Regional Frontal Cortical Volumes Decrease Differentially in Aging: An MRI Study to Compare Volumetric Approaches and Voxel-Based Morphometry

doi:10.1006/nimg.2002.1173

NeuroImage

Volume 17, Issue 2, October 2002, Pages 657-669

https://doi.org/10.1006/nimg.2002.1173 Get rights and content

Abstract

Recent neuroimaging studies suggest that the frontal lobes are the part of the brain most profoundly affected by the aging process. The present study investigated whether subregions within the frontal cortex show different patterns of brain aging. Magnetic resonance images of 57 healthy participants between 21 and 81 years old were used to measure regional frontal gray matter volumes in three ways: a manual tracing method, a semiautomatic “Talairach boxes” volumetric method, and voxel-based morphometry. Seven regions within each hemisphere were manually traced: precentral gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, dorsolateral frontal cortex, ventral medial region, lateral orbital region, anterior cingulate, and frontal pole. With the semiautomatic approach, four regions were measured: lateral, orbital, and medial frontal regions and frontal pole. Advancing age was strongly associated with decreases in the volume of the whole frontal cortex. Differential age effects on the volumes of frontal subregions were dependent on the method applied. According to the manual approach, age-related volume decreases were strongest in the lateral and orbital frontal gray matter. The semiautomatic and voxel-based analyses found that age effects were most prominent within the lateral frontal and cingulate regions. Overall, it was concluded that although semiautomated and voxel-based methods can provide a reasonable estimate of regional brain volume, they cannot serve as a substitute for manual volumetry.

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Regular ArticleRegional Frontal Cortical Volumes Decrease Differentially in Aging: An MRI Study to Compare Volumetric Approaches and Voxel-Based Morphometry

Abstract

NeuroImage

NeuroImage

NeuroImage

NeuroImage

J. Psychiatr. Res.

NeuroImage

NeuroImage

Prog. Brain Res.

Neurobiol. Aging

NeuroImage

Acta Psychol.

Neurobiol. Aging

Prog. Brain Res.

Cogn. Brain Res.

NeuroImage

Regional brain abnormalities in schizophrenia measured with magnetic resonance imaging

J. Am. Med. Assoc.

On the methods and theory of reliability

J. Nerv. Ment. Dis.

Functional neuroimaging of cognitive aging

Anatomical imaging of the aging human brain: Computed Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging

ANIMAL: Automatic nonlinear image matching and anatomical labeling

Automatic 3D model-based neuroanatomical segmentation

Hum. Brain Mapp.

Automatic 3D intersubject registration of MR volumetric data in standardized Talairach space

J. Comput. Assist. Tomogr.

Normal brain development and aging: Quantitative analysis at in vivo MR imaging in healthy volunteers

Radiology

Sex differences in aging of the human frontal and temporal lobes

J. Neurosci.

Frontal-subcortical circuits and human behavior

Arch. Neurol.

Anatomic and behavioral aspects of frontal-subcortical circuits

Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci.

The Human Brain: Surface, Three-Dimensional Sectional Anatomy and MRI

Dissociable functions in the medical and lateral orbitofrontal cortex: Evidence from human neuroimaging studies

Cereb. Cortex

Computational approaches to quantifying human neuroanatomical variability

The Prefrontal Cortex: Anatomy, Physiology, and Neuropsychology of the Frontal Lobe

Regular Article
Regional Frontal Cortical Volumes Decrease Differentially in Aging: An MRI Study to Compare Volumetric Approaches and Voxel-Based Morphometry