Manuel Taso1,2,3,4, Oliver M. Girard1,3, Guillaume Duhamel1,3, Maxime Guye1,3, Jean-Philippe Ranjeva1,3,4, and Virginie Callot1,3,4
1CRMBM UMR 7339, Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, Marseille, France, 2LBA UMR T 24, Aix-Marseille Université, IFSTTAR, Marseille, France, 3CEMEREM, AP-HM, Pôle d'imagerie médicale, Marseille, France, 4iLab-Spine international associate laboratory, Marseille/Montréal, France
Handedness
is known to influence brain structure. However, no evidences of such influence
in the spinal cord (SC) exist. Hence, we propose to use multi-parametric MRI
(DTI and inhomogeneous MT, both sensible to microstructural properties), combined
with atlas-based analysis in specific fascicles, to assess the influence of
handedness on the SC structure. Results demonstrated that right-handers presented
higher ihMTR/MTR values in the right motor tracts, suggesting an asymmetric
myelination while left-handers did not present differences between left and
right regions. This is consistent with brain findings suggesting that
right-handedness is associated with higher structural asymmetry in the central
nervous system.
