They depict how our minds change from a 15-week-old fetus to a 100-year-old adult and are the result of a research project that spans six continents and includes nearly 125,000 brain scans. The charts allowed the experts to confirm – and in some cases, show for the first time – developmental milestones previously only assumed, such as at what age different areas of the brain reach maximum volume. Gray matter, or brain cells, for example, grow rapidly from mid-pregnancy onwards, peaking just before we are six years old. Then they slowly begin to decline. White matter, or brain connections, also rise rapidly in early childhood and peak just before people reach the age of 29, before the fall accelerates when a person reaches their fifties. Gray matter or brain cells grow rapidly from mid-pregnancy onwards, peaking just before we are six years old (pictured). Then there is a slow decrease in their volume as we age White matter, or brain connections, also rise rapidly in early childhood and peak just before people reach the age of 29, before the fall accelerates when a person reaches their fifties (picture). And the volume of gray matter in the subcortex peaks in adolescence at 14 and a half years

WHAT ARE THE KEY MOMENTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR BRAIN?

Among the key milestones the team observed were:

The volume of gray matter (brain cells) increases rapidly from mid-pregnancy onwards, peaking just before we are six years old. Then it starts to decrease slowly. The volume of white matter (brain connections) also increased rapidly from mid-pregnancy to early childhood and peaks just before we turn 29 years old. The reduction in white matter volume begins to accelerate after 50 years. The volume of gray matter in the subcortex (which controls bodily functions and basic behavior) peaks in adolescence at the age of 14.5 years.

Meanwhile, the volume of gray matter in the subcortex, which controls bodily functions and basic behavior, peaks in adolescence at 14 and a half, according to an international team of researchers.
Although not currently intended for clinical use, experts at the University of Cambridge hope that charts will become a routine tool similar to the way standard pediatric development charts are used. These boards have been a cornerstone of pediatric healthcare for over 200 years and are used in clinics to help monitor the growth and development of children compared to their peers. A typical growth chart can plot age on the horizontal axis versus height on the vertical axis, but instead of being a single line, it will display a range that reflects natural variability in height, weight, or head circumference. There are no corresponding reference charts for measuring age-related changes in the human brain. The lack of tools for standardized assessment of brain development and aging is particularly relevant to the study of psychiatric disorders, where differences in conditions and heterogeneity within them require instruments that can say something important about an individual in the way that can clinical reference charts. , and in conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease that cause brain tissue degeneration and cognitive impairment. The researchers said that their study is an important step towards filling this gap. Unlike pediatric development charts, BrainChart covers the entire life span of human life, from growth in the womb to old age, and aims to create a common language for describing variability in brain development and maturation.
The study was co-authored by Dr. Richard Bethlehem, of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge, who said: “It allowed us to measure the very early, rapid changes that occur in the brain and the long, slow decline as we age.” Fascinating maps showing the rapid growth and slow decline of the human brain over a lifetime have been unearthed by scientists (Stock Image) While brain charts are already proving useful for research, in the long run, the team intends to use them as a clinical tool. The datasets already have about 165 different diagnostic labels, which means researchers can see how the brain differs in conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease causes neurodegeneration and loss of brain tissue, so people affected by the condition are more likely to have reduced brain volume compared to their peers. In the same way that some healthy adults are taller than others, so there is variability in brain size – in other words, a slightly smaller brain does not necessarily mean that something is wrong. However, as shown in the brain charts, while the size of the brain naturally decreases with age, it does so much faster in Alzheimer’s patients. The graphs (pictured) show how our minds change from a 15-week-old fetus to a 100-year-old adult and are the result of a research project spanning six continents involving nearly 125,000 brain scans. Dr Bethlehem said: “We are still at a very early stage with our Brain Charts, showing that it is possible to create these tools by gathering huge data sets. “Graphs have already begun to provide interesting insights into brain development and we aspire to the future, as we integrate more data sets and refine graphs, they could eventually become part of everyday clinical practice. “Can you imagine them being used to help evaluate patients undergoing screening for conditions such as Alzheimer’s, for example, by allowing doctors to detect signs of neurodegeneration by comparing how quickly a patient’s brain volume has changed compared to their peers?” ». In addition, the team hopes to make brain charts more representative of the entire population, highlighting the need for more brain MRI data for previously under-represented socioeconomic and ethnic groups. Co-author Dr Jakob Seidlitz, of the Lifespan Brain Institute at Philadelphia Children’s Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania, said: “Creating these brain diagrams involved multiple technical breakthroughs and a large team of collaborators. “With brain imaging data, things are a little more complicated than just taking a measuring tape and measuring someone’s height or head circumference. “There were significant challenges that needed to be addressed, including logistical and administrative barriers, as well as the enormous methodological variability that we find between brain imaging data sets.” The team used neuroimaging software to extract data from MRI scans, starting with the volume of gray matter or white matter and then expanding its work to look at finer details, such as the thickness of the cortex or the volume of specific areas of the brain. . . They used a framework implemented by the World Health Organization to create growth charts to create diagrams of their brains. The researchers estimate that they have used about 2 million hours of computing time, analyzing almost one petabyte of data (one petabyte equals 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes). “This really would not be possible without access to the High Performance Computers in Cambridge,” said Dr. Seidlitz. “But we still see this as an ongoing project. It is a first step in creating a standardized reference diagram for neuroimaging. “That’s why we created the website and created a large network of partners. We expect to consistently update the graphs and rely on these models as new data will be available. ‘ The research was published in the journal Nature.

How fMRI scans track what happens in the human brain

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is one of the most recently developed forms of neuroimaging. It measures the metabolic changes that occur in the brain, such as changes in blood flow. Medical professionals can use fMRI to detect abnormalities in the brain that cannot be detected by other imaging techniques, to measure the effects of stroke or disease, or to guide the treatment of the brain. It can also be used to examine the anatomy of the brain and determine which parts of the brain handle critical functions. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses a magnetic field instead of X-rays to take pictures of the body. The MRI scanner is a hollow machine with a tube that runs horizontally through its waist. Lie down on a bed that slides into the scanner tube. The equipment used in fMRI scans uses the same technology, but is more compact and lightweight. The main difference between a normal MRI scan and an fMRI scan is the results that can be obtained. While a normal MRI scan gives images of the structure of the brain, a functional MRI scan shows which parts of the brain are activated when certain tasks are performed. This includes language, memory and movement.