Tractography - So promising, So challenging by Prof. Tim Dyrby | Tract Anat Club

Description: Tractography, no need for invasive neuronal tracers. Applied to living human brains using a clinical MRI scanner, we can map axonal connections from where they emanate to their targets, perform connectomics analyses, and correlate them with functional measures. Actually, today we can realize all such analyses - but we are fully aware that they come with specificity challenges. In this IST talk, I will present an overview of today’s tractography challenges: how they appear, how they misalign with basic anatomy, and how some can still be overcome given the right assumptions. Since no tractography method consistently outperforms the others, this suggests that they inherit the same source of limitation: image resolution and path-length dependency? I will introduce the concept of the structural resolution limit, review validation studies, apply the tractography concept to microscopic imaging modalities, and discuss the multi-scale architecture of anatomical pathways. If we solve the problems of resolution and pathway dependency, are we then looking at tractography v2? Bio: Tim B. Dyrby is a Professor at DTU Compute, Technical University of Denmark, and the Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance (DRCMR), Copenhagen University Hospital Amager and Hvidovre. He leads the Preclinical group as well as the Microstructure and Plasticity group (MaP). His research specializes in the development and validation of advanced diffusion MRI and mathematical modelling to non-invasively map brain tissue microstructure, including axonal diameter, myelin, and pathway connectivity, across both preclinical and clinical scales. A key focus of his work is bridging the gap between imaging metrics, histological reality, and functional signalling speed to better understand pathway architecture and neurodegenerative mechanisms in conditions such as multiple sclerosis.