Asymmetric thinning of the cerebral cortex across the adult lifespan is accelerated in Alzheimer’s disease

Roe, JM; Vidal-Piñeiro, D; Sørensen, Ø; Brandmaier, AM; Düzel, S; Gonzalez, HA; Kievit, RA; Knights, E; Kühn, S; Lindenberger, U; Mowinckel, AM; Nyberg, L; Park, DC; Pudas, S; Rundle, MM; Walhovd, KB; Fjell, AM; Westerhausen, R; Masters, CL; Bush, AI; Fowler, C; Darby, D; Pertile, K; Restrepo, C; Roberts, B; Robertson, J; Rumble, R; Ryan, T; Collins, S; Thai, C; Trounson, B; Lennon, K; Li, QX; Ugarte, FY; Volitakis, I; Vovos, M; Williams, R; Baker, J; Russell, A; Peretti, M; Milicic, L; Lim, L; Rodrigues, M; Taddei, K; Taddei, T; Hone, E; Lim, F; Fernandez, S; Rainey-Smith, S; Pedrini, S; Martins, R; Doecke, J; Bourgeat, P; Fripp, J; Gibson, S; Leroux, H; Hanson, D; Dore, V; Zhang, P; Burnham, S; Rowe, CC; Villemagne, VL; Yates, P; Pejoska, SB; Jones, G; Ames, D; Cyarto, E; Lautenschlager, N; Barnham, K; Cheng, L; Hill, Andrew; Killeen, N; Maruff, P; Silbert, B; Brown, B; Sohrabi, H; Savage, G; Vacher, M

doi:10.26181/607390095a55f

Asymmetric thinning of the cerebral cortex across the adult lifespan is accelerated in Alzheimer’s disease

journal contribution

posted on 2021-04-12, 00:10 authored by JM Roe, D Vidal-Piñeiro, Ø Sørensen, AM Brandmaier, S Düzel, HA Gonzalez, RA Kievit, E Knights, S Kühn, U Lindenberger, AM Mowinckel, L Nyberg, DC Park, S Pudas, MM Rundle, KB Walhovd, AM Fjell, R Westerhausen, CL Masters, AI Bush, C Fowler, D Darby, K Pertile, C Restrepo, B Roberts, J Robertson, R Rumble, T Ryan, S Collins, C Thai, B Trounson, K Lennon, QX Li, FY Ugarte, I Volitakis, M Vovos, R Williams, J Baker, A Russell, M Peretti, L Milicic, L Lim, M Rodrigues, K Taddei, T Taddei, E Hone, F Lim, S Fernandez, S Rainey-Smith, S Pedrini, R Martins, J Doecke, P Bourgeat, J Fripp, S Gibson, H Leroux, D Hanson, V Dore, P Zhang, S Burnham, CC Rowe, VL Villemagne, P Yates, SB Pejoska, G Jones, D Ames, E Cyarto, N Lautenschlager, K Barnham, L Cheng, Andrew HillAndrew Hill, N Killeen, P Maruff, B Silbert, B Brown, H Sohrabi, G Savage, M Vacher

© 2021, The Author(s). Aging and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are associated with progressive brain disorganization. Although structural asymmetry is an organizing feature of the cerebral cortex it is unknown whether continuous age- and AD-related cortical degradation alters cortical asymmetry. Here, in multiple longitudinal adult lifespan cohorts we show that higher-order cortical regions exhibiting pronounced asymmetry at age ~20 also show progressive asymmetry-loss across the adult lifespan. Hence, accelerated thinning of the (previously) thicker homotopic hemisphere is a feature of aging. This organizational principle showed high consistency across cohorts in the Lifebrain consortium, and both the topological patterns and temporal dynamics of asymmetry-loss were markedly similar across replicating samples. Asymmetry-change was further accelerated in AD. Results suggest a system-wide dedifferentiation of the adaptive asymmetric organization of heteromodal cortex in aging and AD.

History

Publication Date

2021-12-01

Journal

Nature Communications

Volume

12

Issue

1

Article Number

721

Pagination

(p. 721)

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC

ISSN

2041-1723

Rights Statement

The Author reserves all moral rights over the deposited text and must be credited if any re-use occurs. Documents deposited in OPAL are the Open Access versions of outputs published elsewhere. Changes resulting from the publishing process may therefore not be reflected in this document. The final published version may be obtained via the publisher’s DOI. Please note that additional copyright and access restrictions may apply to the published version.