Paper alert: Lifespan Trajectories of Asymmetry in White Matter Tracts

Now accepted in Human Brain Mapping

In this large-scale study, we analysed diffusion MRI data from 35,120 individuals across 50 cohorts spanning the entire human lifespan (0–100 years) to chart how structural asymmetries of white matter pathways evolve across development and aging.

The study provides the first comprehensive lifespan reference charts of white matter asymmetry, covering 30 major pathways and multiple microstructural and macrostructural features. The results show that hemispheric asymmetries are widespread, pathway-specific, and dynamic across the lifespan, with distinct developmental trajectories and a tendency for asymmetry to increase in later adulthood.

These normative charts provide an important reference framework for studying brain lateralisation, individual variability, and deviations associated with neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders.

The work was led by Sam Bogdanov and Kurt Schilling and involved a large international collaboration Read more here: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.29.678806v3.full

Cite this work: Bogdanov, S., Kanakaraj, P., Kim, M. E., Samir, J., Gao, C., Ramadass, K., Rudravaram, G., Newlin, N. R., Archer, D., Hohman, T. J., Jefferson, A. L., Morgan, V. L., Roche, A., Englot, D. J., Resnick, S. M., Beason Held, L. L., Cutting, L., Barquero, L. A., D’Archangel, M. A., Nguyen, T. Q., Humphreys, K. L., Niu, Y., Vinci-Booher, S., Cascio, C. J., The HABS-HD Study Team, Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, The BIOCARD Study Team, Li, Z., Vandekar, S. N., Zhang, P., Gore, J. C., Forkel, S. J., Landman, B. A. & Schilling, K. G. Lifespan trajectories of asymmetry in white matter tracts. Hum. Brain Mapp. (in press). https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.09.29