• Andrea Romano, Marta Moraschi, Riccardo Cornia, Alessandro Bozzao, Olga Gagliardo, Laura Chiacchiararelli, Cristina Iani, Giacomo Stella, Giorgio Albertini, and Alberto Pierallini.
• San Raffaele Foundation Rome, Rehabilitation Facility Ceglie Messapica, Merit Project RBNE08E8CZ, Via di Grottarossa 1035, 00189, Rome, Italy, andrea.romano@uniroma1.it.
• Neuroradiology. 2015 Apr 1; 57 (4): 401-11.

IntroductionThe aim of this study was to determine differences in the characteristic pattern of age-related cortical thinning in men and women with Down's syndrome (DS) by means of MRI and automatic cortical thickness measurements and a cross-sectional design, in a large cohort of young subjects.MethodsEighty-four subjects with DS, 30 females (11-35 years, mean age ± SD = 22.8 ± 5.9) and 54 males (11-35 years, mean age ± SD = 21.5 ± 6.5), were examined using a 1.5-T scanner. MRI-based quantification of cortical thickness was performed using FreeSurfer software package. For all subjects participating in the study, the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient between age and mean cortical thickness values has been evaluated.ResultsA significant negative correlation between cortical thickness and age was found in female DS subjects, predominantly in frontal and parietal lobes, bilaterally. In male DS subjects, a significant negative correlation between cortical thickness and age was found in the right fronto-temporal lobes and cingulate regions. Whole brain mean cortical thickness values were significantly negative correlated with age only in female DS subjects.ConclusionsFemales with Down's syndrome showed a strong correlation between cortical thickness and age, already in early age. We suggest that the cognitive impairment due to hormonal deficit in the postmenopausal period could be emphasized by the early structural decline of gray matter in female DS subjects.

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