MRI atrophy of the caudate nucleus and slower walking speed in the elderly
Abstract
Full Length Articles MRI atrophy of the caudate nucleus and slower walking speed in the elderly Julien Dumurgier a,b,c,⁎, Fabrice Crivello d, Bernard Mazoyer d, Ismaïl Ahmed a,b, Béatrice Tavernier e, David Grabli f, Chantal François f, Nathalie Tzourio-Mazoyer d, Christophe Tzourio a,b, Alexis Elbaz a,b a INSERM, U708, Neuroepidemiology, F-75005, Paris, France b UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR_S708, Neuroepidemiology, F-75005, Paris, France c CMRR Paris Nord-IDF, University of Paris Diderot, Paris, France d GIN, UMR 5296 CNRS-CEA-Université Bordeaux Segalen, Bordeaux, France e CHU de Dijon, Department of Geriatrics, Dijon, France f UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR-S 975, Paris, France a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 28 September 2011 Revised 10 January 2012 Accepted 18 January 2012 Available online 28 January 2012 Keywords: Walking speed Volumetric MRI Gait Basal ganglia Caudate nucleus Aging Cerebral white matter lesions are associated with poorer motor performances in the elderly, but the role of gray matter atrophy remains largely unknown. We investigated the cross-sectional relation between brain regional gray matter volumes and walking speed over 6 m in the 3C-Dijon study, a large population-based study of community-dwelling persons aged 65 years and over (N=1623). Regional gray matter volumes were obtained using an automated anatomical labeling parcellation method. Multivariable analyses were performed using a semi-Bayes approach. After adjustment for potential confounders, persons who walked slower had a smaller volume of basal ganglia (regression coefficient [β]=0.054, standard error [SE]= 0.028, p=0.05). In more detailed analyses, the volume of the caudate nucleus had a preponderant role on this association (β=0.049, SE=0.019, p=0.009), and walking speed decreased progressively with the vol- ume of the caudate nucleus (p for linear trendb0.001). These results underline the role of gray matter sub- cortical structures, in particular of the cau
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