Yumei Yan1, Longchuan Li2, Todd Preuss3, Xiaoping Hu2, James G. Herndon3, Xiaodong Zhang1, 3
1Yerkes Imaging Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States; 2Department of Biomedical Engineering, Emory University and Georgia institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States; 3Division of Neuropharmacology and Neurologic Diseases, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States
Age-related optic nerve degeneration was observed in previous ex-vivo studies of human or animal specimens. In this study, optic nerve diffusivity in aged female rhesus monkeys was investigated systematically with DTI. Mean diffusivity, axial and radial diffusivity were observed increasing during aging, which is consistent with the DTI findings on brain white matter in aged human. No significant changes of FA and fiber tract number were observed, which is in agreement with the ex-vivo result of optic nerve aging in rhesus monkeys. These results suggest that the diffusivity parameters may be potential markers to evaluate optic nerve disorders during aging.