Age-related relative volume preservation of the dominant hand cortical region.
Aging is usually associated with a progressive difficulty in learning new skills. Similarly, the dexterity in the non-dominant hand is usually decreased with age, while the dominant hand maintains a relative preservation in agility. We investigated if age-related volume loss affects the hand areas asymmetrically by comparing structural measures of the dominant hand area versus the non-dominant area. We performed a region of interest analysis of T1-weighted images focusing on the sensorimotor cortex corresponding to the hand area. We evaluated images from young subjects (younger than 65 years of age, n=38, mean age=24+/-7 years) and senior subjects (65 years or older, n=61, mean age =73+/-6 years). We observed that older adults exhibited greater leftward gray matter asymmetry of sensorimotor cortex, due in large part to more pronounced age-related loss of gray matter in the right hemisphere. These results are consistent with evidence that disuse leads to atrophy and suggest that age-related declines in gray matter, and perhaps function, may be limited by increasing the use of the non-dominant hand.
Bonilha
Leonardo
L
Division of Neurology, Medical University of South Carolina, 96 Jonathan Lucas St, 3rd floor, Charleston, SC 29412, USA. bonilha@musc.edu
Eckert
Mark A
MA
Fridriksson
Julius
J
Hirth
Victor A
VA
Moser
Dana
D
Morgan
Paul S
PS
Rorden
Chris
C
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D009929:Organ Size