RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Multimodal Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Thalamic Development and Aging across the Human Lifespan: Implications to Neurodegeneration in Multiple Sclerosis
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 16826
OP 16832
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4184-11.2011
VO 31
IS 46
A1 Khader M. Hasan
A1 Indika S. Walimuni
A1 Humaira Abid
A1 Richard E. Frye
A1 Linda Ewing-Cobbs
A1 Jerry S. Wolinsky
A1 Ponnada A. Narayana
YR 2011
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/31/46/16826.abstract
AB The human brain thalami play essential roles in integrating cognitive, sensory, and motor functions. In multiple sclerosis (MS), quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (qMRI) measurements of the thalami provide important biomarkers of disease progression, but late development and aging confound the interpretation of data collected from patients over a wide age range. Thalamic tissue volume loss due to natural aging and its interplay with lesion-driven pathology has not been investigated previously. In this work, we used standardized thalamic volumetry combined with diffusion tensor imaging, T2 relaxometry, and lesion mapping on large cohorts of controls (N = 255, age range = 6.2–69.1 years) and MS patients (N = 109, age range = 20.8–68.5 years) to demonstrate early age- and lesion-independent thalamic neurodegeneration.