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Sex Difference in Brain Atrophy During Aging: A Quantitative Study with Computed Tomography
Author(s) -
HATAZAWA JUN,
ITO MASATOSHI,
YAMAURA HARUTSUGU,
MATSUZAWA TAIJU
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1982.tb07092.x
Subject(s) - medicine , atrophy , computed tomography , brain aging , tomography , radiology , pathology , disease
Brain atrophy in 154 men and 147 women without neurologic deficits was quantitatively studied by means of computed tomography. The ages ranged from 20 to 79 years. The volume percentage of brain to cranial cavity (Craniocerebral Index, or CCI) was calculated by means of computer programs available in CT systems. The mean CCI in the 20–39 age group was constant at 98.4 per cent in men and 98.7 per cent in women, and this was considered the standard for the CCI in subjects with nonatrophied brains. The percentage of each subject's CCI in relation to this standard in both sexes (Brain Volume Index, or BVI) was calculated as the indicator of brain atrophy. The normal value for BVI was therefore 100 per cent in both sexes. A clear difference was observed between men and women in the process of brain atrophy with increasing age. In men a significant reduction in BVI began in the sixth decade of life ( P < 0.01); thereafter, the decline was gradual and steady through the eighth decade ( P < 0.05). In women, a significant reduction in BVI began in the fifth decade ( P < 0.01) and remained relatively constant during the fifth and sixth decades but declined significantly again in the seventh and eighth decades. In both sexes, remarkable individual differences in brain atrophy were characteristic.