White Matter Changes in Bipolar Disorder, Alzheimer Disease, and Mild Cognitive Impairment: New Insights from DTI

Autor: Aikaterini Xekardaki, Panteleimon Giannakopoulos, Sven Haller
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2011
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Aging Research, Vol 2011 (2011)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2090-2212
DOI: 10.4061/2011/286564
Popis: Neuropathological and neuroimaging studies have reported significant changes in white matter in psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), a recently developed technique, enables the detection of microstructural changes in white matter. It is a noninvasive in vivo technique that assesses water molecules' diffusion in brain tissues. The most commonly used parameters are axial and radial diffusivity reflecting diffusion along and perpendicular to the axons, as well as mean diffusivity and fractional anisotropy representing global diffusion. Although the combination of these parameters provides valuable information about the integrity of brain circuits, their physiological meaning still remains controversial. After reviewing the basic principles of DTI, we report on recent contributions that used this technique to explore subtle structural changes in white matter occurring in elderly patients with bipolar disorder and Alzheimer disease.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals