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Updated: Apr 8, 2026
Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Analysis of Neurodegenerative Diseases
Published on: July 28, 2013
Magnetic resonance elastography of frontotemporal dementia
John Huston1, Matthew C Murphy2, Bradley F Boeve3
1Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
Purpose:
To investigate the feasibility of utilizing brain stiffness as a potential biomarker for behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) patients. Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) is a noninvasive technique for evaluating the mechanical properties of brain tissue in vivo. MRE has demonstrated decreased brain stiffness in patients with Alzheimer's disease.
Materials And Methods:
We examined five male subjects with bvFTD and nine cognitively normal age-matched male controls (NC) with brain 3T MRE. Stiffness was calculated in nine regions of interest (ROIs): whole brain (entire cerebrum excluding cerebellum), frontal lobes, occipital lobes, parietal lobes, temporal lobes, deep gray matter / white matter (GM/WM; insula, deep gray nuclei and white matter tracts), cerebellum, sensorimotor cortex (pre- and postcentral gyri), and a composite region labeled FT (frontal and temporal lobes excluding the pre- and postcentral gyri).
Results:
Significantly lower stiffness values were observed in the whole brain (P = 0.007), frontal lobe (P = 0.001), and temporal lobes (P = 0.005) of bvFTD patients compared to NC. No significant stiffness differences were observed in any other ROIs of bvFTD patients compared to NC (P > 0.05). These results demonstrate that statistically significant brain softening occurs in the frontal and temporal lobes of bvFTD patients, which corresponds to the expected pathophysiology of bvFTD.
Conclusion:
Future studies evaluating the feasibility of brain MRE for early disease detection and monitoring disease progression could shed new insights into understanding the mechanisms involved in bvFTD.
