Unraveling Lifelong Brain Morphometric Dynamics: A Protocol for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis in Healthy Neurodevelopment and Ageing
Yauhen Statsenko,
Tetiana Habuza,
Darya Smetanina,
Gillian Lylian Simiyu,
Sarah Meribout,
Fransina Christina King,
Juri G. Gelovani,
Karuna M. Das,
Klaus N.-V. Gorkom,
Kornelia Zaręba,
Taleb M. Almansoori,
Miklós Szólics,
Fatima Ismail,
Milos Ljubisavljevic
Affiliations
Yauhen Statsenko
Radiology Department, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
Tetiana Habuza
Big Data Analytics Center, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
Darya Smetanina
Radiology Department, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
Gillian Lylian Simiyu
Radiology Department, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
Sarah Meribout
Radiology Department, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
Fransina Christina King
Physiology Department, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
Juri G. Gelovani
Radiology Department, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
Karuna M. Das
Radiology Department, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
Klaus N.-V. Gorkom
Radiology Department, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
Kornelia Zaręba
Obstetrics & Gynecology Department, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
Taleb M. Almansoori
Radiology Department, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
Miklós Szólics
Neurology Division, Medicine Department, Tawam Hospital, Al Ain, P.O. Box 15258, United Arab Emirates
Fatima Ismail
Pediatric Department, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
Milos Ljubisavljevic
Physiology Department, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
A high incidence and prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases and neurodevelopmental disorders justify the necessity of well-defined criteria for diagnosing these pathologies from brain imaging findings. No easy-to-apply quantitative markers of abnormal brain development and ageing are available. We aim to find the characteristic features of non-pathological development and degeneration in distinct brain structures and to work out a precise descriptive model of brain morphometry in age groups. We will use four biomedical databases to acquire original peer-reviewed publications on brain structural changes occurring throughout the human life-span. Selected publications will be uploaded to Covidence systematic review software for automatic deduplication and blinded screening. Afterwards, we will manually review the titles, abstracts, and full texts to identify the papers matching eligibility criteria. The relevant data will be extracted to a ‘Summary of findings’ table. This will allow us to calculate the annual rate of change in the volume or thickness of brain structures and to model the lifelong dynamics in the morphometry data. Finally, we will adjust the loss of weight/thickness in specific brain areas to the total intracranial volume. The systematic review will synthesise knowledge on structural brain change across the life-span.
