[MRI scan of striatum volume in healthy adults].
To examine the age, sex, and hemispheric differences in volume of the striatum by MRI in healthy adults.



The volumes of the bilateral caudate nucleus and putamen were measured on MR images in 100 healthy right-handed adults (18-70 y).



The volume of bilateral caudate nucleus and putamen in healthy adults was (8.42 +/-0.88) cm(3) and (8.90 +/-0.89) cm(3), which were decreased with aging (for caudate nucleus r=-0.727, P<0.001; for putamen r=-0.709, P<0.001). The average annual shrinkage rate was 0.52 % in the caudate nucleus and 0.50 % in the putamen. There were no gender differences in the volume of the striatum, however, the age-related shrinkage of the striatum was more evident in men than that in women. The volume of the left caudate nucleus (t=4.43, P<0.001) and the putamen (t=4.88, P<0.001) was greater than that of its right counterpart.



Bilateral age-related shrinkage of the striatum is found in healthy adults, which is more evident in men than that in women. In both sexes, significant leftward asymmetry in volume of the caudate nucleus and the putamen is found.
Xu
Jing-feng
JF
Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310003, China.
Xu
Xiao-jun
XJ
Wang
Qi-dong
QD
Zhao
Yi-lei
YL
Kong
De-xing
DX
Zhang
Min-ming
MM
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002681:China; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult