Jennifer A. McNab

TL;DR: The Human Connectome Project is to address limiting factors by re-engineering the scanner from the ground up to optimize the high b-value, high angular resolution diffusion imaging needed for sensitive and accurate mapping of the brain's structural connections by implementing a novel 4-port drive geometry and optimizing size and linearity for the brain.

TL;DR: It is shown that the improved sensitivity and diffusion-resolution provided by the gradients are rapidly enabling human applications of techniques that were previously possible only for in vitro and animal models on small-bore scanners, thereby creating novel opportunities to map the microstructure of the human brain in health and disease.

TL;DR: For example, the authors found that positive and negative-valence experiences in prefrontal cortex are represented by cell populations that differ in their causal impact on behavior, long-range wiring and gene expression profiles, with the major discriminant being expression of the adaptation-linked gene NPAS4.

TL;DR: Region-of-interest analysis of diffusion tensor parameters indicate that these properties are altered compared to in vivo (reduced diffusivity and anisotropy), with significant dependence on post mortem interval (time from death to fixation).

TL;DR: This study proposes the use of diffusion-weighted steady-state free precession (DW-SSFP) as a method of extending the benefits of ex vivo DTI and tractography to whole, human, fixed brains on a clinical 3 T scanner.