Translational Applications of 7T MRI

Due to its higher resolution, enhanced contrast, increased susceptibility, and improved BOLD sensitivity, 7T MRI advances translational neuroscience research. See below for some of our research highlights.

This page still needs some modifications by us and by the website people (removing the blocks we can't remove). More research areas can be added, and each study can be expanded upon. You can add figures up here, or we can add an additional body text below the grid. We could also make individual pages about each study, if anyone wants. Some other areas we could add: Sleep Study, MsBrain, Prasad's studies, Embody, Keith's study. We could also add something that lists all of the topics we cover (Andrea has a list in one of her presentations if that helps).

Collaborators

Learn more about our collaborators.

Studies

Learn more about all of the studies we run at the 7TBRP.

7TBRP Translational Research Areas

Using our advanced RF coils, image acquisition techniques and image processing pipelines, the 7TBRP, along with our collaborators, strives to understand the brain and positively impact human health.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

Ultrahigh field MRI identified markers of structural damage in the thalamic nuclei associated with subsequently worse clinical outcomes in individuals with MS.

COVID-19 Hospitalization

Compared with 3T MRI, 7T MRI can detect more subtle injuries, including hippocampal subfield volume differences and additional standard biomarkers such as white matter lesions. 7T MRI could help with the interpretation of the various persistent post-acute and distal onset sequelae of COVID-19 infection.

Mild Cognitive Impairment

The LATTICE (Lithium as a Treatment to Prevent Impairment of Cognition in Elders) study investigates whether lithium can delay cognitive decline in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Participants were followed for 2 years with baseline and follow-up evaluations at 1 and 2 years that included neurocognitive assessment, 7T structural neuroimaging, positron emission tomography imaging for amyloid beta and tau, and plasma-based biomarkers.

Normal Aging

A key knowledge gap is to robustly investigate the sensitivity and accuracy of 3T and 7T MRI in assessing brain morphometrics. This study aims to (a) aggregate a large number of paired 3T and 7T scans to evaluate their differences in quantitative brain morphological assessment using a widely available brain segmentation tool, FreeSurfer, as well as to (b) examine the impact of normalization methods for subject variability and smaller sample sizes on data analysis. A total of 401 healthy participants aged 29–68 was imaged at both 3T and 7T.

Late-Life Depression

Late-life depression is becoming a substantial public health burden, and a considerable number of older adults presenting to primary care have significant clinical depression. Even though white matter hyperintensities are linked with small vessel disease, white matter hyperintensities are nonspecific to small vessel disease and can co-occur with other brain diseases. Advanced neuroimaging techniques at the ultrahigh field magnetic resonance imaging are enabling improved characterization, identification of cerebral small vessel disease and are elucidating some of the mechanisms that associate small vessel disease with late-life depression.

Sickle Cell Disease

In this study, we explored whether sickle cell disease (SCD) may be also associated with abnormalities in hippocampal subregions. We conducted 7T MRI imaging in individuals with SCD, including the three genotypes (n = 53), and healthy race and age-matched controls (n = 47), using a customized head coil. Both T1- and T2-weighted images were used for automatic segmentation of the hippocampal subfields. Individuals with SCD had, on average, significantly smaller volume of the region including the Dentate Gyrus and Cornu Ammonis 2 and 3 as compared to the control group. Other hippocampal subregions also showed a trend towards smaller volumes in the SCD group. These findings support and extend previous reports of reduced volume in the temporal lobe in SCD patients.

Down Syndrome Neuropathology

Aging adults with Down syndrome (DS) accumulate Alzheimer's disease (AD) neuropathology, including amyloid beta plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, by age 40. We present findings from an individual with DS who remained cognitively stable despite AD neuropathology. Clinical assessments, fluid biomarkers, neuroimaging, and neuropathological examinations were conducted to characterize her condition. Neuroimaging revealed stable yet elevated amyloid and moderately elevated tau levels, while neuropathology indicated intermediate AD neuropathologic change with Lewy body and cerebrovascular pathologies. The participant demonstrated stable cognitive functioning in her 60s, potentially attributed to genetic variations, cognitive resilience, and environmental enrichment. These findings emphasize the complexity of AD progression in DS. Further investigation into factors influencing cognitive resilience in individuals with DS is warranted.

Alzheimer's Disease Neuropathology

We analyzed amygdala and hippocampal volumes and neuropathological burden in 12 Down syndrome (DS) cases and 54 non-DS cases with Alzheimer’s disease and related neurodegenerative pathologies (ADRNP) using 7T postmortem ex vivo MRI. Postmortem and antemortem hippocampal volumes were significantly correlated in a subset of 17 cases with available antemortem MRI scans. DS cases had smaller hippocampal and amygdala volumes than ADRNP cases; these correlated with more severe Braak stage but not with Thal phase. Thus, hippocampal volumes in ADRNP were influenced by both Alzheimer’s disease neuropathologic change and limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy neuropathologic change (LATE-NC), and amygdala volumes were primarily influenced by LATE-NC. In DS, hippocampal and amygdala volumes were primarily influenced by tau pathology.