title: Age effects on cortical thickness in young Down's syndrome subjects: a cross-sectional gender study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study was to determine differences in the characteristic pattern of age-related cortical thinning in men and women with Down's syndrome (DS) by means of MRI and automatic cortical thickness measurements and a cross-sectional design, in a large cohort of young subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty-four subjects with DS, 30 females (11-35 years, mean age ± SD = 22.8 ± 5.9) and 54 males (11-35 years, mean age ± SD = 21.5 ± 6.5), were examined using a 1.5-T scanner. MRI-based quantification of cortical thickness was performed using FreeSurfer software package. For all subjects participating in the study, the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient between age and mean cortical thickness values has been evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A significant negative correlation between cortical thickness and age was found in female DS subjects, predominantly in frontal and parietal lobes, bilaterally. In male DS subjects, a significant negative correlation between cortical thickness and age was found in the right fronto-temporal lobes and cingulate regions. Whole brain mean cortical thickness values were significantly negative correlated with age only in female DS subjects.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Females with Down's syndrome showed a strong correlation between cortical thickness and age, already in early age. We suggest that the cognitive impairment due to hormonal deficit in the postmenopausal period could be emphasized by the early structural decline of gray matter in female DS subjects.
authors.affiliation: San Raffaele Foundation Rome, Rehabilitation Facility Ceglie Messapica, Merit Project RBNE08E8CZ, Via di Grottarossa 1035, 00189, Rome, Italy, andrea.romano@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Romano
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moraschi
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cornia
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bozzao
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gagliardo
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chiacchiararelli
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Iani
authors.forename: Giacomo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Stella
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Albertini
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pierallini
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors