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Nigrosome; Neuromelanin; Ferritin; Ion beam microscopy
Abstract:
Pathological iron accumulation in the human brain is a biomarker for neurodegeneration. Several diagnostically promising MR-
based methods for in vivo iron quantification were proposed, based on the empirical relationship between R 2 * and iron
concentration. However, these do not account for different chemical forms and cellular distribution of iron. We combined post
mortem MRI, advanced quantitative histology and biophysical modeling to develop a generative theory linking obtained iron
concentrations to quantitative MR parameters. The impact of nanoscale molecular interaction of water with iron and of iron-rich
dopaminergic neurons was quantified in substantia nigra.