Accelerated hippocampal volume reduction in post-menopausal women: an additional study with Atlas-based method

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Human Anatomy
• Gerontology

Background:

• Previous voxel-based morphometry (VBM) studies could not determine absolute hippocampal volume.
• Understanding age-related brain changes, particularly in the hippocampus, is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate absolute hippocampal volume in healthy adults across different age and gender groups.
• To explore the relationship between menopause and hippocampal volume reduction.
• To compare findings with previous VBM studies.

Main Methods:

• Acquired high-spatial-resolution T1-weighted MRI scans from 412 healthy adults.
• Utilized 3.0 Tesla scanners for brain imaging.
• Employed WFU PickAtlas software to define hippocampal regions of interest.

Main Results:

• A significant bilateral reduction in hippocampal volume was observed between women in their forties and fifties.
• This finding supports the hypothesis that menopause is associated with hippocampal volume reduction.
• Inconsistent results were found for hippocampal volume changes in males between their sixties and seventies.

Conclusions:

• The study provides evidence for menopause-related hippocampal volume reduction in women.
• Observed hippocampal volume reduction over a decade was minimal relative to group standard deviation.
• Findings enhance understanding of the correlation between menopause and hippocampal volume.