Distinct brain age gradients across the adult lifespan reflect diverse neurobiological hierarchies
Abstract ‘Brain age’ is a biological clock typically used to describe brain health with one number, but its relationship with established gradients of cortical organization remains unclear. We address this gap by leveraging a data-driven, region-specific brain age approach in 335 neurologically inta...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Communications Biology |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-08228-z |
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| author | Nicholas Riccardi Alex Teghipco Sarah Newman-Norlund Roger Newman-Norlund Ida Rangus Chris Rorden Julius Fridriksson Leonardo Bonilha |
| author_facet | Nicholas Riccardi Alex Teghipco Sarah Newman-Norlund Roger Newman-Norlund Ida Rangus Chris Rorden Julius Fridriksson Leonardo Bonilha |
| author_sort | Nicholas Riccardi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract ‘Brain age’ is a biological clock typically used to describe brain health with one number, but its relationship with established gradients of cortical organization remains unclear. We address this gap by leveraging a data-driven, region-specific brain age approach in 335 neurologically intact adults, using a convolutional neural network (volBrain) to estimate regional brain ages directly from structural MRI without a predefined set of morphometric properties. Six distinct gradients of brain aging are replicated in two independent cohorts. Spatial patterns of accelerated brain aging in older adults quantitatively align with the archetypal sensorimotor-to-association axis of cortical organization. Other brain aging gradients reflect neurobiological hierarchies such as gene expression and externopyramidization. Participant-level correspondences to brain age gradients are associated with cognitive and sensorimotor performance and explained behavioral variance more effectively than global brain age. These results suggest that regional brain age patterns reflect fundamental principles of cortical organization and behavior. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d3a24e93f71b4db790b3cc7e49e9c7dd |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2399-3642 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communications Biology |
| spelling | doaj-art-d3a24e93f71b4db790b3cc7e49e9c7dd2025-08-20T02:34:19ZengNature PortfolioCommunications Biology2399-36422025-05-018111310.1038/s42003-025-08228-zDistinct brain age gradients across the adult lifespan reflect diverse neurobiological hierarchiesNicholas Riccardi0Alex Teghipco1Sarah Newman-Norlund2Roger Newman-Norlund3Ida Rangus4Chris Rorden5Julius Fridriksson6Leonardo Bonilha7Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South CarolinaDepartment of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South CarolinaDepartment of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South CarolinaDepartment of Psychology, University of South CarolinaDepartment of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South CarolinaDepartment of Psychology, University of South CarolinaDepartment of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South CarolinaDepartment of Neurology, School of Medicine ColumbiaAbstract ‘Brain age’ is a biological clock typically used to describe brain health with one number, but its relationship with established gradients of cortical organization remains unclear. We address this gap by leveraging a data-driven, region-specific brain age approach in 335 neurologically intact adults, using a convolutional neural network (volBrain) to estimate regional brain ages directly from structural MRI without a predefined set of morphometric properties. Six distinct gradients of brain aging are replicated in two independent cohorts. Spatial patterns of accelerated brain aging in older adults quantitatively align with the archetypal sensorimotor-to-association axis of cortical organization. Other brain aging gradients reflect neurobiological hierarchies such as gene expression and externopyramidization. Participant-level correspondences to brain age gradients are associated with cognitive and sensorimotor performance and explained behavioral variance more effectively than global brain age. These results suggest that regional brain age patterns reflect fundamental principles of cortical organization and behavior.https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-08228-z |
| spellingShingle | Nicholas Riccardi Alex Teghipco Sarah Newman-Norlund Roger Newman-Norlund Ida Rangus Chris Rorden Julius Fridriksson Leonardo Bonilha Distinct brain age gradients across the adult lifespan reflect diverse neurobiological hierarchies Communications Biology |
| title | Distinct brain age gradients across the adult lifespan reflect diverse neurobiological hierarchies |
| title_full | Distinct brain age gradients across the adult lifespan reflect diverse neurobiological hierarchies |
| title_fullStr | Distinct brain age gradients across the adult lifespan reflect diverse neurobiological hierarchies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Distinct brain age gradients across the adult lifespan reflect diverse neurobiological hierarchies |
| title_short | Distinct brain age gradients across the adult lifespan reflect diverse neurobiological hierarchies |
| title_sort | distinct brain age gradients across the adult lifespan reflect diverse neurobiological hierarchies |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-08228-z |
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