Fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity in the corpus callosum of patients with multiple sclerosis: the effect of physiotherapy
Abstract
Modulation of neurodegeneration by physical activity is an active topic in contemporary research. The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in the brain's microstructure in multiple sclerosis (MS) after facilitation physiotherapy.
Eleven patients with MS were examined using motor and neuropsychological testing and multimodal MRI at the beginning of the study, with second baseline measurement after 1 month without any therapy, and after a 2-month period of facilitation physiotherapy. Eleven healthy controls were examined at the beginning of the study and after 1 month.
Fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (λax), and radial diffusivity (λrad) were calculated for the whole corpus callosum (CC) in the midsagittal slice of T1W 3D MPRAGE spatially normalized images. Data were analyzed using linear mixed-effect models, paired, and two-sample tests.
The results of the study show that facilitation physiotherapy influences brain microstructure measured by DTI