Figure 1. Age-related atrophy of the basal forebrain cholinergic system (BFCS).
Upper row: Overview of the basal forebrain cholinergic system region of interest (BFCS-ROI) (purple) projected onto coronal slices of the lifespan template in MNI space (MNI-coordinates y = 9 to y = −7 in intervals of 2mm). Lower rows: Results of the voxel-wise analysis restricted to the BFCS-ROI projected onto the same coronal slices and magnified to better represent the basal forebrain (running from y = 9 in upper left corner to y = −7 in lower right corner). Results of the voxel-wise analysis restricted to the BFCS-ROI are corrected for total intracranial volume and gender and are thresholded at p<0.01, FDR-corrected. A minimum cluster extension threshold of 5 contiguous voxels was applied. Statistical significance (in terms of T-values, 209 degrees of freedom) is coded by a color-scale from black-blue to red. Negative age-effects on grey matter volume are seen throughout the whole BFCS-ROI, being statistically most robust in anterior (lateral and medial) and intermediate parts of the nucleus basalis meynert (Ch4al, Ch4am, Ch4i).