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MRI Brain

AHEAD

The Amsterdam Ultra-high field adult lifespan database (AHEAD): A freely available multimodal 7 Tesla submillimeter magnetic resonance imaging database

Quantitative whole-brain MRI maps (T1, T2*, susceptibility) of healthy adults aged 18 to 80, built as a normative resource for mapping the human subcortex across the lifespan, with probability maps of five basal ganglia nuclei. 7 T, submillimeter, 105 people.

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Overview

A 7 tesla structural MRI collection from the University of Amsterdam, made to study the small, iron-rich nuclei of the subcortex across adult life. Every participant had one multi-echo MP2RAGE scan (MP2RAGEME), from which the authors derived a set of perfectly aligned quantitative maps. The release also holds group-level probability maps of five basal ganglia structures and multimodal templates in MNI space. A companion record of the raw k-space for part of the cohort is listed separately.

Composition

The database has 105 healthy adults (60 women, 45 men). One further volunteer was scanned but left out because of poor image quality. Participants were recruited through the Dutch Parkinson Foundation's channels and the University of Amsterdam, with self-reported health and an age of 18 to 80 years. Each age band from 31 to 80 holds at least six men and six women; the 18 to 30 band is larger because scans of young adults from other projects with the same sequence were added. Sex and age band per subject are given in a participants file; exact ages are not shared.

Acquisition

Scans were run on a Philips Achieva 7T with a 32-channel head coil at the Spinoza Centre in Amsterdam. The MP2RAGEME sequence records a first inversion at one echo and a second inversion at four echoes, at 0.7 mm isotropic acquired resolution (reconstructed 0.64 x 0.64 x 0.7 mm), in about 20 minutes. From it come T1-weighted images, T1 and R1 maps, T2* and R2* maps and susceptibility maps (QSM). No motion correction was applied. Images are skull-stripped NIfTI files in a folder layout close to BIDS. Version 2 (2022) adds the magnitude and phase source images of each inversion and echo.

Annotations

Raters outlined the subthalamic nucleus, substantia nigra, red nucleus and both globus pallidus segments on both sides in every subject. Only the averaged probability maps and average masks in MNI space are released, not the individual delineations.

Known limitations

  • Age is given only in bands of about ten years.
  • All scans come from one scanner and one site.
  • Skull stripping removes the face but also all tissue outside the brain mask.

Cohort

Aggregate numbers from the sources below. Bars are relative to the 105 subjects.

Sex

  • Female 60 57%
  • Male 45 43%

Table 2 in Alkemade et al. 2020, The Amsterdam Ultra-high field adult lifespan database (AHEAD), NeuroImage 221, 117200 (CC BY)

Contrast / sequence

Groups can overlap

  • T1-weighted 105 100%
  • T1 map 105 100%
  • T2* map 105 100%
  • QSM susceptibility map 105 100%

Section 3.1 and Table 3 in Alkemade et al. 2020, The Amsterdam Ultra-high field adult lifespan database (AHEAD), NeuroImage 221, 117200 (CC BY)

Scanner vendor

  • Philips 105 100%

Section 2.2 in Alkemade et al. 2020, The Amsterdam Ultra-high field adult lifespan database (AHEAD), NeuroImage 221, 117200 (CC BY)

Age

0
10
20
30
40
42
18-3031-4041-5051-6061-7071-80

Table 2 in Alkemade et al. 2020, The Amsterdam Ultra-high field adult lifespan database (AHEAD), NeuroImage 221, 117200 (CC BY)

Condition

Groups can overlap

  • Healthy control 105 100%

Section 2.1 in Alkemade et al. 2020, The Amsterdam Ultra-high field adult lifespan database (AHEAD), NeuroImage 221, 117200 (CC BY)

Field strength

  • 7 T 105 100%

Section 2.2 in Alkemade et al. 2020, The Amsterdam Ultra-high field adult lifespan database (AHEAD), NeuroImage 221, 117200 (CC BY)

Age by sex

Reported cross table. Missing cells were not published (fewer than 10 or not reported).

Female Male
  • 7
    71-80
    6
  • 7
    61-70
    6
  • 7
    51-60
    5
  • 6
    41-50
    7
  • 6
    31-40
    6
  • 27
    18-30
    15

Table 2 in Alkemade et al. 2020, The Amsterdam Ultra-high field adult lifespan database (AHEAD), NeuroImage 221, 117200 (CC BY)

License and access

Our reading of the license, not legal advice. Before you use the data, read the original license and confirm that your use is allowed. We take no responsibility for how you use a dataset. Full disclaimer

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

Use, share and adapt the data for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you credit the creators.

The Figshare record states CC BY 4.0 for both version 1 (2020) and version 2 (2022).

Original license text Version read: 4.0 Checked 2026-10-07

What you can do

  • Yes
  • Yes
  • Yes
  • Yes
  • Yes

What you can share

  • Yes
  • Yes
  • Yes

What you must do

  • Yes
  • Share alike No
  • No
  • No
  • Manuscript review No
  • Release code No
  • Return results No
  • Delete after use No

Limits

  • No
  • Location limits No

Citation

Alkemade A, Mulder MJ, Groot JM, Isaacs BR, van Berendonk N, Lute N, Isherwood SJS, Bazin PL, Forstmann BU. The Amsterdam Ultra-high field adult lifespan database (AHEAD): A freely available multimodal 7 Tesla submillimeter magnetic resonance imaging database. NeuroImage 221:117200 (2020). doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117200

Sources

Every number on this page comes from one of these documents. Each chart names the table or page it is taken from. The raw numbers are in stats.csv.