title: MRI of the brain in neurologically healthy middle-aged and elderly individuals.
abstract: Our purpose was to document the MRI appearances of the brain in healthy middle-aged to elderly subjects. T2- and proton density-weighted axial slices were obtained in 61 volunteers, 30-86 years of age. After visual inspection, signal intensities of brain structures were measured on T2-weighted images. Age-related changes became increasingly apparent after age 50. The main findings were that signal intensity of the white matter increased concomitantly with widening of the cerebrospinal fluid spaces; that basal ganglia remained stable; that high-signal foci in white matter increased in number and size after the age of 50 years; that periventricular high-signal foci were constant after the age of 65 years. Our visual impression of a decrease in signal intensity of the central grey matter with age seems to be mistaken. Pathological processes should be suspected if periventricular foci are found in middle-aged or young subjects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Finland.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Salonen
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Autti
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Raininko
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ylikoski
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Erkinjuntti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D002552:Cerebral Ventricles / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D013788:Thalamus / Q000033:anatomy & histology