title: Correlation between pulmonary function and brain volume in healthy elderly subjects.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cigarette smoking decreases brain regional gray matter volume and is related to chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD). COPD leads to decreased pulmonary function, which is represented by forced expiratory volume in one second percentage (FEV1.0 %); however, it is unclear if decreased pulmonary function is directly related to brain gray matter volume decline. Because there is a link between COPD and cognitive decline, revealing a direct relationship between pulmonary function and brain structure is important to better understand how pulmonary function affects brain structure and cognitive function. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze whether there were significant correlations between FEV1.0 % and brain regional gray and white matter volumes using brain magnetic resonance (MR) image data from 109 community-dwelling healthy elderly individuals.
  
  
  METHODS
  Brain MR images were processed with voxel-based morphometry using a custom template by applying diffeomorphic anatomical registration using the exponentiated lie algebra procedure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found a significant positive correlation between the regional white matter volume of the cerebellum and FEV1.0 % after adjusting for age, sex, and intracranial volume.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that elderly individuals who have a lower FEV1.0 % have decreased regional white matter volume in the cerebellum. Therefore, preventing decreased pulmonary function is important for cerebellar white matter volume in the healthy elderly population.
authors: Division of Medical Image Analysis, Department of Community Medical Supports, Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan. ytaki@idac.tohoku.ac.jp
authors: Yasuyuki
authors: Y
authors: Taki
authors: Shigeo
authors: S
authors: Kinomura
authors: Satoru
authors: S
authors: Ebihara
authors: Benjamin
authors: B
authors: Thyreau
authors: Kazunori
authors: K
authors: Sato
authors: Ryoi
authors: R
authors: Goto
authors: Masako
authors: M
authors: Kakizaki
authors: Ichiro
authors: I
authors: Tsuji
authors: Ryuta
authors: R
authors: Kawashima
authors: Hiroshi
authors: H
authors: Fukuda
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008448:Maximal Expiratory Flow Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology*; D009929:Organ Size / Q000502:physiology; D013223:Statistics as Topic