Abstract #1001

Impact of Image Acquisition on Voxel-Based Morphometry for Investigating Age-Related Structural Brain Changes

Daniel-Paolo Streitbrger¹, Karsten Mueller², Andr Pampel², Jran Lepsien², Matthias L. Schroeter²,³, Harald E. Mller²

¹Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Unit, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences , Leipzig, Sachsen, Germany; ²Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Unit, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Sachsen, Germany; ³Clinic for Cognitive Neurology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Sachsen, Germany

Recent research indicates an influence from image acquisition on the results of voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Six T1-weighted datasets were acquired from 36 subjects using different head coils (12 and 32-channel), sequences (MP-RAGE and MP2RAGE) and isotropic resolutions (0.8 mm and 1.0 mm). Substantial modulations of VBM results, probably due to differences in SNR/CNR obtained with different imaging sequences, were obtained in acquisitions with the 12-channel coil, with which the MP-RAGE sequence yielded more wide-spread aging effects. MP2RAGE seemed less prone to false positive results from combining data acquired with different hardware.