Microstructure & Connectivity Lab 
Publications (Review, Commentary, Consensus)

Authors: Kurt Schilling, Fan Zhang, Claudio Román, Lauren O’Donnell, Pamela Guevara

Journal: Brain Structure and Function (2025)

Summary: This correspondence outlines key insights into the tractography of short association fibers (SAFs), using a “Did You Know” format to highlight current challenges, progress, and future directions. (1) Did you know SAFs form a dense mesh of superficial white matter and differ from long-range tracts in structure, development, and vulnerability? (2) Did you know reconstructing SAFs is difficult due to their short length, high curvature, and proximity to cortex? (3) Did you know recent advances in acquisition, modeling, and segmentation - like deep learning and high-resolution MRI - have made SAF tractography feasible? (4) Did you know there is no standard classification for SAFs, with atlases and clustering strategies still evolving? (5) Did you know SAFs are sensitive to developmental and pathological changes and are implicated in Alzheimer’s, schizophrenia, autism, and MS?

Authors: Ileana O. Jelescu, Francesco Grussu, Andrada Ianus, Brian Hansen, Rachel L. C. Barrett, Manisha Aggarwal, Stijn Michielse, Fatima Nasrallah, Warda Syeda, Nian Wang, Jelle Veraart, Alard Roebroeck, Andrew F. Bagdasarian, Cornelius Eichner, Farshid Sepehrband, Jan Zimmermann, Lucas Soustelle, Christien Bowman, Benjamin C. Tendler, Andreea Hertanu, Ben Jeurissen, Marleen Verhoye, Lucio Frydman, Yohan van de Looij, David Hike, Jeff F. Dunn, Karla Miller, Bennett A. Landman, Noam Shemesh, Adam Anderson, Emilie McKinnon, Shawna Farquharson, Flavio Dell’Acqua, Carlo Pierpaoli, Ivana Drobnjak, Alexander Leemans, Kevin D. Harkins, Maxime Descoteaux, Duan Xu, Hao Huang, Mathieu D. Santin, Samuel C. Grant, Andre Obenaus, Gene S. Kim, Dan Wu, Denis Le Bihan, Stephen J. Blackband, Luisa Ciobanu, Els Fieremans, Ruiliang Bai, Trygve B. Leergaard, Jiangyang Zhang, Tim B. Dyrby, G. Allan Johnson, Julien Cohen-Adad, Matthew D. Budde, Kurt G. Schilling

Journal: Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (2025)

Summary: These three papers from the ISMRM Diffusion Study Group provide best practices and recommendations for preclinical diffusion MRI (dMRI). Part 1 focuses on in vivo small-animal imaging, detailing considerations for species selection, imaging protocols, and analysis to enhance rigor and reproducibility​. Part 2 explores ex vivo imaging, highlighting its advantages—such as higher resolution, improved signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and direct histological comparisons—while addressing challenges in tissue preparation and acquisition​. Part 3 covers ex vivo data processing, discussing preprocessing steps, diffusion model fitting, and comparisons with microscopy and tractography, aiming to improve methodological validation and open science efforts​. Together, these works provide a comprehensive guide to optimizing preclinical dMRI research.