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. 2023 Jun:126:34-43.
doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2023.02.002. Epub 2023 Feb 11.

Brain volumetrics across the lifespan of the rhesus macaque

Steven Dash  1 , Byung Park  2 , Christopher D Kroenke  3 , William D Rooney  4 , Henryk F Urbanski  5 , Steven G Kohama  6
Affiliations

Brain volumetrics across the lifespan of the rhesus macaque

Steven Dash et al. Neurobiol Aging. 2023 Jun.

Abstract

The rhesus macaque is a long-lived nonhuman primate (NHP) with a brain structure similar to humans, which may represent a valuable translational animal model in which to study human brain aging. Previous magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of age in rhesus macaque brains have been prone to low statistical power, unbalanced sex ratio and lack of a complete age range. To overcome these problems, the current study surveyed structural T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging scans of 66 animals, 34 females (aged 6-31 years) and 32 males (aged 5-27 years). Differences observed in older animals, included enlargement of the lateral ventricles and a smaller volume in the frontal cortex, caudate, putamen, hypothalamus, and thalamus. Unexpected, greater volume, were measured in older animals in the hippocampus, amygdala, and globus pallidus. There were also numerous differences between males and females with respect to age in both white and gray matter regions. As an apparent model of normative human aging, the macaque is ideal for studying induction and mitigation of neurodegenerative disease.

Keywords: Aging; Frontal Cortex; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Rhesus Macaque.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. A graphical workflow of the data processing procedure used for the MRI brain scans from rhesus macaques.
Scans were motion-corrected using one of the four scans as a reference, then merged, and the whole head scan aligned to the INIA19 whole brain template. The resulting brain mask was manually-corrected, then used to strip away all tissue that was not brain. The biased intensity was corrected, then the skull-stripped brain was aligned to the brain template provided with the INIA19 package. Application of the neuromaps and custom ROIs obtained volumes. (Images created with software from BioRender.com).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. ICV (A), volume of the caudate (B), putamen (C), globus pallidus (D), thalamus (E), and hypothalamus (F) normalized to ICV.
Total intracranial volume for all 66 animals are shown (A), as well as normalized data in the listed regions (B-F). Males are marked with an open triangle and the best fit is a dashed line while females are marked with a solid circle and a solid line.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.. Volume of the anterior cingulate (A), dlPFC (B), frontal (C), occipital (D), parietal (E), and temporal (F) cortices normalized to ICV.
Normalized volumes of the anterior cingulate cortex, frontal, occipital, parietal and temporal cortices. Males are marked with an open triangle and a dashed line while females are marked with a solid circle and a solid line.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.. Volume of the genu (A), body (B), and splenium (C) of the corpus callosum and the internal capsule (D) normalized to ICV. All trend-lines indicate a significant difference.
Normalized regional volumes of the corpus callosum sub-regions and internal capsule. Males are marked with an open triangle and a dashed line while females are marked with a solid circle and a solid line.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.. Volume of the frontal WM (A), occipital WM (B), parietal WM (C), and temporal WM (D) normalized to ICV.
Normalized volumes of the white matter regions of the frontal, occipital, parietal and temporal cortices. Males are marked with an open triangle and a dashed line while females are marked with a solid circle and a solid line.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.. Volume of the amygdala (A), dentate gyrus (B), fornix (C), and hippocampus (D) normalized to ICV.
Normalized volumes of the amygdala, dentate gyrus, fornix, and hippocampus. Males are marked with an open triangle and a dashed line while females are marked with a solid circle and a solid line.
Figure 7.
Figure 7.. Volume of the lateral ventricle (A), 3rd ventricle (B), and 4th ventricle (C) normalized to ICV. All trend-lines indicate a significant difference.
Normalized regional volumes of the lateral, 3rd, and 4th ventricles. Males are marked with an open triangle and a dashed line while females are marked with a solid circle and a solid line.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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