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Abstract
Although age-related effects on brain volume have been extensively investigated post
mortem and in vivo using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), regional and temporal patterns
of white matter (WM) volume changes with aging are not defined yet. The aim of this
study was to assess the topographical distribution of age-related WM volume changes
using a recently developed voxel-based method to obtain estimates of WM fiber bundle
volumes using diffusion tensor (DT) MRI. Brain conventional and DT MRI were obtained
from 84 healthy subjects (mean age=44 years, range=13-70). Linear and non-linear relationships
between age and WM fiber bundle volume changes were tested. A negative linear correlation
was found between age and WM volume decline in the corona radiata, anterior cingulum,
body and crus of the fornix and left superior cerebellar peduncle. A positive linear
correlation was found between age and volume increase of the right deep temporal association
fibers. The non-linear regression analysis also showed age-related changes of the
genu of the corpus callosum and fitted better the volume changes of the right deep
temporal association fibers. WM volume decline with age is unevenly distributed across
brain regions. Our approach holds promise to gain additional information on the pathological
changes associated to neurological disorders of the elderly.