Morphometric and volumetric study of caudate and putamen nuclei in normal individuals by MRI: Effect of normal aging, gender and hemispheric differences.

Abstract

SummaryBackground:The aim of this study was to determine age, gender, and hemispheric differences in the volume of the human neostriatum (striatum) nucleus in healthy humans.Material/Methods:This study was performed on 120 normal human subjects (60 males, 60 females, right-handed) 15–65 years old, divided into two groups: young (<40 yrs) and old (=≥40 yrs). Sectional brain images were obtained via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), analyzed and processed using the Image-J software, and the striatum volume was calculated using the Cavalieri’s principle, retrospectively.Results:The analyses revealed bilateral age-related shrinkage of the putamen in both genders and the putamen and caudate nucleus were significantly smaller in older than in younger subjects (P-value <0.001). The age-related shrinkage of the caudate and putamen nucleus in men and women was about 5%, 5% and 4%, 4%, respectively, and there were statistically significant volume differences between males and females (P-value <0.05). In both genders, a significant rightward asymmetry was observed in the caudate and putamen nucleus (3.89%, 4.21% in men and 4.51%, 3.32% in women).Conclusions:Bilateral age-related shrinkage and rightward asymmetry of the striate nucleus was found in healthy adults and there were significant volume differences between men and women. Obtained results provide useful baseline data on age and gender-related changes of the volume of the striatum.

Basal Ganglia Volumes: MR-Derived Reference Ranges and Lateralization Indices for Children and Young Adults

“…Negative associations of age and volume of GP and PN confirm this thesis, yet true verification can be provided only by measurement of dynamic Our data confirmed our hypotheses and indicate that differences are present in all structures studied. These findings confirm prior Results from Giedd et al 2 , Abedelahi et al 21 and Rijpkema et al 28 . This sex difference might be related to total cerebral volume, sex chromosomes, hormonal and environmental effects or to their combination.…”

“…Our data confirmed the age-related bilateral atrophy of the PN and GP volumes in males described by Gunning-Dixon et al, yet we also confirmed this relationship in females 24 . Caudate nucleus volume is not associated with age, which confirms previous findings from Vernaleken et al 22 , but contradicts the Results from Abedelahi et al 21 , Gunning-Dixon et al 24 and Raz et al 25 . The mechanisms of age-related shrinkage of the basal ganglia are still unknown.…”

“…Most of the previous analyses focusing on basal ganglia laterality revealed rightward asymmetry of the caudate nucleus (CN) 14,[19][20][21][22] , leftward asymmetry of the putamen (PN) 2,19,[21][22] and globus pallidus (GP) 2,19,23 , identifying differences in volume without a precise evaluation of the normal reference interval of basal ganglia asymmetry. Our study confirmed basal ganglia asymmetries, but the analysis was based on a larger cohort of healthy individuals (n=949).…”

Human brain asymmetry in microstructural connectivity demonstrated by diffusional kurtosis imaging

“…Our observed leftward asymmetrical ROIs and links are involved in language (parstriangularis, parsopercularis, superior temporal, supramarginal), motor (precentral), sensory (postcentral), memory (middle temporal, inferior temporal), and emotion (insula, inferior parietal) functions, and have been reported to be leftward volumetric asymmetry (Anderson et al, 1999; Chiarello et al, 2013; Foundas et al, 1998; Frederikse et al, 1999; Goldberg et al, 2013; Rademacher et al, 2001; Saenger et al, 2012). Our demonstrated rightward asymmetrical ROIs and links are involved in motor skills (putamen) and cognitive control (rostral anterior cingulate, and caudal anterior cingulate), and have been reported to be volumetric rightward asymmetry (Abedelahi et al, 2013; Huster et al, 2007). However, one previous postmortem study reported leftward volumetric asymmetry in fusiform and parahippocampal cortices (McDonald et al, 2000), whereas our results showed rightward asymmetry with DKI-based tractography (Table 1).…”

The transsexual brain – A review of findings on the neural basis of transsexualism

“…Apart from Zubiaurre-Elorza and colleagues (2013), the findings on putamen volume in transsexuals are actually inconsistent with results from studies on sexual dimorphism in control subjects. A number of studies suggest that men have a higher bilateral putamen volume or grey matter density in the putamen(Abedelahi, Hasanzadeh, Hadizadeh, & Joghataie, 2013; …”