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. 2011 Nov;29(9):1165-74.
doi: 10.1016/j.mri.2011.07.012. Epub 2011 Sep 9.

Alterations in diffusion properties of white matter in Williams syndrome

Lori R Arlinghaus  1 , Tricia A Thornton-Wells, Elisabeth M Dykens, Adam W Anderson
Affiliations

Alterations in diffusion properties of white matter in Williams syndrome

Lori R Arlinghaus et al. Magn Reson Imaging. 2011 Nov.

Abstract

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was used to investigate the involvement of brain white matter in Williams syndrome (WS), a genetic neurodevelopmental disorder. Whole-brain DTIs were obtained from 16 young adults with WS and 16 normal controls. A voxel-based analysis was performed to compare fractional anisotropy (FA) values between the two groups. A tract-based analysis was also performed to compare FA values between the two groups along two major white matter tracts that pass through the external capsule: the uncinate and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculi. Several regions of both increased and decreased FA were found within major white matter tracts that connect functional regions that have previously been implicated in the cognitive and neurological symptoms of the syndrome. The tract-based analysis provided additional insight into the involvement of specific white matter tracts implicated in the voxel-based analysis within the external capsule. The results from this study support previously reported changes in white matter diffusion properties in WS and demonstrate the potential usefulness for tract-based analysis in future studies of the disorder.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic of the process used to create the study-specific FA template (FAtemp) used for image normalization. First, each subject’s FA map was transformed to the T1targ image space (dashed box), then the average of all the subjects’ transformed FA maps was calculated and used as the FA template for the second step of the registration process.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Voxel-based comparison of FA in WS compared to NC. Overlay of regions of significantly increased (warm colors) and reduced (cool colors) FA in WS compared to controls on coronal slices of the average FA template in Talairach space. (Images displayed according to radiological convention. i.e., the left hemisphere is shown on the right.)
Figure 3
Figure 3
Tract-based comparison of FA of two major WM tracts in the external capsule in WS compared to NC. The mean axes of the left (A) and right (B) uncinate (yellow) and inferior fronto-occipital (white) fasciculi from each subject are displayed together as viewed from the left. Regions of significantly (P < 0.05) reduced and increased FA are marked in blue and red, respectively. Regions of significantly increased (magenta) and decreased (cyan) FA found near the EC in the voxel-based analysis are also shown for comparison, and orientation is marked as follows: anterior (A), left (L), superior (S), and inferior (I). Mean FA values for each group are plotted as a function of position along the left uncinate (C), left inferior fronto-occipital tract (D), right uncinate (E), and right inferior fronto-occipital tract (F), with regions of significantly reduced and increased FA marked in blue and red, respectively.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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