Fixel based analysis on diffusion MRI of COVID-19 survivors

The underlying mechanisms of long-term sequelae of the COVID-19 infection, including fatigue, memory issues, and attention deficit, remain to be understood. Therefore, we investigated the Diffusion MRI scans of 73 COVID-Recovered Patients (CRPs) and 46 Healthy Controls (HCs) using Fixel-based analys...

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Main Authors: Sapna S Mishra, Tapan Kumar Gandhi, Bharat Biswal
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:NeuroImage: Reports
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666956025000212
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author Sapna S Mishra
Tapan Kumar Gandhi
Bharat Biswal
author_facet Sapna S Mishra
Tapan Kumar Gandhi
Bharat Biswal
author_sort Sapna S Mishra
collection DOAJ
description The underlying mechanisms of long-term sequelae of the COVID-19 infection, including fatigue, memory issues, and attention deficit, remain to be understood. Therefore, we investigated the Diffusion MRI scans of 73 COVID-Recovered Patients (CRPs) and 46 Healthy Controls (HCs) using Fixel-based analysis to study the sub-voxel microstructural properties of nervous tissue. We compared the Fiber Density (FD), log scaled Fiber Cross-section (log-FC), and a combined fiber density and cross-section measure (FDC) across the cohorts. Our study reveals significant alterations (pFWE <0.01) in the uncinate fasciculus (FD, log-FC, FDC; CRP > HC), perigenual corpus callosum (FD; CRP > HC), fornix (log-FC, FDC; CRP > HC), right arcuate fasciculus (FD; CRP < HC), as well as bilateral clusters in the inferior longitudinal fasciculus (FD; CRP < HC), and the corticospinal tract (FD; CRP < HC). We suggest that these changes may be related to microscopic changes in axonal volume. Notably, the tracts identified in this study highlight the involvement of the limbic system and the visuospatial attention network in the disorder. We expect our findings to improve our understanding of the neurological underpinnings of COVID-19.
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spelling doaj-art-5f4bc8e8e8af4af4a4c00d0029893c312025-08-20T02:01:39ZengElsevierNeuroImage: Reports2666-95602025-06-015210025310.1016/j.ynirp.2025.100253Fixel based analysis on diffusion MRI of COVID-19 survivorsSapna S Mishra0Tapan Kumar Gandhi1Bharat Biswal2Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, IndiaDepartment of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India; Corresponding author.Department of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, USAThe underlying mechanisms of long-term sequelae of the COVID-19 infection, including fatigue, memory issues, and attention deficit, remain to be understood. Therefore, we investigated the Diffusion MRI scans of 73 COVID-Recovered Patients (CRPs) and 46 Healthy Controls (HCs) using Fixel-based analysis to study the sub-voxel microstructural properties of nervous tissue. We compared the Fiber Density (FD), log scaled Fiber Cross-section (log-FC), and a combined fiber density and cross-section measure (FDC) across the cohorts. Our study reveals significant alterations (pFWE <0.01) in the uncinate fasciculus (FD, log-FC, FDC; CRP > HC), perigenual corpus callosum (FD; CRP > HC), fornix (log-FC, FDC; CRP > HC), right arcuate fasciculus (FD; CRP < HC), as well as bilateral clusters in the inferior longitudinal fasciculus (FD; CRP < HC), and the corticospinal tract (FD; CRP < HC). We suggest that these changes may be related to microscopic changes in axonal volume. Notably, the tracts identified in this study highlight the involvement of the limbic system and the visuospatial attention network in the disorder. We expect our findings to improve our understanding of the neurological underpinnings of COVID-19.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666956025000212COVID-19dMRIFiber densityFiber cross-section
spellingShingle Sapna S Mishra
Tapan Kumar Gandhi
Bharat Biswal
Fixel based analysis on diffusion MRI of COVID-19 survivors
NeuroImage: Reports
COVID-19
dMRI
Fiber density
Fiber cross-section
title Fixel based analysis on diffusion MRI of COVID-19 survivors
title_full Fixel based analysis on diffusion MRI of COVID-19 survivors
title_fullStr Fixel based analysis on diffusion MRI of COVID-19 survivors
title_full_unstemmed Fixel based analysis on diffusion MRI of COVID-19 survivors
title_short Fixel based analysis on diffusion MRI of COVID-19 survivors
title_sort fixel based analysis on diffusion mri of covid 19 survivors
topic COVID-19
dMRI
Fiber density
Fiber cross-section
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666956025000212
work_keys_str_mv AT sapnasmishra fixelbasedanalysisondiffusionmriofcovid19survivors
AT tapankumargandhi fixelbasedanalysisondiffusionmriofcovid19survivors
AT bharatbiswal fixelbasedanalysisondiffusionmriofcovid19survivors