Cerebral white matter bundle measurements by magnetic resonance imaging

: The width of the anterior whole white matter bundle (AWM), interhemispheric (AWM-TER), and intrahemispheric (AWM-TRA) components at the level of the foramen of Monro on horizontal inversion recovery (IR) magnetic resonance (MR) scans were measured in 32 healthy males. The mean age of subjects were 54.4 +/- 18.8, ranged 25 to 83 years old. MR scans were performed using a 0.5 Tesla superconductive magnet, with inversion time of 400 msec, repetition time of 2.1 sec and echo time of 35 msec. The slice thickness was 10mm. Horizontal maximum internal skull diameter (HISD) at the same level was also measured and normalized values of AWM, AWM-TER, AWM-TRA were calculated by dividing the width of AWM, AWM-TER, AWM-TRA by the width of HISD. When absolute values of each AWM width were compared between right and left sides, there were no differences in AWM and AWM-TER. However, AWM-TRA of the right side was significantly wider than that of the left side (t = 4.28, p less than 0.001). The width of AWM was not correlated with age, but the width of AWM-TER showed a significant decline in the left (r = -0.36, p = 0.04) and non-significant trend to decline in the right side (r = -0.33, p = 0.07). The width of AWM-TRA of the left side was tended to decrease with age. Normalized values of AWM, AWM-TER, AWM-TRA showed a similar results as that of the absolute values. The measurement of the white matter bundle width provide some insights into the connectivity of the brain.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)