Regional specificity of MRI contrast parameter changes in normal ageing revealed by voxel-based quantification (VBQ)

Autor: John Ashburner, Richard S. Frackowiak, Nikolaus Weiskopf, Gunther Helms, Bogdan Draganski, Chloe Hutton, Ferat Kherif
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2011
Předmět:
Male
Aging
R2
computer.software_genre
Nerve Fibers
Myelinated
030218 nuclear medicine & medical imaging
0302 clinical medicine
Voxel
Mean diffusivity
Aged
80 and over
Neurons
Brain
Middle Aged
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
medicine.anatomical_structure
Neurology
DTI
Voxel-based quantification
Female
Adult
Adolescent
Cognitive Neuroscience
Grey matter
Biology
Sensitivity and Specificity
Article
White matter
03 medical and health sciences
Young Adult
Imaging
Three-Dimensional
Neuroimaging
Fractional anisotropy
Image Interpretation
Computer-Assisted
medicine
Humans
Voxel-based morphometry
Voxel-based quantification
Magnetization transfer
Mean diffusivity
Fractional anisotropy
DTI
R1
R2*
Age-related-changes
White-matter hyperintensities
Normal human brain
Magnetization-transfer
Unified segmentation
Spatial statistics
Image registration
Water contents
Nerve-fibers
Iron content
Magnetization transfer
Aged
Reproducibility of Results
Voxel-based morphometry
R1
Image Enhancement
Hyperintensity
computer
Neuroscience
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Diffusion MRI
Zdroj: NeuroImage, 55 (4) 1423-1434. (2011)
Neuroimage, vol. 55, no. 4, pp. 1423-1434
Neuroimage
NeuroImage
Europe PubMed Central
Popis: Normal ageing is associated with characteristic changes in brain microstructure. Although in vivo neuroimaging captures spatial and temporal patterns of age-related changes of anatomy at the macroscopic scale, our knowledge of the underlying (patho)physiological processes at cellular and molecular levels is still limited. The aim of this study is to explore brain tissue properties in normal ageing using quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) alongside conventional morphological assessment. Using a whole-brain approach in a cohort of 26 adults, aged 18–85 years, we performed voxel-based morphometric (VBM) analysis and voxel-based quantification (VBQ) of diffusion tensor, magnetization transfer (MT), R1, and R2* relaxation parameters. We found age-related reductions in cortical and subcortical grey matter volume paralleled by changes in fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), MT and R2*. The latter were regionally specific depending on their differential sensitivity to microscopic tissue properties. VBQ of white matter revealed distinct anatomical patterns of age-related change in microstructure. Widespread and profound reduction in MT contrasted with local FA decreases paralleled by MD increases. R1 reductions and R2* increases were observed to a smaller extent in overlapping occipito-parietal white matter regions. We interpret our findings, based on current biophysical models, as a fingerprint of age-dependent brain atrophy and underlying microstructural changes in myelin, iron deposits and water. The VBQ approach we present allows for systematic unbiased exploration of the interaction between imaging parameters and extends current methods for detection of neurodegenerative processes in the brain. The demonstrated parameter-specific distribution patterns offer insights into age-related brain structure changes in vivo and provide essential baseline data for studying disease against a background of healthy ageing.
Research highlights ►High-resolution FLASH-based parameter mapping is suitable for clinical purposes. ►Patterns of age-dependent parameter changes reflect specificity to tissue properties. ►Combining VBM and VBQ offers complementary information about brain architecture.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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