Multimodal quantitative MRI reveals age-related biophysical alterations in the human brain across the adult lifespan.

Xiang Chen, Zhiyuan Yuan, Jie Zhang, Xiao-Yong Zhang

Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China; MOE Key Laboratory of Computational Neuroscience and Brain-Inspired Intelligence, and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China.Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China; MOE Key Laboratory of Computational Neuroscience and Brain-Inspired Intelligence, and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China. · pubmed

Paper

Abstract

Understanding how brain tissue properties change with age is crucial for identifying early markers of neurodegenerative disease. However, the biophysical alterations and their molecular bases remain poorly understood. Quantitative MRI (qMRI) offers non-invasive insight into brain tissue properties. In this study, we employed three qMRI metrics-quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM), longitudinal relaxation rate (R1), and effective transverse relaxation rate (R2*)-to investigate age-related brain changes across the adult lifespan. Applying linear and nonlinear modeling, we observed distinct patterns of cross-sectional age-related biophysical alterations (early, late, and inverted-U patterns) in the human brain. Predictive modeling identified subcortical and thalamic regions as key contributors to age estimation. Integrating transcriptomic data revealed that these imaging-derived patterns spatially co-localize with gene expression signatures enriched in neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative pathways. Our study advances current understanding by integrating multimodal qMRI age-related patterns and transcriptomics, uncovering distinct aging patterns, candidate age-sensitive imaging features that warrant further validation, and their potential molecular underpinnings.

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Research summary

The study identifies distinct patterns of age-related biophysical alterations in the human brain using quantitative MRI metrics. This research is relevant as it explores the underlying changes associated with aging, which could contribute to understanding the biological mechanisms of aging and potentially inform strategies for longevity and age-related disease prevention.

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