Effects of age and sex on volumes of the thalamus, pons, and cortex

Volumes of thalamus, pons, cortical gray matter, and white matter were derived from MR brain images of healthy men and women spanning the adult age range in order to delineate patterns of aging and to compare age and sex effects in thalamus and pons with such effects in cortical gray and white matter volumes. Men had larger intracranial volume (ICV) than women, but ICV did not correlate with age in either sex. Thalamic, pontine, and cortical white matter volumes did not differ between men and women once ICV differences were taken into account, but men had more cortical gray matter than women even after accounting for ICV. Volumes of pons and thalamus were associated, independent of ICV, in women but not in men. Thalamic volume declined linearly with age at a similar rate in both men and women, whereas cortical gray matter volume declined more steeply with age in men than women. Both pontine and cortical white matter volumes remained stable across the age span in both men and women.