Peking University - Juntendo University Joint Symposium on Brain and Skin Diseases: Advances of Diffusional MR Imaging of the Brain

Diffusional magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) provides indispensable clinical information and is routinely performed in most of all brain MRI study. The dMRI can also uniquely visualize the white matter tracts and is recently highlighted to explore structural connectivity of the brain. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and diffusion tensor tractography are representatives of dMRI. Quantitative analysis of DTI and more sophisticated application of advanced diffusion MRI newly revealed diseas-specific subtle abnormalities in corresponding areas of the brain in many neurological/psychiatric disorders. The dMRI is a promising technique to visualize new aspect of the brain, which no one has never seen before.