This review covers the fundamentals of diffusion tensor imaging. It is written with the clinician in mind and assumes the reader has a passing familiarity with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Topics covered include comparison of diffusion MRI with conventional MRI, water apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), diffusion anisotropy, tract tracing, and changes of water apparent diffusion in response to injury. The discussion centers primarily on applications to the central nervous system, but examples from other tissues are included.