Non-invasive prediction of conduction velocities in the human brain from MRI-derived microstructure features at 7 Tesla
The conduction velocity of neuronal signals along axons is a key neurophysiological property that can be altered in various disease processes. While cortico-cortical evoked potentials (CCEPs) can be measured in presurgical assessment to provide information about conduction delay between a subset of brain regions, it is currently not possible to efficiently and systematically estimate conduction velocity in vivo across the whole brain. Given the established link between conduction velocity and axon morphology (most notably axon diameter but also myelination), mapping a reliable and quantitative metric linked to axon properties could fill the gap of inferring conduction velocity across the entire human brain. By integrating multiple MRI-derived microstructural measures – including axon radius, axonal water fraction, extra-axonal perpendicular diffusivity, and longitudinal relaxation time – and conduction velocity estimates obtained from a large database of CCEPs, we developed a whole-brain prediction model of conduction velocity. Our multivariate MRI-based model explained 29% of variance in neurophysiological conduction velocity, making it possible to partially predict whole-brain conduction velocity and delay matrices along connections for which no direct measurement is commonly available from epilepsy surgery investigations. This integrative MRI-based approach could provide a non-invasive framework for comprehensively characterising conduction delays in vivo across the human brain white matter.
University of Lausanne
University of Lausanne
University of Lausanne
Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes
University Hospital of Lausanne
University of Lausanne
University of Geneva
University of Geneva
University of Lausanne
2025-10-29
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
EPFL
| Funder | Funding(s) | Grant Number | Grant URL |
Swiss National Science Foundation | 209470, 94260 | ||
Swiss Secretariat for Research and Innovation | MB22.00032 | ||
FP7 Ideas: European Research Council | 616268 | ||
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