Axons in white matter have been shown to have varying geometries within a bundle, but what does this mean for spherical deconvolution, which assumes a single diffusion MRI (dMRI) fibre response function (FRF) for all axons within a voxel? We demonstrate, using advanced dMRI simulations, that variable fibre geometry leads to a variable FRF across axons and that a different choice of FRF can lead to large differences in the recovered fibre orientation distribution function (fODF). This finding suggests that assuming a single FRF can lead to misestimation of the fODF, causing further downstream errors in techniques such as tractography.
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