Purpose: To evaluate the effect of normal aging on brain volumes and examine the effects of age and sex on the rates of changes in global and regional brain volumes.
Methods: A total of 199 normal subjects (65 females and 134 males, mean age=56.4 ± 9.9 years, age range=38.1-82.9 years) were included in this study. Each subject was scanned twice, at an interval of about 2 years (range=1.5-2.3 years). Two-time-point percentage brain volume change (PBVC) was estimated with SIENA 2.6.
Results: The mean annualized PBVC was -0.23%/y. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) for annual brain volume changes revealed a main effect of age. There was no main effect of sex, nor was there a sex-by-age interaction. Voxel-wise analysis revealed a negative correlation between age and edge displacement values mainly in the periventricular region.
Conclusions: The results of our study indicate that brain atrophy accelerates with increasing age and that there is no gender difference in the rate of brain atrophy.
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