High spatial and angular resolution diffusion-weighted imaging reveals forniceal damage related to memory impairment

Koenig, Katherine A.; Sakaie, Kenneth Earl; Lowe, Mark J.; Lin, Jian; Stone, Lael A.; Bermel, Robert; Beall, Erik B.; Rao, Stephen M.; Trapp, Bruce D.; Phillips, Micheal D.

doi:10.1016/j.mri.2012.10.030

Cited by 15 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The genu connects medial and lateral surfaces of the frontal lobes while the fornix provides hippocampal and parahippocampal output to the mammillary bodies (Aggleton et al, 2005; Vann and Aggleton, 2004); it is the largest efferent pathway from the hippocampus (Koenig et al, 2013). The fornix has been specifically associated with episodic memory; this white matter tract connects the hippocampal formation to prefrontal cortex (Metzler-Baddeley et al, 2011; Thomas et al, 2011), indirectly (Poletti and Creswell, 1977).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of a normal control group: Are they healthy?

Aine¹,

Sanfratello²,

Adair³

et al. 2014

NeuroImage

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We examined the health of a control group (18–81 years) in our aging study, which is similar to control groups used in other neuroimaging studies. The current study was motivated by our previous results showing that one third of the elder control group had moderate to severe white matter hyperintensities and/or cortical volume loss which correlated with poor performance on memory tasks. Therefore, we predicted that cardiovascular risk factors (e.g., hypertension, high cholesterol) within the control group would account for significant variance on working memory task performance. Fifty-five participants completed 4 verbal and spatial working memory tasks, neuropsychological exams, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and blood tests to assess vascular risk. In addition to using a repeated measures ANOVA design, a cluster analysis was applied to the vascular risk measures as a data reduction step to characterize relationships between conjoint risk factors. The cluster groupings were used to predict working memory performance. The results show that higher levels of systolic blood pressure were associated with: 1) poor spatial working memory accuracy; and 2) lower fractional anisotropy (FA) values in multiple brain regions. In contrast, higher levels of total cholesterol corresponded with increased accuracy in verbal working memory. An association between lower FA values and higher cholesterol levels were identified in different brain regions from those associated with systolic blood pressure. The conjoint risk analysis revealed that Risk Cluster Group 3 (the group with the greatest number of risk factors) displayed: 1) the poorest performance on the spatial working memory tasks; 2) the longest reaction times across both spatial and verbal memory tasks; and 3) the lowest FA values across widespread brain regions. Our results confirm that a considerable range of vascular risk factors are present in a typical control group, even in younger individuals, which have robust effects on brain anatomy and function. These results present a new challenge to neuroimaging studies both for defining a cohort from which to characterize `normative' brain circuitry and for establishing a control group to compare with other clinical populations.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of a normal control group: Are they healthy?

Aine¹,

Sanfratello²,

Adair³

et al. 2014

NeuroImage

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The technology of DTI and related techniques, such as q-ball imaging and high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) continues to evolve, providing improved resolution of the orientation of white matter pathways (Tuch et al, 2003; Koenig et al, 2013; Nagy et al, 2013; Zhan et al, 2013). The majority of the research to date, however, addressing the relation of white matter integrity to age-related differences in cognition, has used conventional DTI and fiber tractography.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disconnected aging: Cerebral white matter integrity and age-related differences in cognition

2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cognition arises as a result of coordinated processing among distributed brain regions and disruptions to communication within these neural networks can result in cognitive dysfunction. Cortical disconnection may thus contribute to the declines in some aspects of cognitive functioning observed in healthy aging. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is ideally suited for the study of cortical disconnection as it provides indices of structural integrity within interconnected neural networks. The current review summarizes results of previous DTI aging research with the aim of identifying consistent patterns of age-related differences in white matter integrity, and of relationships between measures of white matter integrity and behavioral performance as a function of adult age. We outline a number of future directions that will broaden our current understanding of these brain-behavior relationships in aging. Specifically, future research should aim to (1) investigate multiple models of age-brain-behavior relationships; (2) determine the tract-specificity versus global effect of aging on white matter integrity; (3) assess the relative contribution of normal variation in white matter integrity versus white matter lesions to age-related differences in cognition; (4) improve the definition of specific aspects of cognitive functioning related to age-related differences in white matter integrity using information processing tasks; and (5) combine multiple imaging modalities (e.g., resting-state and task-related functional magnetic resonance imaging; fMRI) with DTI to clarify the role of cerebral white matter integrity in cognitive aging.

show abstract

“…Many DTI studies of human MS [110,124,146,150,151] and rodent models [77,143,152,153] are focused on the WM structures as they are the anticipated sites of MS pathological changes. High WM anisotropy provides characteristics for sensitive detection of MS pathological changes using DTI measures [110,124,146,150,151].…”

Section: Figure 8 Assessment Of Optic Nerve Degeneration In Eae--micmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…High WM anisotropy provides characteristics for sensitive detection of MS pathological changes using DTI measures [110,124,146,150,151]. MS, however, is a whole brain disease and can affect GM and cortical areas [85].…”

Section: Figure 8 Assessment Of Optic Nerve Degeneration In Eae--micmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current Developments In Mri For Assessing Rodent Models of Multiple Sclerosis

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

MRI is a key radiological imaging technique that plays an important role in the diagnosis and characterization of heterogeneous multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions. Various MRI methodologies such as conventional T 1/T 2 contrast, contrast agent enhancement, diffusion-weighted imaging, magnetization transfer imaging and susceptibility weighted imaging have been developed to determine the severity of MS pathology, including demyelination/remyelination and brain connectivity impairment from axonal loss. The broad spectrum of MS pathology manifests in diverse patient MRI presentations and affects the accuracy of patient diagnosis. To study specific pathological aspects of the disease, rodent models such as experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, virus-induced and toxin-induced demyelination have been developed. This review aims to present key developments in MRI methodology for better characterization of rodent models of MS.

show abstract

High spatial and angular resolution diffusion-weighted imaging reveals forniceal damage related to memory impairment

Cited by 15 publications

References 39 publications

Characterization of a normal control group: Are they healthy?

Characterization of a normal control group: Are they healthy?

Disconnected aging: Cerebral white matter integrity and age-related differences in cognition

Current Developments In Mri For Assessing Rodent Models of Multiple Sclerosis

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About