Combined Diffusion Tensor and Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging Methodology for Automated Regional Brain Analysis: Application in a Normal Pediatric Population

We present statistical analyses of regional DTI and MRSI data in a cohort of normal pediatric subjects (n = 72; age range: 5-18 years; mean 12.7 ± 3.3 years) to establish normative data and evaluate maturational trends. Several regions showed significant maturational changes for several DTI parameters and MRSI ratios, but the percent change over the age range tended to be small. In the subcortical region (combined basal ganglia [BG], thalam i [TH], and corpus callosum [CC]), the largest combined percent change was a 10% increase in fractional anisotropy (FA) primarily due to increases in the BG (12.7%) and TH (9%). The largest significant percent increase in N-acetylaspartate (NAA)/creatine (Cr) ratio was seen in the brain stem (BS) (1 8.8%) followed by the subcortical regions in the BG (11.9%), CC (8.9%), and TH (6.0%). We found consistent, significant (p
Source: Developmental Neuroscience - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research