Mancini, M;
Giulietti, G;
Dowell, N;
Spano, B;
Harrison, N;
Bozzali, M;
Cercignani, M;
(2018)
Introducing Axonal Myelination in Connectomics: a Preliminary Analysis of G-ratio Distribution in Healthy Subjects.
NeuroImage
, 182
pp. 351-359.
10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.09.018.
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Abstract
Microstructural imaging and connectomics are two research areas that hold great potential for investigating brain structure and function. Combining these two approaches can lead to a better and more complete characterization of the brain as a network. The aim of this work is characterizing the connectome from a novel perspective using the myelination measure given by the g-ratio. The g-ratio is the ratio of the inner to the outer diameters of a myelinated axon, whose aggregated value can now be estimated in vivo using MRI. In two different datasets of healthy subjects, we reconstructed the structural connectome and then used the g-ratio estimated from diffusion and magnetization transfer data to characterize the network structure. Significant characteristics of g-ratio weighted graphs emerged. First, the g-ratio distribution across the edges of the graph did not show the power-law distribution observed using the number of streamlines as a weight. Second, connections involving regions related to motor and sensory functions were the highest in myelin content. We also observed significant differences in terms of the hub structure and the rich-club organization suggesting that connections involving hub regions present higher myelination than peripheral connections. Taken together, these findings offer a characterization of g-ratio distribution across the connectome in healthy subjects and lay the foundations for further investigating plasticity and pathology using a similar approach.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Introducing Axonal Myelination in Connectomics: a Preliminary Analysis of G-ratio Distribution in Healthy Subjects |
| Location: | Montreal, CANADA |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.09.018 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.09.018 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | g-ratio, connectome, myelin, graph theory, microstructure, structural connectivity, diffusion weighted imaging. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Med Phys and Biomedical Eng |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10060430 |
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