Daugherty Ana M, Carr Valerie, Canada Kelsey L, Rådman Gustaf, Brown Thackery, Augustinack Jean, Amunts Katrin, Bakker Arnold, Berron David, Burggren Alison, Chetelat Gael, de Flores Robin, Ding Song-Lin, Huang Yushan, Insausti Ricardo, Johnson Elliott, Kanel Prabesh, Keresztes Attila, Kedo Olga, Kennedy Kristen M, Lee Joshua, Malykhin Nikolai, Martinez Anjelica, Mueller Susanne, Mulligan Elizabeth, Ofen Noa, Palombo Daniela, Pasquini Lorenzo, Pluta John, Raz Naftali, Riggins Tracy, Rodrigue Karen M, Saifullah Samaah, Schlichting Margaret L, Stark Craig, Wang Lei, Yushkevich Paul, La Joie Renaud, Wisse Laura, Olsen Rosanna
Wayne State University.
San Jose State University.
bioRxiv. 2025 May 4:2025.04.29.651039. doi: 10.1101/2025.04.29.651039.
Hippocampal subfields differentially develop and age, and they vary in vulnerability to neurodegenerative diseases. Innovation in high-resolution imaging has accelerated clinical research on human hippocampal subfields, but substantial differences in segmentation protocols impede comparisons of results across laboratories. The Hippocampal Subfields Group (HSG) is an international organization seeking to address this issue by developing a histologically-valid, reliable, and freely available segmentation protocol for high-resolution T-weighted 3 tesla MRI (http://www.hippocampalsubfields.com). Here, we report the first portion of the protocol focused on subfields in the hippocampal body; protocols for the head and tail are in development. The body protocol includes definitions of the internal boundaries between subiculum, Cornu Ammonis (CA) 1-3 subfields, and dentate gyrus, in addition to the external boundaries of the hippocampus apart from surrounding white matter and cerebrospinal fluid. The segmentation protocol is based on a novel histological reference data set labeled by multiple expert neuroanatomists. With broad participation of the research community, we voted on the segmentation protocol via online survey, which included detailed protocol information, feasibility testing, demonstration videos, example segmentations, and labeled histology. All boundary definitions were rated as having high clarity and reached consensus agreement by Delphi procedure. The harmonized body protocol yielded high inter- and intra-rater reliability. In the present paper we report the procedures to develop and test the protocol, as well as the detailed procedures for manual segmentation using the harmonized protocol. The harmonized protocol will significantly facilitate cross-study comparisons and provide increased insight into the structure and function of hippocampal subfields across the lifespan and in neurodegenerative diseases.
海马亚区的发育和老化存在差异，并且它们对神经退行性疾病的易感性也各不相同。高分辨率成像技术的创新加速了人类海马亚区的临床研究，但分割协议的显著差异阻碍了不同实验室之间结果的比较。海马亚区研究小组（HSG）是一个国际组织，旨在通过为高分辨率T加权3特斯拉磁共振成像（http://www.hippocampalsubfields.com）开发一种组织学上有效、可靠且免费可用的分割协议来解决这一问题。在此，我们报告该协议的第一部分，重点关注海马体中的亚区；海马头部和尾部的协议正在制定中。海马体协议除了定义海马体与周围白质和脑脊液之外的外部边界外，还包括下托、海马角（CA）1 - 3亚区和齿状回之间的内部边界定义。该分割协议基于一个由多位神经解剖学专家标记的新型组织学参考数据集。在研究界的广泛参与下，我们通过在线调查对分割协议进行了投票，调查内容包括详细的协议信息、可行性测试、演示视频、示例分割和标记组织学。所有边界定义的清晰度都被评为高，并通过德尔菲程序达成了共识。统一的海马体协议产生了较高的评分者间和评分者内可靠性。在本文中，我们报告了开发和测试该协议的程序，以及使用统一协议进行手动分割的详细程序。统一协议将显著促进跨研究比较，并为整个生命周期以及神经退行性疾病中海马亚区的结构和功能提供更多见解。
