Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2003 Oct;24(9):1849-56.

Differential aging of the human striatum: longitudinal evidence

Naftali Raz  1 , Karen M Rodrigue, Kristen M Kennedy, Denise Head, Faith Gunning-Dixon, James D Acker
Affiliations

Differential aging of the human striatum: longitudinal evidence

Naftali Raz et al. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2003 Oct.

Abstract

Background and purpose: Information about age-related changes in the striatum comes almost exclusively from cross-sectional studies. We examined age-related differences and longitudinal changes in the volume of the striatal nuclei, compared longitudinal measures of changes with their cross-sectional estimates, and addressed the question of differential aging of the basal ganglia.

Methods: We measured the volumes of the caudate nucleus (head), the putamen, and the globus pallidus on MR images of 53 healthy adults whose ages at baseline ranged between 20 and 77 years. The measurements were conducted twice, 5 years apart.

Results: On both measurement occasions, the volume of the neostriatal nuclei (caudate and putamen) but not of the globus pallidus correlated negatively with age. However, longitudinal comparison revealed significant declines in the neostriatal volumes and smaller (but statistically significant) shrinkage of the paleostriatum. In 5 years, the striatal components (caudate, putamen, and globus pallidus) shrunk by 1.21, 0.85, and 0.55 standard deviation units, respectively. The average annual shrinkage rate was 0.83% in the caudate nucleus, 0.73% in the putamen, and 0.51% in the globus pallidus.

Conclusion: Although cross-sectional estimates suggested preservation of some striatal nuclei, longitudinal shrinkage of the whole striatum was evident even in a selected group of healthy adults. Moreover, the magnitude of observed longitudinal change was greater than predicted from cross-sectional studies.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

F<sc>ig</sc> 1.
Fig 1.
An example of demarcation and tracing of three striatal regions of interest (caudate, putamen and globus pallidus) on a series of coronal images.
F<sc>ig</sc> 2.
Fig 2.
Scatter plots for two volumetric measures of three striatal regions of interest taken on 53 subjects 5 years apart. The lines indicate linear regression of adjusted volumes on age at time 1 (solid line) and time 2 (broken line). Observations at time 1 are represented by solid circles, and observations at time 2 by empty circles. Regional volumes are adjusted for the intracranial volume.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Alheid GE, Switzer RC III, Heimer L. Basal ganglia. In: Paxinos G, ed. The Human Nervous System. San Diego: Academic Press,1990. :438–532
    1. Nakamura T, Ghilardi MF, Mentis M, et al. Functional networks in motor sequence learning: abnormal topographies in Parkinson’s disease. Hum Brain Mapp 2001;12:42–60 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Raz N. Aging of the brain and its impact on cognitive performance: integration of structural and functional findings. In: Craik FIM, Salthouse TA, eds. Handbook of Aging and Cognition–II. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum,2000. :1–90
    1. Matochik JA, Chefer SI, Lane MA, et al. Age-related decline in striatal volume in monkeys as measured by magnetic resonance imaging. Neurobiol Aging 2000;21:591–598 - PubMed
    1. Hokama H, Shenton ME, Nestor PG, et al. Caudate, putamen, and globus pallidus volume in schizophrenia: a quantitative MRI study. Psychiatry Res 1995;61:209–229 - PubMed