TY  - JOUR
AU  - Jockwitz, Christiane
AU  - Mérillat, Susan
AU  - Liem, Franziskus
AU  - Oschwald, Jessica
AU  - Amunts, Katrin
AU  - Jäncke, Lutz
AU  - Caspers, Svenja
TI  - Generalizing Longitudinal Age Effects on Brain Structure – A Two-Study Comparison Approach
JO  - Frontiers in human neuroscience
VL  - 15
SN  - 1662-5161
CY  - Lausanne
PB  - Frontiers Research Foundation
M1  - FZJ-2021-01875
SP  - 635687
PY  - 2021
AB  - Cross-sectional studies indicate that normal aging is accompanied by decreases in brain structure. Longitudinal studies, however, are relatively rare and inconsistent regarding their outcomes. Particularly the heterogeneity of methods, sample characteristics and the high inter-individual variability in older adults prevent the deduction of general trends. Therefore, the current study aimed to compare longitudinal age-related changes in brain structure (measured through cortical thickness) in two large independent samples of healthy older adults (n = 161 each); the Longitudinal Healthy Aging Brain (LHAB) database project at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, and 1000BRAINS at the Research Center Juelich, Germany. Annual percentage changes in the two samples revealed stable to slight decreases in cortical thickness over time. After correction for major covariates, i.e., baseline age, sex, education, and image quality, sample differences were only marginally present. Results suggest that general trends across time might be generalizable over independent samples, assuming the same methodology is used, and similar sample characteristics are present.
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
C6  - 33935669
UR  - <Go to ISI:>//WOS:000645440300001
DO  - DOI:10.3389/fnhum.2021.635687
UR  - https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/892015
ER  -