Cortical Thickness Trajectories across the Lifespan: Data from 17,075 healthy individuals aged 3-90 years
Abstract
Delineating age-related cortical trajectories in healthy individuals 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 individuals 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-individual 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-individual 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.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Abbreviations of studies
- ADHD-NF
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder-Neurofeedback Study;
- AMC
- Amsterdam Medisch Centrum;
- Basel
- University of Basel;
- Barcelona
- University of Barcelona;
- Betula
- Swedish longitudinal study on aging, memory, and dementia;
- BIG
- Brain Imaging Genetics;
- BIL&GIN
- a multimodal multidimensional database for investigating hemispheric specialization;
- Bonn
- University of Bonn;
- BrainSCALE
- Brain Structure and Cognition: an Adolescence Longitudinal twin study;
- CAMH
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health;
- Cardiff
- Cardiff University;
- CEG
- Cognitive-experimental and Genetic study of ADHD and Control Sibling Pairs;
- CIAM
- Cortical Inhibition and Attentional Modulation study;
- CLiNG
- Clinical Neuroscience Göttingen;
- CODE
- formerly Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP) study;
- Edinburgh
- The University of Edinburgh;
- ENIGMA-HIV
- Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis-Human Immunodeficiency Virus Working Group;
- ENIGMA-OCD
- Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis-Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Working Group;
- FBIRN
- Function Biomedical Informatics Research Network;
- FIDMAG
- Fundación para la Investigación y Docencia Maria Angustias Giménez;
- GSP
- Brain Genomics Superstruct Project;
- HMS
- Homburg Multidiagnosis Study;
- HUBIN
- Human Brain Informatics;
- IDIVAL
- Valdecilla Biomedical Research Institute;
- IMAGEN
- the IMAGEN Consortium;
- IMH
- Institute of Mental Health, Singapore;
- IMpACT
- The International Multicentre persistent ADHD Genetics Collaboration;
- Indiana
- Indiana University School of Medicine;
- Johns Hopkins
- Johns Hopkins University;
- KaSP
- The Karolinska Schizophrenia Project;
- Leiden
- Leiden University;
- MAS
- Memory and Ageing Study;
- MCIC
- MIND Clinical Imaging Consortium formed by the Mental Illness and Neuroscience Discovery (MIND) Institute now the Mind Research Network;
- Melbourne
- University of Melbourne;
- Meth-CT
- study of methamphetamine users, University of Cape Town;
- MHRC
- Mental Health Research Center;
- Muenster
- Muenster University;
- NESDA
- The Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety;
- NeuroIMAGE
- Dutch part of the International Multicenter ADHD Genetics (IMAGE) study; Neuroventure: the imaging part of the Co-Venture Trial funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR);
- NCNG
- Norwegian Cognitive NeuroGenetics sample;
- NTR
- Netherlands Twin Register;
- NU
- Northwestern University;
- NUIG
- National University of Ireland Galway;
- NYU
- New York University;
- OATS
- Older Australian Twins Study;
- Olin
- Olin Neuropsychiatric Research Center;
- Oxford
- Oxford University;
- QTIM
- Queensland Twin Imaging;
- Sao Paulo
- University of Sao Paulo;
- SCORE
- University of Basel Study;
- SHIP-2 and SHIP TREND
- Study of Health in Pomerania;
- Staged-Dep
- Stages of Depression Study;
- Stanford
- Stanford University;
- StrokeMRI
- Stroke Magnetic Resonance Imaging;
- Sydney
- University of Sydney;
- TOP
- Tematisk Område Psykoser (Thematically Organized Psychosis Research);
- TS-EUROTRAIN
- European-Wide Investigation and Training Network on the Etiology and Pathophysiology of Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome;
- Tuebingen
- University of Tuebingen;
- UMCU
- Universitair Medisch Centrum Utrecht;
- UNIBA
- University of Bari Aldo Moro;
- UPENN
- University of Pennsylvania;
- Yale
- Yale University
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