DTI Metrics Correlation to FLAIR Biomarkers, Cognition, and Neurodegenerative Diseases

A novel approach was proposed to correlate Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) biomarkers to FLAIR biomarkers in normal appearing brain matter regions (NABM). In this work, we also investigated the relation of the NABM region to cognition and used the NABM region to show the difference between different forms of dementia, emphasizing mild cognitive impairment, and vascular mild cognitive impairment. Mean Diffusivity (MD) was used as the metric of choice for NABM analysis. The DTI to FLAIR correlation analysis found MD to be highly correlated (p<0.05) to FLAIR biomarkers with the highest correlations seen between MD and Microstructural integrity, Macro and Microstructural Damage and NABM to ICV Volume Ratio. We concluded that the NABM region can be effectively correlated with FLAIR biomarkers, be used to differentiate between mild cognitive impairment and vascular mild cognitive impairment, however it did not show statistical significance to cognition though it did follow expected trends.