Sean C. Deoni1, Stephen Correia2,
Tanja Su2, Jessica Man2, Paul Malloy3,
Stephen Salloway3
1School of Engineering,
Brown University, Providence, RI, United States; 2Psychiatry &
Human Behavior, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States; 3Alpert
Medical School, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States
Alzheimers Disease (AD) is a devastating neurological disorder, characterized by progressive impairment in memory, language, cognitive and behaviour. An emerging hypothesis of AD centers on the role of white matter alteration and, specifically, myelin loss, as a driving mechanism in the pathogenesis of the disorder. In this work, we directly investigate alteration in myelin content in mild AD for the first time using a rapid multicomponent relaxation time myelin imaging technique. Compared with healthy age-matched controls, we show reduced myelin content within the mild AD group that is significantly correlated with disability score (MMSE).