Pedro Angel Luque Laguna1,2, Luis Lacerda1,2, Steve C.R. Williams1, and Flavio Dell'Acqua1,2
In the context of studies using diffusion MRI, an
important criterion to choose between the available diffusion metrics is the
sensitivity to detect pathological changes. Sensitivity of diffusion metrics
has been shown to vary widely across brain regions although the biological
factors behind such variability remain undetermined. In this work we use
computational simulations to evaluate the effect that different white matter
configurations have on the sensitivity of existing metrics of diffusion and
anisotropy. We show that for the same biological change, features of microstructural organisation like the
angle of crossing fibres have a significant and characterising effect in the sensitivity of
each particular metric.
