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Characterizing dementia with Lewy bodies by means of diffusion tensor imaging
Watson R, Blamire AM, Colloby SJ, Wood JS, Barber R, He J, O'Brien JT.. Neurology, 2012-08-15
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Objective To investigate patterns of in vivo white matter tract change using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), we conducted a cross-sectional study of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) in comparison with Alzheimer disease (AD) and normal aging. Methods The study included 106 subjects (35 with DLB, 36 with AD, and 35 elderly controls) who underwent clinical and neuropsychological assessment and diffusion tensor MRI. We used tract-based spatial statistics to investigate patterns of reduced fractional anisotropy (FA) and increased mean diffusivity (MD) across the entire white matter tract skeleton and also investigated correlations with clinical features. Results Areas of reduced FA in subjects with DLB vs controls were found primarily in parieto-occipital white matter tracts; in AD, the changes were much more diffuse. DLB was also associated with reduced FA in the pons and left thalamus, in comparison with AD. The pattern of MD increase was diffuse in AD and DLB. We found an association between DTI parameters and impaired episodic memory, letter fluency, and severity of motor parkinsonism in DLB. Conclusions Despite a similar level of dementia severity, patterns of DTI changes in AD and DLB differed significantly. The selective involvement of the visual association areas and subcortical structures and the significant clinical correlations highlight the potential importance of white matter tract change in the pathogenesis of DLB. DTI may be a useful technique to investigate early and possible preclinical changes in DLB and warrants further investigation.
Key findings
- Results Areas of reduced FA in subjects with DLB vs controls were found primarily in parieto-occipital white matter tracts; in AD, the changes were much more diffuse.
- DLB was also associated with reduced FA in the pons and left thalamus, in comparison with AD.
- We found an association between DTI parameters and impaired episodic memory, letter fluency, and severity of motor parkinsonism in DLB.
- Conclusions Despite a similar level of dementia severity, patterns of DTI changes in AD and DLB differed significantly.
- The selective involvement of the visual association areas and subcortical structures and the significant clinical correlations highlight the potential importance of white matter tract change in the pathogenesis of DLB.
Why it matters
This imaging study found that patterns of white matter tract changes differed between people with dementia with Lewy bodies and those with Alzheimer's disease. It is a comparison of brain scan patterns between two types of dementia and does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention.
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Study details
- Study designcross-sectional
- Participants106
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 55/100
Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a snapshot of people at one point in time. Scored zero for effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Neurology: journal h-index 525 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 4 / 12 | A snapshot of people at one point in time |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2012 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 106 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 114 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 7.1 citations a year over 16 year(s) since 2012 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 6.7× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 5 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 21 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author John Tiernan O'Brien: h-index 140 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Newcastle University: institution h-index 932 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 22895591) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 55 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record names 7 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Watson, R., Blamire, A. M., Colloby, S. J., Wood, J. S., Barber, R., He, J., et al. (2012). Characterizing dementia with Lewy bodies by means of diffusion tensor imaging. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0b013e318266fc51
Vancouver
Watson R, Blamire AM, Colloby SJ, Wood JS, Barber R, He J, et al. Characterizing dementia with Lewy bodies by means of diffusion tensor imaging. Neurology. 2012. doi:10.1212/wnl.0b013e318266fc51. PMID: 22895591.
BibTeX
@article{watson2012-22895591,
author = {Watson, R. and Blamire, A. M. and Colloby, S. J. and Wood, J. S. and Barber, R. and He, J. and O'Brien, J. T.},
title = {{Characterizing dementia with Lewy bodies by means of diffusion tensor imaging}},
journal = {Neurology},
year = {2012},
doi = {10.1212/wnl.0b013e318266fc51},
pmid = {22895591},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0b013e318266fc51}
}
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