Abstract

Background:

Early pathological changes in white matter microstructure can be studied using the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). It is not only important to study these subtle pathological changes leading to cognitive decline, but also to ascertain and how an intervention would impact the white matter microstructure and cognition in persons at-risk of dementia.

Objectives:

To study the impact of a multidomain lifestyle intervention on white matter and cognitive changes during the 2-year Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER), a randomized controlled trial in at-risk older individuals (age 60–77 years) from the general population.

Methods:

This exploratory study consisted of a subsample of 60 FINGER participants. Participants were randomized to either a multidomain intervention (diet, exercise, cognitive training, and vascular risk management, n = 34) or control group (general health advice, n = 26). All underwent baseline and 2-year brain DTI. Changes in fractional anisotropy (FA), diffusivity along domain (F1) and non-domain (F2) diffusion orientations, mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AxD), radial diffusivity (RD), and their correlations with cognitive changes during the 2-year multidomain intervention were analyzed.

Results:

FA decreased, and cognition improved more in the intervention group compared to the control group (p < 0.05), with no significant intergroup differences for changes in F1, F2, MD, AxD, or RD. The cognitive changes were significantly positively related to FA change, and negatively related to RD change in the control group, but not in the intervention group.

Conclusion:

The 2-year multidomain FINGER intervention may modulate white matter microstructural alterations.

中文翻译：

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手指随机对照试验中弥散张量成像的白质变化。

摘要

背景：

可以使用弥散张量成像 (DTI) 研究白质微观结构的早期病理变化。研究这些导致认知能力下降的细微病理变化不仅很重要，而且确定干预措施将如何影响痴呆症风险人群的白质微观结构和认知也很重要。

目标：

在为期 2 年的芬兰老年干预研究（FINGER）期间研究多领域生活方式干预对白质和认知变化的影响，该研究是一项针对高危老年人（60-77 岁）的随机对照试验) 来自一般人群。

方法：

这项探索性研究由 60 名 FINGER 参与者的子样本组成。参与者被随机分配到多领域干预（饮食、运动、认知训练和血管风险管理，n  = 34）或对照组（一般健康建议，n  = 26）。所有人都接受了基线和 2 年的脑 DTI。分数各向异性 (FA)、沿域 (F1) 和非域 (F2) 扩散方向的扩散率、平均扩散率 (MD)、轴向扩散率 (AxD)、径向扩散率 (RD) 的变化及其与认知过程中认知变化的相关性分析了为期 2 年的多领域干预。

结果：

与对照组相比，干预组的 FA 降低，认知改善更多（p  < 0.05），F1、F2、MD、AxD 或 RD 的变化无显着组间差异。对照组认知变化与FA变化呈显着正相关，与RD变化呈负相关，干预组无显着变化。

结论：

为期 2 年的多域 FINGER 干预可能会调节白质微观结构的改变。