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Translational Neurodegeneration
Published in: Translational Neurodegeneration 1/2018

Open Access 01-12-2018 | Research

Divergent topological networks in Alzheimer’s disease: a diffusion kurtosis imaging analysis

Authors: Jia-Xing Cheng, Hong-Ying Zhang, Zheng-Kun Peng, Yao Xu, Hui Tang, Jing-Tao Wu, Jun Xu

Published in: Translational Neurodegeneration | Issue 1/2018

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Abstract

Background

Brain consists of plenty of complicated cytoarchitecture. Gaussian-model based diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is far from satisfactory interpretation of the structural complexity. Diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) is a tool to determine brain non-Gaussian diffusion properties. We investigated the network properties of DKI parameters in the whole brain using graph theory and further detected the alterations of the DKI networks in Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

Methods

Magnetic resonance DKI scanning was performed on 21 AD patients and 19 controls. Brain networks were constructed by the correlation matrices of 90 regions and analyzed through graph theoretical approaches.

Results

We found small world characteristics of DKI networks not only in the normal subjects but also in the AD patients; Grey matter networks of AD patients tended to be a less optimized network. Moreover, the divergent small world network features were shown in the AD white matter networks, which demonstrated increased shortest paths and decreased global efficiency with fiber tractography but decreased shortest paths and increased global efficiency with other DKI metrics. In addition, AD patients showed reduced nodal centrality predominantly in the default mode network areas. Finally, the DKI networks were more closely associated with cognitive impairment than the DTI networks.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that DKI might be superior to DTI and could serve as a novel approach to understand the pathogenic mechanisms in neurodegenerative diseases.
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Metadata
Title
Divergent topological networks in Alzheimer’s disease: a diffusion kurtosis imaging analysis
Authors
Jia-Xing Cheng
Hong-Ying Zhang
Zheng-Kun Peng
Yao Xu
Hui Tang
Jing-Tao Wu
Jun Xu
Publication date
01-12-2018
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Translational Neurodegeneration / Issue 1/2018
Electronic ISSN: 2047-9158
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40035-018-0115-y

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