A human brain atlas of chi-separation for normative iron and myelin distributions

TL;DR

This paper presents a normative human brain atlas of iron and myelin distributions created using chi-separation susceptibility mapping, providing detailed anatomical insights and age-related changes for neurological research and clinical applications.

Contribution

It introduces a high-resolution chi-separation based atlas of iron and myelin in the human brain, derived from 106 healthy subjects, with detailed regional susceptibility data.

Findings

Detailed subcortical and white matter maps of iron and myelin

Age-dependent susceptibility changes in brain regions

Potential applications in neurosurgical targeting and research

Abstract

Iron and myelin are primary susceptibility sources in the human brain. These substances are essential for healthy brain, and their abnormalities are often related to various neurological disorders. Recently, an advanced susceptibility mapping technique, which is referred to as chi-separation, has been proposed, successfully disentangling paramagnetic iron from diamagnetic myelin. This method opened a potential for generating high resolution iron and myelin maps in the brain. Utilizing this technique, this study constructs a normative chi-separation atlas from 106 healthy human brains. The resulting atlas provides detailed anatomical structures associated with the distributions of iron and myelin, clearly delineating subcortical nuclei, thalamic nuclei, and white matter fiber bundles. Additionally, susceptibility values in a number of regions of interest are reported along with age-dependent changes. This atlas may have direct applications such as localization of subcortical structures for deep brain stimulation or high-intensity focused ultrasound and also serve as a valuable resource for future research.