Topological turning points across the human lifespan

Alexa Mousley (), Richard A. I. Bethlehem, Fang-Cheng Yeh and Duncan E. Astle
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Alexa Mousley: University of Cambridge, MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit
Richard A. I. Bethlehem: University of Cambridge, Department of Psychology
Fang-Cheng Yeh: University of Pittsburgh, Department of Neurological Surgery
Duncan E. Astle: University of Cambridge, MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: Abstract Structural topology develops non-linearly across the lifespan and is strongly related to cognitive trajectories. We gathered diffusion imaging from datasets with a collective age range of zero to 90 years old (N = 4,216). We analyzed how 12 graph theory metrics of organization change with age and projected these data into manifold spaces using Uniform Manifold Projection and Approximation. With these manifolds, we identified four major topological turning points across the lifespan – around nine, 32, 66, and 83 years old. These ages defined five major epochs of topological development, each with distinctive age-related changes in topology. These lifespan epochs each have a distinct direction of topological development and specific changes in the organizational properties driving the age-topology relationship. This study underscores the complex, non-linear nature of human development, with unique phases of topological maturation, which can only be illuminated with a multivariate, lifespan, population-level perspective.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-65974-8

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