AI Insight
Researchers integrated data from 35,120 brain scans collected across diverse global studies to construct normative reference charts for white matter properties throughout the human lifespan. These charts capture both microstructural features, such as tissue composition at the cellular level, and macrostructural features, such as overall white matter volume and tract organization. The resulting charts define expected ranges of white matter development and aging, providing a standardized baseline against which individual brain scans can be compared.
Why it matters
These normative charts could serve as clinical reference tools to detect early or atypical deviations in white matter development associated with neurological and psychiatric conditions. Their large and globally diverse sample base increases the generalizability of the reference norms across different populations.
Nature, Published online: 13 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10454-2
Integration of data representing 35,120 brain scans from diverse global studies enables construction of reference charts that define normative microstructural and macrostructural properties across the human lifespan for research and clinical diagnosis.
Source: White matter micro- and macrostructure brain charts for the human lifespan