Maria
Fatima Falangola1,2, Caixia Hu1, Vitria Adisetiyo1,
Ali Tabesh1, Wende R. Gelb1, Jens H. Jensen1,
Joseph A. Helpern1,2
1Radiology, New York University Langone
Medical Center, New York, NY, United States; 22Center for Advanced
Brain Imaging, Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, NY, United States
The
thalamus is a major subcortical relay station that filters incoming primary
sensory input and modulates processed cortical information through reciprocal
cortico-thalamic connections. Therefore, it is a key region for
fronto-temporal communication and is crucial for modulating emotion and
cognition in humans. We applied Diffusional Kurtosis Imaging (DKI) to
investigate the age-related non-Gaussian patterns of microstructure change in
the thalamus. The data presented here suggest that non-Gaussian metrics,
particularly MK and Kra are the most useful in detecting developmental
changes in the thalamus.