ABSTRACT
Neurodegenerative disorders are conditions which result from gradual deterioration of certain neurons, leading to progressive brain dysfunction and eventually death. Conventional magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is frequently insensitive to the underlying pathological processes in neurodegenerative diseases. This chapter outlines some of the most recent developments of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and its application to neurodegenerative disorders. DTI provides microscopic structural information about tissue in vivo. Voxel-based analysis is an operator-independent approach that allows the analysis of the entire brain volumes without a prior hypothesis regarding the anatomical location. DTI techniques also allow interregional fiber tracking, known as diffusion tensor tractography, which allows tracking of major WM tracts. Neurodegenerative diseases share one unifying pathological process, namely, progressive neuronal damage or death. The aging brain exhibits varying micro- and macroscopic changes that ultimately cause some degree of cognitive and functional decline.
