[A diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging for studying white matter changes in patients with mild cognitive impairment.].
OBJECTIVE
To measure the microstructural differences in the brains of participants with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and compare with a control group using a magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) technique with fully automated image analysis tools.


METHODS
A standardized clinical and neuropsychological evaluation was conducted on each subject. 31 participants (15 participants with aMCI, 16 healthy elderly adults) underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based DTI. To control the effects of anatomical variation, the diffusion images of all participants were registered to standard anatomical space. Voxel-by-voxel comparisons showed significant regional reductions in white matter regions of fractional anisotropy (FA) in the participants with aMCI as compared with the controls.


RESULTS
Significantly decreased FA value measurements (P < 0.001) were observed in the right frontal white matter in participants with aMCI. Moreover, there was a statistically significant difference between the patients with aMCI and controls in considering the small regions of bilateral superior frontal gyrus white matter (P < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
White matter damage of frontal lobe may play an important role in histopathologic changes associated with amnestic mild cognitive impairment.
Guan
Jin-Qun
JQ
Department of Nanlou Neurology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China. Email: ln_wang301@sohu.com.
Wang
Lu-Ning
LN
Zhang
Xi
X
Jiang
Tian-Zi
TZ
An
Ning-Yu
NY
Wang
Qi-Feng
QF
Zhang
Jun
J
D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D066127:White Matter