1. Neuroscience

Using light and X-ray scattering to untangle complex neuronal orientations and validate diffusion MRI

  1. Miriam Menzel  Is a corresponding author
  2. David Gräßel
  3. Ivan Rajkovic
  4. Michael M Zeineh
  5. Marios Georgiadis  Is a corresponding author
  1. Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
  2. Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany
  3. SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, United States
  4. Stanford Medicine, United States
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.84024
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  1. Miriam Menzel
  2. David Gräßel
  3. Ivan Rajkovic
  4. Michael M Zeineh
  5. Marios Georgiadis
(2023)
Using light and X-ray scattering to untangle complex neuronal orientations and validate diffusion MRI
eLife 12:e84024.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.84024
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Abstract

Disentangling human brain connectivity requires an accurate description of nerve fiber trajectories, unveiled via detailed mapping of axonal orientations. However, this is challenging because axons can cross one another on a micrometer scale. Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) can be used to infer axonal connectivity because it is sensitive to axonal alignment, but it has limited spatial resolution and specificity. Scattered light imaging (SLI) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) reveal axonal orientations with microscopic resolution and high specificity, respectively. Here, we apply both scattering techniques on the same samples and cross-validate them, laying the groundwork for ground-truth axonal orientation imaging and validating dMRI. We evaluate brain regions that include unidirectional and crossing fibers in human and vervet monkey brain sections. SLI and SAXS quantitatively agree regarding in-plane fiber orientations including crossings, while dMRI agrees in the majority of voxels with small discrepancies. We further use SAXS and dMRI to confirm theoretical predictions regarding SLI determination of through-plane fiber orientations. Scattered light and X-ray imaging can provide quantitative micrometer 3D fiber orientations with high resolution and specificity, facilitating detailed investigations of complex fiber architecture in the animal and human brain.

Data availability

All data generated and analyzed in this study are included in the manuscript and supporting figures. The corresponding high-resolution images and parameter maps have been deposited in Zenodo under DOI:10.5281/zenodo.7208998.

The following data sets were generated

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Miriam Menzel

    Department of Imaging Physics, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands
    For correspondence
    m.menzel@tudelft.nl
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-6042-7490

  2. David Gräßel

    Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine INM-1, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-3228-8048

  3. Ivan Rajkovic

    Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  4. Michael M Zeineh

    Department of Radiology, Stanford Medicine, Stanford, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  5. Marios Georgiadis

    Department of Radiology, Stanford Medicine, Stanford, United States
    For correspondence
    mariosg@stanford.edu
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Funding

Helmholtz Association (Supercomputing and Modeling for the Human Brain)

  • Miriam Menzel

Helmholtz Association (Helmholtz Doctoral Prize 2019)

  • Miriam Menzel

Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (Human Brain Project SGA3,945539)

  • Miriam Menzel
  • David Gräßel

Klaus Tschira Stiftung (Klaus Tschira Boost Fund)

  • Miriam Menzel

National Institutes of Health (R01AG061120-01)

  • Michael M Zeineh

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Ethics

Animal experimentation: The vervet monkey brain tissue was obtained in accordance with the Wake Forest Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC #A11-219). Euthanasia procedures conformed to the AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals. All animal procedures were in accordance with the National Institutes of Health guidelines for the use and care of laboratory animals and in compliance with the ARRIVE guidelines.

Human subjects: The human brain tissue was obtained from the Stanford ADRC Biobank, which follows procedures of the Stanford Medicine IRB-approved protocol #33727, including a written informed brain donation consent of the subject or their next of kin or legal representative.

Copyright

© 2023, Menzel et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

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  1. Miriam Menzel
  2. David Gräßel
  3. Ivan Rajkovic
  4. Michael M Zeineh
  5. Marios Georgiadis
(2023)
Using light and X-ray scattering to untangle complex neuronal orientations and validate diffusion MRI
eLife 12:e84024.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.84024

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.84024

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