Between session reproducibility and between subject variability of diffusion MR and tractography measures
Abstract
As diffusion tractography is increasingly used to generate quantitative measures to address clinical questions, it is important to characterise the inter-session reproducibility and inter-subject variability of these measures. Here, we assess the reproducibility and variability of diffusion tractography measures using diffusion data from 8 subjects scanned 3 times. We used probabilistic tractography to define the cingulum bundle, pyramidal tracts, optic radiations and genu of the corpus callosum in each individual data set using three different methods of seed definition. Measures of mean fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) along the tracts were more reproducible than measures of tract volume. Further, tracts defined using a two region of interest (ROI) approach were more reproducible than those defined using manually placed seed masks alone. For mean FA taken from tracts defined using the two ROI approach, inter-session coefficients of variation (CV) were all below 5% and inter-subject CVs were below 10%; for mean MD inter-session, CVs were all below 3% and inter-subject CVs were below 8%. We use the variability measures found here to calculate the sample sizes required to detect changes in FA, MD or tract volume of a given size, either between groups of subjects or within subjects over time. Finally, we compare tractography results using 60 diffusion encoding directions to those found using a subset of 12 directions; the number of diffusion directions did not have a significant effect on reproducibility, but tracts derived using fewer directions were consistently smaller than those derived using 60 direction data. We suggest that 12 direction data are sufficient for reproducibly defining the core of large bundles but may be less sensitive to smaller pathways.
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Sampling of microstructural measures along fiber pathways can be done by generating a binary mask of voxels through which streamlines pass and sampling within this mask, or by sampling at each point of the streamlines from a pre-calculated microstructure image.
“This sampling may be done by first generating a binary mask that defines the voxels through which streamlines pass and then sampling from an underlying microstructure image within this mask (Ciccarelli et al., 2003; Heiervang et al., 2006; Kunimatsu et al., 2004; Voineskos et al., 2010). The sampling may alternatively be done by sampling microstructural measures at each point of the streamlines”
From Quantitative mapping of the brain’s structural connectivity using diffusion MRI tractography: A review (2022) · cites this paper as Heiervang et al., 2006
Pathways traced using this tractography approach are reproducible and generally reproduce those identified using postmortem dissection or tract tracing.
“Pathways traced in this way are reproducible (Heiervang et al. 2006) and generally reproduce those identified using postmortem dissection or tract tracing (Stieltjes et al. 2001; Croxson et al. 2005).”
From Anatomical connectivity of the subgenual cingulate region targeted with deep brain stimulation for treatment-resistant depression (2008) · cites this paper as Heiervang et al. 2006
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Heiervang, E., Behrens, T. E. J., Mackay, C. E., Robson, M. D., & Johansen-Berg, H.
- Affiliations
- Haukeland University Hospital (NO)
- John Radcliffe Hospital (GB)
- Venue
- NeuroImage
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2006-11
- Volume
- 33
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 867-877
- ISSN
- 1053-8119 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2136489734
- Cited by
- 259
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 24 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 25 · 2012: 18
- FWCI
- 12.40
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- NeuroImage (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust (078204)
- Medical Research Council
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Advanced MRI Techniques and Applications
- Keywords
- diffusion tractography, interindividual variability, probabilistic tractography, fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, tract volume, cingulum, corticospinal tract, optic radiation, corpus callosum, sample size determination, white matter bundles
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Brain, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Male, Mesencephalon, Pyramidal Tracts, Reproducibility of Results, Sample Size, Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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