Nathalie Boddaert

Head of Department : Pr. Nathalie Boddaert

Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a non-invasive neuroimaging technique that allows to visualize brain anatomy and function in vivo.

For the last 10 years, using a 3 Tesla scanner (General Electric), our team has worked on advanced multimodal neuroimaging sequences at the pediatric radiology department of the Necker-Enfants Malades hospital.

These brain MRI sequences can be used to measure cerebral blood flow at rest with perfusion sequences using arterial spin labeling (ASL), visualize and analyze with high resolution brain anatomical structure and brain changes using structural sequences (3D T1-weighted, T2-weighted, Cube T1, Cube T2, T2 FLAIR), visualize and analyze white matter pathways using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), measure synaptic activity at rest, during a particular task or combined with electroencephalography to localize the brain activity (respectively rsfMRI, task-fMRI or EEG-rsfMRI).

These multimodal imaging sequences allow comparisons between groups or populations, in order to further understand the physiopathology of certain diseases, as well as longitudinal measurements to investigate the evolution of these parameters in a pathological context. Finally, ongoing investigations could help develop brain imaging biomarkers in different disorders.

More information on the page of the associated research team Image@Imagine.