Farida Grinberg1, A. M. Oros-Peusquens1, Yuliya Kupriyanova1, Oleg Posnansky1, N. Jon Shah1,2
1Institute of Neurosciences and Biophysics, Research Centre Juelich, Juelich, Germany; 2Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurology, RWTH Aachen University, JARA, Aachen, Germany
Diffusion MRI has established itself as an invaluable tool for the non-invasive probing of tissue microstructure and function. The sensitivity of water molecular dynamics to the local geometrical and physiological environment gives rise to unique options in brain diagnostics. Simplified geometrical models from studies of confined diffusion in porous media, where the pore walls are usually regarded as non-interacting geometrical barriers, are often invoked. In contrast, cellular membranes tend to influence water dynamic properties not only by merely obstructing diffusion pathways, but also via interactions in the interfacial region (bound water). In this work, Monte Carlo simulations of random walks in restricted geometries were performed taking account of such interactions. The latter were modelled in terms of orienting and trapping (or adsorbing) properties of the confining surface.