Ricchi Mattia, Campani Guido, Nagmutdinova Anastasiia, Bortolotti Villiam, Greco Danilo, Golini Carlo, Grist James, Brizi Leonardo, Testa Claudia
Department of Computer Science, University of Pisa, Largo Bruno Pontecorvo 3, 56127, Pisa, Italy.
INFN, Division of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
Eur Radiol Exp. 2025 Mar 19;9(1):32. doi: 10.1186/s41747-025-00570-5.
The cingulum bundle is a brain white matter fasciculus associated with the cingulate gyrus. It connects areas from the temporal to the frontal lobe. It is composed of fibers with different terminations, lengths, and structural properties, related to specific brain functions. We aimed to automatically reconstruct this fasciculus in patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and to assess whether trajectories have different microstructural properties in relation to dementia progression.
Multi-shell high angular resolution diffusion imaging-HARDI image datasets from the "Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative"-ADNI repository of 10 AD, 18 MCI, and 21 cognitive normal (CN) subjects were used to reconstruct three subdivisions of the cingulum bundle, using a probabilistic approach, combined with measurements of diffusion tensor and neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging metrics in each subdivision.
The subdivisions exhibit different pathways, terminations, and structural characteristics. We found differences in almost all the diffusivity metrics among the subdivisions (p < 0.001 for all the metrics) and between AD versus CN and MCI versus CN subjects for mean diffusivity (p = 0.007-0.038), radial diffusivity (p = 0.008-0.049) and neurite dispersion index (p = 0.005-0.049).
Results from tractography analysis of the subdivisions of the cingulum bundle showed an association in the role of groups of fibers with their functions and the variance of their properties in relation to dementia progression.
The cingulum bundle is a complex tract with several pathways and terminations related to many cognitive functions. A probabilistic automatic approach is proposed to reconstruct its subdivisions, showing different microstructural properties and variations. A larger sample of patients is needed to confirm results and elucidate the role of diffusion parameters in characterizing alterations in brain function and progression to dementia.
The microstructure of the cingulum bundle is related to brain cognitive functions. A probabilistic automatic approach is proposed to reconstruct the subdivisions of the cingulum bundle by diffusion-weighted images. The subdivisions showed different microstructural properties and variations in relation to the progression of dementia.
扣带束是与扣带回相关的脑白质纤维束。它连接从颞叶到额叶的区域。它由具有不同终末、长度和结构特性的纤维组成，这些纤维与特定的脑功能相关。我们旨在自动重建阿尔茨海默病（AD）和轻度认知障碍（MCI）患者的该纤维束，并评估其走行轨迹是否具有与痴呆进展相关的不同微观结构特性。
使用来自“阿尔茨海默病神经影像倡议”（ADNI）数据库的10例AD患者、18例MCI患者和21例认知正常（CN）受试者的多壳高角分辨率扩散成像（HARDI）图像数据集，采用概率方法重建扣带束的三个亚区，并结合每个亚区的扩散张量测量以及神经突方向离散度和密度成像指标。
这些亚区呈现出不同的走行、终末和结构特征。我们发现亚区之间几乎所有扩散率指标均存在差异（所有指标p<0.001），并且在AD与CN以及MCI与CN受试者之间，平均扩散率（p=0.007-0.038）、径向扩散率（p=0.008-0.049）和神经突离散指数（p=0.005-0.049）也存在差异。
扣带束亚区的纤维束成像分析结果显示，纤维束组的作用与其功能以及与痴呆进展相关的特性差异之间存在关联。
扣带束是一个复杂的纤维束，具有多种与许多认知功能相关的走行和终末。本文提出了一种概率性自动方法来重建其亚区，显示出不同的微观结构特性和变化。需要更大样本量的患者来证实结果，并阐明扩散参数在表征脑功能改变和向痴呆进展中的作用。
扣带束的微观结构与脑认知功能相关。本文提出了一种概率性自动方法，通过扩散加权图像重建扣带束的亚区。这些亚区在与痴呆进展相关方面呈现出不同的微观结构特性和变化。
