Variation in longitudinal trajectories of cortical sulci in normal elderly

Xinke Shen; Tao Liu; Dacheng Tao; Yubo Fan; Jicong Zhang; Shuyu Li; Jiyang Jiang; Wanlin Zhu; Yilong Wang; Yongjun Wang; Henry Brodaty; Perminder Sachdev; Wei Wen

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.10.010

Variation in longitudinal trajectories of cortical sulci in normal elderly

Neuroimage. 2018 Feb 1:166:1-9. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.10.010. Epub 2017 Nov 4.

Authors

Xinke Shen¹, Tao Liu², Dacheng Tao³, Yubo Fan⁴, Jicong Zhang⁵, Shuyu Li⁴, Jiyang Jiang⁶, Wanlin Zhu⁷, Yilong Wang⁸, Yongjun Wang⁸, Henry Brodaty⁹, Perminder Sachdev⁶, Wei Wen⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, China; Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
² School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, China; Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Big Data-Based Precision Medicine, Beijing, China; Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering, Beijing, China. Electronic address: tao.liu@buaa.edu.cn.
³ UBTech Sydney Artificial Intelligence Institute, FEIT, University of Sydney, Darlington, NSW, Australia; The School of Information Technologies, FEIT, University of Sydney, Darlington, NSW, Australia.
⁴ School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, China; Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering, Beijing, China.
⁵ School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, China; Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Big Data-Based Precision Medicine, Beijing, China.
⁶ Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Neuropsychiatric Institute, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁷ Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Beijing TianTan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
⁸ Beijing TianTan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
⁹ Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Dementia Collaborative Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

PMID: 29080713
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.10.010

Abstract

Sulcal morphology has been reported to change with age-related neurological diseases, but the trajectories of sulcal change in normal ageing in the elderly is still unclear. We conducted a study of sulcal morphological changes over seven years in 132 normal elderly participants aged 70-90 years at baseline, and who remained cognitively normal for the next seven years. We examined the fold opening and sulcal depth of sixteen (eight on each hemisphere) prominent sulci based on T1-weighted MRI using automated methods with visual quality control. The trajectory of each individual sulcus with respect to age was examined separately by linear mixed models. Fold opening was best modelled by cubic fits in five sulci, by quadratic models in six sulci and by linear models in five sulci, indicating an accelerated widening of a number of sulci in older age. Sulcal depth showed significant linear decline in three sulci and quadratic trend in one sulcus. Turning points of non-linear trajectories towards accelerated widening of the fold were found to be around the age between 75 and 80, indicating an accelerated atrophy of brain cortex starting in the age of late 70s. Our findings of cortical sulcal changes in normal ageing could provide a reference for studies of neurocognitive disorders, including neurodegenerative diseases, in the elderly.

Keywords: Aging; Cortex; Cortical folding; Elderly; MRI.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Age Factors
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Aging / pathology*
Atrophy / pathology
Cerebral Cortex / diagnostic imaging
Cerebral Cortex / pathology*
Female
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male