Normative functional connection models at a global level during lifespan. Credit: Sun et al. (Nature Neuroscience, 2025).
From birth to the last moments of life, the human brain is known to change and evolve significantly, both in terms of physical organization (i.e. structural connectivity) and coordination between different brain regions (ie functional connectivity). The cartography and understanding of the evolution of the brain over time are of crucial importance, because it could also shed light on the differences in the brain of people who develop various mental health problems or feel a cognitive decline linked to aging.
Researchers from Beijing University Normal and other China Institutes have recently carried out a large -scale study to collect new information on how the functional connectivity of the human brain is changing during their lifespan. Their article, published in Nature neuroscienceUnveils the models in the evolution of the brain which could shed light on future research focused on a wide range of neuropsychiatric and cognitive disorders.
“The functional connectivity of the human brain changes in life,” wrote Lianglong Sun, Tengda Zhao and their colleagues in their article. “We assemble the functional and structural magnetic resonance imagery data without a task of 33,250 individuals at 32 weeks post-annuity at 80 years from 132 world sites.”
As part of their study, Sun, Zhao and his colleagues compiled a set of data containing the neuroimagery data of tens of thousands of people collected in different countries of the world. These data were collected as part of large -scale projects, such as the Human Connectome Project (HCP), the Human Connectome Project (DHCP) project and the Baby Connectome (BCP) project.
By analyzing this large pool of data, the researchers have unveiled key differences in the evolution of the functional connection of the brain, as well as moments in the human life during which different parts of the brain are more strongly connected, also presenting a greater variety of connections. They found that the strength and diversity of connections between different parts of the brain at the start and in the middle of the adult.
Functional atlas at the level of the population and at the individual level throughout the lifespan. Credit: Nature neuroscience (2025). DOI: 10.1038 / S41593-025-01907-4
“We report critical inflection points in the non -linear growth curves of the global average and variance of Connectome, culminating respectively at the end of the fourth and the end of the third decades of life,” wrote Sun, Zhao and their colleagues.
“After having built a sequel to fine grains and on the scale of the lifespan of brain atlas at the level of the system, we show distinct maturation calendars for functional segregation in different systems. Life growth in regional connectivity is organized along a space-time cortical axis, transitioning from primary sensory regions.”
The recent analyzes carried out by Sun, Zhao and their colleagues also led to the creation of brain atlas which highlight the times during the lifespan during which different brain regions specialize in specific tasks via a process called functional segregation. These cards also pinpoint important transitions in early childhood, childhood and adolescence linked to the acquisition of important skills and changes in cognitive capacities.
“These results elect the evolution of the lifespan of the functional connection and can serve as a normative reference to quantify the individual variation in development, aging and neuropsychiatric disorders,” explained the researchers.
This global study on a large -scale and the information it has gathered could be a precious contribution to understanding the human brain, guiding future studies focused on development changes and specific efforts aimed at introducing personalized treatments for various conditions. In addition, the team’s full analyzes could help discover new deviations in the functional connectivity of the brain linked to specific neuropsychiatric or neurodegenerative disorders.
More information:
Lianglong Sun et al, changes in human life in the functional connection of the brain, Nature neuroscience (2025). DOI: 10.1038 / S41593-025-01907-4.
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