Brain function has long been the realm of philosophy, psychology and psychiatry and since the mid 1800s, of histopathology. Through the advent of magnetic imaging in the end of the last century, an in vivo visualization of the human brain became available. This thesis describes the development of two unique techniques, imaging of diffusion of water protons and manganese enhanced imaging, that both allow for the depiction of white matter tracts. The reported studies show, that these techniques can be used for a three-dimensional depiction of fiber bundles and that quantitative measures reflecting fiber integrity and neuronal function can be extracted from such data. In clinical applications, the potential use of the developed methods is illustrated in human gliomas, as measure for fiber infiltration, and in spinal cord injury, to monitor potential neuroprotective and __regenerative medication.UBL - phd migration 201
