Abstract

Voxel-based-morphometry (VBM) is a whole-brain, unbiased technique for characterizing regional cerebral volume and tissue concentration differences in structural magnetic resonance images. We describe an optimized method of VBM to examine the effects of age on grey and white matter and CSF in 465 normal adults. Global grey matter volume decreased linearly with age, with a significantly steeper decline in males. Local areas of accelerated loss were observed bilaterally in the insula, superior parietal gyri, central sulci, and cingulate sulci. Areas exhibiting little or no age effect (relative preservation) were noted in the amygdala, hippocampi, and entorhinal cortex. Global white matter did not decline with age, but local areas of relative accelerated loss and preservation were seen. There was no interaction of age with sex for regionally specific effects. These results corroborate previous reports and indicate that VBM is a useful technique for studying structural brain correlates of ageing through life in humans. © 2001 Academic Press Key Words: ageing; normal; MRI; voxel based morphometry. INTRODUCTION There is compelling evidence from post mortem and in vivo studies that the brain shrinks with age, but accurate quantification of the specific patterns of agerelated atrophy has proved elusive. It is unclear whether there are predictable common patterns of ageing or whether individual human brains respond to the ageing process idiosyncratically. Postmortem analysis of mammalian brains suggest that there may be a gradient of ageing from the association areas to the primary sensory regions, with the former showing the most prominent correlations between age and atrophy