Brain Alternations in Alzheimer Disease and Frontotemporal Dementia: A Multimodal MRI Analysis

Yu Zhang^1,2, Norbert Schuff^1,2, Christopher Ching^1,2, Duygu Tosun^1,2, Marzieh Nezamzadeh^1,2, Wang Zhan^1,2, Howard J. Rosen³, Joel H. Kramer³, Maria Luisa Gorno-Tempini³, Bruce L. Miller³, Michael W. Weiner^1,2

We report initial attempts of utilizing structural, perfusion and diffusion MRI together toward a comprehensive analysis of brain alterations in Alzheimers disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). We found that gray matter damage, reflected by cortical atrophy and hypoperfusion, dominated the alterations in AD, whereas damage to gray matter and white matter, as measured by diffusion MRI, characterized FTD. These tissue specific patterns may shine a light on the differential pathologies underlying AD and FTD. They may also aid a differential diagnosis between the diseases and emphasize the benefit of multimodality MRI.