Diffusion Tensor Imaging of White Matter Change in AD

描述（申请人提供）：AD白质变化的弥散张量成像。此职业发展申请描述了一个整合的研究和培训期，有两个主要目标：(1)通过应用先进的神经成像技术和互补的神经病理学研究，将候选人发展成为阿尔茨海默病（AD）神经病理学研究的强大而独立的研究人员；(2)确定AD中白质（WM）变性对患者临床资料的独特贡献。候选人热衷于继续广告相关的研究，并为该研究项目增加新的培训。近期的培训目标将集中在三个研究领域：(1)应用新的神经影像学数据采集技术来研究神经病理学，(2)AD的神经病理学评估和定量神经病理学技术，以及(3)用于临床研究和多变量数据的先进统计分析程序。该提案的导师/顾问以及Athinoula A. Martinos生物医学成像中心和马萨诸塞州阿尔茨海默病研究中心（MADRC）的培训环境将确保在这三个领域提供一流的指导。候选人希望运用先进的成像方案和阿尔茨海默病的神经病理学基础，开发一个强大的研究计划，旨在充分整合这些不同的领域，以更好地了解阿尔茨海默病的病理生理学。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Diffusion Tensor Imaging of White Matter Change in AD. This Career Development application describes an integrated research and training period with two primary goals: (1) the development of the candidate into a strong and independent researcher in the study of the neuropathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) through the application of advanced neuroimaging techniques and complementary neuropathology studies and (2) to determine the unique contribution of white matter (WM) degeneration in AD to the clinical profile of patients. The candidate is enthusiastic to continue AD-related research and to add new training to this research program. Immediate training goals will focus on three domains of study: (1) the application of novel neuroimaging data acquisition techniques to study neuropathology, (2) neuropathological assessment of AD and quantitative neuropathology techniques, and (3) advanced statistical analysis procedures for clinical research and multivariate data. The Mentors/Advisors on this proposal and the training environment of the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging and the Massachusetts Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (MADRC) will assure superb instruction in the three fields. The candidate expects to apply the foundation in advanced imaging protocols and neuropathology of AD to develop a strong research program aimed at fully integrating these disparate domains to better understand AD pathophysioiogy. The proposed research will integrate novel diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) measures of WM microstructure with advanced methods for measuring morphological properties of gray matter to determine whether WM degeneration differs in AD compared to normal aging, and whether WM degeneration contributes to specific aspects of AD symptomology when controlling for gray matter degeneration. Patients will be recruited through the MADRC. Imaging data will be related to cognitive and clinical measures (including memory and dementia severity). The Specific Aims of this research are to: Aim 1. Identify differences in the patterns of WM degeneration in AD compared to normal aging. Aim 2. Identify the relation between WM degeneration and gray matter degeneration. Aim 3. Identify the unique contribution of WM degeneration to the patient's clinical profile. Thus, the proposed integrated training and research program could lead to novel insights about the unique contribution of WM degeneration to the clinical sequel of AD.