam Shemesh from Champalimaud preclinical MRI Centre (CMC) in Lisbon, Portugal, will give a guest talk on "Breaking sensitivity and specificity limits in functional and microstructural MRI"

21.09.2021 | Henriette Blæsild Vuust

Title: 

Breaking sensitivity and specificity limits in functional and microstructural MRI

Speaker:

Noam Shemesh, PhD,
Associate Principal Investigator
Preclinical MRI Lab, Champalimaud Research
Director, Champalimaud preclinical MRI Centre (CMC)
Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown
Lisbon, Portugal

https://twitter.com/ShemeshL

Abstract. 

Magnetic Resonance Imaging is typically considered a "low resolution" and/or a "low specificity" methodology when compared with other modalities in neuroscience and biomedicine. In the talk we will depart from this dogma and show that MRI - especially at high fields – is now attaining a level of sensitivity and specificity that makes it an outstanding candidate for a multi-contrast “in-vivo microscopy”. First, we will address how spatiotemporal sensitivity limits can be broken using cryogenic coils, which effectively attenuate thermal noise and enable the acquisition of exquisitely high-resolution images, with sensitivity enhancements of x2-x5. We will then discuss how these sensitivity enhancements, when applied to diffusion MRI and coupled with advanced biophysical modelling, can accurately map intricate microstructural features such as axon density and size, cell body density, and other biological factors. We will then switch gears and discuss our experience with ultrafast functional MRI, showing how rapid measurements of BOLD timing parameters provide insight into the neural input order along an entire distributed neural pathway. Experiments in a mouse model of visual pathway plasticity (dark rearing) will be discussed, that show that BOLD dynamics, rather than BOLD amplitudes, better reflect the lack of a critical period in the dark reared mice, and also reveal global resonant modes in resting-state experiments. Finally, we will harness ultrafast diffusion-fMRI and intrinsic microscopy to resolve a long-standing question: do dfMRI signals reflect a “neuro-morphological” coupling? Future applications and potential for clinical translation will be discussed.

ALL ARE WELCOME

The guest talk will take place in the Thalamus meeting room at CFIN South AND will also be on Zoom, for those who might prefer this.

Zoom info:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://aarhusuniversity.zoom.us/j/62065207393?pwd=U1EraWZXcE1MMjFHZyt1aUxzN21IZz09