摘要篇首： Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exploits the properties of randomly moving water molecules in the presence of magnetic field gradients. Within tissue, diffusion of water molecules is restricted by cell membranes, small vessels, axon cylinders, membrane, chemical interactions of water and macromolecules. In the brain, water diffusion exhibits directionality in the orientation along the long axis of white matter. This is referred to as "diffusion anisotropy". Diffusion anisotropy can be measured via diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). There is a class of anisotropy indices that reflect the degree of anisotropy of water diffusion which are related to the degree of architectural and structural coherence within each voxel of the tissue. Fractional anisotropy (FA) was the most frequently used index of anisotropy.