title: Neurodevelopmental origins of lifespan changes in brain and cognition.
abstract: Neurodevelopmental origins of functional variation in older age are increasingly being acknowledged, but identification of how early factors impact human brain and cognition throughout life has remained challenging. Much focus has been on age-specific mechanisms affecting neural foundations of cognition and their change. In contrast to this approach, we tested whether cerebral correlates of general cognitive ability (GCA) in development could be extended to the rest of the lifespan, and whether early factors traceable to prenatal stages, such as birth weight and parental education, may exert continuous influences. We measured the area of the cerebral cortex in a longitudinal sample of 974 individuals aged 4-88 y (1,633 observations). An extensive cortical region was identified wherein area related positively to GCA in development. By tracking area of the cortical region identified in the child sample throughout the lifespan, we showed that the cortical change trajectories of higher and lower GCA groups were parallel through life, suggesting continued influences of early life factors. Birth weight and parental education obtained from the Norwegian Mother-Child Cohort study were identified as such early factors of possible life-long influence. Support for a genetic component was obtained in a separate twin sample (Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging), but birth weight in the child sample had an effect on cortical area also when controlling for possible genetic differences in terms of parental height. Our results provide novel evidence for stability in brain-cognition relationships throughout life, and indicate that early life factors impact brain and cognition for the entire life course.
authors.affiliation: Research Group for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, 0373 Oslo, Norway; Unit of Neuropsychology, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Oslo University Hospital, 0424 Oslo, Norway; k.b.walhovd@psykologi.uio.no.
authors.forename: Kristine B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Walhovd
authors.affiliation: Research Group for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, 0373 Oslo, Norway;
authors.forename: Stine K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Krogsrud
authors.affiliation: Research Group for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, 0373 Oslo, Norway;
authors.forename: Inge K
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8508-9088
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Amlien
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093;
authors.forename: Hauke
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bartsch
authors.affiliation: Research Group for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, 0373 Oslo, Norway; The Interventional Centre, Oslo University Hospital-Rikshospitalet, 0424 Oslo, Norway;
authors.forename: Atle
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bjørnerud
authors.affiliation: Research Group for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, 0373 Oslo, Norway; Department of Radiology, Oslo University Hospital-Rikshospitalet, 0424 Oslo, Norway;
authors.forename: Paulina
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Due-Tønnessen
authors.affiliation: Research Group for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, 0373 Oslo, Norway;
authors.forename: Håkon
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Grydeland
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093;
authors.forename: Donald J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hagler
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, St. Olav's Hospital, 7491 Trondheim, Norway; Department of Neuroscience, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway;
authors.forename: Asta K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Håberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093; Center for Behavior Genetics of Aging, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093; Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health, VA San Diego Healthcare System, La Jolla, CA 92093;
authors.forename: William S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Kremen
authors.affiliation: Research Group for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, 0373 Oslo, Norway;
authors.forename: Lia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ferschmann
authors.affiliation: Research Group for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, 0373 Oslo, Norway; Department of Radiation Sciences, Umeå University, SE-01 87 Umeå, Sweden;
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nyberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093; Center for Behavior Genetics of Aging, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093;
authors.forename: Matthew S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Panizzon
authors.affiliation: Research Group for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, 0373 Oslo, Norway;
authors.forename: Darius A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Rohani
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Children's and Women's Health, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway;
authors.forename: Jon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Skranes
authors.affiliation: Research Group for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, 0373 Oslo, Norway;
authors.forename: Andreas B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Storsve
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Children's and Women's Health, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway;
authors.forename: Anne Elisabeth
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Sølsnes
authors.affiliation: Research Group for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, 0373 Oslo, Norway;
authors.forename: Christian K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Tamnes
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093; Institute of Biological Psychiatry, Mental Health Centre Sct. Hans, Copenhagen University Hospital, DK-4000, Roskilde, Denmark;
authors.forename: Wesley K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093;
authors.forename: Chase
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Reuter
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093; Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093.
authors.forename: Anders M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Dale
authors.affiliation: Research Group for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, 0373 Oslo, Norway; Unit of Neuropsychology, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Oslo University Hospital, 0424 Oslo, Norway;
authors.forename: Anders M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Fjell
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001724:Birth Weight; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: aging; cortical change; development