Linked Life Data

18755279

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/18755279

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
3
pubmed:dateCreated
2008-10-30
pubmed:abstractText
The importance of macrostructural white matter changes, including white matter lesions and atrophy, in intact brain functioning is increasingly being recognized. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) enables measurement of the microstructural integrity of white matter. Loss of white matter integrity in aging has been reported, but whether this is inherent to the aging process itself or results from specific white matter pathology is unknown. In 832 persons aged 60 years and older from the population-based Rotterdam Study, we measured fractional anisotropy (FA) and directional diffusivities in normal-appearing white matter using DTI. All subjects' DTI measures were projected onto a common white matter skeleton to enable robust voxelwise comparison. With increasing age, multiple regions showed significant decreases in FA or increases in axial or radial diffusivity in normal-appearing white matter. However, nearly all of these regional changes were explained by either white matter atrophy or by white matter lesions; each of which related to changes in distinct brain regions. These results indicate that loss of white matter integrity in aging is primarily explained by atrophy and lesion formation and not by the aging process itself. Furthermore, white matter atrophy and white matter lesion formation relate to loss of integrity in distinct brain regions, indicating the two processes are pathophysiologically different.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Nov
pubmed:issn
1095-9572
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Electronic
pubmed:day
15
pubmed:volume
43
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
470-7
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2008
pubmed:articleTitle
White matter atrophy and lesion formation explain the loss of structural integrity of white matter in aging.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Dr. Molewaterplein 50, 3015 GE, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't