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White and gray matter microstructural alterations in subjective cognitive decline: An exploratory study using TBSS
Shuai Lin1, Ming Xue2, Chang Xu1
1Department of MRI, First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China.
Brain Research Bulletin
|August 4, 2026
Summary
Neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) may detect brain microstructural differences in individuals with subjective cognitive decline (SCD). These findings suggest NODDI
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Biomarkers
- Alzheimer's Disease Research
Background:
- Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) may indicate preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD).
- Objective biomarkers for early AD detection are lacking.
- Early intervention for AD is hindered by the absence of objective biomarkers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the potential of neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) in assessing gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) microstructural integrity in SCD.
- To evaluate the diagnostic utility of NODDI parameters in differentiating SCD from healthy controls (HCs).
Main Methods:
- Enrolled 47 SCD subjects and 30 HCs.
- Utilized TBSS and GBSS analysis with NODDI to measure neurite density index (NDI) and orientation dispersion index (ODI).
- Extracted NODDI parameters from multiple brain regions.
Main Results:
- Decreased NDI in WM (genu of corpus callosum) and GM (hippocampus, amygdala, parahippocampal gyrus).
- Increased ODI in GM (rolandic operculum, inferior frontal gyrus, precentral gyrus).
- GM NDI, GM ODI, and WM ODI were independent predictors, with their combination showing the best classification accuracy.
Conclusions:
- NODDI may identify microstructural differences in GM and WM associated with SCD.
- These findings offer preliminary insights for developing imaging markers for SCD identification.
- Further research is needed to validate these preliminary results.
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