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Updated: Aug 5, 2026
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Abbiategrasso Brain Bank Protocol for Collecting, Processing and Characterizing Aging Brains
Published on: June 3, 2020
Mapping Neuroanatomical Heterogeneity of Brain Aging Within a Clinically Defined Aging Reference Cohort
Yanxue Li1, Hongjian Gao1, Lan Lin1
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Chemistry and Life Science, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China.
Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland)
|July 28, 2026
Summary
Brain aging shows diverse patterns, not just one. This study identified two distinct dimensions of brain aging (R1 and R2) in a healthy cohort, offering new insights into neuroanatomical variation.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Radiology
- Gerontology
Background:
- Brain aging displays significant individual differences.
- Distinguishing normal aging from pathology is difficult.
- A clinically defined aging reference cohort is needed.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize latent patterns of age-associated structural brain variations.
- To develop a reference for studying brain aging heterogeneity.
- To reduce confounding clinical pathology in aging research.
Main Methods:
- Constructed a Clinically Defined Aging Reference (CDAR) cohort from UK Biobank.
- Excluded individuals with overt clinical pathology.
- Applied the Surreal-GAN framework to analyze neuroanatomical data from 26,251 participants.
Main Results:
- Identified two stable, co-occurring dimensions of brain aging: R1 and R2.
- R1 showed widespread gray matter reduction linked to poorer cognition, adverse lifestyle, and disease.
- R2 exhibited relative subcortical preservation with selective cortical changes, associated with cardiovascular outcomes.
Conclusions:
- Brain aging involves multiple, partially separable neuroanatomical dimensions.
- These findings provide a reference for studying aging-related structural heterogeneity.
- Reduced clinical confounding enhances the study of normal brain aging patterns.
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