title: Abnormal integrity of corticocortical tracts in mild cognitive impairment: a diffusion tensor imaging study.
abstract: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) has been defined as a transitional state between normal aging and Alzheimer disease. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) can estimate the microstructural integrity of white matter tracts in MCI. We evaluated the microstructural changes in the white matter of MCI patients with DTI. We recruited 11 patients with MCI who met the working criteria of MCI and 11 elderly normal controls. The mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA) were measured in 26 regions of the brain with the regions of interest (ROIs) method. In the MCI patients, FA values were significantly decreased in the hippocampus, the posterior limb of the internal capsule, the splenium of corpus callosum, and in the superior and inferior longitudinal fasciculus compared to the control group. MD values were significantly increased in the hippocampus, the anterior and posterior limbs of the internal capsules, the splenium of the corpus callosum, the right frontal lobe, and in the superior and the inferior longitudinal fasciculus. Microstructural changes of several corticocortical tracts associated with cognition were identified in patients with MCI. FA and MD values of DTI may be used as novel biomarkers for the evaluation of neurodegenerative disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Dong Won
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Young Min
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Shon
authors.forename: Beum Saeng
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yeong In
authors.initials: YI
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Young Bin
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Kwang Soo
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Yong Soo
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Shim
authors.forename: Bora
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Woojin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kook Jin
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Ahn
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology*; D016880:Anisotropy; D015415:Biomarkers; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000473:pathology*; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000473:pathology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers