Detection of Alzheimer's Disease using cortical diffusion tensor imaging

The aim of this research was to test a novel in-vivo brain MRI analysis method that could be used in clinical cohorts to investigate cortical architecture changes in patients with Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Three cohorts of patients with probable AD and healthy volunteers were used to assess the results of the method. The first group was used as the Discovery cohort, the second as the Test cohort and the last ATN (Amyloid, Tau, Neurodegeneration) cohort was used to test the method in an ADNI 3 cohort, comparing to amyloid and Tau PET. The method can detect altered quality of cortical grey matter in AD patients, providing an additional tool to assess AD, distinguishing between these and healthy controls with an accuracy range between good and excellent. These new measurements could be used within the ATN framework as an index of cortical microstructure quality and a marker of Neurodegeneration. Further development may aid diagnosis, patient selection, and quantification of the Neurodegeneration component in response to therapies in clinical trials.

Automated summary

This research tested a novel in-vivo brain MRI analysis method for investigating cortical architecture changes in patients with Alzheimer's Disease. The method proved to be accurate in detecting altered cortical grey matter quality in AD patients, providing an additional tool for assessing AD and distinguishing patients from healthy controls. Further development of these measurements within the ATN framework may aid in diagnosis, patient selection, and quantification of Neurodegeneration component in response to therapies in clinical trials.