Selective reduction of diffusion anisotropy in white matter of Alzheimer disease brains measured by 3.0 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging

doi:10.1016/S0304-3940(02)00914-X

Neuroscience Letters

Volume 332, Issue 1, 25 October 2002, Pages 45-48

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3940(02)00914-X Get rights and content

Abstract

Alzheimer disease (AD) is pathologically characterized by cortical atrophy. Changes in the white matter and their relation to the pathogenesis of AD remain to be studied. To quantitatively investigate the integrity and organization of white matter fiber tracts in patients with AD, we used diffusion tensor (DT) imaging to study the diffusion anisotropy of white matter regions. DT imaging was performed using a 3.0 Tesla magnetic resonance scanner in ten probable AD patients with no or only mild changes in the white matter in T2 weighted magnetic resonance imagings and ten group-matched controls. The values of fractional anisotropy were significantly lower in the temporal subcortical white matter, posterior part of the corpus callosum, and anterior and posterior cingulate bundles in patients with AD compared with controls. Possible relationships of these selective impairments in the white matter with pathological changes in the poterior cerebral cortices and hippocampus were discussed.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the technical support of Yoshiyuki Kanbara, High Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging Research Institute, Advanced Medical Science Research Center (Iwate Medical University). This study was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Advanced Medical Science Research from the Ministry of Science, Education, Sports and Culture, Japan.

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Citation Excerpt :
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Selective reduction of diffusion anisotropy in white matter of Alzheimer disease brains measured by 3.0 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract

Section snippets

Acknowledgements

J. Magn. Reson., Ser. B

Neurobiol. Aging

Neurosci. Lett.

J. Psychiatr. Res.

J. Neurol. Sci.

The topographical and neuroanatomical distribution of neurofibrillary tangles and neuritic plaques in the cerebral cortex of patients with Alzheimer's disease

Cereb. Cortex

Determinants of anisotropic water diffusion in nerves

Magn. Reson. Med.

Quantification of tissue damage in AD using diffusion tensor and magnetization transfer MRI

Neurology

Diffusion and perfusion MR imaging in cases of Alzheimer's disease: correlations with cortical atrophy and lesion load

Am. J. Neuroradiol.

Neuropathological staging of Alzheimer-related changes