Diffusion tensor imaging and aging - a review.

Diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI) non-invasively provides maps of microscopic structural information of oriented tissue in vivo, which is finding utility in studies of the aging population. In contrast to the white matter maturation process, investigators have observed significant declines in the white matter ordering in normal as well as in abnormal aging. These studies suggest that water proton non-random, anisotropic diffusion measured by DTI is highly sensitive to otherwise subtle disease processes not normally seen with conventional MRI tissue contrast mechanisms.