title: Subcortical White Matter Changes with Normal Aging Detected by Multi-Shot High Resolution Diffusion Tensor Imaging.
abstract: Subcortical white matter builds neural connections between cortical and subcortical regions and constitutes the basis of neural networks. It plays a very important role in normal brain function. Various studies have shown that white matter deteriorates with aging. However, due to the limited spatial resolution provided by traditional diffusion imaging techniques, microstructural information from subcortical white matter with normal aging has not been comprehensively assessed. This study aims to investigate the deterioration effect with aging in the subcortical white matter and provide a baseline standard for pathological disorder diagnosis. We apply our newly developed multi-shot high resolution diffusion tensor imaging, using self-feeding multiplexed sensitivity-encoding, to measure subcortical white matter changes in regions of interest of healthy persons with a wide age range. Results show significant fractional anisotropy decline and radial diffusivity increasing with age, especially in the anterior part of the brain. We also find that subcortical white matter has more prominent changes than white matter close to the central brain. The observed changes in the subcortical white matter may be indicative of a mild demyelination and a loss of myelinated axons, which may contribute to normal age-related functional decline.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Sheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Center for Biomedical Imaging Research, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Feiyan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Center for Biomedical Imaging Research, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yishi
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9677-5112
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhenxia
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: GE Healthcare China, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhenyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Center for Biomedical Imaging Research, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Guo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology*; D016880:Anisotropy; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology*; D004058:Diffusion; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012044:Regression Analysis; D066127:White Matter / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult