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的器官，这意味着它具有终身的能力，可以通过训练来改变其结构和功能，以学习新的任务，并对受伤和生活方式（例如饮食或运动）等生理变化做出反应。例如，磁共振成像（MRI）显示，学习杂耍等运动任务会导致大脑结构和功能的变化。但是，虽然我们知道大脑会发生变化，但这些变化的程度，它们的生物学性质，这些变化是否能长期维持，以及它们是否能被用于疾病康复，这些都是持续争论的主题。这是因为大脑的可塑性涉及多种细微的结构、血管和代谢变化。众所周知，这些变化很难用单一的MRI技术和小样本量来研究。

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.