Enhanced Myelin Mapping based on Histology and MRI from the Same Subjects

To infer cellular-level information from MR signals with high sensitivity and specificity is a challenging task. We previously demonstrated the feasibility of mapping myelin in the mouse brain based on multi-contrast MRI using deep learning, but the results were based on limited histological data and MRI data from separate cohorts. In this study, we acquired serial 2-photon and MRI data from the same mice and trained a neural network for mapping myelin. Our results demonstrated enhanced sensitivity and specificity compared to conventional MRI myelin markers, our previous network, and polynomial fitting.