Hutton Chloe, Draganski Bogdan, Ashburner John, Weiskopf Nikolaus
Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, 12 Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK.
Neuroimage. 2009 Nov 1;48(2):371-80. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.06.043. Epub 2009 Jun 25.
The morphology of cortical grey matter is commonly assessed using T1-weighted MRI together with automated computerised methods such as voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and cortical thickness measures. In the presented study we investigate how grey matter changes identified using voxel-based cortical thickness (VBCT) measures compare with local grey matter volume changes identified using VBM. We use data from a healthy aging population to perform the comparison, focusing on brain regions where age-related changes have been observed in previous studies. Our results show that overall, in healthy aging, VBCT and VBM yield very consistent results but VBCT provides a more sensitive measure of age-associated decline in grey matter compared with VBM. Our findings suggest that while VBCT selectively investigates cortical thickness, VBM provides a mixed measure of grey matter including cortical surface area or cortical folding, as well as cortical thickness. We therefore propose that used together, these techniques can separate the underlying grey matter changes, highlighting the utility of combining these complementary methods.
通常使用T1加权磁共振成像(MRI)以及基于体素的形态学测量(VBM)和皮质厚度测量等自动化计算机方法来评估皮质灰质的形态。在本研究中,我们调查了使用基于体素的皮质厚度(VBCT)测量所识别出的灰质变化与使用VBM所识别出的局部灰质体积变化相比情况如何。我们使用来自健康老年人群的数据进行比较,重点关注先前研究中已观察到与年龄相关变化的脑区。我们的结果表明,总体而言,在健康衰老过程中,VBCT和VBM产生的结果非常一致,但与VBM相比,VBCT能更敏感地测量与年龄相关的灰质下降。我们的研究结果表明,虽然VBCT选择性地研究皮质厚度,但VBM提供了一种灰质的综合测量,包括皮质表面积或皮质折叠以及皮质厚度。因此,我们建议将这些技术结合使用,可以区分潜在的灰质变化,突出了结合这些互补方法的实用性。