MR Tractography May Provide Insights into Human Brain Anatomy

Magnetic resonance tractography (MRT) is a valuable, noninvasive imaging tool for evaluating human brain anatomy, and as MRT methods and technologies evolve, has the potential to yield new and revealing information on brain activity and connectivity.

Vital information about the promise and limitations of this technology is explored in a review article published online September 2011 in the neuroscience journal Brain Connectivity.

Diffusion tractography allows scientists to visualize and determine the location of white matter in the brain. If current technological challenges associated with MRT are recognized and overcome, such as limitations in its accuracy and quantification, this imaging technique could make a significant contribution to the field of brain connectivity and to an understanding of how information and signals are transmitted across the brain, according to Drs. Saad Jbabdi and Heidi Johansen-Berg, from the University of Oxford (UK).

“This emerging technology offers a new window into human brain anatomy. The technique has enormous potential for revealing the architecture of the human brain and its breakdown in disease. Recent developments mean that some of the limitations and challenges associated with this technique could be effectively tackled in the near future,” said Heidi Johansen-Berg, PhD, coauthor and professor of cognitive neuroscience and a senior research fellow at the University of Oxford Center for Functional MRI of the Brain.

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