David Salat, Ph.D.
NMR Center,
Massachusetts General Hospital
will speak on
MRI techniques to examine age and Alzheimer-related changes in the brain
Abstract:
Theories of brain aging suggest that cortical atrophy is minimal in
early adulthood, and that it is regionally selective, with earliest
and most profound changes occurring in association cortex, and later
and less significant changes occurring in primary sensory and motor
cortex. Still, how early in the lifespan such changes begin and
whether atrophy follows such a regional gradient remains unclear as
prior studies have not examined age-related atrophy across the entire
cortical surface. We measured the thickness of the cerebral cortex from
magnetic resonance images (MRI) in 106 healthy participants ranging in age
from 18 to 93. Thinning was apparent within the young participant group,
suggesting that age-related cortical thinning occurs early in adulthood.
Differences between younger and older adults were regionally widespread,
including primary sensory and motor regions, without obvious relation to
known histological or functional specificity. We conclude that cortical
atrophy occurs earlier and is more widespread than previously assumed,
and that current theories suggesting a progression of atrophy from
association to primary sensory and motor cortex are incomplete.
The lecture will take place in
Room 401, 44 Cummington St.
on Friday, October 25, 2002
at 11:00 am
Hosted by the
Brain and Vision Research Laboratory