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FIGURE 1. Normal adult pattern of cerebral glucose metabolism measured with 18F-FDG. Images are shown from the most superior (far left column) to most inferior (far right column) planes of the brain. In this and later figures, images are cross-sectional and are displayed with the anterior brain at the top of each image and the left side of the brain on the right of each image. Normal aging is associated with some increased generalized cortical atrophy, as evidenced by moderate widening (arrow) of the interthalamic distances in the 85-y-old patient (middle right). Additional arrows highlight the progression of mild metabolic decline, also attributable to normal aging, in the medial prefrontal cortex bilaterally (middle left, ages 53 and 85 y) and in the left anterior prefrontal cortex (middle left, age 85 y). Otherwise, in healthy adults, the pattern of regional cerebral metabolism changes little throughout adulthood.
