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E V Sullivan

Publications and source records attributed to E V Sullivan.

114 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Age-related decline in MRI volumes of temporal lobe gray matter but not hippocampus.

The effect of normal aging on the volume of the hippocampus and temporal cortex was assessed cross-sectionally with quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in 72 healthy men, spanning 5 decades of the adult age range (21 to 70 years). Neither the hippocampal nor cortical white matter volumes were significantly correlated with age. By contrast, left and right temporal lobe gray matter volumes, exclusive of the hippocampal measures, each decreased with age (p < 0.01). Volumes of temporal lobe sulcal CSF and the ventricular system (temporal horns and lateral and third ventricles) significantly increased with age. Measures of verbal and nonverbal working memory showed age-related declines and were related to enlargement of the three ventricular regions, which may be indicative of age-related atrophy of the adjacent cortex but not the hippocampus, at least up to age 70 years.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Brain structure in men remains highly heritable in the seventh and eighth decades of life.

The midsagittal cross-sectional dimensions of the corpus callosum, the coronal cross-sectional area of the lateral ventricles at the level of the pons, and a three-dimensional estimate of intracranial volume were derived from magnetic resonance brain images obtained from 45 monozygotic and 40 dizygotic male twin pairs aged 68 to 78. Univariate genetic analyses indicated strong genetic influences contributing significantly to the variability of each brain structure. The estimated proportion of genetic variance (i.e. heritability) was 81% for intracranial volume, 79% for the midline cross-sectional area of the corpus callosum, and 79% for lateral ventricle size. There was no evidence that shared environmental influences contributed significantly to twin-pair similarities. We further used bivariate genetic modeling to estimate the genetic and environmental correlation between correlated brain structures. Intracranial volume and corpus callosum area was highly correlated, and this relationship was entirely due to shared genetic effects between these two brain structures. By contrast, the relationship between the height of the corpus callosum and the size of the lateral ventricles was due to both genetic and environmental influences in common. Corresponding genetic and environmental correlations were 0.68 and 0.58, respectively, indicating that more than half of the genetic and environmental influences on these two brain structures were shared. The manner in which the brain responds to the environment with advancing age is highly genetically determined, both for the lateral ventricles, which dilate with aging and disease, and for the corpus callosum, which is deformed in shape by age-related ventricular enlargement, whereas its midline cross-sectional area remains unchanged.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Sex differences in corpus callosum size: relationship to age and intracranial size.

This quantitative MRI study reports measurement of corpus callosum area taken from midsagittal brain images in 51 healthy men and 41 healthy women, spanning the adult age range (22 to 71 years). Men had larger brains and corpora callosa than women, but callosal size did not correlate with age in either sex. Intracranial (i.c.) volume (ICV) and midsagittal i.c. area (ICA) of brain were used in covariate, regression, and ratio analyses to determine whether sex differences in the corpus callosum endured with statistical adjustment for sex differences in maximally attained brain size. With the exception of one ratio measure, the different statistical adjustments for the contribution of sex differences in brain size to corpus callosum size all indicated that men had larger corpora callosa than women for their brain size. A subsample of men and women selected to be matched on i.c. volume and age confirmed this statistical observation. Sexual dimorphism in the corpus callosum is not a simple artifact of sex differences in brain size and may reflect differences in connectivity necessitated by differences in brain size.

Adult↗