Subcortical volumes across the lifespan: Data from 18,605 healthy individuals aged 3-90 years.
Dima D., Modabbernia A., Papachristou E., Doucet GE., Agartz I., Aghajani M., Akudjedu TN., Albajes-Eizagirre A., Alnaes D., Alpert KI., Andersson M., Andreasen NC., Andreassen OA., Asherson P., Banaschewski T., Bargallo N., Baumeister S., Baur-Streubel R., Bertolino A., Bonvino A., Boomsma DI., Borgwardt S., Bourque J., Brandeis D., Breier A., Brodaty H., Brouwer RM., Buitelaar JK., Busatto GF., Buckner RL., Calhoun V., Canales-Rodríguez EJ., Cannon DM., Caseras X., Castellanos FX., Cervenka S., Chaim-Avancini TM., Ching CRK., Chubar V., Clark VP., Conrod P., Conzelmann A., Crespo-Facorro B., Crivello F., Crone EA., Dannlowski U., Dale AM., Davey C., de Geus EJC., de Haan L., de Zubicaray GI., den Braber A., Dickie EW., Di Giorgio A., Doan NT., Dørum ES., Ehrlich S., Erk S., Espeseth T., Fatouros-Bergman H., Fisher SE., Fouche J-P., Franke B., Frodl T., Fuentes-Claramonte P., Glahn DC., Gotlib IH., Grabe H-J., Grimm O., Groenewold NA., Grotegerd D., Gruber O., Gruner P., Gur RE., Gur RC., Hahn T., Harrison BJ., Hartman CA., Hatton SN., Heinz A., Heslenfeld DJ., Hibar DP., Hickie IB., Ho B-C., Hoekstra PJ., Hohmann S., Holmes AJ., Hoogman M., Hosten N., Howells FM., Hulshoff Pol HE., Huyser C., Jahanshad N., James A., Jernigan TL., Jiang J., Jönsson EG., Joska JA., Kahn R., Kalnin A., Kanai R., Klein M., Klyushnik TP., Koenders L., Koops S., Krämer B., Kuntsi J., Lagopoulos J., Lázaro L., Lebedeva I., Lee WH., Lesch K-P., Lochner C., Machielsen MWJ., Maingault S., Martin NG., Martínez-Zalacaín I., Mataix-Cols D., Mazoyer B., McDonald C., McDonald BC., McIntosh AM., McMahon KL., McPhilemy G., Meinert S., Menchón JM., Medland SE., Meyer-Lindenberg A., Naaijen J., Najt P., Nakao T., Nordvik JE., Nyberg L., Oosterlaan J., de la Foz VO-G., Paloyelis Y., Pauli P., Pergola G., Pomarol-Clotet E., Portella MJ., Potkin SG., Radua J., Reif A., Rinker DA., Roffman JL., Rosa PGP., Sacchet MD., Sachdev PS., Salvador R., Sánchez-Juan P., Sarró S., Satterthwaite TD., Saykin AJ., Serpa MH., Schmaal L., Schnell K., Schumann G., Sim K., Smoller JW., Sommer I., Soriano-Mas C., Stein DJ., Strike LT., Swagerman SC., Tamnes CK., Temmingh HS., Thomopoulos SI., Tomyshev AS., Tordesillas-Gutiérrez D., Trollor JN., Turner JA., Uhlmann A., van den Heuvel OA., van den Meer D., van der Wee NJA., van Haren NEM., Van't Ent D., van Erp TGM., Veer IM., Veltman DJ., Voineskos A., Völzke H., Walter H., Walton E., Wang L., Wang Y., Wassink TH., Weber B., Wen W., West JD., Westlye LT., Whalley H., Wierenga LM., Williams SCR., Wittfeld K., Wolf DH., Worker A., Wright MJ., Yang K., Yoncheva Y., Zanetti MV., Ziegler GC., Thompson PM., Frangou S., Karolinska Schizophrenia Project (KaSP) None.
Age has a major effect on brain volume. However, the normative studies available are constrained by small sample sizes, restricted age coverage and significant methodological variability. These limitations introduce inconsistencies and may obscure or distort the lifespan trajectories of brain morphometry. In response, we capitalized on the resources of the Enhancing Neuroimaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA) Consortium to examine age-related trajectories inferred from cross-sectional measures of the ventricles, the basal ganglia (caudate, putamen, pallidum, and nucleus accumbens), the thalamus, hippocampus and amygdala using magnetic resonance imaging data obtained from 18,605 individuals aged 3-90 years. All subcortical structure volumes were at their maximum value early in life. The volume of the basal ganglia showed a monotonic negative association with age thereafter; there was no significant association between age and the volumes of the thalamus, amygdala and the hippocampus (with some degree of decline in thalamus) until the sixth decade of life after which they also showed a steep negative association with age. The lateral ventricles showed continuous enlargement throughout the lifespan. Age was positively associated with inter-individual variability in the hippocampus and amygdala and the lateral ventricles. These results were robust to potential confounders and could be used to examine the functional significance of deviations from typical age-related morphometric patterns.