Abstract #2912

Microstructural Differences in the Aging White Matter of APOE Allele &[epsilon]4 Carriers: A Diffusional Kurtosis Imaging and Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study

Jean-Philippe Coutu¹,², H. Diana Rosas,¹³, David H. Salat,¹⁴

¹MGH/MIT/HMS Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA, United States; ²Health Sciences and Technology, MIT/Harvard, Cambridge, MA, United States; ³Neurology, MGH, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; ⁴Radiology, MGH, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States

Diffusion kurtosis imaging and diffusion tensor imaging have been used to investigate microstructural differences in the aging white matter of carriers of APOE allele &[epsilon]4, a risk factor for sporadic Alzheimer's disease. Our study shows that carriers seem to have a greater cross-sectional increase in mean, axial and radial diffusivity and decrease in mean and radial diffusional kurtosis with increasing age, pointing to greater loss of diffusional heterogeneity. These findings could be observed as early as middle age, and might be related to the predisposition of carriers of APOE allele &[epsilon]4 to sporadic Alzheimers disease.