Authors: Hasina Yasmin Shigeki Aoki Osamu Abe Yasuhiro Nakata Naoto Hayashi Yoshitaka Masutani Masami Goto Kuni Ohtomo
Publish Date: 2009/08/07
Volume: 51, Issue: 12, Pages: 831-
Abstract
To date very scant data is available regarding normal diffusion properties of white matter WM fibers The present study aimed to initiate the establishment of a database of normal diffusion tensor metrics of cerebral WM fibers including the uncinate fasciculus UF posterior cingulum PC fornix and corticospinal tract CST for healthy adults using tractspecific analysis by diffusion tensor tractography DTT We also attempted to clarify whether age and laterality exerted any effects on this study groupDTT of WM fibers were generated for 100 healthy subjects then mean diffusivity MD and fractional anisotropy FA of the tracts were measured Pearson correlation analysis was used to evaluate age relationships Paired t testing was used to compare hemispheric asymmetry Interobserver correlation tests were also performedOur results showed FA values for UF right 042 ± 003 left 040±003 PC 051 ± 006 052 ± 006 fornix 037 ± 006 038 ± 006 CST 070 ± 006 069 ± 007 and MD values for UF 081 ± 003 082 ± 004 PC 072 ± 003 072 ± 004 fornix 186 ± 032 194 ± 037 and CST 072 ± 003 074 ± 004 We identified a significant positive correlation between age and MD in the right UF and bilateral fornices and a negative correlation between age and FA in bilateral fornices Hemispheric asymmetry was observed in FA of UF right left and MD of CST left right
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