Development of cortical and subcortical asymmetry from mid gestation to old age

COEX 

Asymmetry is a key organizing principle of the brain, and has previously been shown to support healthy cognition [1], with alterations in asymmetry observed across neuropsychiatric disorders [2,3]. While asymmetry emerges during fetal development [4], its lifelong dynamics and variability remain unknown [4]. The recent development of normative reference charts for the human brain have enabled individuals to be benchmarked against population-level norms across the lifespan [5]. This study significantly extends this previous work by including regional (left/right) cortical and subcortical brain areas from over 100,000 participants, and comprehensively mapping left-right asymmetry trajectories across the human lifespan and between clinical cohorts.