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Different Grey Matter Microstructural Patterns in Cognitively Healthy Versus Typical Ageing Healthy Versus Typical
Pavel Filip1,2,3, J Riley McCarten4,5, Laura Hemmy4,6
1Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR), University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
NMR in Biomedicine
|December 12, 2024
Summary
This study compared neurocognitively healthy aging individuals with typical aging individuals using MRI. Findings suggest distinct microstructural MRI metric trajectories between groups, highlighting the importance of stringent cohort selection in aging research.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Radiology
- Gerontology
Background:
- Aging is a complex biological process impacting various systems.
- Homogeneous study populations are crucial for accurate interpretations of aging research outcomes.
- The Human Connectome Project-Aging (HCP-A) provides valuable MRI data for studying aging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare microstructural MRI metrics between neurocognitively healthy and typical aging individuals over 55 years old.
- To investigate the relationship between age and specific MRI metrics in different aging cohorts.
- To analyze MRI data from individuals over 90 years old as a reference for 'super-aging'.
Main Methods:
- Utilized structural scans, diffusion-weighted imaging, and T1w/T2w ratio from HCP-A data.
- Compared a stringent neurocognitively healthy subgroup (n=37) with age/sex-matched typical aging individuals (n=37).
- Analyzed data from individuals older than 90 years (n=26).
Main Results:
- Significant differences in the relationship between age and microstructural MRI metrics (T1w/T2w ratio, mean diffusivity, intracellular volume fraction, free water volume fraction) were found in key brain regions (hippocampus, prefrontal/temporal cortex, cerebellum) between the healthy and typical aging groups.
- The healthy aging cohort exhibited generally stable MRI metric levels compared to the typical aging group.
- The aging trajectories of the healthy group did not significantly differ from the typical group when compared to individuals over 90 years old.
Conclusions:
- Stringent selection criteria for neurocognitively healthy aging cohorts are essential for valid interpretations.
- The choice of study group characteristics significantly impacts the interpretation of aging-related hypotheses.
- While distinct MRI metric patterns exist between healthy and typical aging, further research is needed to understand trajectories relative to exceptional aging ('super-agers').
