A longitudinal study of brain volume changes in normal aging

doi:10.1016/j.ejrad.2011.10.011

European Journal of Radiology

Volume 81, Issue 10, October 2012, Pages 2801-2804

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrad.2011.10.011 Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate the effect of normal aging on brain volumes and examine the effects of age and sex on the rates of changes in global and regional brain volumes.

Methods

A total of 199 normal subjects (65 females and 134 males, mean age = 56.4 ± 9.9 years, age range = 38.1–82.9 years) were included in this study. Each subject was scanned twice, at an interval of about 2 years (range = 1.5–2.3 years). Two-time-point percentage brain volume change (PBVC) was estimated with SIENA 2.6.

Results

The mean annualized PBVC was −0.23%/y. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) for annual brain volume changes revealed a main effect of age. There was no main effect of sex, nor was there a sex-by-age interaction. Voxel-wise analysis revealed a negative correlation between age and edge displacement values mainly in the periventricular region.

Conclusions

The results of our study indicate that brain atrophy accelerates with increasing age and that there is no gender difference in the rate of brain atrophy.

Introduction

It is important to characterize the brains of clinically normal individuals as part of the normal developmental process and as distinct from explicit disease or pathology. Even normally aging brains undergo structural changes in the absence of neurodegenerative disease. Our current knowledge on the evolution of brain atrophy during aging is derived mostly from cross-sectional studies. Such studies estimate the average rate of aging from correlations with age. Unlike longitudinal studies, however, they are incapable of directly gauging rates of change and individual differences therein. The large amount of between-subject variability that exists in the normal cerebral morphology reduces the sensitivity of methods to detect cerebral volume differences between groups of subjects of different ages. They are also incapable of distinguishing between secular changes and changes directly attributed to the aging process.

Longitudinal studies avoid some of the problems of secular trends and between-subject variation, as each subject forms his or her own control. Such studies of brain morphology are few and vary widely in participant selection and methods [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17], [18]. There are contradictory results about the age-related changes that occur in the normally aging brain. Atrophy rates may be constant throughout adult life, and the cross-sectional differences seen may be the accumulation of this low-level atrophy [1], [5], [6], [11], [12], [18]. Alternatively, atrophy may accelerate with increasing age [7], [9], [17]. Because of the large differences in methods and sample groups, it is not clear whether the decline in cross-sectional brain volume is a result of consistent low-level atrophy, or whether the rate of atrophy accelerates with increasing age. To establish this, it is necessary to examine atrophy rates across the wide age range. In this study, we evaluated the effect of normal aging on brain volumes across an age range of 38–83 years and examined the effects of age and sex on the rates of changes in global and regional brain volumes.

Section snippets

Subjects

A total of 199 normal subjects (65 females and 134 males, mean age = 56.4 ± 9.9 years, age range = 38.1–82.9 years) were included in this study. All subjects were volunteers who underwent private health screening. None of the subjects had a history of neuropsychiatric disorder including serious head trauma, psychiatric disorders, or alcohol/substance abuse or dependence. The mean Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score was 29.6 ± 0.7 (range = 27–30). Each subject was scanned twice, at an interval of

Results

The mean annualized PBVC was −0.23 ± 0.36%/y (male, −0.23 ± 0.36%/y; female, −0.24 ± 0.36%/y). The ANCOVA for annual brain volume changes revealed a main effect of age (PBVC, F = 33.0, P < 0.0001; NBVC, F = 29.5, P < 0.0001). There was no main effect of sex (PBVC, F = 0.30, P = 0.60; NBVC, F = 0.20, P = 0.65), nor was there a sex-by-age interaction (PBVC, F = 1.23, P = 0.27; NBVC, F = 1.45, P = 0.23). Simple linear regression analysis showed a significant negative correlation between age and annual brain volume changes

Discussion

In this study, we examined the effects of age and sex on the rates of changes in global and regional brain volumes. The results demonstrated that brain atrophy accelerates with increasing age (mainly in the periventricular region). There was no gender difference in its acceleration rate.

The relationship between brain volume and age in normal individuals has been addressed through cross-sectional studies of individuals spanning various age ranges. A large number of cross-sectional studies found

Conclusions

The results of our study indicate that brain atrophy accelerates with increasing age and that there is no gender difference in the rate of brain atrophy. Our results further indicate that ventricular expansion accelerates with increasing age (reflecting central brain atrophy) and that there is no gender difference in its acceleration rate.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr. Sachiko Inano, Dr. Mizuho Murakami, Dr. Wataru Gonoi, Dr. Yayoi Hayakawa, Dr. Katsura Masaki, Ms. Tomomi Kurosu, Mr. Masami Goto, Dr. Hiroki Sasaki, Dr. Eriko Maeda, and Dr. Takeharu Yoshikawa for their help in collecting data.

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A longitudinal study of brain volume changes in normal aging

Abstract

Purpose

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Introduction

Section snippets

Subjects

Results

Discussion

Conclusions

Acknowledgements

Neuroimage

Neurobiol Aging

Neuroimage

Neuroimage

Brain volume preserved in healthy elderly through the eleventh decade

Neurology

One-year age changes in MRI brain volumes in older adults

Cereb Cortex

Longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging studies of older adults: a shrinking brain

J Neurosci

Brain volume changes on longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging in normal older people

J Neuroimaging

A longitudinal study of brain volume changes in normal aging using serial registered magnetic resonance imaging

Arch Neurol

Risk factors for progression of brain atrophy in aging: six-year follow-up of normal subjects

Neurology