title: 3 Tesla MRI detects accelerated hippocampal volume reduction in postmenopausal women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To clarify age-related structural changes specific to hippocampal volume by hierarchizing according to age, gender, and menopausal status. Many studies report the neuroprotective effects of estrogen and age-related brain volume changes; however, there are no studies regarding age-related change specific to hippocampal volume in terms of age, gender, and menopausal status.
  
  
  METHODS
  T1-weighted MR images were obtained in 412 healthy adults divided into eight groups according to age and gender, to analyze brain volume change focusing on hippocampal volume.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) revealed significantly smaller gray matter volume in the hippocampus bilaterally in females aged in their fifties (51 of 59 females were at menopause) compared with females in their forties (3 of 46 females were at menopause). No significant difference was found, however, between female groups in their fifties versus sixties, or sixties versus seventies; or between male groups in their forties versus fifties, fifties versus sixties, or sixties versus seventies. In addition, VBM revealed significant hippocampal volume reduction bilaterally in all postmenopausal women compared with all premenopausal women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of the current study suggest that the menopause may be associated with hippocampal volume reduction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiological Technology, University of Tokyo Hospital, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan. car6_pa2_rw@yahoo.co.jp
authors.forename: Masami
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.forename: Tosiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyati
authors.forename: Sachiko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Inano
authors.forename: Naoto
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: Shigeki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aoki
authors.forename: Harushi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kabasawa
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ino
authors.forename: Keiichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yano
authors.forename: Kyouhito
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iida
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mima
authors.forename: Kuni
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohtomo
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009929:Organ Size / Q000502:physiology; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000502:physiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012737:Sex Factors