Abstract
We studied whether differences exist regarding age - related changes of the telencephalic pallium, especially in the volume ratio of the frontal lobe to the total pallium. To measure volume, an electrical planimeter was used to trace magnetic resonance images from 327 asymptomatic persons whose ages ranged from infancy to the 90s. Our most striking finding was that the volume decrease of the frontal lobe started earlier than previously thought and is more rapid, especially in patients in their 90s. We suggest that the frontopallium volume ratio can be used to evaluate brain development and cerebral atrophy, espcially in the frontal lobe. Our results reveal that the human brain develops quickly from birth to the teenage years. There after brain volume gradually decreases with fluctuations untill the early 50s, followed by a constant, gradual decrease after the 60s and by a rapid decrease in frontal volume ratios after the 70s. We conclude that the frontopallium volume ratio will be useful for evaluation investigation of brain development and cerebral atrophy.
