Changes in hyperfrontality of cerebral blood flow and carbon dioxide reactivity with age

We evaluated the topographic distributions of regional cerebral blood flow in 51 normal subjects (mean age 41 years) by the xenon-133 inhalation technique. Forty-five of these subjects were divided by age into young normals less than 30 years old (mean age 24 years), middle-aged normals 30-50 years old (mean age 40 years), and elderly normals greater than 50 years old (mean age 62 years); there were 15 subjects in each group. The distributions of vascular CO2 reactivity to hypocapnia were also evaluated in 20 of the normal subjects (mean age 34 years), including 11 younger normals less than 30 years old (mean age 24 years) and nine older (middle-aged or elderly) normals greater than or equal to 30 years old (mean age 45 years). The hyperfrontal distribution of regional cerebral blood flow observed in the young and middle-aged normals was not observed in the elderly normals. The hyperfrontal distribution of vascular CO2 reactivity observed in the younger normals was absent in the older normals. In addition, the correlation between regional cerebral blood flow and vascular CO2 reactivity observed in the younger normals was disturbed in the older normals. The data show a hyperfrontal distribution of regional cerebral blood flow in normal subjects that diminishes during the fifth and sixth decades, along with a distribution of vascular CO2 reactivity in younger normal subjects that is not homogeneous throughout the frontoparietal regions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)