A new dimension of brain imaging Novel MRI techniques for revealing hidden markers of brain health
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has transformed our understanding of the brain by enabling increasingly detailed assessment of anatomy and function. Yet some of the information contained within an MRI acquisition remains hidden, waiting to be revealed through innovative approaches to image acquisition, processing and analysis. As advances in computing and artificial intelligence continue to reshape medical imaging, there is growing opportunity to extract previously inaccessible biomarkers that may improve our understanding of brain health and disease.
This seminar will explore two emerging MRI techniques that reveal hidden dimensions of brain biology. The first, amplified MRI (aMRI), enables visualisation of the brain’s microscopic pulsatile motion, providing a unique window into brain biomechanics. Drawing on work from a Stanford–Mātai collaboration, including a recent study led by Dr Itamar Terem, the seminar will discuss how subtle changes in brain motion are beginning to provide new insights into healthy aging and dementia, before exploring their broader application to disorders of intracranial pressure through Mātai–University of Auckland research.
The second technique, Ultra-High Contrast MRI (UHC-MRI), developed through long-standing teamwork led by Mātai researchers Professor Graeme Bydder and Dr Mark Bydder, enhances subtle tissue contrast that is largely invisible on conventional MRI. By revealing tissue characteristics that are otherwise difficult to detect, UHC-MRI offers exciting opportunities to improve the detection and characterisation of neurological disorders, including multiple sclerosis and other neurodegenerative diseases.
Together, these emerging approaches illustrate how innovation in MRI is continuing to uncover previously invisible aspects of brain physiology, bringing us closer to earlier diagnosis, improved disease monitoring, and a deeper understanding of the living brain.
