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BACKGROUND: Neuromelanin is a pigment with strong iron-chelating properties preferentially found in dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc). Parkinson's disease is characterized by pronounced, MRI-detectable neuromelanin loss, but the neuroprotective or neurotoxic role of neuromelanin remains debated. Histological studies have demonstrated neuromelanin increases with age, but this has not been confirmed in vivo, and there is uncertainty whether neuromelanin declines, stabilizes, or increases from middle age. METHODS: This study aimed to establish physiological changes of pigmentation of the SNpc using a pooled data set of neuromelanin-sensitive 3T MRI from 134 healthy individuals aged 5-83 years. Neuromelanin-related brightness (regional contrast to ratio) and calibrated hyperintense volumes were analyzed using linear and nonlinear regression models to characterize age effects. Laterality, sex, and subregional effects were also assessed. RESULTS: For brightness, age effects were best described as a quadratic trajectory explaining 81.5% of the observed variance in the SNpc showing a strong increase from childhood to adolescence, with plateauing in middle age and a decline in older age. Similar but less pronounced effects were seen in hyperintense volumes. We also show an anterior-posterior gradient in SNpc contrast, larger normalized neuromelanin-rich volume in women > 47 years old, but no laterality effect. CONCLUSIONS: Using optimized neuromelanin MRI in a life span sample, we demonstrate a strong age effect with inverted U-shaped SNpc pigmentation-related contrast from childhood to old age. This age trajectory of physiological SNpc pigmentation needs to be taken into account for diagnostic applications of depigmentation. The study also paves the way for systematic investigations of the mechanisms of neuromelanin in healthy and pathological brain development and aging. © 2018 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.
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