The relationship between age and arachnoid depressions in humans

Rajitha Sivakumaran

doi:10.29173/comp46

Abstract

The human skeletal collection housed in the Department of Anthropolog y at the University of Alberta was used to determine the relationship between age and the occurrence of arachnoid depressions on the endocranial aspect of the skull. There were significant differences between the total number of arachnoid depressions found on the vaults of juveniles, adolescents, and adults. When mean ages were compared with total number of arachnoid depressions on the vault, a significant relationship did not emerge. When age was grouped into nine-year intervals to counteract the effect of idiosyncratic variation, the mean number of depressions increased with age, as did the maximum number of arachnoid depressions. The frequency of older individuals without arachnoid depressions waslow. Older individuals were more likely to have larger and deeper arachnoid depressions. There were no sex-based differences in the expression of arachnoid depressions. There were no significant differences between archaeological, historic, and modern samples or between pathological and healthy individuals. Although this study verifies the association between arachnoid depressions and senescence, the presence of arachnoid depressions is highly variable andcannot be used reliably as an indicator of chronological age or even as a sign of senescence.

Highlights

IntroductionThe earliest descriptions were made by Herophilus, the father of anatomy, in the 3rd century B.C., and many studies have been conducted on it since, one feature has received little attention: arachnoid depressions
The human skeletal collection housed in the Department of Anthropolog y at the University of Alberta was used to determine the relationship between age and the occurrence of arachnoid depressions on the endocranial aspect of the skull
A Kruskal-Wallis test performed on 40 individuals showed that there were significant differences between the total number of arachnoid depressions found on the vaults of juveniles, adolescents, and adults (χ2 = 8.017, df = 2, p = .018)

Summary

Introduction

The earliest descriptions were made by Herophilus, the father of anatomy, in the 3rd century B.C., and many studies have been conducted on it since, one feature has received little attention: arachnoid depressions These structures, known as Pacchionian bodies, occur on the endocranial aspect of the skull. The imprints begin as arachnoid villi; these are protrusions on the exterior of the arachnoid mater and are observable microscopically during the late fetal stage (Adeeb et al 2013) At this point, they remain separate from dural venous sinuses and lacunae (e.g., they have not penetrated the walls of these structures yet). They become complex structures and their location be-

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion