Quantitative Assessment of Hemispheric Asymmetry in Alzheimer's Disease and Healthy Brains via QSM-Derived Biomarkers: A Proof of Concept Study

Abstract

Studying brain lateralization and the resulting hemispheric asymmetry has been a topic of interest for many researchers. Very few studies have focused on differences in brain lateralization and hemispheric asymmetry associated with neurodegeneration. Additionally, Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping (QSM) has not been extensively used to investigate these differences. This article aims to study differences in hemispheric asymmetry between healthy and Alzheimer's disease (AD)-affected brains by calculating the Myelin Hemispheric Ratio (MHR) and Oxygen Extraction Fraction Hemispheric Ratio (OEFHR) between the two hemispheres using QSM as an intermediate marker of neurodegeneration. The estimations and corresponding results show marginal yet promising differences between healthy subjects and AD patients. These encouraging initial results emphasize the need to further investigate structural brain asymmetry and its alteration as a potential marker of AD-related neurodegeneration.