The Conjoint Analysis of Microstructural and Morphological Changes of Gray Matter During Aging
Macromorphological and microstructural changes of gray matter (GM) happen during brain normal aging. However, the mechanism of macro-microstructure association is still unclear, which is of guidance for understanding many neurodegenerative diseases. In this study, adopting structural magnetic resona...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2019-03-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Neurology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fneur.2019.00184/full |
| _version_ | 1818135761536417792 |
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| author | Xin Zhao Qiong Wu Yuanyuan Chen Xizi Song Hongyan Ni Dong Ming Dong Ming |
| author_facet | Xin Zhao Qiong Wu Yuanyuan Chen Xizi Song Hongyan Ni Dong Ming Dong Ming |
| author_sort | Xin Zhao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Macromorphological and microstructural changes of gray matter (GM) happen during brain normal aging. However, the mechanism of macro-microstructure association is still unclear, which is of guidance for understanding many neurodegenerative diseases. In this study, adopting structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) and diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI), GM aging pattern was characterized and its macro-microstructure associations were revealed. For 60 subjects among the ages of 47–79, the DKI and T1-weighted images were investigated with voxel-based analysis. The results showed age-related overlapped patterns between morphological and microstructural alterations during normal aging. It was worth noting that morphological changes and mean diffusivity (MD) indexes abnormalities mainly overlapped in the following regions, superior frontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, cingulum gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, insula, and thalamus. Besides, overlapped with GM atrophies, mean kurtosis (MK) abnormalities were observed in superior frontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, transverse temporal gyrus, insula, and thalamus. What important was that intrinsic aging independent associations between macrostructure and microstructure were found especially in media superior frontal gyrus, which revealed the potential mechanisms in the process of aging. The physiological mechanism may be associated with the elimination of neurons and synapses and the shrinkage of large neurons. Understanding the associations of GM volume changes and microstructural changes can account for the underlying mechanisms of aging and age-related neurodegenerative diseases. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T09:29:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-63f65c91bd2d4f2ea26b1a1d4b573acd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-2295 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T09:29:39Z |
| publishDate | 2019-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Neurology |
| spelling | doaj.art-63f65c91bd2d4f2ea26b1a1d4b573acd2022-12-22T01:13:02ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neurology1664-22952019-03-011010.3389/fneur.2019.00184437373The Conjoint Analysis of Microstructural and Morphological Changes of Gray Matter During AgingXin Zhao0Qiong Wu1Yuanyuan Chen2Xizi Song3Hongyan Ni4Dong Ming5Dong Ming6Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Precision Instruments and Optoelectronics Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, ChinaDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, College of Precision Instruments and Optoelectronics Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, ChinaTianjin International Joint Research Center for Neural Engineering, Academy of Medical Engineering and Translational Medicine, Tianjin University, Tianjin, ChinaTianjin International Joint Research Center for Neural Engineering, Academy of Medical Engineering and Translational Medicine, Tianjin University, Tianjin, ChinaDepartment of Radiology, Tianjin First Center Hospital, Tianjin, ChinaDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, College of Precision Instruments and Optoelectronics Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, ChinaTianjin International Joint Research Center for Neural Engineering, Academy of Medical Engineering and Translational Medicine, Tianjin University, Tianjin, ChinaMacromorphological and microstructural changes of gray matter (GM) happen during brain normal aging. However, the mechanism of macro-microstructure association is still unclear, which is of guidance for understanding many neurodegenerative diseases. In this study, adopting structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) and diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI), GM aging pattern was characterized and its macro-microstructure associations were revealed. For 60 subjects among the ages of 47–79, the DKI and T1-weighted images were investigated with voxel-based analysis. The results showed age-related overlapped patterns between morphological and microstructural alterations during normal aging. It was worth noting that morphological changes and mean diffusivity (MD) indexes abnormalities mainly overlapped in the following regions, superior frontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, cingulum gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, insula, and thalamus. Besides, overlapped with GM atrophies, mean kurtosis (MK) abnormalities were observed in superior frontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, transverse temporal gyrus, insula, and thalamus. What important was that intrinsic aging independent associations between macrostructure and microstructure were found especially in media superior frontal gyrus, which revealed the potential mechanisms in the process of aging. The physiological mechanism may be associated with the elimination of neurons and synapses and the shrinkage of large neurons. Understanding the associations of GM volume changes and microstructural changes can account for the underlying mechanisms of aging and age-related neurodegenerative diseases.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fneur.2019.00184/fullaginggray matterbrain atrophymicrostructural degenerationmacro-microstructure associations |
| spellingShingle | Xin Zhao Qiong Wu Yuanyuan Chen Xizi Song Hongyan Ni Dong Ming Dong Ming The Conjoint Analysis of Microstructural and Morphological Changes of Gray Matter During Aging Frontiers in Neurology aging gray matter brain atrophy microstructural degeneration macro-microstructure associations |
| title | The Conjoint Analysis of Microstructural and Morphological Changes of Gray Matter During Aging |
| title_full | The Conjoint Analysis of Microstructural and Morphological Changes of Gray Matter During Aging |
| title_fullStr | The Conjoint Analysis of Microstructural and Morphological Changes of Gray Matter During Aging |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Conjoint Analysis of Microstructural and Morphological Changes of Gray Matter During Aging |
| title_short | The Conjoint Analysis of Microstructural and Morphological Changes of Gray Matter During Aging |
| title_sort | conjoint analysis of microstructural and morphological changes of gray matter during aging |
| topic | aging gray matter brain atrophy microstructural degeneration macro-microstructure associations |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fneur.2019.00184/full |
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