Christian Labadie1, 2, Abdul-Rahman Allouche2, Monique Aubert-Frcon2, Harald E. Mller1
1Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany; 2Laboratoire de Spectromtrie Ionique et Molculaire, Universit Claude Bernard, Lyon, France
The interpretation of the early longitudinal relaxation of water in the human brain at high field (B0 ≥ 3 T) is related to an assumption on the exchange rate of water between the confined environment of tight myelin and other spaces: fast exchange is compatible with a magnetization transfer model between semi-solid protons of the myelin membranes and water, whereas slow exchange suggests the distinct observation of mobile water in myelin with a short T1.