The brain in healthy aged individuals: MR imaging.
Twenty-four healthy aged individuals with above-average intellectual function were studied with use of a low-field-strength (0.02-T) magnetic resonance (MR) imager. The group was carefully selected so as not to include persons with signs of arteriosclerotic diseases, major somatic disease, or a history of brain disease or dementia in the family. The width of the subarachnoid spaces and lateral ventricles, as well as the frequency and degree of brain white-matter lesions, were described with the use of a visual rating scale. White matter lesions were found in less than 9% of the subjects. The lateral brain ventricles were enlarged in 8% of all individuals and the cortical cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) spaces in more than 40% of all individuals. Moreover, T1 and T2 were estimated in different brain areas, and a positive correlation between T1 in the frontal white matter and age was found. A computer-assisted classification procedure was used to estimate brain tissue and CSF areas. The results of this procedure strongly correlated with the visually estimated ventricular size.
Wahlund
L O
LO
Karolinska Institute, Department of Psychiatry, St Göran's Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
Agartz
I
I
Almqvist
O
O
Basun
H
H
Forssell
L
L
Sääf
J
J
Wetterberg
L
L
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology*; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D002552:Cerebral Ventricles / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007360:Intelligence; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male