We observed some individual differences in the contribution of NM and iron to T2* signal loss. The multiple correlation analysis showed that the contribution of NM and iron to T2* signal loss was greater in the older subject. This may be explained by postmortem evidence for age-related increases in these two histological variables3262728. The content of NM-iron complexes is known to increase with age15262728. NM deposits in the extracellular space were also observed in the more aged SN1526. Indeed, the presence of significant amounts of NM released from dying neurons is a feature of PD1526. Unfortunately, the staining techniques used in this study were not able to differentiate between intraneuronal and extraneuronal NM. Future investigations will be pursued to further explore these results with a larger, age-controlled sample.