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Cortical thickness across the lifespan: Data from 17,075 healthy individuals aged 3-90 years

  • Karolinska Schizophrenia Project (KaSP)
  • MRC Epidemiology Unit, Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; The Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine, The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States of America; The Department of Preventive Medicine, The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States of America; The Genetics of Obesity and Related Metabolic Traits Program, The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States of America; The Mindich Child Health and Development Institute, The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States of America.
  • Neuroimaging Department
  • Psychology and Neuroscience
  • King's College London
  • St George's, University of London
  • UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior
  • University of Oslo
  • Department of Neurology, Donders Institute for Brain, Behavior and Cognition, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Neurology, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Location Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
  • Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit, Faculty of Health and Social Services, Bournemouth University, R506B, Royal London House, Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, Dorset BH1 3LT
  • FIDMAG Germanes Hospitalàries Research Foundation
  • Radiologics
  • 1] Lund University Diabetes Center, Skåne University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden. [2] Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
  • University of Iowa
  • Social Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre
  • Heidelberg University
  • 27 Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Clinic Institute of Neuroscience, University of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Spain.
  • University of Würzburg, Comprehensive Cancer Center Mainfranken, Würzburg, Germany.
  • Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, Germany; Department of Education, Psychology, and Communication, University of Bari "Aldo Moro," Bari, Italy.
  • Department of Biological Psychology
  • Lübeck Interdisciplinary Platform for Genome Analytics, Institutes of Neurogenetics and Cardiogenetics, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
  • Center for Systems Genomics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA.
  • Indiana University Bloomington
  • Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York.
  • Utrecht University
  • Radboud University Nijmegen
  • Instituto de Radiologia, Hospital das Clinicas HCFMUSP, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.
  • Harvard University
  • Emory University Hospital
  • Departments of Medicine and Microbiology, APC Microbiome Ireland, National University of Ireland, Cork, Ireland.
  • Cardiff University
  • Columbia University
  • Karolinska Institute
  • 1] Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, California, USA. [2] Department of Urology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
  • KU Leuven
  • University of New Mexico
  • Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland; Department of Psychiatry, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland.
  • University of Tuebingen
  • Mental Health Research Networking Center (CIBERSAM)
  • University of Bordeaux
  • Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, King's College Hospital, London, UK; Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
  • Stress Res Clin, Solna
  • Cardiovascular Program, Research Institute of Sant Joan de Déu (IRSJD), Barcelona, Spain; Center for Biomedical Diagnosis, Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain. Institut d'Investigació August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS). Cardiovascular Genetics Center, University of Girona-IDIBGI, Girona (Spain). Medical Science Department, School of Medicine, University of Girona, Girona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Cardiovasculares (CIBERCV), Madrid, Spain.
  • Univ Barcelona, Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, IDIBAPS, University of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, Div Hematol, Inst Hematol & Oncol
  • Department of Psychosis Studies
  • Centre for Population Neuroscience and Precision Medicine
  • Centre for Pain Research, University of Bath, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Department of Anaesthesiology & Pain Medicine, University of Washington, Clinical Health Psychology, University College London, and University College London Hospitals, and Psychology Department, Kings College London.
  • School of Education, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, UNSW Australia, Sydney NSW 2052, Australia.
  • Univ Greenwich, City University London, University of Greenwich, Sch Engn

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

200 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Delineating the association of age and cortical thickness in healthy individuals is critical given the association of cortical thickness with cognition and behavior. Previous research has shown that robust estimates of the association between age and brain morphometry require large-scale studies. In response, we used cross-sectional data from 17,075 individuals aged 3-90 years from the Enhancing Neuroimaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA) Consortium to infer age-related changes in cortical thickness. We used fractional polynomial (FP) regression to quantify the association between age and cortical thickness, and we computed normalized growth centiles using the parametric Lambda, Mu, and Sigma method. Interindividual variability was estimated using meta-analysis and one-way analysis of variance. For most regions, their highest cortical thickness value was observed in childhood. Age and cortical thickness showed a negative association; the slope was steeper up to the third decade of life and more gradual thereafter; notable exceptions to this general pattern were entorhinal, temporopolar, and anterior cingulate cortices. Interindividual 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 may form the basis of further investigation on normative deviation in cortical thickness and its significance for behavioral and cognitive outcomes.

Original languageEnglish
Number of pages21
JournalHuman Brain Mapping
Volume43
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 17 Feb 2021

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