Healthy aging in human thalamic nuclei: an evaluation of volumetric atrophy and kurtosis microstructural metrics

Motivation: Volumetric and microstructural characterization of thalamic nuclei is currently meeting growing interest in neuroimaging. Thalamic nuclei microstructural features, especially, may be used as biomarkers to study changes in both normal aging and degenerative diseases. Goal(s): Quantify age-related differences in volumetry and microstructure of thalamic nucleiApproach: We used 3T structural MRI (volumetry) and Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging (microstructure)Results: Our main result is that thalamic volumetric atrophy effects related to healthy aging are significant and stronger than those given by microstructure estimates. Impact: Macroscopic atrophy is more sensitive to healthy aging differences relative to microstructure effects derived from Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging.