Age-Related Decline in Dopamine Transporters: Analysis of Striatal Subregions, Nonlinear Effects, and Hemispheric Asymmetries

Neuroimaging studies have documented an age-related decline in striatal dopamine transporters (DATs) as a marker of dopaminergic neurodegeneration. The authors further elucidated the effects on this neural system in healthy aging, in contrast to Parkinson disease (PD). The effects of age on striatal...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American journal of geriatric psychiatry 2002-01, Vol.10 (1), p.36-43
Main Authors: van Dyck, Christopher H., Seibyl, John P., Malison, Robert T., Laruelle, Marc, Zoghbi, Sami S., Baldwin, Ronald M., Innis, Robert B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Aging - metabolism
Brain - metabolism
Cocaine - analogs & derivatives
Dominance, Cerebral
Dopamine - metabolism
Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins
Female
Humans
Iodine Radioisotopes
Male
Membrane Glycoproteins
Membrane Transport Proteins - metabolism
Middle Aged
Neostriatum - diagnostic imaging
Neostriatum - metabolism
Nerve Tissue Proteins
Radiopharmaceuticals
Reference Values
Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon - methods
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Neuroimaging studies have documented an age-related decline in striatal dopamine transporters (DATs) as a marker of dopaminergic neurodegeneration. The authors further elucidated the effects on this neural system in healthy aging, in contrast to Parkinson disease (PD). The effects of age on striatal DAT availability were examined in a large, healthy subject sample (N=126) with [123I]2β-carbomethoxy-3β-(4-iodophenyl)tropane ([123I]β-CIT) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Striatal DAT availability (V3″) showed a significant inverse correlation with age, declining in a nearly linear manner by 46% over the age range 18 to 88 years, or 6.6% per decade. Rates of decline were comparable for caudate (48%) and putamen (45%), with only minimal increase in left–right asymmetry with age. Hemispheric asymmetries were unrelated to the handedness of subjects. These results demonstrate that aging is associated with a relatively symmetric loss of DATs in the caudate and putamen in both hemispheres. These findings have implications not only for healthy aging but also for neurodegenerative disorders such as PD.
ISSN:1064-7481
1545-7214
DOI:10.1097/00019442-200201000-00005