Selective iron deposition in the substantia nigra (SN) along with the gradual loss of neuromelanin cell (NMC) is known to be associated with neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease. Postmortem 40-year-old male and 70-year-old female SN tissues were scanned at various spatial resolutions with 7T MRI. The association of T2* and QSM-derived susceptibility values with quantitative NMC and iron from Perl's Prussian blue staining were investigated with precise co-registration of MRI and histology. We identified that T2* and susceptibility values for NMC and iron regions, which were segmented from histology were significantly different from corresponding values of background tissue area.
Publisher
International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine