Diffusion Tensor Imaging parameters predict quadriceps strength in younger and older healthy adults

The loss of muscle strength was previously thought to be primarily impacted by the loss of muscle volume due to sarcopenia during aging, however, this did not explain why strength declined more rapidly than muscle volume. To better understand this, our study aimed to explore Diffusion Tensor Imaging parameters and their correlations to muscle strength in addition to volume. As expected, volume had a strong positive correlation with all functional strength tests. However, we also observed that radial diffusivity had a significant negative correlation with eccentric functional strength tests, but no correlation was found with the concentric tests.