A study1 Topological turning points across the human lifespan, published in Nature Communications reports that the organisation of the brain’s structural connectivity changes in five major phases across the human lifespan. Researchers analysed diffusion-MRI data from thousands of individuals aged from birth to 90 years and examined 12 graph-theoretical metrics describing brain-network topology.
Using dimensionality-reduction methods, the team identified four key “turning points” in the trajectories of these combined metrics, occurring at approximately 9, 32, 66, and 83 years of age. These mark transitions between five broad “epochs” of brain structural organisation, ranging from early development through adulthood and into ageing.
The authors found that different network measures follow distinct non-linear age-related trajectories, indicating that changes in structural connectivity are not uniform across life. They suggest that recognising these lifespan “epochs” may provide a useful framework for understanding typical brain development and age-related changes.
Read Open Access Study in Nature ⧉
- Mousley, A., Bethlehem, R.A.I., Yeh, FC. et al. Topological turning points across the human lifespan. Nat Commun 16, 10055 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-65974-8 ⧉
Source: Nature Communications
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