Subcortical volumetric changes across the adult lifespan: Subregional thalamic atrophy accounts for age-related sensorimotor performance declines

Abstract

Even though declines in sensorimotor performance during healthy aging have been documented extensively, its underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we explored whether age-related subcortical atrophy plays a role in sensorimotor performance declines, and particularly during bimanual manipulative performance (Purdue Pegboard Test). The thalamus, putamen, caudate and pallidum of 91 participants across the adult lifespan (ages 20-79 years) were automatically segmented. In addition to studying age-related changes in the global volume of each subcortical structure, local deformations within these structures, indicative of subregional volume changes, were assessed by means of recently developed shape analyses. Results showed widespread age-related global and subregional atrophy, as well as some notable subregional expansion. Even though global atrophy failed to explain the observed performance declines with aging, shape analyses indicated that atrophy in left and right thalamic subregions, specifically subserving connectivity with the premotor, primary motor and somatosensory cortical areas, mediated the relation between aging and performance decline. It is concluded that subregional volume assessment by means of shape analyses offers a sensitive tool with high anatomical resolution in the search for specific age-related associations between brain structure and behavior.

Structure–function multi‐scale connectomics reveals a major role of the fronto‐striato‐thalamic circuit in brain aging

“…For example, a reduction in thalamic volume along the lifespan has been associated with age-related sensorimotor performance deterioration (Serbruyns et al, 2015). In relation to BG, and far beyond its classical association to motor function (Kandel, Schwartz, Jessell, Siegelbaum, & Hudspeth, 2012), there is nowadays mounting evidence to associate the BG decline with executive function deficits along the lifespan, such as motor switching (Coxon et al, 2010), inhibitory , and cognitive control (Grady, 2012), but also learning (Chalavi et al, 2018), whereby older adults perform worse than young.…”

Thalamic functional connectivity and its association with behavioral performance in older age

“…Similarly, a DTI study of 121 participants (aged 18–61 year) observed that motor task performance was negatively associated with thalamo‐precentral gyrus connectivity (radial diffusivity), while better verbal memory scores were positively associated with the number of thalamic voxels characterized as being “connected” to frontal, parietal, and temporal ROIs (Philp, Korgaonkar, & Grieve, 2014). Furthermore, gross morphometric alterations to the thalamus with advanced age have also been reported (Goodro, Sameti, Patenaude, & Fein, 2012; Long et al., 2012; Serbruyns et al., 2015; Sullivan, Rosenbloom, Serventi, & Pfefferbaum, 2004), although not universally (Good et al, 2001). …”

Nucleus accumbens and caudate atrophy predicts longer action selection times in young and old adults

“…Therefore, aging may interact with the coordination effect we reported earlier. On a neurobiological level, Serbruyns et al (2015) have shown an age-related volumetric decline in the putamen, pallidum, and caudate. The interaction between age and complexity may be better reported by RT than error data.…”