Diffusion tensor imaging in Alzheimer's disease: insights into the limbic-diencephalic network and methodological considerations.
Diffusion tensor imaging in Alzheimer's disease: insights into the limbic-diencephalic network and methodological considerations.
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DOI：
10.3389/fnagi.2014.00266
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发表时间：
2014
影响因子：
4.8
通讯作者：
Nestor PJ
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Acosta-Cabronero J;Nestor PJ
葡萄糖代谢不足和灰质萎缩是阿尔茨海默病(AD)众所周知的后果。使用这些方法的研究表明，在记忆障碍是一个相对孤立的特征的临床早期，与明显偏远的一组区域的退化有关-内侧颞叶(MTL)、间脑结构，如前丘脑和乳头体，以及后扣带核。这些部位被认为通过边缘-间脑网络在解剖学上紧密相连。扩散张量成像或DTI-一种能够探测脑白质组织微结构的成像技术-最近通过一种被称为基于区域的空间统计(TBSS)的无偏分析策略证实了AD患者边缘-间脑网络的白质连接的退化。本综述分析了这些发现的相关性，其中穹隆很可能在连接MTL和间脑方面发挥重要作用。这项工作的一个有趣的副产品是表明AD患者扩散行为的变化是复杂的-虽然早期的研究倾向于关注分数各向异性，但最近的工作强调了这一指标对早期变化不是最敏感的。最后，这篇综述将详细讨论DTI在图像获取和TBSS分析方面的几个技术方面，因为这两个因素都具有重要的意义，以确保做出可靠的观察，从而了解神经退行性疾病。
Glucose hypometabolism and gray matter atrophy are well known consequences of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Studies using these measures have shown that the earliest clinical stages, in which memory impairment is a relatively isolated feature, are associated with degeneration in an apparently remote group of areas—mesial temporal lobe (MTL), diencephalic structures such as anterior thalamus and mammillary bodies, and posterior cingulate. These sites are thought to be strongly anatomically inter-connected via a limbic-diencephalic network. Diffusion tensor imaging or DTI—an imaging technique capable of probing white matter tissue microstructure—has recently confirmed degeneration of the white matter connections of the limbic-diencephalic network in AD by way of an unbiased analysis strategy known as tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS). The present review contextualizes the relevance of these findings, in which the fornix is likely to play a fundamental role in linking MTL and diencephalon. An interesting by-product of this work has been in showing that alterations in diffusion behavior are complex in AD—while early studies tended to focus on fractional anisotropy, recent work has highlighted that this measure is not the most sensitive to early changes. Finally, this review will discuss in detail several technical aspects of DTI both in terms of image acquisition and TBSS analysis as both of these factors have important implications to ensure reliable observations are made that inform understanding of neurodegenerative diseases.