Naoko Saito1, Memi Watanabe2, Osamu Sakai2, 3, Hernan Jara, 24
1Saitama International Medical Center, Hidaka, Saitama, Japan; 2Boston Medical Center, United States; 3Boston University School of Medicine, United States; 4Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States
Purpose To study the proton density (PD) changes of the brain over the full human lifespan using quantitative MRI. Methods Forty-four subjects (0.5-87 years) scanned with the mixed-TSE pulse sequence were segmented into the whole brain tissues leading to the PD histograms. The histograms were modeled with Gaussian functions. Results PD of gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) decreased from 0 to 20 years of age and remained approximately stable during adulthood period. During senescence period, PD of GM remained stable, while PD of WM increased. Conclusion Age-related PD changes of the brain have been studied.