Symmetrical and asymmetrical changes in brain tissue with age as measured on CT scans

Age-related changes in mean CT attenuation values of brain tissue were analyzed by an objective, automated technique. Study participants included 64 healthy men ranging in age from 31 to 87 years. Five CT slices from each individual were evaluated: the last ventricular slice and the next four supraventricular slices. Regression analyses indicated that specific regions in the brain change with age. A schematic reconstruction of these regions suggests that several brain regions are selectively altered with age. On the medial aspect of the cerebral hemisphere there was bilaterally symmetrical atrophy of the cingulate gyrus and sulcus, the adjacent interhemispheric frontal gyri, the parietooccipital sulcus, and the marginal branch of the cingulate sulcus. On the convexity of the cerebral hemispheres there was asymmetrical widening of the central and postcentral sulcus on the left, and the intraparietal sulcus on the right.