Diffusion MRI of Psychiatric Disorders

Kelvin O. Lim^1,2

¹Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States, ²Minneapolis VA Health Care System, Minneapolis, MN, United States

Synopsis

Diffusion MRI has proven to be a very popular brain imaging technique for the study of psychiatric disorders. In schizophrenia alone, there are 570 publications that use diffusion tensor imaging. Diffusion MRI data has been used in many ways including: assessment of white matter integrity, tractography and structural connectivity analyses. Many different analytic approaches have been developed. Like other MR modalities, diffusion MRI is also subject to artifacts from multiple sources which can result in erroneous values. Diffusion models, other than the tensor model, are beginning to become popular as fast imaging techniques make them more feasible for clinical populations.

Highlights

1. Diffusion MRI has proven to be a powerful tool for the study of psychiatry disorders

2. Artifacts can be a problem that can impact quality of the data

3. There are are a variety of analytic strategies available

4. Fast imaging techniques make new imaging techniques feasible for clinical research

Target Audience

Investigators interested in applying the latest diffusion MRI methods to the study of psychiatric disorders.

Outcomes/Objectives

1. Be aware of new analytical methods.

2. Be able to identify artifacts that can result in spurious results.

3. Become familiar with new diffusion imaging methods

4. Plan your next diffusion MRI study

Acknowledgements

No acknowledgement found.

References

1. Mueller BA, Lim KO, Hemmy L, Camchong J. Diffusion MRI and its Role in Neuropsychology. Neuropsychol Rev. 2015 Sep;25(3):250-71. doi: 10.1007/s11065-015-9291-z. Epub 2015 Aug 9. PubMed PMID: 26255305; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4807614.

2. Jones DK, Knösche TR, Turner R. White matter integrity, fiber count, and other fallacies: the do's and don'ts of diffusion MRI. Neuroimage. 2013 Jun;73:239-54. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.06.081. Epub 2012 Jul 23. PubMed PMID: 22846632.

3. Jones DK, Cercignani M. Twenty-five pitfalls in the analysis of diffusion MRI data. NMR Biomed. 2010 Aug;23(7):803-20. doi: 10.1002/nbm.1543. Review. PubMed PMID: 20886566.

Proc. Intl. Soc. Mag. Reson. Med. 24 (2016)