ReviewMagnetic resonance in medical sciences : MRMS : an official journal of Japan Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine2024
Diffusion Tensor Image Analysis ALong the Perivascular Space (DTI-ALPS): Revisiting the Meaning and Significance of the Method.
Review in Magnetic resonance in medical sciences : MRMS : an official journal of Japan Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 254 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
254 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 249 citations in OpenAlex.
- Imaging biomarkers of glymphatic system dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis with a focus on DTI-ALPS index.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Pooled it
- DTI-ALPS index and cognitive impairment in cerebral small vessel disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Pooled it
- Glymphatic Pathway Dysfunction in Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging Along the Perivascular Space.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2025Pooled it
- Age, Multidomain Lifestyle Intervention, and White Matter Integrity: Secondary Analysis of the POINTER Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2026Trial
- Trial
- Effects of intermittent theta-burst stimulation on cognition and glymphatic system activity in mild cognitive impairment and very mild Alzheimer's disease: a randomized controlled trial.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2025Trial
- Left-lateralized glymphatic dysfunction is associated with MoCA-measured cognitive impairment in cerebral small vessel disease: A DTI-ALPS study.IBRO neuroscience reports · 2026Article
- Brain Clearance of Contrast Agent in Intravenous DCE-MRI Is Measurable and Cannot Be Explained by Clearance Across the BBB Alone.Magnetic resonance in medicine · 2026Article
- The glymphatic-lymphatic axis: known pathways, open questions, and emerging roles in neurodegeneration.Translational neurodegeneration · 2026Review
- Exploring the role of glymphatic system in Alzheimer's disease with insights from MRI-based studies: a systematic review.Neuroradiology · 2026Review
- Glymphatic system dysfunction in central nervous system malignancies: A narrative review.Neurosurgical review · 2026Review
- DTI-ALPS Primarily Reflects White Matter Diffusion Dispersion and Microstructural Heterogeneity in Neurodegeneration: Insights From Multi-Modal MRI.Human brain mapping · 2026Article
- Recent advances in MR neuroimaging: toward quantitative and AI-driven brain and spinal cord imaging.Japanese journal of radiology · 2026Review
- DTI-ALPS as a Biomarker of Small Vessel Disease Progression and Amyloid-β in Normal Aging: A 3-Year Longitudinal Study.Human brain mapping · 2026Article
- Diffusion tensor image analysis along the perivascular space (DTI-ALPS): redefining its interpretation and role.Japanese journal of radiology · 2026Review
- Altered Neurofluid Dynamics Markers in Middle-Aged and Older Women With Insomnia: A Multiparametric MR Neuroimaging Study.Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI · 2026Article
- The impaired hemodynamics of choroid plexus and its interactions within the glymphatic system in Parkinson's disease.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Harnessing Brain Age-Specific Effects on the Associations Between Sleep Quality, Glymphatic Function, and Cognition in Normal Ageing Adults: Insights for Gerotherapeutics.Neurology and therapy · 2026Article
- Chronic kidney disease and cognitive decline: choroid plexus remodeling, glymphatic dysfunction, and alzheimer biomarker interpretation.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2026Review
- A conversation on human brain clearance.Nature communications · 2026Article
194 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
More than 5 years have passed since the Diffusion Tensor Image Analysis ALong the Perivascular Space (DTI-ALPS) method was proposed with the intention of evaluating the glymphatic system. This method is handy due to its noninvasiveness, provision of a simple index in a straightforward formula, and the possibility of retrospective analysis. Therefore, the ALPS method was adopted to evaluate the glymphatic system for many disorders in many studies. The purpose of this review is to look back and discuss the ALPS method at this moment.The ALPS-index was found to be an indicator of a number of conditions related to the glymphatic system. Thus, although this was expected in the original report, the results of the ALPS method are often interpreted as uniquely corresponding to the function of the glymphatic system. However, a number of subsequent studies have pointed out the problems on the data interpretation. As they rightly point out, a higher ALPS-index indicates predominant Brownian motion of water molecules in the radial direction at the lateral ventricular body level, no more and no less. Fortunately, the term "ALPS-index" has become common and is now known as a common term by many researchers. Therefore, the ALPS-index should simply be expressed as high or low, and whether it reflects a glymphatic system is better to be discussed carefully. In other words, when a decreased ALPS-index is observed, it should be expressed as "decreased ALPS-index" and not directly as "glymphatic dysfunction". Recently, various methods have been proposed to evaluate the glymphatic system. It has become clear that these methods also do not seem to reflect the entirety of the extremely complex glymphatic system. This means that it would be desirable to use various methods in combination to evaluate the glymphatic system in a comprehensive manner.
Indexed as
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What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.