Test-retest and repositioning effects of white matter microstructure measurements in selected white matter tracts

We used intra-class effect decomposition (ICED) to evaluate the reliability of myelin water fraction (MWF) and geometric mean T(2) relaxation time (geomT(2IEW)) estimated from a multi-echo MRI sequence. Our evaluation addressed test-retest reliability, with and without participant re-positioning, for seven commonly assessed white matter tracts: anterior and posterior limbs of the internal capsule, dorsal and ventral branches of the cingulum, the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, the superior longitudinal fasciculus, and the fornix in 20 healthy adults. We acquired two back-to-back scans in a single session, and a third after a break and repositioning the participant in the scanner. For both indices and for all white matter tracts assessed, reliability for an immediate retest, and after the participant’s repositioning in the scanner was high. Variance partitioning revealed that in addition to measurement noise, which was significant in all regions, repositioning contributed to unreliability mainly in longer association fibers. Hemispheric location did not significantly contribute to unreliability in any region of interest (ROI). Thus, despite non-negligible error of measurement, for all ROIs, MWF and geomT(2IEW) have good test–retest reliability, regardless of the hemispheric location and are, therefore, suitable for longitudinal investigations in healthy adults.