Objective:To explore changes of white matter microstructure in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease（COPD）via the tract-based spatial statistics（TBSS）.Methods:Diffusion Tensor Imaging（DTI）was used in the experimental group of stable non-hypoxemic patients with COPD（n=30）and the control group of volunteers with same age

gender and education background（n=30）.TBSS was used to compare the nonparametric statistics of fractional anisotropy（FA）and mean diffusion（MD）in both groups.Results:Compared with those in control group

FA including the corpus callosum

bilateral anterior thalamic radiations

the corticospinal tract

left inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus and left superior longitudinal fasciculus in the experimental group were significantly decreased（P<0.05

TFCE correction）.Meanwhile

MD including corpus callosum

bilateral inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus

right anterior thalamic radiation and left unciform fasciculus were significantly increased（P<0.05

TFCE correction）.Conclusion:It is showed that COPD patients have multiple microstructural injuries in the white matter fiber tracts.The results of DTI multiple diffusion parameters indicate degenerative changes of brain white matter fiber tracts which is related to cognitive impairment and emotion regulation.