Reduced corpus callosum white matter microstructural integrity revealed by diffusion tensor eigenvalues in abstinent methamphetamine addicts

The purpose of the current study was to determine whether abstinent methamphetamine (MA) abusers demonstrate differences in white matter (WM) integrity of the corpus callosum (CC) due to possible neurotoxic effects of long-term MA abuse, compared with control subjects. In addition to fractional anisotropy (FA), the eigenvalues of the diffusion ellipsoid were used to evaluate the microstructural source of abnormal change in abstinent MA abusers if there occurred a difference in white matter integrity of the CC between healthy controls and abstinent MA abusers. Results showed significantly reduced FA in the genu of the corpus callosum in MA-dependent subjects compared with controls. Furthermore, the eigenvalues offered a unique opportunity to assess the microstructural source of abnormal changes in the genu of the CC. The relationships between Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) performance and the values of tensor measures also suggest that altered myelination is a possible source of FA reduction observed in the genu of the CC in MA abusers.