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

Our aim in the present additional study was to investigate the absolute hippocampal volume in normal adults who were divided into eight groups according to their age and gender, because our previous study with voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was not able to show the absolute hippocampal volume. High-spatial-resolution T1-weighted images with 3.0 Tesla magnetic resonance scanners were obtained on 412 healthy adults who were divided into 8 groups, according to age and gender, for analysis of brain volume change focusing on hippocampal volume. Hippocampal regions of interest were obtained with WFU PickAtlas software. As a result, the present study revealed a significant difference bilaterally between the groups of females in their forties and those in their fifties. Because this result is the same as that of our previous study with VBM, it adds evidence to the hypothesis that menopause is associated with hippocampal volume reduction. However, the result between groups of males in their sixties and those in their seventies was inconsistent in both studies. In conclusion, the present study showed that reduction in the hippocampal volume over one decade was small compared to the standard deviation in each group. This study is useful for improving our understanding of the correlation between menopause and hippocampal volume reduction.