This is done by analyzing the spatial distribution of the degree of polarization of the backscattered light and its variation with the polarization state of the probing beam. In this study, we performed experiments on thick coronal slices of a healthy human brain to explore the possibility of (i) measuring, with a polarimetric microscope the birefringence exhibited by the white matter and (ii) relating the measured birefringence to the fiber orientation and the degree of alignment.

Indeed, highly aligned anisotropic fibers exhibit higher birefringence than structures with weaker alignment and anisotropy, such as cancerous tissue. The birefringence exhibited by such aligned fibrous tissue is known to be extremely sensitive to small pathological alterations. The nerve fiber bundles constitutive of the white matter in the brain are organized in such a way that they exhibit a certain degree of structural anisotropy and birefringence.

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Human brain mapping editor and chief