Abstract

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Title:: Research of Alzheimer’s disease based on white matter network constructed with diffusion tensor imaging

Author(s):: CAI Daxuan1; 2; 3; YAO Xufeng2; 3; HUANG Gang2; 3; 1. School of Medical Instrument and Food Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200082, China; 2. School of Medical Imaging, Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Shanghai 200120, China; 3. Key Laboratory of Molecular Imaging in Shanghai, Shanghai 200120, China

Keywords:: ; Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; diffusion tensor imaging; white matter network; network topological parameter

Abstract:: Abstract: Objective To construct white matter structural network with diffusion tensor imaging, and research the abnormalities of brain microstructure in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Methods The structural brain networks of 19 normal controls and 20 AD patients were reconstructed. Two-sample t-test was used to compare the differences in the network topological parameters of the whole brain and the specific brain region between AD patients and normal controls. Results For the whole brain, the weighted path length ([Lp]) was increased, while the global efficiency ([Eg]), network strength ([Sp]) and local efficiency ([Elocal]) were decreased in AD patients. The further studies showed that the increases of [Lp]and weighted clustering coefficient ([Cp]) and the decrease of [Eg] were more obviously in the left hemisphere of AD patient as compared with the right hemisphere. Precuneus was taken as the region of interest for analyzing the network topological parameters of the specific brain region, and the results revealed that[Lp]was increased and Eg was decreased in bilateral precuneus, and that no significant difference was found in [Cp]and[Elocal]. Conclusion The network topological parameters can be used as indexes to evaluate the abnormalities of brian microstructure in AD patients, which is of significance in the early diagnosis of AD.