TOPOGRAPHY OF BRAIN ATROPHY DURING NORMAL AGING AND ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE

The present study investigated the effect of age on total and regional brain volumes and compared age-associated changes in 20 healthy contr ols with those observed in 12 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Weights and volumes of the whole brain and cerebrum, as well as the fr actional volumes of the frontal, temporal, and parieto-occipital corti ces, medial temporal structures, deep brain structures, and white matt er were measured. Males had larger and heavier brains than females of comparable age. A small decline in brain volume with age was found (ap proximately 2 mi per year), but only within the white matter. In compa rison, no further loss of white matter occurred in AD; however, the ce rebral cortex was significantly reduced in volume, with the greatest l oss from the medial temporal structures. This loss was related to dise ase progression; greater proportional loss was associated with more ra pid decline in older patients. This study suggests that significant br ain atrophy is not a consequence of advancing age. Ln addition, it sug gests a regional specificity of damage in AD.