Anna I. Blazejewska1,
Samuel J. Wharton1, Stefan T. Schwarz2, James Lowe3,
Dorothee P. Auer2, Richard W. Bowtell1, Penelope A.
Gowland1
1SPMMRC,
University of Nottingham, Nottingham, Notts, United Kingdom; 2Division
of Radiological and Imaging Sciences, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS
Trust, Nottingham, Notts, United Kingdom; 3Division of Pathology,
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham, Notts, United Kingdom
The substantia nigra (SN) is important in motor control and is known to be affected in Parkinsons disease. Quantifying MR properties of this region of the brain stem and relating them to histology stains will assist in understanding tissue changes in disease and in image optimization. In this study we characterized R2* and MTR values for key regions in the brain stem at 3T and 7T. We also found correlations between those values and the appropriate post mortem stains which suggest that R2* and MTR are good indicators of iron and myelin content respectively in the brain stem.