Abstract
Background/aimA wide variety of neurological and psychiatric disorders have been shown to be closely related to changes in hippocampal volume (HV). It appears that hippocampal volumetry will be an indispensable part of clinical practice for a number of neuropsychiatric disorders in the near future. The aim of this study was to establish a normative data set for HV according to age and sex in the general population.Materials and methods Hippocampal magnetic resonance imaging scans of 302 healthy volunteers were obtained using a 1.5 T unit with a 20-channel head coil. The hippocampal volumetric assessment was conducted using the volBrain fully automated segmentation algorithm on coronal oblique T1-weighted magnetization prepared rapid gradient-echo (MP-RAGE) images obtained perpendicular to the long axis of the hippocampus. The mean values of HV of groups according to age and sex were calculated. The associations between HV and age and sex were analyzed.ResultsThe mean HV of the study group was found to be 3.81 ± 0.46 cm3. We found that the mean HV of males (3.94 ± 0.49 cm3) was significantly higher than that of females (3.74 ± 0.42 cm3), and the mean right HV (3.86 ± 0.48 cm3) was significantly higher than that of the left HV (3.78 ± 0.49 cm3) (P = 0.001). Among both females and males, there were statistically significant but poor negative correlations between age and volumetric measurements of both the right and the left hippocampi (P < 0.05).ConclusionThe normative hippocampal volumetric data obtained in this study may be beneficial in clinical applications for many neuropsychiatric diseases, especially for mesial temporal sclerosis and cognitive disorders.
Highlights
The hippocampus, a small anatomical region with a unique shape, is located medially in the temporal lobe and situated underneath the cortex
We found that the mean hippocampal volume (HV) of males (3.94 ± 0.49 cm3) was significantly higher than that of females (3.74 ± 0.42 cm3), and the mean right HV (3.86 ± 0.48 cm3) was significantly higher than that of the left HV (3.78 ± 0.49 cm3) (P = 0.001)
The normative hippocampal volumetric data obtained in this study may be beneficial in clinical applications for many neuropsychiatric diseases, especially for mesial temporal sclerosis and cognitive disorders
Summary
The hippocampus, a small anatomical region with a unique shape, is located medially in the temporal lobe and situated underneath the cortex It is made up of complex bilaminar gray matter which plays a crucial role in cognition, especially in memory processes [1]. A recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study conducted by Chan et al revealed that low-frequency activities of the hippocampus can maintain brainwide functional connectivity in the cerebral cortex, and enhance the responsiveness of the brain [3]. These findings imply that this fascinating anatomical region could be the functional center of the whole brain. The results of recent neuroimaging studies suggest that hippocampal volumetry may be an indispensable part of clinical applications in many other neuropsychiatric disorders in the near future [7,8,9,10,11,12,13]
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