Research Papers:

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To evaluate and determine age-related changes in rat brains by studying the diffusion kurtosis imaging results among different age groups of rats.

Results: The diffusion values MK and K_⊥ change among various age groups and show a parabolic relationship with regard to age in all the brain regions investigated in our study including cerebral cortex (CT), external capsule (EC) and caudate putamen (CPu). Although different brain regions exhibited various degrees of changes in MK and K_⊥ values, their structural changes during normal aging process are uniformly reflected in changes of diffusion values obtained from DKI. It is important to note that paired-samples T tests indicated no significant differences in two hemispheres of the brain and therefore, no laterality of the diffusion value was observed.

Methods: Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats underwent conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI). Two diffusion values of mean kurtosis (MK) and kurtosis (K_⊥) were measured and analyzed based on laterality, brain regions and age groups. The MK and K_⊥ data were plotted against different age groups.

Conclusion: Water diffusion values obtained from DKI are demonstrated to be sensitive indicators for monitoring the structural changes of brain during the aging process and can serve a valuable tool to probe the mechanism of brain aging and potentially shed light on new treatments for aging related neurological diseases. Our study covers a relative full range of age groups and is complementary to existing studies in the literature.