title: Age-related neuroanatomical differences from the juvenile period to adulthood in mother-reared macaques (Macaca radiata).
abstract: Basic data on age-related neuroanatomical changes across the juvenile to adult period in nonhuman primates is sparse, and this gap in knowledge is a serious impediment to translational research aimed at understanding brain development across the lifespan. In this study, magnetic resonance images were analyzed for fifteen mother-reared, socially-housed bonnet macaques (Macaca radiata) in three age groups: juvenile, adolescent, and adult. These data are the first to show age-related changes in gray:white matter ratio and corpus callosum size in bonnet macaques. Juvenile monkeys had higher overall gray:white matter ratio as compared to adolescent and adult monkeys. Corpus callosum (CC) size varied significantly as a function of age and CC region. Total brain volume was significantly lower for juvenile monkeys as compared to both adolescents and adults. These results are consistent in pattern with age-related changes in gray:white matter ratio and regional CC differences observed in humans. Continued study of the animals in this cross-sectional study will provide an important means of determining whether differences observed between age groups reflect developmental differences due to variation in the rate of maturation of CC regions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA.
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Pierre
authors.forename: William D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Hopkins
authors.forename: Jarred P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Taglialatela
authors.forename: Cynthia J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Lees
authors.forename: Allyson J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Bennett
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000254:growth & development*; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development; D005260:Female; D008255:Macaca radiata / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009445:Neuroanatomy / Q000379:methods; D012737:Sex Factors