TRADITIONAL POSTER - ismrm

Poster Sessions
1999. Rates of Brain Tissue Changes in the General Population of Elderly - The AGES-Reykjavik Study
Sigurdur Sigurdsson 1 , Thor Aspelund 1,2 , Lars Forsberg 3 , Jesper Fredriksson 3 , Olafur Kjartansson, 1,4 ,
Palmi V. Jonsson, 1,4 , Gudny Eiriksdottir 1 , Tamara B. Harris 5 , Alex Zijdenbos 6 , Mark A. van Buchem 7 ,
Lenore J. Launer 5 , Vilmundur Gudnason 1,2
1 The Icelandic Heart Association, Kopavogur, Iceland; 2 The University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland; 3 Raforninn Inc, Reykjavik,
Iceland; 4 The University Hospital of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland; 5 The National Institute on Aging, Bethesda, United States;
6 Biospective Inc, Montreal, Canada; 7 Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
Estimations on age-related rate of changes of brain tissues have mostly been gathered from cross-sectional MRI studies. A limitation of cross-sectional
design is the inability to directly assess intra-individual change. Longitudinal studies on brain tissues and age in large population cohorts are lacking. We
compared estimated rates of cross-sectional and longitudinal changes with age in brain tissues in a population-based cohort of 4614 older persons. The
longitudinal data show a substantially higher age-related rate of change in tissue volumes when compared to the cross-sectional estimates and show that the
cross-sectional data underestimates the rate of change in brain tissues.
2000. Effects of Sex and Age on Regional Frontal Lobe Gray Matter Distribution
Vanessa Anne Sluming 1,2 , Andrew Mayes 3 , Iain D. Wilkinson 4 , Charles Romanowski 4 , Enis Cezayirli 5 ,
Patricia E. Cowell 6
1 School of Health Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom; 2 Magnetic Resonance and Image
Analysis Research Centre, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom; 3 School of Psychology, University of
Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom; 4 Academic Department of Radiology, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom;
5 Department of Anatomy, University of Celal Bayar , Turkey; 6 Department of Human Communication Sciences, University of
Sheffield, United Kingdom
VBM analysis of grey matter distribution within the healthy adult brain was undertaken, in a sample of 31 males and 35 females (age range: 20-72 years) to
investigate sex differences in the effect of brain ageing. Data were analysed using a full factorial analysis (2x2x2). There were no significant sex by age
effects. Within sex regression analyses revealed that females showed age related GM decrements within several frontal regions tending medially, whereas
males sowed age related decrements in bilateral structures including IFG (BA44/45). These findings are discussed.
2001. White Matter Lesion Intensity and Cognitive Ability: Relationships in Youth and Old Age
Maria Valdés Hernandez 1 , Lars Penke 2 , Susana Muñoz Maniega 1 , Catherine Murray 2 , Natalie Royle 1 , Alan
J. Gow 2 , John M. Starr 3 , Mark E. Bastin 4 , Ian J. Deary 2 , Joanna M. Wardlaw 1
1 Clinical Neurosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom; 2 Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh,
United Kingdom; 3 Geriatric Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom; 4 Medical Physics, University of
Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Intensity of white matter lesions (WMLs) on structural MRI may be linked to the severity of underlying white matter damage, and hence to old age cognitive
decline. Here we investigate relationships between the volumes of intense (i) and less-intense (Li) WMLs in a unique cohort of ? subjects in whom cognitive
ability is available in both youth (11 years) and old age (72-73 years). iWMLs were predominant located in frontal areas, while LiWMLs were mainly
located posteriorly. iWMLs had a stronger relationship with cognition than LiWMLs in both youth and old age. These findings support the frontal ageing
hypothesis.
2002. Investigation of Cerebral Ischemic Disease in the Aged with Aortic Stenosis
Ping Wang 1 , Elizabeth Strambrook 2 , Michel Bilello 1 , Thomas Floyd 3
1 Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States; 2 Anesthesiology & Critical Care, University of
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States; 3 Anesthesiology & Critical Care, and Neurology, University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, PA, United States
To test the correlations of aging, sex, and aortic stenosis (AS) degree with the severity of pre-existing white matter and ischemia-like lesions. Aging was
associated with rapidly progressive cerebral ischemic disease; female sex accounted for a 56% increased in lesion volume over men; while the severity of
AS did not demonstrate statistical significance in influencing lesion volume, univariate analysis demonstrated an important trend of increasing lesion volume
with increasing severity of AS.
2003. Novel Atlas-Based Technique for Longitudinal Investigation of Diffusion Tensor Tractography Data:
Application to Healthy Ageing
Ai Wern Chung 1 , Rebecca A. Charlton 1 , Nigel C. Lawes 2 , Robin G. Morris 3 , Hugh S. Markus 1 , Thomas R.
Barrick 1
1 Centre for Clinical Neuroscience, Saint George's University of London, London, United Kingdom; 2 Graduate Medical School,
University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland; 3 Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College University of London,
London, United Kingdom
We present a novel technique applying probabilistic diffusion tensor tractography on longitudinal data to assess white matter structural integrity in ageing
subjects over a period of two years. Our method was able to consistently extract white matter tracts associated with working memory over time and between
two ageing cohorts (middle-aged and elderly). Tract connections were found between the fronto-temporal, fronto-parietal and temporo-parietal lobes. Our
study suggests a decrease in white matter structural integrity of these tracts with age could be related to the decline in working memory performance.