TOPIC ARTICLE Voxel-based analysis of the diffusion tensor Osamu Abe & Hidemasa Takao & Wataru Gonoi & Hiroki Sasaki & Mizuho Murakami & Hiroyuki Kabasawa & Hiroshi Kawaguchi & Masami Goto & Haruyasu Yamada & Hidenori Yamasue & Kiyoto Kasai & Shigeki Aoki & Kuni Ohtomo Received: 17 April 2010 / Accepted: 30 April 2010 / Published online: 14 May 2010 # Springer-Verlag 2010 Abstract Introduction Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has provided important insights into the neurobiological basis for normal development and aging and various disease processes in the central nervous system. The aim of this article is to review the current protocols for DTI acquisition and preprocessing and statistical testing for a voxelwise analysis of DTI, focused on statistical parametric mapping (SPM) and tract- based spatial statistics (TBSS). Methods We tested the effects of distortion correction induced by gradient nonlinearity on fractional anisotropy (FA) maps or FA skeletons processed via two SPM-based methods (coregistration and FA template methods), or TBSS-based method, respectively. Results With two SPM-based methods, we found similar results in some points (e.g., significant FA elevation for uncorrected images in anterior-dominant white matter and for corrected images in bilateral middle cerebellar peduncles) and different results in other points (e.g., significantly larger FA for corrected images with coregistration method, but significantly smaller with FA template method in bilateral internal capsules, extending to corona radiata, and semioval centers). In contrast, there was no area with significant difference O. Abe (*) : H. Takao : W. Gonoi : H. Sasaki : M. Murakami : K. Ohtomo Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan e-mail: abediag-tky@umin.ac.jp H. Kabasawa MR Applied Science Laboratory Japan, GE Yokogawa Medical Systems, 4-7-127 Asahigaoka, Hino-shi, Tokyo 191-8503, Japan H. Kawaguchi Molecular Imaging Center, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-ku, Chiba-shi 263-8555, Japan M. Goto Department of Radiological Technology, University of Tokyo Hospital, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan H. Yamada Department of Radiology, Chiba Medical Center, Teikyo University, 3426-3 Anegasaki, Ichihara-shi, Chiba 299-0111, Japan H. Yamasue : K. Kasai Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan S. Aoki Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Juntendo University, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8421, Japan Neuroradiology (2010) 52:699–710 DOI 10.1007/s00234-010-0716-3