High Angular Resolution Diffusion Imaging Probabilistic Tractography of the Auditory Radiation

Q-ball reconstructions of the HARDI data are shown for each voxel on an axial section. HARDI fiber tracks (red streamlines) course from the AC to the thalamus. The ILF (green fiber peaks and orientation indicated with arrow) intersects the auditory radiation.

HARDI fiber tracks (red) and DTI fiber tracks (blue) are visualized in the left and right hemispheres. DTI fiber tracks are from the 64-direction dataset. The left hemisphere is on the left side of the figure. Both HARDI and DTI fiber tracks were launched from the same starting regions in the Heschl gyrus. The HARDI fiber tracks reaching the thalamic target regions are retained. For this figure, all DTI fiber tracks are retained regardless of destination. The DTI fiber tracks emerge from the Heschl gyrus and follow the ILF in either the anterior or posterior direction. No DTI fiber tracks cross the ILF to reach the thalamus in the right hemisphere.

HARDI and DTI fiber tracks connecting the AC to the thalamic target region are shown in a case where both methods were successful in each hemisphere. The number of fiber trajectories passing through each voxel is encoded with the overlay color. The yellow voxels have the highest probability of being within the auditory radiation.