Table 3.
Summary of findings and interpretation.a.
| DTI changes with age | Interpretation | Findings |
|---|---|---|
| FA decrease | Demyelination, Axonal loss, Wallerian D | Frontal white matter, genu of corpus callosum, left posterior limb of internal capsule, external capsule, posterior pericallosum (Fig. 2A) |
| MD increase | Demyelination, Axonal loss | Widespread (Fig. 2B) |
| Concordant FA decrease and MD increase | Demyelination, Axonal loss | Frontal white matter, corpus callosum, external capsule, periventricular area (Fig. 5) |
| FA decrease without MD change | Wallerian D | Left posterior limb of internal capsule (Fig. 6A) |
| MD increase without FA change | Inconclusive | Cingulum, thalami, caudate nuclei, medial temporal white matter, centrum semiovale (Fig. 6B) |
| Greater increase of D⊥ than D|| | Demyelination, Wallerian D | Frontal white matter, left posterior limb of the internal capsule, posterior pericallosum (Fig. 7A) |
| Greater increase of D|| than D⊥ | Inconclusive | Putamen (Fig. 7B) |
Wallerian D = Wallerian degeneration.
a
The ‘interpretation’ is based on previous opinions about the meaning of DTI changes (Kochunov et al., 2007; Salat et al., 2005; Bronge et al., 2002; Meier-Ruge et al., 1992; Pierpaoli et al., 2001; Song et al., 2002) and not in anyway conclusive.