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Brain Structure and Function
Published in: Brain Structure and Function 2/2022

01-03-2022 | Magnetic Resonance Imaging | Original Article

Intra- and interhemispheric symmetry of subcortical brain structures: a volumetric analysis in the aging human brain

Authors: Jaime Gómez-Ramírez, Javier J. González-Rosa

Published in: Brain Structure and Function | Issue 2/2022

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Abstract

Here, we address the hemispheric interdependency of subcortical structures in the aging human brain. In particular, we investigated whether subcortical volume variations can be explained by the adjacency of structures in the same hemisphere or are due to the interhemispheric development of mirror subcortical structures in the brain. Seven subcortical structures in each hemisphere were automatically segmented in a large sample of 3312 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of elderly individuals in their 70s and 80s. We performed Eigenvalue analysis, and found that anatomic volumes in the limbic system and basal ganglia show similar statistical dependency whether considered in the same hemisphere (intrahemispherically) or different hemispheres (interhemispherically). Our results indicate that anatomic bilaterality of subcortical volumes is preserved in the aging human brain, supporting the hypothesis that coupling between non-adjacent subcortical structures might act as a mechanism to compensate for the deleterious effects of aging.
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Metadata
Title
Intra- and interhemispheric symmetry of subcortical brain structures: a volumetric analysis in the aging human brain
Authors
Jaime Gómez-Ramírez
Javier J. González-Rosa
Publication date
01-03-2022
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
Brain Structure and Function / Issue 2/2022
Print ISSN: 1863-2653
Electronic ISSN: 1863-2661
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-021-02305-9

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