title: Correlating quantitative tractography at 3T MRI and cognitive tests in healthy older adults.
abstract: This study used diffusion tensor imaging tractography at 3 T MRI to relate cognitive function to white matter tracts in the brain. Brain T2 fluid attenuated inversion recovery-weighted and diffusion tensor 3 T MRI scans were acquired in thirty-three healthy participants without mild cognitive impairment or dementia. They completed a battery of neuropsychological tests including the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Stroop test, Trail Making Test B, Wechsler Memory Scale-III Longest span forward, Wechsler Memory Scale-III Longest span backward, Mattis Dementia Rating Scale, California Verbal Learning Test Version II Long Delay Free Recall, and Letter Number Sequencing. Tractography was generated by the Fiber Assignment by Continuous Tracking method. The corpus callosum, cingulum, long association fibers, corticospinal/bulbar tracts, thalamic projection fibers, superior cerebellar peduncle, middle cerebellar peduncle and inferior cerebellar peduncle were manually segmented. The fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) of these tracts were quantified. We studied the association between cognitive test scores and the MD and FA of tracts while controlling for age and total white matter hyperintensities volume. Worse scores on the Stroop test was associated with decreased FA of the corpus callosum, corticospinal/bulbar tract, and thalamic projection tracts. Scores on the other cognitive tests were not associated with either the FA or MD of measured tracts. In healthy persons the Stroop test appears to be a better predictor of the microstructural integrity of white matter tracts measured by DTI tractography than other cognitive tests.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, University of Toronto, 4th floor, 263 McCaul St, Toronto, ON, M5T 1W7, Canada. wreginold@qmed.ca.|Memory Clinics, Division of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada. wreginold@qmed.ca.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Reginold
authors.affiliation: Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Justine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Itorralba
authors.affiliation: Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tam
authors.affiliation: Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Angela C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Luedke
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Fisiologia, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Distrito Federal, CP, 04510, Mexico.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fernandez-Ruiz
authors.affiliation: Life Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Reginold
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Kingston General Hospital, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Omar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Islam
authors.affiliation: Memory Clinics, Division of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.|Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Angeles
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Garcia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003071:Cognition; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012044:Regression Analysis; D066127:White Matter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging
keywords: Cognitive tests; Diffusion tensor imaging; Tractography