Free-Water Imaging-Based Assessment of Cerebral White Matter Microstructural Changes in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment
YU Jiaxin
LI Qiang
DOU Shewei
YAN Fengshan
SHEN Yu
ZHANG Haoyu
WANG Meiyun
Abstract：Objective To assess the alterations of cerebral white matter microstructure in patients with mild cognitive impairment(MCI)due to Alzheimer's disease(AD)based on free-water imaging and the association with cognitive dysfunction in patients with MCI.Methods Based on the Alzheimer's disease neuroimaging initiative(ADNI)database,48 patients in the AD-derived MCI group and 54 age-and gender-matched healthy controls(HC)group were included.Diffusion tensor imaging(DTI)images were preprocessed and a regularized nonlinear fit to a two-tensor diffusion model was performed to calculate free water(FW)volume fractions,and tract-based spatial statistics(TBSS)methods were applied to study the microstructural alterations of cerebral white matter in all participants,and to analyze the differences in FW values between the two groups of subjects and their correlations with cognitive scales.Results The results of TBSS showed that extensive white matter microstructural alterations existed in AD-derived MCI patients,and the FW values of the corticospinal tract(CST),cingulate gyrus part(CGG),inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus(IFOF),inferior longitudinal fasciculus(ILF),superior longitudinal fasciculus(SLF),and forceps major(Fmj)and minor(Fmi)regions were increased in the AD-derived MCI group bilaterally(P＜0.05).The FW values of the right CGG in the AD-derived MCI group were negatively correlated with the mini-mental state examination(MMSE)scores(r=-0.385,P=0.007).The FW value of right CST in AD-derived MCI group was negatively correlated with MMSE scores(r=-0.683,P＜0.001).Conclusion There is a widespread increase in the FW value of white matter fiber tracts in AD-derived MCI patients,which may be one of the potential factors of cognitive dysfunction,providing a new perspective for understanding the neuropathological mechanisms of AD-derived MCI.
Keywords：mild cognitive impairmentcerebral white matterfree-water imagingtract-based spatial statistics
Publication Date：2026-02-28
Online Publishing Date：2026-09-12(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：5( 577-581 )