Tullo S, Patel R, Devenyi GA, et al. - Using a dataset carefully quality managed, generating a final sample of 178 for the morphological analyses, and 162 for the T1-weighted/T2-weighted (T1w/T2w) analyses from an initial dataset of 253 healthy individuals, aged 18–83, researchers investigated the normative associations between age and morphology (ie, volume and shape), and microstructure (using the T1w/T2w signal ratio as a putative index of myelin and microstructure) of the striatum, globus pallidus, and thalamus across the adult lifespan. Age-related volume reduction that followed a quadratic correlation between age and bilateral striatal and thalamic volumes and a linear association in the globus pallidus was noted in comparison with former studies. Age-related posterior and medial areal contraction bilaterally, across all three structures, were consistently illustrated. Beyond morphology, a quadratic inverted U-shaped association between T1w/T2w signal ratio and age, with a peak value occurring in middle age (at around 50 years old) was discovered. Following permutation testing, for the bilateral globus pallidus and thalamus, for both the volumetric and T1w/T2w analyses, the Akaike information criterion ascertained age associations continued to be notable. Thus, these findings strengthen and expand upon former volumetric analyses by giving a normative baseline of morphology and microstructure of these structures to which prospective studies examining patients with different disorders can be contrasted.