Rajesh Kumar1, Alexa Chavez1, Paul M. Macey2, 3, Mary A. Woo2, Frisca L. Yan-Go4, Ronald M. Harper1, 3
1Neurobiology, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States; 2UCLA School of Nursing, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States; 3Brain Research Institute, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States; 4Neurology, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients show brain injury in autonomic, cognitive, and mood regulatory regions; however, it is unknown whether the predominant pathology is acute or chronic in newly-diagnosed, treatment-nave OSA subjects. We examined global and regional mean-diffusivity (MD), which measures average water diffusion within tissue and is capable of differentiating acute from chronic changes, in newly-diagnosed OSA subjects. Global MD values were reduced in OSA, reflected as localized changes in multiple brain sites, and included medullary, cerebellar, basal-ganglia, and limbic regions. The pathological state in newly-diagnosed OSA subjects likely represents acute pathological processes in tissue, possibly induced by hypoxia.
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