Neuroscience 2004 Abstract
| Presentation Number: | 450.18 |
|---|---|
| Abstract Title: | Fractal analysis of white matter structural changes due to normal aging as measured by MRI. |
| Authors: |
Zhang, L.*1,3
; Liu, J.1,4
; Dean, D.5
; Sahgal, V.2
; Yue, G.1,2,3
1Biomed. Engin., Cleveland Clin. Fndn., Cleveland, OH 2Rehab. Med., Cleveland Clin. Fndn., Cleveland, OH 3OH, 9500 Euclid Avenue, 44195, 4USA, 9500 Euclid Avenue, 44195, 5Biomed. Engin., 9500 Euclid Avenue, 44195, |
| Primary Theme and Topics |
Neurological and Psychiatric Conditions - Aging -- Other |
| Secondary Theme and Topics | Techniques in Neuroscience<br />- Data analysis, physiological methods, statistics |
| Session: |
450. Aging: Anatomy and Pharmacology Poster |
| Presentation Time: | Monday, October 25, 2004 9:00 AM-10:00 AM |
| Location: | San Diego Convention Center - Hall A-H, Board # VV14 |
| Keywords: | Fractal dimension, Skeleton, Brain |
Fractal analysis has been used to quantify a wide range of complex and irregularly shaped objects in basic biology and medicine. In this study we measured the white matter (WM) fractal dimension (FD) based on human MR brain images. Coronal MR head images were collected from 6 healthy young (26.8±3.4) and 6 elderly (74.2±2.6) subjects using a 1.5T Siemens Vision scanner and a three-dimensional Turboflash imaging sequence (TR/TE = 11.4/4.4ms, flip angle = 10°). Slice thickness was 2 mm, in-plane resolution was 1 x 1 mm2. The head images were then resampled via trilinear interpolation to be 1 mm in thickness. The brain was segmented from the resampled head images using the BET tool in the FSL package. The WM was then segmented from the brain images using the FSL FAST tool and recorded as a binary (black & white) images. A 3-D thinning method was applied to the binary images to obtain skeletons of the WM. A box-counting dimension was adopted to define the FD of the WM skeleton which repeatedly meshed different-size boxes (r) on the skeleton images. Counting the number of boxes (N) needed to completely cover the skeletons, the box size chosen was from 2 to 1/3 of the smallest size image. The FD was subsequently determined from the relationship between N and r (i.e., N∝-FD) by fitting the data. The values of FD for the young and elderly subjects were 2.356±0.038 and 2.317±0.028, respectively. One-tail t test (t = 2.01, P = 0.038) revealed significantly smaller FD of the WM in the old compared to young subjects. These results suggest that brain WM shape complexity declines in normal aging and that FD may serve as a quantitative index for estimating age- or disease-related WM degeneration.
Supported by NIH grant HD36725
Sample Citation:
[Authors]. [Abstract Title]. Program No. XXX.XX. 2004 Neuroscience Meeting Planner. San Diego, CA: Society for Neuroscience, 2004. Online.
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