In this study, hybrid diffusion imaging was used to investigate diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) measures in brain tissues from 52 healthy human subjects (including 29 females and 23 males) whose ages ranged from 18 to 72 years. Age and gender effects were studied using voxel-based analysis and also with linear regression analyses on whole-brain white matter, and regions-of-interest (ROIs) in the corpus callosum and internal capsule. The Fractional Anisotropy of Whole-brain white matter was significantly lower in females (p < 0.02), but significant gender differences were not found for any of the diffusion measures in the ROIs. When age dependence was statistically significant, no significant gender differences were detected. From this study we can conclude that the effect of gender on the diffusion measures appeared to be small.

15 giugno 2011

Posted by Annapaola Prestia Laboratory of Epidemiology Neuroimaging and Telemedicine, IRCCS Centro San Giovanni di Dio FBF, The National Centre for Research and Care of Alzheimer’s and Mental Diseases, Brescia, Italy