Age-Related Changes in Frontal and Temporal Lobe Volumes in Men
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Open Access
- 1 May 2001
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Medical Association (AMA) in Archives of General Psychiatry
- Vol. 58 (5) , 461-465
- https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.58.5.461
Abstract
BRAIN MORPHOMETRY undergoes profound changes throughout the life span. Cross-sectional studies examining brain development in children and adolescents demonstrate increasing white matter volume and decreasing gray matter volume in later childhood and early adolescence.1-4 These findings were recently confirmed in a prospective magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study of brain development that demonstrated that white matter volume increases linearly between ages 4 to 20 years,4 a period characterized by increased myelination and axonal growth.5 Unlike the white matter changes, cortical gray matter changes were quadratic rather than linear and exhibited region-specific patterns of change within this age span. Gray matter reached maximum volume at approximately age 12 years in the frontal lobes but not until age 16 years in the temporal lobes; after these ages, gray matter volumes decreased.4Keywords
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