title: Detection of entorhinal layer II using 7Tesla [corrected] magnetic resonance imaging.
abstract: The entorhinal cortex lies in the mediotemporal lobe and has major functional, structural, and clinical significance. The entorhinal cortex has a unique cytoarchitecture with large stellate neurons in layer II that form clusters. The entorhinal cortex receives vast sensory association input, and its major output arises from the layer II and III neurons that form the perforant pathway. Clinically, the neurons in layer II are affected with neurofibrillary tangles, one of the two pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. We describe detection of the entorhinal layer II islands using magnetic resonance imaging. We scanned human autopsied temporal lobe blocks in a 7T human scanner using a solenoid coil. In 70 and 100 microm isotropic data, the entorhinal islands were clearly visible throughout the anterior-posterior extent of entorhinal cortex. Layer II islands were prominent in both the magnetic resonance imaging and corresponding histological sections, showing similar size and shape in two types of data. Area borders and island location based on cytoarchitectural features in the mediotemporal lobe were robustly detected using the magnetic resonance images. Our ex vivo results could break ground for high-resolution in vivo scanning that could ultimately benefit early diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA. jean@nmr.mgh.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Jean C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Augustinack
authors.forename: Andre J W
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: van der Kouwe
authors.forename: Megan L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Blackwell
authors.forename: David H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Salat
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Wiggins
authors.forename: Matthew P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Frosch
authors.forename: Graham C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Wiggins
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Potthast
authors.forename: Lawrence L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Wald
authors.forename: Bruce R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Fischl
mesh_terms: D018728:Entorhinal Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011859:Radiography