New method tracks brain aging rates

The authors of the new visualization method called it “Difference in Distribution Function.” This is an improved

a modification of diffusion-weighted imaging technology, a widely used method for visual assessment of white matter microstructure in the brain.

The authors based the new method on the work of white matter: it consists of bundles of axons - processes of nerve cells covered with an electrically insulating myelin sheath.

The integrity of the white matter is critical to the normal structure and function of the brain. Moreover, it is most vulnerable to processes leading to vascular disruption.

The aging brain undergoes significantmicrostructural changes due to vascular factors before functional changes such as cognitive decline and effects on memory become evident. The improved measurement method we have created allows you to distinguish a diseased brain from a healthy one.

Jing Du, Research Fellow, School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales

The new method describes changes in white matter and tracks vascular changes in dementia and Alzheimer's disease, and also helps to better monitor the aging process of the brain as a whole. 

The authors are confident that the method will be able to track structural and functional changes in both healthy and diseased brains.

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