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In vivo observation and biophysical interpretation of time-dependent diffusion in human cortical gray matter

The dependence of the diffusion MRI signal on the diffusion time $t$ is a hallmark of tissue microstructure at the scale of the diffusion length. Here we measure the time-dependence of the mean diffusivity $D(t)$ and mean kurtosis $K(t)$ in cortical gray matter and in 25 gray matter sub-regions, in 10 healthy subjects. Significant diffusivity and kurtosis time-dependence is observed for $t=21.2$-100 ms, and is characterized by a power-law tail $\sim t^{-\vartheta}$ with dynamical exponent $\vartheta$. To interpret our measurements, we systematize the relevant scenarios and mechanisms for diffusion time-dependence in the brain. Using effective medium theory formalisms, we derive an exact relation between the power-law tails in $D(t)$ and $K(t)$. The estimated power-law dynamical exponent $\vartheta\simeq1/2$ in both $D(t)$ and $K(t)$ is consistent with one-dimensional diffusion in the presence of randomly positioned restrictions along neurites. We analyze the short-range disordered statistics of synapses on axon collaterals in the cortex, and perform one-dimensional Monte Carlo simulations of diffusion restricted by permeable barriers with a similar randomness in their placement, to confirm the $\vartheta=1/2$ exponent. In contrast, the Kärger model of exchange is less consistent with the data since it does not capture the diffusivity time-dependence, and the estimated exchange time from $K(t)$ falls below our measured $t$-range. Although we cannot exclude exchange as a contributing factor, we argue that structural disorder along neurites is mainly responsible for the observed time-dependence of diffusivity and kurtosis. Our observation and theoretical interpretation of the $t^{-1/2}$ tail in $D(t)$ and $K(t)$ alltogether establish the sensitivity of a macroscopic MRI signal to micrometer-scale structural heterogeneities along neurites in human gray matter in vivo.