A Computational White Matter Atlas for Aging with Surface-Based Representation of Fasciculi

Voxel-based analysis, either whole-brain or tract-specific, is a widely used approach for localizing white matter (WM) differences across populations using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). A prerequisite to this approach is to spatially normalize all the subjects to a common template. The accuracy of spatial normalization can be improved by using a population-specific template that is, morphologically, most similar to the subjects in the population of interest. Here, we report the development of a population-specific DTI template for the elderly using the publicly available IXI brain database. The template captures the average shape and diffusion properties of the aging population and contains segmentations of major WM fasciculi parcellated via fiber tractography. Furthermore, the segmentations are modeled using surface-based representation to support the tract-specific analysis recently proposed by Yushkevich et al. The utility of the template is demonstrated in an examination of WM changes in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

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