Publication
Cortical Thickness Trajectories across the Lifespan: Data from 17,075 healthy individuals aged 3-90 years
Publisher:
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date:
07-05-2020
DOI:
10.1101/2020.05.05.077834
Abstract: Delineating age-related cortical trajectories in healthy in iduals is critical given the association of cortical thickness with cognition and behaviour. Previous research has shown that deriving robust estimates of age-related brain morphometric changes requires large-scale studies. In response, we conducted a large-scale analysis of cortical thickness in 17,075 in iduals aged 3-90 years by pooling data through the Lifespan Working group of the Enhancing Neuroimaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA) Consortium. We used fractional polynomial (FP) regression to characterize age-related trajectories in cortical thickness, and we computed normalized growth centiles using the parametric Lambda, Mu, and Sigma (LMS) method. Inter-in idual variability was estimated using meta-analysis and one-way analysis of variance. Overall, cortical thickness peaked in childhood and had a steep decrease during the first 2-3 decades of life thereafter, it showed a gradual monotonic decrease which was steeper in men than in women particularly in middle-life. Notable exceptions to this general pattern were entorhinal, temporopolar and anterior cingulate cortices. Inter-in idual variability was largest in temporal and frontal regions across the lifespan. Age and its FP combinations explained up to 59% variance in cortical thickness. These results reconcile uncertainties about age-related trajectories of cortical thickness the centile values provide estimates of normative variance in cortical thickness, and may assist in detecting abnormal deviations in cortical thickness, and associated behavioural, cognitive and clinical outcomes.