Cortical thickness across the lifespan: Data from 17,075 healthy individuals aged 3-90 years.
Frangou S., Modabbernia A., Williams SCR., Papachristou E., Doucet GE., Agartz I., Aghajani M., Akudjedu TN., Albajes-Eizagirre A., Alnaes D., Alpert KI., Andersson M., Andreasen NC., Andreassen OA., Asherson P., Banaschewski T., Bargallo N., Baumeister S., Baur-Streubel R., Bertolino A., Bonvino A., Boomsma DI., Borgwardt S., Bourque J., Brandeis D., Breier A., Brodaty H., Brouwer RM., Buitelaar JK., Busatto GF., Buckner RL., Calhoun V., Canales-Rodríguez EJ., Cannon DM., Caseras X., Castellanos FX., Cervenka S., Chaim-Avancini TM., Ching CRK., Chubar V., Clark VP., Conrod P., Conzelmann A., Crespo-Facorro B., Crivello F., Crone EA., Dale AM., Dannlowski U., Davey C., de Geus EJC., de Haan L., de Zubicaray GI., den Braber A., Dickie EW., Di Giorgio A., Doan NT., Dørum ES., Ehrlich S., Erk S., Espeseth T., Fatouros-Bergman H., Fisher SE., Fouche J-P., Franke B., Frodl T., Fuentes-Claramonte P., Glahn DC., Gotlib IH., Grabe H-J., Grimm O., Groenewold NA., Grotegerd D., Gruber O., Gruner P., Gur RE., Gur RC., Hahn T., Harrison BJ., Hartman CA., Hatton SN., Heinz A., Heslenfeld DJ., Hibar DP., Hickie IB., Ho B-C., Hoekstra PJ., Hohmann S., Holmes AJ., Hoogman M., Hosten N., Howells FM., Hulshoff Pol HE., Huyser C., Jahanshad N., James A., Jernigan TL., Jiang J., Jönsson EG., Joska JA., Kahn R., Kalnin A., Kanai R., Klein M., Klyushnik TP., Koenders L., Koops S., Krämer B., Kuntsi J., Lagopoulos J., Lázaro L., Lebedeva I., Lee WH., Lesch K-P., Lochner C., Machielsen MWJ., Maingault S., Martin NG., Martínez-Zalacaín I., Mataix-Cols D., Mazoyer B., McDonald C., McDonald BC., McIntosh AM., McMahon KL., McPhilemy G., Meinert S., Menchón JM., Medland SE., Meyer-Lindenberg A., Naaijen J., Najt P., Nakao T., Nordvik JE., Nyberg L., Oosterlaan J., de la Foz VO-G., Paloyelis Y., Pauli P., Pergola G., Pomarol-Clotet E., Portella MJ., Potkin SG., Radua J., Reif A., Rinker DA., Roffman JL., Rosa PGP., Sacchet MD., Sachdev PS., Salvador R., Sánchez-Juan P., Sarró S., Satterthwaite TD., Saykin AJ., Serpa MH., Schmaal L., Schnell K., Schumann G., Sim K., Smoller JW., Sommer I., Soriano-Mas C., Stein DJ., Strike LT., Swagerman SC., Tamnes CK., Temmingh HS., Thomopoulos SI., Tomyshev AS., Tordesillas-Gutiérrez D., Trollor JN., Turner JA., Uhlmann A., van den Heuvel OA., van den Meer D., van der Wee NJA., van Haren NEM., van 't Ent D., van Erp TGM., Veer IM., Veltman DJ., Voineskos A., Völzke H., Walter H., Walton E., Wang L., Wang Y., Wassink TH., Weber B., Wen W., West JD., Westlye LT., Whalley H., Wierenga LM., Wittfeld K., Wolf DH., Worker A., Wright MJ., Yang K., Yoncheva Y., Zanetti MV., Ziegler GC., Karolinska Schizophrenia Project (KaSP) None., Thompson PM., Dima D.
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.