Multi-parametric vascular and metabolic MRI for the study of cerebral plasticity

众所周知，大脑是一个高度可塑性的器官，这意味着它具有终身改变结构和功能的能力，在接受训练以学习新任务后，并对损伤和生活方式(如饮食或运动)等生理变化做出反应。例如，磁共振成像(MRI)表明，学习杂耍等运动任务可以导致大脑结构和功能的变化。但是，尽管我们知道大脑会发生变化，但这些变化的程度、生物学性质、这些变化是否会长期保持以及是否可以利用它们来恢复疾病，都是正在进行的辩论的主题。这是因为大脑的可塑性涉及多个微妙的结构、血管和代谢变化。众所周知，使用单一的MRI技术和小样本量在人类身上研究这些变化是非常困难的。

The brain is known to be a highly plastic organ, meaning that it has the lifelong ability to alter its structure and function following training to learn a new task and in response to physiological changes such as injury and lifestyle (e.g. diet or exercise). For example, it has been shown using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that learning a motor task such as juggling can lead to changes in brain structure and function. But while we know that the brain changes, the extent of these changes, their biological nature, whether these changes are maintained in the long term and whether they can be harnessed for disease recovery are all the subject of ongoing debate. This is because brain plasticity involves multiple subtle structural, vascular and metabolic changes. These changes are notoriously difficult to study in humans using single MRI techniques and small sample sizes.