Murshed KA, Ziylan T, Seker M, Cicekcibasi AE, Acikgozoglu S..

Since the development of MRI techniques, many neuroanatomical studies of normal brain growth and atrophy have been reported. Investigations of aging effects on the brain stem and cerebellum are important, not only to understand normal aging process, but also for comparative study of the pathophysiology of degenerative brain disorders. Sex differences in gross cerebellar neuroanatomy have been observed in several studies. In this study, our purpose was to assess the sex differences and the age-related morphological changes of the brain stem and the cerebellar vermis on midsagittal MRIs. According to radiologists’ reports, midsagittal MRIs of 120 normal individuals were evaluated in this study. There were 50 males and 70 females. By tracing the outline contour of the cerebellar vermis and the brain stem, both brain regions were drawn in a transparent paper, scaled for the real size and saved in the computer. Calculation of the areas of both regions was performed by utilizing NETCAD for Windows program, and the collected data were statistically analysed by using SPSS software. Students’s t test was applied for gender comparisons. To determine the associations between age and both areas, Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated. Significant sex difference was found in the brain stem area favouring males (p<0.05) whereas no significant difference was recorded in the cerebellar vermis area. Non-significant age-associated decrease in brain stem and cerebellar vermis areas were found. The age-related changes in the brain stem and cerebellar vermis remains speculative, though some authors suggest a selective vulnerability of specific posterior fossa structures to the effects of aging and sex. © Neuroanatomy. 2003; 2: 35-38.