Volumetric data of normal nucleus accumbens from magnetic resonance imaging scans

BACKGROUNDS AND AIMS: The nucleus accumbens (AcN) belongs to the ventral striatum and it is involved in several neuropsychiatric disorders. In contrast to other subcortical structures, the number of morphometric studies that concern the healthy nucleus is limited. This study aims to investigate the normal volumetric data of the AcN as derived from a large number of manually segmented magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. METHODS: The measurements were performed in 106 MRI scans of healthy adults. The resulting volumes have been analyzed for differences related to hemisphere, sex and age. RESULTS: The mean AcN volume was estimated at 473.3 mm(3) (SD=±106.8). A slight interhemispheric difference in favor of the left side was found, the value of which was, however, within the limits of the method error. There were no sexual dimorphism signs concerning both the raw and the normalized volumes. A negative correlation between volumes and age was observed only in males. CONCLUSIONS: The study provides normal volumetric data of the AcN, useful in the conduct of comparative imaging and post-mortem studies in pathological conditions.