Longitudinal changes in brain asymmetry track lifestyle and disease
Abstract Human beings may have evolved the largest asymmetries of brain organization in the animal kingdom. Hemispheric left-vs-right specialization is especially pronounced in species-unique capacities, including emotional processing such as facial judgments, language-based feats such as reading bo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60451-8 |
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| author | Karin Saltoun B. T. Thomas Yeo Lynn Paul Jorn Diedrichsen Danilo Bzdok |
| author_facet | Karin Saltoun B. T. Thomas Yeo Lynn Paul Jorn Diedrichsen Danilo Bzdok |
| author_sort | Karin Saltoun |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Human beings may have evolved the largest asymmetries of brain organization in the animal kingdom. Hemispheric left-vs-right specialization is especially pronounced in species-unique capacities, including emotional processing such as facial judgments, language-based feats such as reading books, and creativity such as musical performances. We hence chart the largest longitudinal brain-imaging resource, and provide evidence that brain asymmetry changes continuously in a manner suggestive of neural plasticity throughout adulthood. In the UK Biobank population cohort, we demonstrate that whole-brain patterns of asymmetry changes show robust phenome-wide associations across 959 distinct variables spanning 11 categories. We also find that changes in brain asymmetry over years co-occur with changes among specific lifestyle markers. We uncover specific brain asymmetry changes which systematically co-occur with entering a new phase of life, namely retirement. Finally, we reveal relevance of evolving brain asymmetry within subjects to major disease categories across ~4500 total medical diagnoses. Our findings speak against the idea that asymmetrical neural systems are conserved throughout adulthood. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-784157dec6b447cf9a7b3a351cd0af73 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-784157dec6b447cf9a7b3a351cd0af732025-08-20T04:01:41ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-07-0116112110.1038/s41467-025-60451-8Longitudinal changes in brain asymmetry track lifestyle and diseaseKarin Saltoun0B. T. Thomas Yeo1Lynn Paul2Jorn Diedrichsen3Danilo Bzdok4The Neuro - Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI), McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, School of Computer Science, McGill UniversityCentre for Sleep and Cognition & Centre for Translational MR Research, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of SingaporeDivision of the Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of TechnologyWestern Institute of Neuroscience, Western UniversityThe Neuro - Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI), McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, School of Computer Science, McGill UniversityAbstract Human beings may have evolved the largest asymmetries of brain organization in the animal kingdom. Hemispheric left-vs-right specialization is especially pronounced in species-unique capacities, including emotional processing such as facial judgments, language-based feats such as reading books, and creativity such as musical performances. We hence chart the largest longitudinal brain-imaging resource, and provide evidence that brain asymmetry changes continuously in a manner suggestive of neural plasticity throughout adulthood. In the UK Biobank population cohort, we demonstrate that whole-brain patterns of asymmetry changes show robust phenome-wide associations across 959 distinct variables spanning 11 categories. We also find that changes in brain asymmetry over years co-occur with changes among specific lifestyle markers. We uncover specific brain asymmetry changes which systematically co-occur with entering a new phase of life, namely retirement. Finally, we reveal relevance of evolving brain asymmetry within subjects to major disease categories across ~4500 total medical diagnoses. Our findings speak against the idea that asymmetrical neural systems are conserved throughout adulthood.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60451-8 |
| spellingShingle | Karin Saltoun B. T. Thomas Yeo Lynn Paul Jorn Diedrichsen Danilo Bzdok Longitudinal changes in brain asymmetry track lifestyle and disease Nature Communications |
| title | Longitudinal changes in brain asymmetry track lifestyle and disease |
| title_full | Longitudinal changes in brain asymmetry track lifestyle and disease |
| title_fullStr | Longitudinal changes in brain asymmetry track lifestyle and disease |
| title_full_unstemmed | Longitudinal changes in brain asymmetry track lifestyle and disease |
| title_short | Longitudinal changes in brain asymmetry track lifestyle and disease |
| title_sort | longitudinal changes in brain asymmetry track lifestyle and disease |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60451-8 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT karinsaltoun longitudinalchangesinbrainasymmetrytracklifestyleanddisease AT btthomasyeo longitudinalchangesinbrainasymmetrytracklifestyleanddisease AT lynnpaul longitudinalchangesinbrainasymmetrytracklifestyleanddisease AT jorndiedrichsen longitudinalchangesinbrainasymmetrytracklifestyleanddisease AT danilobzdok longitudinalchangesinbrainasymmetrytracklifestyleanddisease |