Preliminary study of the stria of Gennari in healthy adults using high-resolution MR phase-difference enhanced imaging

Objective: To assess the delineations of the stria of Gennari in healthy adults using phase-difference enhanced imaging (PADRE) technique and measure the phase values in striate cortex, discussing the feasibility of studying myeloarchitecture of human cortex in vivo using PADRE technique. Methods: High-resolution PADRE raw images covering the occipital lobes were acquired from thirty-six healthy volunteers using a 3.0 T MR system. Padre, tissue enhancement (TE) and vessel enhancement VE) images were reconstructed and the delineations of the stria of Gennari on these images were scored respectively. The phase values of striate cortex were detected and calculated. Wilcoxon tests and paired t tests were used. Results: In all 36 healthy subjects, the stria of Gennari were depicted as hypointense bands parallel to the surface of primary visual cortex in PADRE images. The mean scores were 2.81 ± 0.39, 1.76 ± 0.44 and 1.81 ± 0.39 in Padre, TE and VE images, respectively, which demonstrated significant differences, Padre images were superior to TE images as well as VE images in delineating the stria of Gennari (Z = -13.376, -13.843, P < 0.01). Phase values of the striate cortex in the left and right side were 0.210 ± 0.087, 0.214 ± 0.079 radians respectively, and there was no statistical difference (i = -0.265, P > 0.05). Conclusion: The PADRE technique can identify the stria of Gennari in vivo, which may provide a novel tool for the investigation of myeloarchitecture in different cortical areas to establish correspondence between the anatomical and functional specialization in vivo. (authors)