A study on the age related anatomical variations of some of the cerebral cortical sulci of human brain

Abstract

Background: The sulcal patterns may be useful in studying the mechanisms of both neuro developmental and neuro degenerative changes that occur during brain maturation and ageing. Magnetic resonance imaging has facilitated the non-invasive study of human cerebral and cognitive development.
 Aims and Objective: To find out the age related anatomical variations of some of the cerebral cortical sulci and gyri of the brain.
 Materials and Methods: The study was done using the MRI images of brain of normal healthy adults aged between 20-70 years. A total of 200 images were analysed consisting of that from 119 male subjects and 81 female subjects from the Department of Radiodiagnosis, Government Medical College Kottayam.
 Results: Using statistical analysis it was found that as the age advances there was decrease in the depth, in case of central sulcus, pre-central sulcus and post-central sulcus. The width of the pre-central sulcus and post-central sulcus was found to increase with age. The changes in the width of the central sulcus were not significant.
 Conclusion: The observations of the undertaken study indicated that age changes do occur in the sulci ofthe brain and there was a sequential change in relation to the different periods of adult life. These changes are probably due to the volume loss of the brain due to the atrophy that occurs during aging.