Variations of global brain asymmetry are associated with aging and related diseases
Haoyu Hu, Duxiao Guo, Yi Pu, Yilamujiang Abuduaini, Xichunwang Wang, Clyde Francks, Paul M. Thompson, Xiang-Zhen Kong
Lateralization is a hallmark of brain organization, yet the structural basis underlying this phenomenon remains a critical, unresolved question in cognitive and systems neuroscience. In this study, we applied multivariate machine learning techniques to investigate variations of global brain asymmetry and their associations with cognitive functions, aging, and aging-related diseases, using large-scale datasets. Our findings revealed substantial and previously unknown structural differences between the hemispheres, and established key associations between structural asymmetries and lateralized functions. At the population level, we identified unique aging trajectories of hemispheric differences and uncovered diagnosis-specific variations in patients with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, and in