The recently proposed q-space trajectory imaging (QTI) analysis for multidimensional dMRI acquisitions with free wave forms quantifies domains of variability (size, shape, orientation) that can explain the sources of microstructural changes in the brain. These previously inaccessible domains are used here to disentangle differences observed in the white matter of schizophrenia patients compared to healthy controls. In this population microscopic anisotropy (shape variability) explains changes in fractional anisotropy, in agreement with a hypothesis of white matter degeneration. This study provides a first proof of principal for the feasibility of applying free wave form based sequences on a clinical population.
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