The challenge of mapping the human connectome based on diffusion tractography

Klaus H. Maier-Hein (), Peter F. Neher, Jean-Christophe Houde, Marc-Alexandre Côté, Eleftherios Garyfallidis, Jidan Zhong, Maxime Chamberland, Fang-Cheng Yeh, Ying-Chia Lin, Qing Ji, Wilburn E. Reddick, John O. Glass, David Qixiang Chen, Yuanjing Feng, Chengfeng Gao, Ye Wu, Jieyan Ma, Renjie He, Qiang Li, Carl-Fredrik Westin, Samuel Deslauriers-Gauthier, J. Omar Ocegueda González, Michael Paquette, Samuel St-Jean, Gabriel Girard, François Rheault, Jasmeen Sidhu, Chantal M. W. Tax, Fenghua Guo, Hamed Y. Mesri, Szabolcs Dávid, Martijn Froeling, Anneriet M. Heemskerk, Alexander Leemans, Arnaud Boré, Basile Pinsard, Christophe Bedetti, Matthieu Desrosiers, Simona Brambati, Julien Doyon, Alessia Sarica, Roberta Vasta, Antonio Cerasa, Aldo Quattrone, Jason Yeatman, Ali R. Khan, Wes Hodges, Simon Alexander, David Romascano, Muhamed Barakovic, Anna Auría, Oscar Esteban, Alia Lemkaddem, Jean-Philippe Thiran, H. Ertan Cetingul, Benjamin L. Odry, Boris Mailhe, Mariappan S. Nadar, Fabrizio Pizzagalli, Gautam Prasad, Julio E. Villalon-Reina, Justin Galvis, Paul M. Thompson, Francisco De Santiago Requejo, Pedro Luque Laguna, Luis Miguel Lacerda, Rachel Barrett, Flavio Dell’Acqua, Marco Catani, Laurent Petit, Emmanuel Caruyer, Alessandro Daducci, Tim B. Dyrby, Tim Holland-Letz, Claus C. Hilgetag, Bram Stieltjes and Maxime Descoteaux ()
Additional contact information
Klaus H. Maier-Hein: German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)
Peter F. Neher: German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)
Jean-Christophe Houde: Université de Sherbrooke
Marc-Alexandre Côté: Université de Sherbrooke
Eleftherios Garyfallidis: Université de Sherbrooke
Jidan Zhong: University Health Network
Maxime Chamberland: Université de Sherbrooke
Fang-Cheng Yeh: University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Ying-Chia Lin: IMT—Institute for Advanced Studies
Qing Ji: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Wilburn E. Reddick: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
John O. Glass: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
David Qixiang Chen: University of Toronto Institute of Medical Science
Yuanjing Feng: Zhejiang University of Technology
Chengfeng Gao: Zhejiang University of Technology
Ye Wu: Zhejiang University of Technology
Jieyan Ma: United Imaging Healthcare Co.
Renjie He: United Imaging Healthcare Co.
Qiang Li: United Imaging Healthcare Co.
Carl-Fredrik Westin: Harvard Medical School
Samuel Deslauriers-Gauthier: Université de Sherbrooke
J. Omar Ocegueda González: Center for Research in Mathematics
Michael Paquette: Université de Sherbrooke
Samuel St-Jean: Université de Sherbrooke
Gabriel Girard: Université de Sherbrooke
François Rheault: Université de Sherbrooke
Jasmeen Sidhu: Université de Sherbrooke
Chantal M. W. Tax: University Medical Center Utrecht
Fenghua Guo: University Medical Center Utrecht
Hamed Y. Mesri: University Medical Center Utrecht
Szabolcs Dávid: University Medical Center Utrecht
Martijn Froeling: University Medical Center Utrecht
Anneriet M. Heemskerk: University Medical Center Utrecht
Alexander Leemans: University Medical Center Utrecht
Arnaud Boré: Université de Montréal
Basile Pinsard: Université de Montréal
Christophe Bedetti: Université de Montréal
Matthieu Desrosiers: Université de Montréal
Simona Brambati: Université de Montréal
Julien Doyon: Université de Montréal
Alessia Sarica: Policlinico Magna Graecia
Roberta Vasta: Policlinico Magna Graecia
Antonio Cerasa: Policlinico Magna Graecia
Aldo Quattrone: Policlinico Magna Graecia
Jason Yeatman: University of Washington
Ali R. Khan: Western University
Wes Hodges: Synaptive Medical Inc.
Simon Alexander: Synaptive Medical Inc.
David Romascano: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
Muhamed Barakovic: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
Anna Auría: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
Oscar Esteban: ETSI Telecom., U. Politécnica de Madrid and CIBER-BBN
Alia Lemkaddem: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
Jean-Philippe Thiran: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
H. Ertan Cetingul: Siemens Healthcare
Benjamin L. Odry: Siemens Healthcare
Boris Mailhe: Siemens Healthcare
Mariappan S. Nadar: Siemens Healthcare
Fabrizio Pizzagalli: Keck School of Medicine of USC
Gautam Prasad: Keck School of Medicine of USC
Julio E. Villalon-Reina: Keck School of Medicine of USC
Justin Galvis: Keck School of Medicine of USC
Paul M. Thompson: Keck School of Medicine of USC
Francisco De Santiago Requejo: King’s College London
Pedro Luque Laguna: King’s College London
Luis Miguel Lacerda: King’s College London
Rachel Barrett: King’s College London
Flavio Dell’Acqua: King’s College London
Marco Catani: King’s College London
Laurent Petit: UMR5293 CNRS, CEA, University of Bordeaux
Emmanuel Caruyer: Institute for Research in IT and Random Systems (IRISA)
Alessandro Daducci: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
Tim B. Dyrby: Copenhagen University Hospital Hvidovre
Tim Holland-Letz: German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)
Claus C. Hilgetag: University Medical Center Eppendorf
Bram Stieltjes: University Hospital Basel, Radiology & Nuclear Medicine Clinic
Maxime Descoteaux: Université de Sherbrooke

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Tractography based on non-invasive diffusion imaging is central to the study of human brain connectivity. To date, the approach has not been systematically validated in ground truth studies. Based on a simulated human brain data set with ground truth tracts, we organized an open international tractography challenge, which resulted in 96 distinct submissions from 20 research groups. Here, we report the encouraging finding that most state-of-the-art algorithms produce tractograms containing 90% of the ground truth bundles (to at least some extent). However, the same tractograms contain many more invalid than valid bundles, and half of these invalid bundles occur systematically across research groups. Taken together, our results demonstrate and confirm fundamental ambiguities inherent in tract reconstruction based on orientation information alone, which need to be considered when interpreting tractography and connectivity results. Our approach provides a novel framework for estimating reliability of tractography and encourages innovation to address its current limitations.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01285-x

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