PATHOCLYSIS IN AGING HUMAN CEREBRAL-CORTEX - EVIDENCE FROM INVIVO MRIMORPHOMETRY

Age-related differences in the cross-sectional area and volume of sele cted cortical regions were examined by using in vivo magnetic resonanc e morphometry. In two samples-healthy volunteers and patients with neg ative radiological findings-similar patterns of cortical aging emerged . The size of sampled regions of association cortices correlated negat ively with age, whereas no significant correlations between the size o f sensory cortices and age were found. In the first but not the second sample, some of the correlations were attenuated after statistical co ntrol for skull size and sex. Overall, small but consistent trends for leftward asymmetry of the white matter and rightward asymmetry of the gray matter were observed. The results of the reported studies suppor t the notion of selective aging of cortical association areas accompan ied by relative sparing of sensory cortices.