Age dependency of cortex values before and after partial volume correction in PET data

The age dependency observed in many PET brain studies may be caused by pathophysiological and/or instrumental reasons. There is a decisive influence of the partial volume (PV) effect and its correction in studies comparing young and elderly subjects when regional cerebral atrophy is involved. A combined group of healthy volunteers (n=12; 21-74 yr.) and patients with Parkinson´s disease (PD) (n=12; 42-75 yr.) were scanned with MR and PET. Firstly, the MR data were segmented into gray matter (GM), white matter (WM), as well as cerebral spinal fluid (CSF). After creating simulated images from these data by setting fixed values to the three tissue types, these images were filtered with the image PET resolution.