Abstract #3234

Interrelationships of Brain Microstructural and Macrostructural Abnormalities in the Oldest Old.

Vijay K Venkatraman^1,2, Howard Jay Aizenstein^1,3, Anne Barbara Newman^2,4, Caterina Rosano^2,4

¹Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; ²Center for Aging and Population Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; ³Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; ⁴Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Diffusion Tensor Imaging and Magnetization Transfer imaging have been recently used in geriatric neuroepidemiology to uncover the presence of microstructural brain abnormalities that would otherwise remain hidden with conventional MRI sequences and markers. However, the relationships between micro- and macro- structural abnormalities have not been examined in the oldest old. Understanding these relationships is useful to improve measurements of subtle brain changes with aging and to understand the mechanisms underlying responses to treatment and brain plasticity in older adults.