Year: 2014
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Brain atrophy in subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) introduces partial volume effects, limiting the sensitivity of diffusion tensor imaging to white matter microstructural degeneration. Appropriate correction isolates microstructural effects in MCI that might be precursors of Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS: Forty-eight participants (18 MCI, 15 AD, and 15 healthy controls) had magnetic resonance imaging scans and clinical evaluations at baseline and follow-up after 36 months. Ten MCI subjects were diagnosed with AD at follow-up and eight remained MCI. Free-water (FW) corrected measures on the white matter skeleton were compared between groups. RESULTS: FW corrected radial diffusivity, but not uncorrected radial diffusivity, was increased across the brain of the converted group compared with the nonconverted group (P < .05). The extent of increases was similar to that found comparing AD with controls. CONCLUSION: Partial volume elimination reveals microstructural alterations preceding dementia. These alterations may prove to be an effective and feasible early biomarker of AD.
Source: Alzheimer s & Dementia
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funders: Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Center for Research Resources
OpenAlex ID: W2051633555