Widespread age-related differences in the human brain microstructure revealed by quantitative magnetic resonance imaging

NEUROBIOLOGY OF AGING

卷:35

Article

Callaghan, Martina F.¹  Freund, Patrick^1,2,3  Draganski, Bogdan⁴  Anderson, Elaine¹  Cappelletti, Marinella^5,6  Chowdhury, Rumana¹  Diedrichsen, Joern⁵  FitzGerald, Thomas H. B.¹  Smittenaar, Peter¹  Helms, Gunther⁷  Lutti, Antoine⁴  Weiskopf, Nikolaus¹ 

[1] UCL Inst Neurol, Wellcome Trust Ctr Neuroimaging, London WC1N 3BG, England

[2] Univ Zurich Hosp, Spinal Cord Injury Ctr Balgrist, CH-8091 Zurich, Switzerland

[3] UCL Inst Neurol, Dept Brain Repair & Rehabil, London WC1N 3BG, England

[4] Univ Lausanne, CHUV, LREN, Dept Neurosci Clin, Lausanne, Switzerland

[5] UCL, Inst Cognit Neurosci, London, England

[6] Univ London, Goldsmiths Coll, Dept Psychol, London, England

[7] Goettingen Univ, MR Res Neurol & Psychiat, Gottingen, Germany

关键词: VBQ;    Aging;    R1;    T1;    MT;    R2*;    T2*;    Relaxation;    Magnetization transfer;    Quantitative;    3T;    Water content;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2014.02.008

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

A pressing need exists to disentangle age-related changes from pathologic neurodegeneration. This study aims to characterize the spatial pattern and age-related differences of biologically relevant measures in vivo over the course of normal aging. Quantitative multiparameter maps that provide neuroimaging biomarkers for myelination and iron levels, parameters sensitive to aging, were acquired from 138 healthy volunteers (age range: 19-75 years). Whole-brain voxel-wise analysis revealed a global pattern of age-related degeneration. Significant demyelination occurred principally in the white matter. The observed age-related differences in myelination were anatomically specific. In line with invasive histologic reports, higher age-related differences were seen in the genu of the corpus callosum than the splenium. Iron levels were significantly increased in the basal ganglia, red nucleus, and extensive cortical regions but decreased along the superior occipitofrontal fascicle and optic radiation. This whole-brain pattern of age-associated microstructural differences in the asymptomatic population provides insight into the neurobiology of aging. The results help build a quantitative baseline from which to examine and draw a dividing line between healthy aging and pathologic neurodegeneration. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

Free