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

Karolinska Schizophrenia Project (KaSP), Fabrice Crivello, Anders M. Dale, Christopher Davey, Greig I. Zubicaray, Erin W. Dickie, Annabella Di Giorgio, Nhat Trung Doan, Erlend S. Dørum, Stefan Ehrlich, Susanne Erk, Thomas Espeseth, Helena Fatouros‐bergman, Simon E. Fisher, Jean‐paul Fouche, Barbara Franke, Thomas Frodl, Paola Fuentes‐claramonte, David C. Glahn, Ian H. GotlibHans‐jörgen Grabe, Oliver Grimm, Nynke A. Groenewold, Dominik Grotegerd, Oliver Gruber, Patricia Gruner, Rachel E. Gur, Ruben C. Gur, Ben J. Harrison, Sean N. Hatton, Andreas Heinz, Derrek P. Hibar, Ian B. Hickie, Beng‐choon Ho, Pieter J. Hoekstra, Sarah Hohmann, Avram J. Holmes, Martine Hoogman, Norbert Hosten, Fleur M. Howells, Hilleke E. Hulshoff Pol, Neda Jahanshad, Anthony James, Terry L. Jernigan, Jiyang Jiang, Erik G. Jönsson, John A. Joska, Rene Kahn, Andrew Kalnin, Ryota Kanai, Marieke Klein, Tatyana P. Klyushnik, Sanne Koops, Bernd Krämer, Jonna Kuntsi, Jim Lagopoulos, Luisa Lázaro, Irina Lebedeva, Won Hee Lee, Klaus‐peter Lesch, Christine Lochner, Sophie Maingault, Nicholas G. Martin, Ignacio Martínez‐zalacaín, David Mataix‐cols, Bernard Mazoyer, Colm Mcdonald, Brenna C. Mcdonald, Andrew M. Mcintosh, Katie L. Mcmahon, Genevieve Mcphilemy, José M. Menchón, Sarah E. Medland, Andreas Meyer‐lindenberg, Jilly Naaijen, Pablo Najt, Tomohiro Nakao, Jan E. Nordvik, Lars Nyberg, Víctor Ortiz‐garcía Foz, Yannis Paloyelis, Paul Pauli, Giulio Pergola, Edith Pomarol‐clotet, Maria J. Portella, Steven G. Potkin, Joaquim Radua, Andreas Reif, Daniel A. Rinker, Joshua L. Roffman, Pedro G. P. Rosa, Matthew D. Sacchet, Perminder S. Sachdev, Raymond Salvador, Pascual Sánchez‐juan, Salvador Sarró, Theodore D. Satterthwaite, Andrew J. Saykin, Mauricio H. Serpa, Knut Schnell, Gunter Schumann, Kang Sim, Jordan W. Smoller, Iris Sommer, Carles Soriano‐mas, Dan J. Stein, Lachlan T. Strike, Suzanne C. Swagerman, Christian K. Tamnes, Henk S. Temmingh, Sophia I. Thomopoulos, Alexander S. Tomyshev, Diana Tordesillas‐gutiérrez, Julian N. Trollor, Jessica A. Turner, Anne Uhlmann, Dennis Meer, Nic J. A. Wee, Neeltje E. M. Haren, Dennis van't Ent, Theo G. M. Erp, Aristotle Voineskos, Henry Völzke, Henrik Walter, Esther Walton, Lei Wang, Yang Wang, Thomas H. Wassink, Bernd Weber, Wei Wen, John D. West, Lars T. Westlye, Heather Whalley, Lara M. Wierenga, Katharina Wittfeld, Daniel H. Wolf, Amanda Worker, Margaret J. Wright, Kun Yang, Yulyia Yoncheva, Marcus V. Zanetti, Georg C. Ziegler, Paul M. Thompson, Danai Dima

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

100 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
Pages (from-to)431-451
Number of pages21
JournalHuman brain mapping
Volume43
Issue number1
Early online date17 Feb 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2022

Keywords

  • aging
  • cortical thickness
  • development
  • trajectories

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