This research establishes a comprehensive normative atlas of the human brain's functional organization, spanning from infancy to one hundred years of age. By analyzing large-scale connectivity gradients, the study reveals that the brain’s architecture is initially anchored by primary sensory systems before differentiating into complex association and control axes during childhood and adolescence. These organizational patterns, which follow nonlinear trajectories, eventually undergo a process of dedifferentiation during aging. The findings demonstrate that these functional hierarchies are deeply linked to biological markers and transcriptomic signatures, especially early in life. Furthermore, the study proves that gradient metrics serve as reliable predictors of cognitive performance across the entire human lifespan.

References:

• Taylor IV H P, Huynh K M, Thung K H, et al. Functional hierarchy of the human neocortex across the lifespan[J]. Nature, 2026: 1-10.