Abstract: A system and method is provided in which a diffusion tensor image of the gray matter of a subject's brain is recorded. The diffusion tensor image is used to determine the Fractional Anisotropy of that area of the subject's brain. It has been determined that a decrease in Fractional Anisotropy is related to a decrease in dendritic quality and/or quantity in the subject's brain, which is typically caused by the presence of Alzheimer's Disease. Consequently, the Fractional Anisotropy determination is used to diagnosis the presence of Alzheimer's Disease.

Abstract: A system and method for determining the location and density of plaques in a neuroimage is disclosed according to one embodiment of the invention. In some embodiments, catchment basins are identified as potential plaque areas (candidate regions) in the neuroimage. The Laplacian of each element within the catchment basins can be calculated and the highest Laplacian in the catchment basin identified as a candidate feature. The local contrast can be computed as the ratio between the local minimum of the catchment basin and the average (or some other statistic like the maximum or minimum) intensity of the neighboring watersheds can be used as another candidate feature. In some embodiments, a classifier can be used to discriminate the candidates into plaques or non-plaques, since plaques tend to have a larger Laplacian and larger local contrast than other brain structures.

Abstract: A system and method is provided in which a diffusion tensor image of the gray matter of a subject's brain is recorded. The diffusion tensor image is used to determine the Fractional Anisotropy of that area of the subject's brain. It has been determined that a decrease in Fractional Anisotropy is related to a decrease in dendritic quality and/or quantity in the subject's brain, which is typically caused by the presence of Alzheimer's Disease. Consequently, the Fractional Anisotropy determination is used to diagnosis the presence of Alzheimer's Disease.