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Updated: Jun 12, 2026
Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Analysis of Neurodegenerative Diseases
Published on: July 28, 2013
Microstructural changes in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy: a diffusion tensor imaging study
JiunJie Wang1, Yauyau Wai, Wey-Yil Lin
1Department of Medical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, Chang Gung University, Taiwan.
Purpose:
To determine whether progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is associated with specific diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) patterns of diffusivity, anisotropy, and coherence in functionally relevant brain areas.
Materials And Methods:
In all, 17 PSP patients and 17 controls were scanned using a 3 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. Patients were assessed in the off-medication condition using the Hoehn and Yahr staging and the United Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, motor subscale (UPDRS-III). Diffusion information were analyzed in relation to disease severity and subtypes.
Results:
Numerous changes in diffusion properties were identified in the subcortical areas. In the midbrain, fractional anisotropy (FA) decreased and MD (mean diffusivity) increased with disease progression. UPDRS-III scores correlated positively with both FA in the caudate and MD in the pons. DTI analysis of disease subtypes demonstrated significant differences between PSP-Parkinsonism and Steele-Richardson-Olszewski syndrome in axial diffusivity values in the putamen and globus pallidus, as well as in intervoxel diffusion coherence values in the middle cerebellar peduncle.
Conclusion:
Our findings, cautiously interpreted, demonstrate the advantage of using a functional imaging technique to aid in the specificity of defining more precisely the pathological processes taking place in white and gray matter regions in PSP.
