Abstract
The goal of this study was to address the need for comprehensive reference data regarding maturational and aging effects on regional transverse relaxation rates (R2) of the brain in normal humans. Regional R2s were measured in twenty-five brain structures from a sample of seventy-seven normal volunteers 9 to 85 years of age. The relationships between regional R2 and age were determined using generalized additive models, without the constraint of a specified a priori model. Data analysis demonstrated that the brain tissue R2-age correlations followed various time courses with both linear and non-linear characteristics depending on the particular brain structure. Most anatomical structures studied exhibited non-linear characteristics, including the amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, globus pallidus, putamen, caudate nucleus, red nucleus, substantia nigra, orbitofrontal white matter and temporal white matter. Linear trends were detected in occipital white matter and in the genu of corpus callosum. These results indicate the complexity of age-related R2 changes in the brain while providing normative reference data that can be utilized in clinical examinations and studies utilizing quantitative transverse relaxation.
Highlights
The transverse relaxation time (T2) and transverse relaxation rate (R2), where R2 = 1/T2, play a fundamental role in generation of MRI contrast in the human brain
This study presents the maturational and aging effects on transverse relaxation in representative human brain structures at 3 T
The results provide needed normative data for clinical examinations and research studies utilizing transverse relaxation at this field strength
Summary
Previous studies on brain transverse relaxation have shown a general trend of T2 decrease during maturation while, showing a T2 increase during aging [5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18]. Despite these trends, the T2-age correlation in the human brain is not yet well characterized, making interpretation of deviations from normative values uncertain. The discordant findings of these previous studies demonstrate the need for establishing a more comprehensive T2 mapping data set, based on a larger normal cohort with a greater age range and more brain structures
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