Genetic relatedness of axial and radial diffusivity indices of cerebral white matter microstructure in late middle age.

ABSTRACT: Two basic neuroimaging-based characterizations of white matter tracts are the magnitude of water diffusion along the principal tract orientation (axial diffusivity, AD) and water diffusion perpendicular to the principal orientation (radial diffusivity, RD). It is generally accepted that decreases in AD reflect disorganization, damage, or loss of axons, whereas increases in RD are indicative of disruptions to the myelin sheath. Previous reports have detailed the heritability of individual AD and RD measures, but have not examined the extent to which the same or different genetic or environmental factors influence these two phenotypes (except for corpus callosum). We implemented bivariate twin analyses to examine the shared and independent genetic influences on AD and RD. In the Vietnam Era

SUBMITTER: Hatton SN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5895525 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature