UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

Disentangling in vivo the effects of iron content and atrophy on the ageing human brain.

Lorio, S; Lutti, A; Kherif, F; Ruef, A; Dukart, J; Chowdhury, R; Frackowiak, RS; ... Draganski, B; + view all (2014) Disentangling in vivo the effects of iron content and atrophy on the ageing human brain. Neuroimage , 103C 280 - 289. 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.09.044. Green open access

[thumbnail of 1-s2.0-S1053811914007861-main.pdf] PDF
1-s2.0-S1053811914007861-main.pdf

Download (2MB)

Abstract

Evidence from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies shows that healthy aging is associated with profound changes in cortical and subcortical brain structures. The reliable delineation of cortex and basal ganglia using automated computational anatomy methods based on T1-weighted images remains challenging, which results in controversies in the literature. In this study we use quantitative MRI (qMRI) to gain an insight into the microstructural mechanisms underlying tissue ageing and look for potential interactions between ageing and brain tissue properties to assess their impact on automated tissue classification. To this end we acquired maps of longitudinal relaxation rate R1, effective transverse relaxation rate R2* and magnetization transfer - MT, from healthy subjects (n=96, aged 21-88years) using a well-established multi-parameter mapping qMRI protocol. Within the framework of voxel-based quantification we find higher grey matter volume in basal ganglia, cerebellar dentate and prefrontal cortex when tissue classification is based on MT maps compared with T1 maps. These discrepancies between grey matter volume estimates can be attributed to R2* - a surrogate marker of iron concentration, and further modulation by an interaction between R2* and age, both in cortical and subcortical areas. We interpret our findings as direct evidence for the impact of ageing-related brain tissue property changes on automated tissue classification of brain structures using SPM12. Computational anatomy studies of ageing and neurodegeneration should acknowledge these effects, particularly when inferring about underlying pathophysiology from regional cortex and basal ganglia volume changes.

Type: Article
Title: Disentangling in vivo the effects of iron content and atrophy on the ageing human brain.
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.09.044
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.09.044
Language: English
Additional information: © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
Keywords: Basal ganglia, Magnetization transfer, Quantitative magnetic imaging, R1, Voxel-based morphometry, Voxel-based quantification
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology > Imaging Neuroscience
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Developmental Neurosciences Dept
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1450445
Downloads since deposit
126Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item