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The Journal of Neuroscience, January 23, 2008, 28(4):828-842; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3732-07.2008

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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Deformation Field Morphometry Reveals Age-Related Structural Differences between the Brains of Adults up to 51 Years

Peter Pieperhoff,¹ Lars Hömke,¹ Frank Schneider,^3,5 Ute Habel,³ Nadim J. Shah,^1,4 Karl Zilles,^1,2,5 and Katrin Amunts^1,3

¹Institute of Neurosciences and Biophysics–Medicine (INB 3), Research Centre Juelich, 52428 Juelich, Germany, ²C. & O. Vogt Institute of Brain Research, 40225 Duesseldorf, Germany, ³Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany, ⁴Institute of Physics, University of Dortmund, 44221 Dortmund, Germany, and ⁵Brain Imaging Center West, 52425 Juelich, Germany

Correspondence should be addressed to Peter Pieperhoff, Institute of Neurosciences and Biophysics–Medicine (INB 3), Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52428 Jülich, Germany. Email: p.pieperhoff{at}fz-juelich.de

Age-related differences in the anatomical structure of the brains from 51 healthy male subjects (age: 18–51 years) were analyzed by deformation field morphometry in a cross-sectional study. The magnetic resonance images of the brains were nonlinearly registered onto the image of a reference brain: the registration algorithm simulated an elastic deformation of each brain (source brain) so that the voxelwise intensity differences with the reference brain were minimized. A three-dimensional deformation field was calculated for each source brain that encoded the anatomical differences between the source brain and the reference brain. Maps of voxelwise volume differences between each subject's brain and the reference brain were analyzed. They showed age-related differences in anatomically defined regions of interest. Major volume decreases were found in the white matter and nuclei of the cerebellum, as well as in the ventral thalamic nuclei and the somatosensory and motor cortices, including the underlying white matter. These findings suggest that aging between the second and sixth decade predominantly affects subcortical nuclei and cortical areas of the sensorimotor system, forming the cortico-rubro-cerebello-thalamo-cortical pathway. Additionally, a pronounced age-related decline in volume was observed in the rostral anterior cingulate, orbitofrontal, and lateral prefrontal cortices. Almost no differences were observed in the occipital and temporal lobes. The ventricles showed a pronounced widening. Remarkably, these volume differences occur at a relatively early period of the human life span. It may be speculated that these structural differences accompany or precede differences in sensorimotor functions and behavior.

Key words: aging; morphometry; cerebellum; thalamus; cingulate; sensorimotor

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Received Jan. 24, 2007; revised Dec. 4, 2007; accepted Dec. 4, 2007.

Correspondence should be addressed to Peter Pieperhoff, Institute of Neurosciences and Biophysics–Medicine (INB 3), Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52428 Jülich, Germany. Email: p.pieperhoff{at}fz-juelich.de

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