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Abstract #0014

Mode of variation in brain structure identifies network linking protracted development, early degeneration and vulnerability to disease

Gwenaelle Douaud 1 , Adrian Groves 1 , Christian Tamnes 2 , Lars Westlye 3 , Andreas Engvig 2 , Kristine Wavhold 2 , Anthony James 4 , Achim Gass 5 , Andreas Monsch 6 , Paul Matthews 7 , Anders Fjell 2 , Stephen Smith 1 , and Heidi Johansen-Berg 1

1 FMRIB Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, 2 Research Group for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, 3 KG Jebsen Centre for Psychosis Research, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway, 4 Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, 5 Department of Neurology, University of Heidelberg, Baden-Wrttemberg, Germany, 6 Memory Clinic, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland, 7 Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom

Although several models of brain structure link processes of development and aging, direct evidence for such a relationship remains elusive. Here, we show that brain structural variation across 484 healthy participants identifies one largely transmodal network whose pattern of lifespan age-related change intrinsically supports the last-in-first-out hypothesis. We further demonstrate that this network defines areas of heightened vulnerability for disorders impacting the adolescent and ageing brain specifically schizophrenia and Alzheimers. This suggests that the spatial pattern in these disorders is not necessarily specific to these two distinct disease processes, but rather to their timing in disrupting healthy cerebral development and ageing.

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