Search results for "Diffusion tensor imaging"
showing 10 items of 34 documents
Comparison of Diffusion MRI Acquisition Protocols for the In Vivo Characterization of the Mouse Spinal Cord: Variability Analysis and Application to …
2016
Diffusion-weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging (dMRI) has relevant applications in the microstructural characterization of the spinal cord, especially in neurodegenerative diseases. Animal models have a pivotal role in the study of such diseases; however, in vivo spinal dMRI of small animals entails additional challenges that require a systematical investigation of acquisition parameters. The purpose of this study is to compare three acquisition protocols and identify the scanning parameters allowing a robust estimation of the main diffusion quantities and a good sensitivity to neurodegeneration in the mouse spinal cord. For all the protocols, the signal-to-noise and contrast-to noise ratios…
Diffusion Tensor Imaging of the Hippocampus in MCI and Early Alzheimer's Disease
2011
The hippocampus is among the first brain structures to be affected by Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. Microstructural alterations within this region have been quantified in vivo using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), a relatively novel MRI-based technique for mapping diffusion properties of water. Existing evidence indicates that DTI-derived mean diffusivity (MD) of the anterior hippocampus is more predictive than ordinary volumetric indices of the degree of episodic memory impairment in patients with early AD. Thus, altered MD of the (anterior) hippocampus might be highly indicative of hippocampal dysfunction, thereby potentially qualifying this measure as a candidate marker for monitor…
Increased cortical curvature reflects white matter atrophy in individual patients with early multiple sclerosis
2014
Objective White matter atrophy occurs independently of lesions in multiple sclerosis. In contrast to lesion detection, the quantitative assessment of white matter atrophy in individual patients has been regarded as a major challenge. We therefore tested the hypothesis that white matter atrophy (WMA) is present at the very beginning of multiple sclerosis (MS) and in virtually each individual patient. To find a new sensitive and robust marker for WMA we investigated the relationship between cortical surface area, white matter volume (WMV), and whole-brain-surface-averaged rectified cortical extrinsic curvature. Based on geometrical considerations we hypothesized that cortical curvature increa…
Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging to Evaluate Microstructural Changes and Outcomes after Radiofrequency Rhizotomy of Trigeminal Nerves in Patients with …
2016
Trigeminal neuralgia is characterized by facial pain that may be sudden, intense, and recurrent. Our aim was to investigate microstructural tissue changes of the trigeminal nerve in patients with trigeminal neuralgia resulting from neurovascular compression by diffusion tensor imaging, and to test the predictive value of diffusion tensor imaging for determining outcomes after radiofrequency rhizotomy. Forty-three patients with trigeminal neuralgia were recruited, and diffusion tensor imaging was performed before radiofrequency rhizotomy. By selecting the cisternal segment of the trigeminal nerve manually, we measured the volume of trigeminal nerve, fractional anisotropy, apparent diffusion …
In vivo definition of parieto-motor connections involved in planning of grasping movements
2010
We combined bifocal transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) tractography to investigate in humans the contribution of connections originating from different parietal areas in planning of different reaching to grasp movements. TMS experiments revealed that in the left hemisphere functional connectivity between the primary motor cortex (M1) and a portion of the angular gyrus (AG) close to the caudal intraparietal sulcus was activated during early preparation of reaching and grasping movements only when the movement was made with a whole hand grasp (WHG) towards objects in contralateral space. In contrast, a different pathway, linking M1 with a part of the su…
Effects of bilingualism on white matter atrophy in mild cognitive impairment: a diffusion tensor imaging study
2020
Background and purpose Previous investigations show that bilinguals exhibit the first symptoms of dementia 4-5 years later than monolinguals. Therefore, bilingualism has been proposed as a cognitive reserve mechanism. Recent studies have advanced towards an understanding of the brain mechanisms underlying bilingualism's protection against dementia, but none of them deals with white matter (WM) diffusion. Methods In this study, the topic was investigated by measuring WM integrity in a sample of 35 bilinguals and 53 passive bilinguals with mild cognitive impairment. Results No significant differences were found between the groups in cognitive level, education, age or sex. However, bilinguals …
Linking Microstructural Integrity and Motor Cortex Excitability in Multiple Sclerosis
2021
Motor skills are frequently impaired in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients following grey and white matter damage with cortical excitability abnormalities. We applied advanced diffusion imaging with 3T magnetic resonance tomography for neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI), as well as diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in 50 MS patients and 49 age-matched healthy controls to quantify microstructural integrity of the motor system. To assess excitability, we determined resting motor thresholds using non-invasive transcranial magnetic stimulation. As measures of cognitive-motor performance, we conducted neuropsychological assessments including the Nine-Hole Peg Test, Trail Makin…
Physical activity, aerobic fitness, and brain white matter : Their role for executive functions in adolescence
2020
Highlights • Aerobic fitness level, but not physical activity, is related to white matter properties in the brain. • The relation between physical activity and working memory is moderated by fractional anisotropy (FA) of the corpus callosum. • The FA of the corpus callosum and superior corona radiata moderates the relation between aerobic fitness and working memory.
Three-dimensional architecture of the whole human soleus muscle in vivo
2018
Background Most data on the architecture of the human soleus muscle have been obtained from cadaveric dissection or two-dimensional ultrasound imaging. We present the first comprehensive, quantitative study on the three-dimensional anatomy of the human soleus muscle in vivo using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) techniques. Methods We report three-dimensional fascicle lengths, pennation angles, fascicle curvatures, physiological cross-sectional areas and volumes in four compartments of the soleus at ankle joint angles of 69 ± 12° (plantarflexion, short muscle length; average ± SD across subjects) and 108 ± 7° (dorsiflexion, long muscle length) of six healthy young adults. Microdissection and…
Correction: Widespread white matter microstructural abnormalities in bipolar disorder: evidence from mega- and meta-analyses across 3033 individuals
2019
Fronto-limbic white matter (WM) abnormalities are assumed to lie at the heart of the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder (BD); however, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies have reported heterogeneous results and it is not clear how the clinical heterogeneity is related to the observed differences. This study aimed to identify WM abnormalities that differentiate patients with BD from healthy controls (HC) in the largest DTI dataset of patients with BD to date, collected via the ENIGMA network. We gathered individual tensor-derived regional metrics from 26 cohorts leading to a sample size of N = 3033 (1482 BD and 1551 HC). Mean fractional anisotropy (FA) from 43 regions of interest (ROI) a…