Department of Neurosurgery, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Science, Aichi, Japan.
Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies/Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Sci Prog. 2024 Jul-Sep;107(3):368504241266371. doi: 10.1177/00368504241266371.
We investigated the reduction in regional brain volume and cerebral blood flow (CBF) with aging and explored potential sex differences in healthy brains. Three-dimensional (3D) T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography, and four-dimensional (4D) flow MRI were performed on 129 healthy volunteers aged 22-92 years. The brains of healthy volunteers were segmented into 21 subregions using 3D T1-weighted MRI and CBFs in 16 major intracranial arteries were measured using 4D flow MRI. The cortical gray matter volume decreased linearly with aging, whereas the cerebral white matter volume increased until the 40s and then decreased, and the subcortical gray matter volume changed little with aging. The cortical gray matter volume was significantly associated with the total CBF of the major intracranial arteries distal to the circle of Willis; however, the cerebral white matter and subcortical gray matter volumes were not. Generally, women have higher total CBF than men, particularly in their 40s and younger, despite the smaller intracranial volume and smaller diameters of intracranial arteries than men. This may contribute to the higher incidence of subarachnoid hemorrhage due to cerebral aneurysms and migraine in women.
我们研究了大脑区域体积和脑血流 (CBF) 的随年龄减少情况，并探讨了健康大脑中的潜在性别差异。对 129 名年龄在 22-92 岁的健康志愿者进行了三维 (3D) T1 加权磁共振成像 (MRI)、时飞磁共振血管造影和四维 (4D) 血流 MRI 检查。使用 3D T1 加权 MRI 将健康志愿者的大脑分割成 21 个亚区，并使用 4D 血流 MRI 测量 16 条主要颅内动脉的 CBF。皮质灰质体积随年龄呈线性下降，而白质体积在 40 多岁前增加，然后减少，而皮质下灰质体积随年龄变化不大。皮质灰质体积与大脑前循环以外的主要颅内动脉的总 CBF 显著相关；然而，脑白质和皮质下灰质体积则没有。一般来说，女性的总 CBF 高于男性，尤其是在 40 多岁及更年轻时，尽管女性的颅内体积和颅内动脉直径比男性小。这可能导致女性因脑动脉瘤和偏头痛而发生蛛网膜下腔出血的几率更高。
