White matter integrity changes in healthy aging - a longitudinal multimodal magnetic resonans imaging study
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1
University of Bergen, Norway
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2
Haukeland University Hospital, Norway
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3
Bergen Center for Computational Science, Uni Research Bergen, Norway
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4
Kavli Research center of aging and demetia, Haraldsplass Diaconess Hospital, Norway
Normal aging has been associated with changes in brain morphometry and loss of white matter (WM) integrity. Previous cross-sectional studies demonstrate that such changes may follow an “anterior-posterior gradient” distribution of FA decline with age. In this longitudinal study, including 77 healthy elderly subjects (49 – 80 yrs), multimodal magnetic resonance (MR) imaging data (3D T1-weighted, Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)) were collected, twice, three years apart. DTI was used to examine age-related changes in WM fiber tracts. Based on frontal- and WM integrity hypotheses of cognitive aging, frontally related fibers such as anterior thalamic radiation (ATR), anterior callosal fiber and cingulum are investigated and compared with the corticospinal tract (CST). The 3D T1-weighted images were cortically reconstructed and volumetric segmentation was performed using Freesurfer. Diffusion Toolkit and TrackVis was used to calculate tract-based fractional anisotropy (FA) as one marker of WM integrity. Longitudinal changes between the two waves were explored using paired t-tests. Preliminary results support the assumption that WM integrity decline is more pronounced in fibers related to the anterior regions of the brain compared to the projection fiber, CST. These results indicate that age-related change in WM structure can be detected after a relative short follow-up period of three years. Further work will explore FA values along segments of the fiber tracts in order to better clarify the pattern of change. The contribution from this longitudinal, multimodal study may reveal biomarkers that could improve the understanding of aging processes and how to distinguish healthy individuals from those with impending disease.
Keywords:
Aging,
DTI
Conference:
XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI), Palma, Mallorca, Spain, 25 Sep - 29 Sep, 2011.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
Poster Sessions: Cognitive Aging
Citation:
Vik
A,
Haász
J,
Hodneland
E,
Anderlik
C,
Ystad
M,
Lundervold
AJ and
Lundervold
A
(2011). White matter integrity changes in healthy aging - a longitudinal multimodal magnetic resonans imaging study.
Conference Abstract:
XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI).
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2011.207.00606
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Received:
15 Nov 2011;
Published Online:
28 Nov 2011.
*
Correspondence:
Dr. Alexandra Vik, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway, alexandra.vik@psybb.uib.no