Characterization of auditory, olfactory and sensory pathway functions by anisotropic diffusion using nuclear magnetic resonance imaging

One of the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging techniques is diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), which measures the rate of diffusion of extracellular water molecules found in tissues. The molecular diffusion can be obtained in the form of maps of the diffusion coefficients of the water in the tissues, as well as the brain in a non-invasive way with the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). By using one of the advanced techniques magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), such as Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) it is possible to obtain three-dimensional images of the neural connections of the white matter in the human brain; giving rise to new applications for neuroscience and to identify different brain disorders, such as degenerative diseases, schizophrenia, autism, etc. The diffusion by magnetic resonance image has been proposed as an approximation to obtain images of brain functions.